You've Got Mail!

BAM.

Two posts in a week!! 

That's cuz I'm trying to rush and put all my items up for Valentine's Day. Haha. XD So now you all get the wonderful privilege of reading more of my randomness throughout this week.

In addition, this week has been rough at work... So I really need to do something to get my mind off of work and life in general. Haha. YAY for crafting distractions!

This... is my second least favorite glass creation that I made. Again, I was trying to do something a little bit different, so I veered away from small critters and animals, and just put in random objets (well, not totally random, I hope. :P)

I usually start off by making the base by putting a blob of clay into the jar and pressing it against the bottom of the glass. Since the glass is slightly curved on the inside, its important to get the right shape. Unfortunately, while I made the rest of the sculpture... the base went flat... and so it kinda sticks out straight. Haha. But, since its glued down, it doesn't really move around or anything, so it doesn't really make that big of a difference.

Top View without the cap

I made the letters with "translucent" clay, which looked a little more white before I baked it. Sometimes, I kinda wish I mixed a little bit of white into the clay so it wouldn't turn out so clear-ish. But I guess the result still looks sort of like old-ish looking letters.

The back of my creation

ZOOOOOOOOM INNNNN. Looookit all the details. 

And.... There you have it. Mail in a jar. I was kinda playing around the idea of how snail mail is sort of lost these days. We have so much technology -- Phones, computers, tablets, etc. -- and connectivity is so close to us that we forget how difficult it was, in the past, to get a message across, even to the next town. Now, with just a click of a button, I can update myself on my friend living across the US or the world.

But sometimes, I think snail mail is the best. I love writing and I love handwritten notes. It makes everything so much more personal. Even if your handwriting is not the best, I still think its cute to pass notes and sent handwritten mail to people. Which is why I treasure postcards and letters from my friends. It also builds a kind of anticipation and excitement when I receive a handwritten note from someone, even if I live in the same city as them, and they personally delivered it to me. When someone takes the time to write out something personal, it means that they had to stop and take the effort to dust off their stationary or pen and paper (probably somewhere in the corner or hidden in their closet) and take time to record their thoughts. And that makes me happy.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/122106253/youve-got-mail-in-a-glass-jar

Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I'll go and write a handwritten letter to someone. 

But I won't tell you who. 

;p

Here We Go...!

Hello, World!

Okay, so I don't want to upload eeeevvverrryyything, all at once... so I'm going to take it slow and upload my items maybe one or two at a time.

I had planned on posting this up way, way, way earlier... but time somehow slipped away from me, and I didn't get the chance to post anything up.

ANYWAYS. That's besides the point.

I'll be honest with you. This first one that I'm posting up is probably my least favorite one. Why, you ask? :P Haha. I'll show you what I mean:

A looong while back some friends and I had a glass etching party, and so I got these cute, small jars to etch. (Ahh. I have no pictures of the ones I etched cuz I already gave them out for Christmas and never bothered taking pictures of them. :P Ooops. Haha) But etching will be another post at a later date. :)

In any case, the party was super fun and I got a chance to get to know some really cool girls at my church. :) Since we were all newbies at glass etching, we decided that we wanted to do a second crafts night the following week. I, all glass-etched-out, decided that I wanted to put my clay creations into the jars. Before, I had always made keychains or earrings or necklaces (functional pieces, basically), but I wanted to try something different.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/121896186/mini-be-mine-couple-in-a-glass-jar

This jar is probably the fifth jar that I decorated. Like I said, the other ones I already gave away without documenting. Haha. XD But this was the first jar that was plain (no additional glass etching and no additional decorations on the outside), as well as the first time I attempted to make miniature people.

In my opinion... it turned out quite terrible. :P Haha. Well, it looks okay, but I don't think it looks particularly cute or wonderful. Which... makes me sad. Haha.

Top view cuz... why not? It looks cute from above. XD

Backside 

I wanted to make them cute and chibi, like Anime characters, but the body turned out too bulky and heavy to stand up on its own. I got so frustrated trying to make cute looking people, that I just turned them into one long pole, and added a round head on top. Aaaannnnddd, this is what it looked like:

Before I added hair or baked it... >_<;;

It looked okay, from my perspective. Plus, I was super frustrated that I didn't even really want to finish this one. Mamma Wu took one look at it and said:

"They look creepy."

Annd, well, I couldn't deny that. They looked strange. Mamma Wu then said perhaps I ought to try and add some hair. So, I added the hair, albeit halfheartedly, and baked it in the oven. The result?

Blegh.

SO.

From this little experiment, I learned that I am terrible at making miniature people, and I don't think I'll attempt to do that anymore, unless I get a request to do so. I think its safe to say that I will be sticking to animals from now on because you can make them fat and round and get away with it without offending anyone. :P Plus, they just look cuter as animals.

The next post is another one that I wasn't really satisfied with, but... eh. It was another feeble attempt at trying something new and out of my comfort zone. :P

Stay tuned!!

:)

Sneak Peek!

Hello World!

