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Sanae Ishida

A crafty little atelier in a grey city

Happy Friday + Randomness

June 13, 2014

Happy Friday! Over the last few months, I've received a handful of unexpected mail. It's all the more surprising and especially sweet to receive handwritten notes and packages in this digital age (I've been guilty of texting birthday messages to friends). You can see a sampling of cards above -- I'm smitten with the Coco Chanel quote card -- "A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous" -- from an insanely talented woman, a relatively new friendship that's one of those instantly ... Read more

Filed in: life • by sanae • 34 Comments

Sewing For Me: Perfect Pattern Parcel #3 | Staple Dress

June 12, 2014

Switching gears from yesterday's post that was fraught with emotions, today I bring you Perfect Pattern Parcel #3! I was invited to participate in the first round of PPP which was a lot of fun, and I was happy to be looped in again for this new set of patterns. I've been eyeing the Staple Dress since it first came out, so I knew immediately which pattern I'd be sewing up. Friends, it's silk. Emboldened by my last silk experiment, I wanted to test out the pattern with this bright orange plaid ... Read more

Filed in: sewing for me • by sanae • 43 Comments

Overwhelm

June 11, 2014

I'm not sleeping much. I lay awake at night, wondering how I'm going to make a dent in my eternally long to-do list, how to keep the many people in my life from getting too upset with me, how to keep perspective. I drift off to sleep around 3 or 4am, none the wiser. For two years since I've started this blog, it's probably been obvious I've been on a kind of quest. A seeking of a better self? A digging and clawing from the depths of an unhealthy lifestyle to one that resembles normalcy? ... Read more

Filed in: gouache, illustration, life, watercolor, writing • by sanae • 75 Comments

Father’s Day Free Printable

June 10, 2014

Just a quick printable for you today -- can you believe it's almost Father's Day? K and I are plotting to make this an extra special one for M, though we tend to be better at planning than executing... My own dad will be receiving one of these lovelies that I whipped up in the mail (maybe the hipster one -- my dad's pretty on-trend). I tend to make stuff for my own purposes and then share them here in the off chance others can get some use out of them. I kept things simple and graphic for ... Read more

Filed in: download, gouache, illustration, watercolor • by sanae • 2 Comments

Monday Outfit: Frozen Take Two

June 9, 2014

Good morning! I've been dawdling on this second Frozen dress (see the first one here), but this weekend, I finally completed it. I'm sad to report that it wasn't a stunning success. I used the same pattern pieces as the first one, and this time, I cut into the fabrics specified by K -- all cheap stuff from JoAnn's. One of the things I did differently was to add rhinestones to the bodice like so: That's me, pulling away the plastic film after ironing on the sparkles, happy to see that I ... Read more

Filed in: sewing, sewing for K • by sanae • 13 Comments

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I’ve been spending less time around here — the I’ve been spending less time around here — the landscape has been feeling dark and murky and I wish I had a magical luminous flower like this bunny to light the way…#procreatewatercolorfun
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