9 posts tagged “japanese”

I've gone button crazy! 

After coming across some brand new Japanese papers, I went a little crazy and made a whole bunch of new pinback buttons!  These are all 1" pinback buttons - and they are all up for sale in the Lost Mitten Etsy Shop!  Mostly all of the sets have 4 buttons to a set and are $3.00 per set.

Most of the new buttons are kawaii Japanese designs - like a little black cat who loves socks, some super cute zoo animals, smiling and winking mushrooms, and of course the Monokuro Boo black and white pigs that I love!  I also made some new buttons from recycled comics that have witty phrases on them, and some new anime / manga buttons made from recycled Japanese manga.

If you'd like to take a look, I have the buttons categorized into a few different sections in my shop:  Kawaii Cute Buttons, Chiyogami/Washi Paper Buttons (made from authentic Japanese paper!), and Video Game / Geek Buttons.  Button lovers unite!

Hi everyone!  I've made two more Nintendo DS cases - made to fit a Nintendo DS Lite video gaming portable system.  They can also fit a variety of other things since it is a zippered knit pouch - your camera, iPod, cell phone, make-up, or anything else you would like to organize or transport around with you!

The first case that I made is made from green Merino wool - the lining is super cute and has little pigs!  The fabric is straight from a fabric shop in Kyoto, Japan. 

The case is knit by hand and the fabric lining, as well as the zipper, are all sewed by hand.  On the front of the green case, there is a cute 1" pinback button attached, featuring a cat jumping into the air, like a Jack-in-the-Box (a cat in the box?)  :) 

The green knit case is available for purchase in my Etsy shop for $15.00.

The next case, also available in my Etsy shop, is made with a beautiful shade of green-gray wool, 100% Merino wool.  It has slight hints of gold and blue in the sunlight - a great natural earthy tone called "Treebark Mix" by the company.  Similar to the other cases that I create, there is a Japanese fabric used on the inside featuring swimming turtles on navy blue.  The fabric and the zipper are sewed by hand.

There is a kawaii button on the front as well, a smiling pink tofu :)  Super cute!


The green-gray knit case is available for purchase in my Etsy Shop, also for $15.

More DS Cases!  Thanks to everyone for the great response on the first two cases that I made - they both sold, so I made some more!  I made three cases:

A Blue-Green Case - with chocolate and turquoise polka dot fabric lining, and an Animal Crossing button on the front

A Chocolate Brown Case - with Kawaii pig fabric lining (fabric from Kyoto, Japan) and a super cute Relax Bear button on the front

A Striped Brown and White Case - with retro-styled autumn leaf fabric lining and a cute Orange Boy Kawaii button

Here are some more journals that I have created from recycled hardcover books!  These ones use a beautiful Japanese Chiyogami/Washi paper with an ocean wave pattern.  The pattern wraps completely from the front cover, through the spine of the book, to the back cover as a continuous design.

These journals are also massive - with 500 pages (front and back) in total!  All of the pages inside the journal are blank so you can write down many of your thoughts.  The journals are portable enough to carry around with you in your bag or purse wherever you go, and will last you a really long time with hundreds of pages to write in.

The ocean design is beautiful and delicate - with a slight gold outline around all of the edges that shines in the light.


These journals are only $20 and are up for sale in the Lost Mitten Etsy Shop.  Here is a link to the Gray Wave journal - (the blue one has already sold - if you're interested in one though, send me a message on Etsy and I can make a similar one for you!)

Hi everyone!  It has been a little while since I last updated this blog, so I'm pretty happy that I'm getting the chance to finally write.  I have been inspired lately by some of my favourite paper - Japanese Chiyogami (Yuzen) and Washi paper.  I am in love with the colours and intricate patterns of the paper.  Lately, I have been creating jewelry from the paper and journals (still in the process of being made!). 

First off, using ring blanks and the paper made into 1" buttons, I have created these button rings.  I just love how they look!  Featuring cranes, flowers, butterflies, cherry blossoms...very unique and beautiful! 

Next, bracelets... I have been creating jewelry from 1" buttons for the past  while and I have created bracelets from the Washi and Chiyogami paper before... but I am in love with the new patterns that I recently purchased!  Right away, I just had to create new bracelets to see how the new patterns would look together and I made these bracelets!


Some of the designs that I've created are pictured in this blog, but I have a huge variety of other styles and patterns made from all of the wonderful paper, including Brazilian Marble paper, which features swirly, psychedelic designs. 

All of the rings and bracelets that you see here, plus more, are up for sale at the Lost Mitten Etsy shop (my store!).  These would be wonderful as a gift or to treat yourself!  Here is a link directly to the button jewelry in my shop.

http://www.blogthings.com/whatflavorpockyquizareyouquiz/ Flavor Pocky Are You?

My fiance and I are both crazy about sushi - there is the greatest little sushi restaurant called Samura a couple of towns over that we try to visit as much as we possibly can. We're also both vegetarians and love the variety that Japanese cuisine offers for non-meat eaters. We even tried making our own sushi with successful (and tasty) results. A little while ago, I decided to recreate some of our favourite sushi rolls in felt plushy form, as a gift for him.

I recreated some of the sushi recipes found in the book, Vegetarian Sushi (highly recommended for those who love to cook and might want to try something new!).  So, here is a little felt sushi set, complete with wasabi, ginger, and chopsticks.

The sushi that I created is: Kappa Maki (cucumber roll), Vegetable Maki (the sushi roll with the three colours: cucumber, red and yellow pepper), Leaf Sushi (the cucumber is cut into the shape of little leaves, so very cute!), and sushi molds made from rice and vegetables.

I also created a little mound of wasabi with green felt and a little pile of pickled ginger with pink felt. This sushi is adorable and looks almost good enough to eat!

A few posts ago, I posted some pictures of some super cute fabric that I purchased from an Etsy shop, all straight from a boutique in Kyoto, Japan.  Now, I will show you guys what I am making with the fabric - handbound journals!

So far, I have made a super Kawaii hedgehog journal, which is brown and white.  I also handstitched a pink felt hedgehog to the front to contrast the dark brown fabric.  On the back of the journal in the fabric, there is a tan coloured hedgehog as well.  It is a hardcover journal, recycled and reconstructed from an old hardcover book.  The journal is filled with many different colours of paper - 160 pages in total - a rainbow of paper!

I also created this Elephant Journal, created with the Japanese fabric and also has matching felt elephants handstitched to the front.

These journals, along with other ones including my Mario Journal and Nancy Drew Journals are up for sale in my Etsy Shop.

I just purchased some super cute fabric from Sakura Fabrics on Etsy!  Her fabric is straight from Japan and features super cute Kawaii images.  I purchased five different fabrics from her - elephants, pigs, hedgehogs, strawberries, and turtles - they are all equally cute and I can't wait to use them for some upcoming projects!

The fabrics were also shipped super quickly and arrived in less than a couple of weeks, which is super fast considering the package came from overseas.  Highly recommended!