I know I've been terrible at uploading pictures and showing you all what I've been making, but here's to me putting in the effort! Haha. I think it helps that, now that my phone has better camera capabilities (thanks dad!! :D), it's easier for me to directly upload onto my computer without busting out all my wires and stuff (my lazy side rejoices).

So, despite the fact that I only have one photo to show you all... it's still better than nothing, right? :P

And no, sorry to disappoint guys, but its not about MY love life or any relationships per say... but its about Valentine's Day!! Haha.

I know its a little bit early to be thinking of a holiday that's happening in FEBRUARY... but my oh my, how time passes quickly! I'm thinking, if I want to get anything up on my Etsy blog by the time it hits February, I'll need to start NOW. Haha. XD

So today, being the day I do not have to go to work, I started working on some ideas for Valentine's Day. Some of my creations are still in the works, but I'll let you guys in on a secret: it's bigger than a keychain, for once! I decided that I wanted to do something different, something new. So, I'm going to try to make something bigger. The only thing is, I'm not sure how I'm going to ship it. :O But that's only something I have to worry about if I actually sell something. XD Haha.

In other news... I finally submitted my application to grad school!! It's been long overdue, but I finally got everything together, and submitted it a few days ago. Now, it's all in God's hands. I can only pray and remember that, whether or not I get in, it's all up to Him.

I've also come to the conclusion that, YES, I do want to go to grad school for translation and interpretation. I've been kind of back and forth about going to grad school, or just going directly into full-time work, or changing career paths to do design. But, I think, for now, I'm going to do my best to apply and get into grad school. So, grad school apps are not quite over for me yet. But perhaps I'll be applying for next year (seeing as it might be cutting it close for some deadlines for this year). But, that's something else I'm still mulling over. ;P

Okay! Thanks for reading!

:)

New Beginnings

Happy New Year!!

It's hard to believe that it is already 2013...

And the fact that I have been graduated for about half a year.

What have I been doing with my life??? O.o

Haha. No worries, guys. Not having a mental breakdown quite yet.

This is just a quick blogpost about the new year. Nothing fancy, nothing crazy. I'm still going to try my best to upload my artsy creative stuff as often as I can. And, yes, I will try to stay on top of things. Hey, I did say at the beginning of all this that I'm a terrible blogger and have difficulty keeping up. :P But, I try. These kind of habits aren't born overnight (although I with they were).

One new and (perhaps, or perhaps not) exciting addition is that I'm going to try to interject some more creative "thoughts" in addition to my arts and crafts. Because... well, why not? Mix it up a bit. You get a little bit of arts and crafts, a little bit of my personal life, a little bit of my random thoughts. :)

Perhaps I'll think of some new year's resolution to put up here, and then have some sort of record of what I wrote... so that later on I can see how miserably (Shows how much faith I have in myself, eh?) I've failed to uphold them. And yes, you as readers can see how I well/miserably I do! Fun, no?

Well, in any case, its quite late now, and I still have work tomorrow. So its off to bed for me.

:)

Merry Christmas! :)

Hello world!

Its almost Christmas time! I feel extra blessed this year because, despite having a retail position for a job... I still got time to off to go home during Christmas! I was a little worried that I would be spending Christmas Eve at work, so I'm very excited to be able to get almost a week off. :)

Short post tonight, cuz I'm tired. Haha. But here are some Christmas bears, just to keep things in the season.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/117554977/christmas-bear-with-tree

Christmas bear holding a Christmas tree. This one's not decorated yet though. ;P I kinda debated whether or not to first make the bear ears, and then put a hat over it... or just put a hat there and not have an ear under. I guess it wouldn't really make a difference except... if someone ever dropped it or if it ever broke, it would be an anatomically accurate representation of a bear. Haha. XD

https://www.etsy.com/listing/117555306/christmas-bear-with-snowman?ref=v1_other_1

Winter and Christmas always make me think of playing in the snow and making snowmen. I would love to be able to have a mini snowman to carry around with me, providing that it wouldn't melt on me and turn into a puddle of water.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/117555612/christmas-bear-with-candy-cane?ref=v1_other_1

Candy cane! :D Striped items are always fun to make because its rather easy and yet somehow very satisfying and fun to make. If that makes any sense at all. Haha. XD

This bear was my favorite. This picture is also my favorite. Unfortunately, in the process of taking the picture, I dropped it on the floor and it broke into 3 pieces. BUT, that meant that I could glue it back together and keep it for myself! :D Its hanging from my bag right now. Haha.

All of the backgrounds for these bears are courtesy of my friend's Christmas tree. I looooved the fact that I could take pictures from the tree. I had actually been wanting to take pictures of these keychains from a tree for a while, just cuz I thought it might look snazzy and cool. Haha.

Okay everyone, stay warm for Christmas, regardless of where you are. Remember to bundle up! :)

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. May this Christmas season be filled with joy and laughter as we celebrate and rejoice over the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. :)

Blessings,
Joy

Going Once... Going Twice... Sold!

