Wrapping paper patch work

2023年2月16日未分類Up cycling projectmogu

Ahhh… every Christmas, birthday, it is hard to see the cute wrapping paper is throwing away.

I tried do origami using the wrapping paper. But hard to make crisp fold.

I made bow ribbon topper out of the used wrapping paper. It is cute but the paper topper also will be throwing away after 1 time use.

I realized the wrapping paper has grid line on the backside.

so I cut along the simple shapes like square and triangle, then use as patchwork materials.

Then glue wrapping paper parts onto the some square paper.

Done!

This art is simple repeatable work is too addictive to stop making it.

Happy up cycling!

Is Covid over yet?

2023年1月9日未分類mogu

After the long quarantine life, we finally flew to Japan and came back to the USA.

I felt like Covid is getting weaker and the pandemic is ending…

But my friends told me the new type is spreading… oh my!

I believe new Covid viruses spread faster but give weaker symptoms, hopefully.

Because that the way virus keep their lives.

My family is used to wearing masks indoors .

I always forget where I put masks. Also glasses. (I even have glasses for searching for my glasses)

One day I noticed how good I am at forgetting when I wanted to go out and look at myself in the mirror.

hey! You already wear enough amount of masks and glasses !

Now I hang this note at the entrance to remind me that I might already have the stuff I am searching for.

Happy new year!

“E-tegami” using Sumi ink and chopsticks

2022年8月30日Art, 未分類mogu

Hi, do you like snail mailing?

I like sending letters and cards.

In Japan, we have art post cards with very short messages called ”E-Tegami”.

“E” means picture, tegami means messages and letters.

Usually people draw pictures on the postcard using Fude brush with sumi ink and some water colors. Add some messages to friends as postcords.

I try Sumi ink painting on the blank postcoard.

I use disposable chopsticks instead Fude brush.

Why?

Because I wanted to try unexpected lines from chopsticks with ink.

It is fun!

Now I start urban sketching with chopsticks and Sumi Ink.

Sketching, and painting…and now, I have enough amount of Sumi ink art in my stock.

I will post those Sumi ink paintings at somerville public library during this September!

Now, personal post cards will hang on the library wall!

Origami flower bouquet for kids classmates

2022年3月17日Artmogu

We are planning to go to Japan in the middle of the school term.
Kids need to say goodbye to their classmates and teachers.

I want to make some thank you and goodbye gifts for their friends.

As my kids are half Japanese, so I think Origami might be interesting. Would origami flowers on pencils be a memorable gift?

The colored paper I use is from the kids school.

Yes, school gave us lots of letters, news, and homework papers. I kept the colored paper.

This origami flower is a tulip, it is very easy to fold.
After creating the flower part, cut the bottom a tiny bit, stick a pencil to the cut hole, and tape around the pencil.

I used green floral tape to attach the flower to the pencil. That tape is bit stronger than washi tape.

Hmm… 40 pencil flowers. Still lots to go!

Play with old books to make a St. Patricks Day art card

2022年3月17日未分類mogu

I am a hoarder.

Because I love upcycling old stuff to art… that’s my excuse.

Now here is an old book which I did not read (I’m a bit sorry to the author!)

This book’s pages were easy to draw.

And luckily this book uses great quality paper to paint on.

It is strong enough to hold water color pencil with water .

Now! Let’s try a collage with crayon.

First, I made a messy crayon page.

What do I do now?

Cut a clover shape and look through the shaped cut paper.

Not sure what I can do with this. Maybe cut out the crayoned page to make collages.

And then, attach to a blank card.

Oh I like it! Let’s make more!

Done! For the message part, I used the PENCO embossing tape.

Now sealed and shipped!

Picnic and sketching at Norris Reservation

2022年3月13日未分類mogu

Feels like spring is almost here.

So… let’s bring a sketch book and hike!

This is the entrance of Norris Reservation.
On the right side, there is a table and chairs beside a small creak .

We enjoyed sandwiches here along with water flow sounds.

Sandwich and coffee from the cafe.

After the picnic, walking around the reservation took us one hour.

My favorite spot is this old boat house.

This boat house has 2 windows and 1 balcony on the river. The view from these windows looks like a famous painting.

Since my husband just bought an iPad mini with Apple Pencil 2, we did quick sketching on the balcony.

This view turns into this sketch.

This is a map of Norris reservation.

No toilet, small parking lot (maybe 10 cars)

Urban sketchers Boston at the Time Out Market

2022年3月10日未分類mogu

Hi! I am a member of Urban Sketchers Boston from 2012. But after I had kids, I became a ghost member. Maybe two times a year I am joining the meetup.

This time the sketching place was Time Out Market at Fenway. It is a big food court that used to a Best Buy.

Everybody was watching the menus filled with black and gray color.

I sketch this view using the iPad “Tayasui sketches” app.

Unfortunately my iPad had only 15% charge left… so I need to sketch super fast.

Here is the outcome printed out on paper.

Lunch during COVID-19 quarantine

2020年3月19日未分類corona virus, covid-19, easy cooking, Eat vegetables, homemade lunch, Japanesewifeinusa, Menu during quarantine Quarantine, Preservedmogu

Aghhh… can’t go outside and don’t go outside is so different!

Yes I bought the ingredients that can be preserved for a long time. So I don’t need to go grocery shopping which means I don’t have reason to go outside😫

Lunch and dinner is my exciting time. Today’s lunch

Hey! My son ate one sausage before photo shoot!

Oven baked German sausage, Brussels sprouts, carrots, celery, mushrooms with girlie marinated olive oil😋 celery corn 🌽 soup and toasts, sauerkraut on the side.

Why so much celery? Because last week I went to Haymarket in Boston. 5 bunches of celery for 1$ !🤩

Coffee without a coffee filter

2020年3月19日未分類cheesecloth, Coffee, coffee filter, DIY, home cae, ideas, survivalmogu

We thought we had tons of paper coffee filters. But we did not notice how we are addicted to coffee. We ran out filters! But don’t want to go shopping only for coffee filters…