Saturday, June 6, 2009

Loving LACMA - Japanese Fun






We are loving LACMA these days.  This week we took a tour of the Japanese Pavilion.  Some highlights were: statues of Buddhist Monks (made out of wood!), a gold stationary box, and the Netsuke Gallery (miniature sculptures used to suspend purses or boxes from the sash of a man's kimono).  After the tour we had a Sumi-e art lesson.  Our instructor was terrific, and it was fun, but much harder to do than it looked!



Later in the week we enjoyed some real Japanese Mochi with good friends at Mochilato in Irvine.  Micayla and Allie loved the mint chip, Carly liked the raspberry cream, and Nate voted for Mango.  Here's Micayla's description, "They were like creamy gelato with sticky rice paste on the outside - yum!"

Another great way to learn more about Japanese art is by going to the Japanese Garden at CSULB. They have an Arts Day on Sunday, June 7th, and an Origami Festival on Sunday, July 12th.   Maybe we will see you there!


Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Spectacular Sewing


For my 13th birthday party, I sewed 13 aprons for the guests (it was a French pastry party).  Well, one of my friends liked her apron so much, that she asked me to sew her a skirt for her 16th b-day in May!  I was very busy in the past months, but I managed to whip out her skirt in the last week of May.  Ms. Hilde (a seamstress that I normally go to for help with sewing projects) was in Norway, so I had to find somebody else to help me with the skirt.  Luckily, we found a lady who has a sewing shop nearby (The Artisan's Lair) and gives lessons.  So I went to her, and she filled me chock full of information: how to do the basting stitches just right, what "pinking shears" are, how to straighten the "grain line", why you don't want to use the "selvage" and how to sew a button hole with precise precision.  Ms. Linda was a meticulous teacher.  It was good for me; I learned to slow down and work more carefully.  Ms. Linda is such a wonderful sewing instuctor, I'm going back in the Summer to work on a sun dress with her.  If you like to sew, but want to learn more about the art, then Ms. Linda's sewing lessons are for you!  Here is me and my friend Olivia (who I made the skirt for, also the skirt that I'm wearing I made) and a picture of me with Ms. Linda below.