This is just a short post just to say, I sold stuff!! :D :D

Haha. Not much to post about, but it's something that excites me. :)

These sales actually happened a few weeks ago:

Originally I received a message from someone asking whether or not I could custom make two bears for her. I, of course, happily obliged because well, let's face it, my profits were not shooting through the roof. I was also very excited just to have someone, anyone, interested in my products. My bears were not a total flop after all!

While this exciting exchange took place, an order was placed!! I was so happy I could have screamed and jumped up and down (if that sort of response were in my nature).

This happened over Thanksgiving, which made things slightly hectic. For one thing, I was supposed to be preparing for my Japanese Language Proficiency Test. :( Second of all, this item had not yet been made. And, lastly, I was going home over the weekend, and a little more, so I would need to ship it from home in order to be on time with my shipping policy. But, everything worked out in the end and, according to the USPS tracking number, the package arrived safely and on time. :)

The custom made items were completed at the same time as the robot (pictured above), but it took a lot longer for my customer to actually purchase the item. I got a little bit worried and wondered whether or not I had made the items in vain, but thankfully they were purchased in the end.

So yay! Yay for people actually looking at my Etsy, and for people actually buying stuff. Its definitely a learning process. Purchases are made very rarely and slowly, but I believe it's good training for my patience and, in one sense, trust in God. I know I'm not out to make a living with this website, and so whether or not I make money off of this habit, is all up to God... and I'm learning to be okay with it. I'm learning that its okay not to be super successful in everything in life, because, well, that's just the way life is. God never created life to be smooth sailing and successful all the time. Instead, God wishes for us to be patient and allow Him to bring blessings into our life in His time.

:)

Finding Time to Make Art

Hello world!

Again... It's been a while. Now, I would say... "I've been very busy. So busy, that I haven't had time to update this blog!" And... despite that being very true... I still feel like it will just end up sounding like an excuse for not blogging. 

Excuse or no excuse... I wanted to share a little art project I did a while back. My friend from church had a baby shower (the baby has already been born, healthy and happy, praise the Lord!!) a month or so ago, and one of the activities that we did included decorating a onesie.

That day I arrived late to the event because I had work earlier during the day. And so, when I had arrived, the event was pretty much winding down. I looked at some of my friend's onesies--and they were amazing! So. I resolved. I wanted to do something amazing too! Haha.

Well, in all honestly, I was kinda wondering if mine would look sorta lame compared to my friend's. But, luckily, I had one thing to my advantage: Totoro. :)

I don't know if you guys all know the Japanese movie, My Neighbor Totoro, but the character from the movie looks like this: 

Well, the character looks like the big grey and white one, sometime wearing a leaf on his (or it's?? ) head. Here's another picture of some of the characters from the movie (these pictures are totally unnecessary... but I really like this one cuz its super cute. :D )

Now, why did I have an advantage, you ask? Well. This couple happens to LOVE Totoro. So, I was pretty sure as long as I drew a giant Totoro somewhere on the shirt... it would be well accepted.

In any case, knowing myself and my perfectionist attitude when it comes to art, I didn't want to just slap on Totoro and call it a night. I wanted something that had a big impact, and something that looked... I dunno... AWESOME? Haha.

So, after looking through many, many pictures... I finally sat down and drew my first onesie:

I wanted the Totoro to be super bold... but with the markers I was using... the color wasn't super solid. Which made me rather unhappy. Close up, you could see all the areas where I shaded multiple times, and there were these bags underneath and around Totoro's eyes. Very not cool. :(

So, I tried another one. This time, featuring a little girl in a Totoro costume trying her best to fool Totoro:

I liked this one better, just because it kinda was more original and had a little "story" to it. I was getting more and more comfortable with using the markers on the shirt, so I think the coloring turned out a little bit better on this one as well. Up to this point, all my Totoro's were blue. One reason was because that was my personal favorite color. Haha. The other reason was because I didn't have grey to work with. And I felt like blue was more suited to replace grey, more than any other color.

I still had one more onesie left to decorate. I had completely ran out of ideas by now, and so I kinda left this one blank for a while. Then, when I was talking to my parents and showing them the other designs, my dad said: why don't you make a baby Totoro?

It made sense: the onesie was for a baby, soo... why not? This time I finally used another color for Totoro because I thought that I really needed to stop using blue. Haha. I chose red cuz... well... it looks more girly? Haha. Here's what I came up with:

Totoro with a pacifier, a milk bottle, and his very own blankie. :) I was actually quite pleased with this

one in terms of the color overall image. Plus, by this time, I was able to get a nice solid color with the markers I was using (I tried to go over the first Totoro with blue marker, using the same technique, but it just made things worse. Haha. XD ).

Anywhoo. Long post this time. Cuz I had lots to share. Haha. More coming soon! Eh well, maybe I shouldn't promise too much. :P But I'll try! I don't have anymore hardcore studying to do anymore, so hopefully I'll have more time to post. :)

If anyone's reading this, and is truly bored, comment and let me know which one you guys liked best! :)

<3