Camera Case & Japanese Sunshine

Oh the rainny... well should I say snowy days of good ol' St. Louis Missouri...

Let me start from the beginning -

This past Christmas my loving parents got me and my husband an amazing new camera because the flash died on my old one. The camera came with all of the extras except for a case. Truly - a case is a total need, however I am not one that would go out and purchase your everyday black Nikon one. It's just not my style...

Having said that, I was in the bookstore about a month ago and came across an awesome camera case. The only problem was that the pattern was designed for a regular sized digital camera. You know, the ones that are about the size of your average cell phone. Not having one of those, but still loving this pattern I tweeked the pattern to make it fit my needs ;) (surprise surprise)

The case encompassed an old Japanese fable about the Teru-teru bozu. Rough translation: Shine-shine little buddy of mine. It's a little traditional hand made doll of white paper or cloth that Japanese farmers began hanging outside their windows. It's supposed to bring good weather and prevent rain. I talked to a friend of mine, M, who's Japanese and she also told me that Japanese children hang up a teru-teru bozu the day before a school field trip to wish for sunny weather.

The case is just slightly larger than the camera to prevent it from moving around and getting scratched. I used an older baby blanket to help line the inside of the case to protect my camera even more. The best part is the door on the front that opens to reveal my little Sunshine Buddy.

Teru is a Japanese verb to describe sunshine, and bozu is a monk, however it is also a term of endearment for addressing little boys. There is a song that goes with this sunny little buddy which my own Japanese grandmother sang to me over the phone! I have to say it's up there as one of my most precious memories. One, because she's in her late 70s singing me this nursery rhyme, and two, because she was laughing so much that it's hard to understand her ;o)

Here's the rhyme:

Teru-teru bozu, teru bozu

Do make tomorrow a sunny day

Like the sky in a dream sometime

If it's sunny I'll give you a golden bell

Teru-teru bozu, teru bozu

Do make tomorrow a sunny day

If you make my wish come true

we'll drink lots of sweet rice wine

Teru-teru bozu, teru bozu

Do make tomorrow a sunny day

But if the clouds are crying

Then I shall snip off your head

Ok... a little morbid with the last bit, and truly the original Japanese language makes it sound much more beautiful!

Bring on the sun!!!

Quiet Afternoon

Even before I became an Etsy "seller" I always looked around. What can I say - it's a great place for inspiration! Yes... some of the items I truly feel belong on Regretsy ;-) but the other day I found a really cute Nesting Doll Brooch.

(I tried looking for it again this morning and it was no where to be found for me to give credit to the original designer - but whoever you are.... awesome work!)

After L'bug didn't eat her lunch she played and then took a long afternoon nap. *sigh* Peace and quiet!

I have a couple larger projects that I could've worked on, but I really wanted to do something that I could finish in an afternoon.

So, here's my version of a Nesting Doll Brooch.

I used a kniting stitch holder for the pin and some random parts of old jewelry I had lying around for the details.

Like I said, I'm not sure who the person was who originally had them posted on Etsy, but they also had other brooches with different themes. Like there was one with random pieces of breakfast foods and another one for lunch foods...

I don't think I will be making either of those, but the whole concept of a felted theme brooch is a pretty cool idea. Hmm...

Felt Doll House

After the success of the Felt Globe Kits I realized that many parents

would love to be able to make their little ones a treasured toy. Well, make it themselves or as a family project. But a lot of my friends either don't have the supplies or they don't seem to believe that they can sew.

(Yes, I said "don't seem to believe..." because I, myself only started sewing about 6 years ago. My advice is - just pick up some cheap fabric and a pattern and start hacking away!)

So the kits... ;-)

My favorite part of the Felt Globe Kit was the suitcase that held all of the little icons.

I love things that have a place or container.

So I got to thinking of other kits and patterns that I could make, but the suitcase kept coming into my mind. Long story short... an awesome "God Idea" light bulb lit up and a list of new projects flooded into my head.

The first of which is the Felt Doll House.

This little suitcase unfolds to reveal a doll house complete with furniture, decorations, and people!

The pattern for this kit is open for the maker to either follow the pattern to the letter, or they have the ability to make it more specific to themselves. Meaning, the house frame and all of the items are in the pattern, but you can make however many pictures, people, or pieces of furniture that you'd like.

My main thought was - what if you had a family of two girls and a boy... the hair and clothing pattern pieces are all separate so you can decide what you'd like them to look like!

Just like the Felt Globe, this kit comes with everything you would need to make the Doll House... such as thread, needles, plastic canvas and felt.

Also, like the Felt Globe, this kit can be purchased as either a full kit or just the pattern. But if you just can't find the time, and really want a Doll House for your little one, I can make one for you!

I used a variety of fabrics... new and vintage for the "wall paper." And the pillows for the bed and couch are three dimentional to make them more fun.

For our house I made three girls and two boys. The girls were made to look like two of L'bug's friends ;-) C'bear & Sweet P

She might be a little young to fully express all of her imagination, but at the moment she loves studying all of the pieces, and putting them onto the house.

Felt Doll House Kit is $50 (+) shipping

Pattern is $25 (+) shipping

Fully assembled Doll House $125 (+) shipping

*Fabrics will vary depending on availabilty - but know, they will be selected with care! ;-)

Shipping cost for Full Kit is $15 / Pattern $5 / Assembled House $10

All payments can be made via paypal using the account: sing_82@yahoo.com

Hope you enjoy!!!

Thanks!