mine...

...mine, mine, mine....

and i'm so excited!  

....i've wanted this japanese book for forever....

and, yay, it's been translated into english :)

and....i just got my copy here. 

yay!  

treats...

for awhile now....
my daughter's and my favorite stop in epcot is the japan department store, Mitsukoshi,
she is all about quirky fun pens....
so a mouse pen that writes different colors when you push down either ear was the perfect find...
i'm all about the shinzi katoh paper goods....
....with adorable drawings and sayings like... "i would like travel somewhere unknown....until it gets dark" and
"if you become far taller than me, could you still talk to me?"
....they are absolutely wonderful.....
and i always have to look through the hello kitty section....
...the find this time....a keychain tapemeasurer...perfection!
my youngest has now added the stop to his list as well...
a pal introduced him to the hard to find "hi chew" candy and he was on a mission to find it in japan....
....if you have never had it, it tastes like starburst with the texture of a gummy bear.....
what's better than spending your birthday money on candy?

a little inspiration...

all this prettiness

can be found over at the

hannah tanaka needlework diary

....

i found it after i got this book

and have since found this book

....a new favorite

....both books, and the site, are filled with ideas

about remaking what you have....

there are lovely inspirational pictures and diagrams

........

which is a little more do-able than trying to follow a pattern that's in a language i can't read :)

eye candy...

how great are the images from this beautiful blog?

the blog is written by the author of one of my new books....
....and yes its all in japanese....

so i can't read a thing.....

but....the pictures are all so fabulous....

enjoy!

favorites from our favorites....

kinokuniya was certainly mine and my daughter's favorite stop

when we were in new york

....here are some of the treats we brought back....

these 3 books that i have already looked through a million times....

(and let me tell you, it was hard to get it down to 3 books.....

so much goodness in one space)

...

add in a cute, cute tee....

....

this was another good stop for my daughter's favorite candy....

i would show you all of the pens my daughter found....

but she took those to camp with her....

....i'm all about paper and she's all about pens...

we make a good team :)
.....

she comes back from camp today....

...and i couldn't be more excited

i love new books.....

these books are so great
i'm so excited about getting this one this past weekend

this one is next.....

i love japanese craft books
...........and i have a few that i can't even read
but i love the photos and styling
so, ........ i am so excited about these translated versions

via amazon

and..........
download some of the patterns from the books here!!