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Sanae Ishida

A crafty little atelier in a grey city

Gone on Vacation

August 8, 2016

Good morning! I am actually still here. In Seattle. Or rather, as I write this we are preparing for an overnight "trip" to a suburb for the last of K's birthday celebration. We will stay in the new-ish McMenamins Anderson School, which should be quite the experience. It's possible that we've gone a tad bonkers for our only child's 10th birthday, but...well, I don't feel too bad about it. We only live once and who cares what other people think, right? I have a feeling she's going to remember her ... Read more

Filed in: life • by sanae • 8 Comments

Happy Friday + Randomness

August 5, 2016

Happy Friday! Keeping it super duper short today since we're attempting to get out of town this weekend. Above is one of the projects I worked on recently for the Seattle Japanese Garden that I believe is already printed by now. I had a wonderful time painting this, and it will be part of their self walking tour brochure. Fun! I hope to work on more maps in the future. I recently saw this book and this book in a store, and deliberated long and hard about purchasing them, but in the end, I left ... Read more

Filed in: gouache, illustration, watercolor • by sanae • 7 Comments

Health Food Experiments: Kombucha and Spiralizer

August 3, 2016

Yesterday, K and I had an epic playdate with some friends (gotta keep the kiddos entertained), and I was introduced to homemade kombucha. Have you ever had kombucha? The fermented tea can be easily made at home if you have a starter SCOBY, which is an acronym for "symbiotic 'colony' of bacteria and yeast". My friend has been brewing up a batch regularly and kindly sent me home with my own jug to ferment. I had a sampling to taste, and it has the tang of apple cider vinegar with more sweetness. I ... Read more

Filed in: cooking • by sanae • 8 Comments

The “Unicorn” Pillow

August 1, 2016

Remember all the hullabaloo about which top I should make with the pink ponies silk for K's birthday? Well, when 11pm rolled around the night before her 10th b-day and the fabric hadn't even been ironed, I knew that I was in trouble. And then I remembered that Shelley had left a brilliant comment about embroidering a unicorn horn, an idea with which I became obsessed. She also suggested wings, but that was beyond my mental and embroidery capabilities at the literal 11th hour. So I came up ... Read more

Filed in: sewing, sewing for K • by sanae • 12 Comments

Happy Friday + Giveaway! [CLOSED]

July 29, 2016

Happy Friday! This giveaway is all cuteness, my friends. Tuttle Publishing sent me this darling book: 501 Enchanting Embroidery Designs, and I was very, very tempted to keep this for myself. Normally I would have requested two copies (one for me, one for a giveaway), but these days I'm delving deeply into the minimalistic approach of letting go of things that I know I won't get around to anytime soon. When the moment comes when I'm ready for some ridiculously adorable embroidery, I'll purchase ... Read more

Filed in: giveaway • by sanae •

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I’ve been swimming in nostalgia these past few day I’ve been swimming in nostalgia these past few days, wading through my blog and Pinterest board of the clothes I made for K, who is not so little anymore. what a wild, fun time that was! Remember the old school days of sewing blogs?? I’m back in deadline mode for a number of projects so sewing will have to be put on hold (though maybe I’ll get lucky and sneak in some stitching time). I’m also putting Instagram on hold for the summer, as I do every year. I’ll be back in September with some exciting updates! Have a lovely season, my friends! 💙💙💙💙💙💙
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