buzzville

the (not so) calm before the storm!

What can I say? I really don't want to sound like a big whiner, so I'll try hard not to. Life and everything happening at the moment is just a huge whirling, swirling mess. Too many obligations, too many goals, too many projects. Hmph! I have a list of things I want to blog, and the list grows daily, but so does the long list of things I need to accomplish each day. And so, the blog has been neglected and is withering before my eyes. Apologies all around - I'm trying.

But, on a positive note, I do have things to share. New and exciting things! As part of starting superbuzzy, Mariko and I always dreamed of business trips to Japan. However, I had basically written a trip off because of the expense... if one of us should go, it should certainly be Mariko, who can actually speak the language, right?!? Then all of a sudden there were extraordinary airfares - I mean unheard of - and the offer of financial investments in the company from family to help things happen (what would we do without you wonderful people - even those of you who have no money to share?!?), and suddenly we both have roundtrip tickets to Tokyo - in just a couple of weeks! I'm really still in shock, but I need to be productive: make lists, arrange for Brynne, schedule appointments, study my Japanese, research *everything*, re-organize, and the list goes on and on. The lists are multiplying and developing into kinship diagrams that would make even the most experienced cultural anthropologist shudder. I'm trying hard to let the anxiety and sense of responsibility not get the best of me. We want this to be an excellent trip, a productive trip, but I have to remember that it should also be a fun trip.

And so, if anyone still reads this decrepit blog, I need your help! Please tell us where to go, what you'd like us to buy for the shop, what you'd like to hear about and see pictures of! We'll certainly be in Tokyo, and our visit is timed to coincide with Yokohama International Quilt Week, but we may also be traveling to Osaka and Nagoya. We're already picking the poor brains of some of our dear friends (not to mention superbuzzy enablers!), but we'd love to get suggestions of all kinds from anyone and everyone! We're going to try to find a way to post a superbuzzy travelogue of sorts while we're away so that we can share in the adventures, because I know we're going to have some great encounters with yummy food, a vast assortment of vending machines, and more crafty shopping that ought to be allowed!

And finally, thanks for reading, thanks for commenting, and thanks for just hanging around!

Bubblejet madness!

Hmmmm, it would seem that working, trying to help run a new business, being a full-time mom, taking 2 classes, trying to maintain some semblance of a relationship with my husband, and avoiding a total disaster in our house seems to be getting in the way of blogging lately. And that's a real bummer because I do love blogging... So, I'm trying to re-prioritize, reorganize, and re-think how I'm going about time management these days, and I hope to make some headway! I'm posting far too infrequently for my taste, and I hope I can find a way to change that very soon!

Today's post is a bit of a teaser, but I'm hoping it will be a bit fun anyway! I spent a few hours last week making the latest little promotional items for superbuzzy orders (the keychains are all gone for now!), and had a ton of fun. Our house seems to be regularly invaded by swarms of bees these days, but this swarm was particularly endearing! I printed bees on our printer using fabric that had been pre-treated with Bubble Jet Set:

 

and I cut the little guys into patches:

I'm hoping these will be fun for folks to use as appliques or patchwork pieces on different projects... What do you think? Any suggestions/requests for future promotional gifts?

As an aside, I hope to add a tutorial soon for those of you who may be interested in using Bubble Jet Set, but haven't yet tried it.

Mariko and I are on the edge of our seats waiting for a big order to arrive, so we hope to have an update by this weekend! Stay tuned, and sign up for the newsletter if you haven't already!

pssst!

I hear there's an update with fresh new products over at superbuzzy... click on over if you're interested!

We sent out a newsletter, so if you didn't get it and you think you're supposed to, let us know so that we can figure out what might be going wrong!

i think i'm turning Japanese

It seems as if all things Japanese are suddenly ruling my life. You probably already know about superbuzzy, and you can probably imagine that much of my time is now consumed by finding, buying, and featuring the cutest Japanese craft goods for the shop. But, you don't know that I just started an extremely basic Japanese class this week - yes, very scary! Then, as I was perusing the new items today while grabbing groceries at Trader Joe's, I just about fainted when I saw this:

Those of you who have been reading this blog for a while might remember that I am a bit obsessed with green tea, and that obsession extends to all green tea things - ice cream, candy, baked goods, etc. (This is, after all, what makes my partnership with Mariko a matcha made in heaven!) So, while this is by no means listed as acceptable on the diet I try to stick with, there was no way I was leaving that store without at least one box of this matcha baking mix. Brynne and I raced home ready to have a mommy and Brynne baking experiment. The mix goes together very simply - just 2 eggs, half a stick of butter, and 2/3 cup of water.

Brynne is an excellent mix-tress, and she made quick work of the batter. Now, don't worry about what the batter might resemble (thoughts of pureed baby peas come to mind) - this is matcha! I convinced Brynne that matcha muffins are a less well known Seussian accompaniment to green eggs and ham.

I used my handy silicone muffin cups and baked the suggested recipe yield of 9 muffins for 20 minutes.

The finished muffins were very yummy - not too sweet, not too bitter - with lots of matcha goodness coming through. My only recommendation would be to divide the batter amongst 10 muffin cups, as ours were overflowing and made a teensy mess on my baking sheet. The muffins are light - not dense - and perfect with a nice cup of tea.

The turning Japanese syndrome continues tonight when I go to my quilt class to continue work on the pixelated quilt, stolen from one of my Japanese craft books.

Shop Update!

Yay! I know many of you have been waiting to hear news of the latest superbuzzy arrivals, and I'm happy to say they're up and ready! From the much anticipated hedgehogs, to fantastic lampwork beads, to cozy flannel for fall projects, we think there's something for everyone!

We've also been refining the site a bit, and we've added a Buzzy Friends Gallery where we'd love to feature pictures of your finished projects made using superbuzzy stuff! So, please let us know if you'd like to have your photos added to the gallery. We've also set up a superbuzzy flickr group, and we'd like to invite you to join!

As always, please let us know if you have any questions, suggestions, or just want to chat! I'm having some technical difficulties with the newsletter, but I hope to get it out asap for all the non-blog readers.

Big News!

It's time for me to confess that I have been keeping a secret from all of you for a long time - over a year. It's been a very tough secret to keep, and I have been close to spilling the goods many times. But, today is the day when I can finally make the announcement and introduce my biggest WIP yet!

You know how some things were just meant to go together... like peanut butter and jelly, wine and cheese, campfires and s'mores... Well, today is the big day for the best pairing yet - a special collaboration between super eggplant and buzzville! You see, Mariko and I started talking a while back about awesome Japanese fabrics, and what a shame it was that they're nearly impossible (or at least ridiculously expensive) to get our hands on. We schemed and planned, made new friends, traveled a bit, and learned a lot. After hundreds of email messages and phone calls, many longs hours of work, and becoming more than just a bit familiar with scanners, web development, and Illustrator, we bring you:

We think that superbuzzy.com will be your best source for the cutest craft supplies, including fabric, notions, and lots of other fun stuff.

But, all of this could not and would not have been possible without the help of some fantastic and savvy crafty friends. You see, superbuzzy's first purchases were sought out and hand selected in Japan by the incredible Molly and Jan, and they have been constant resources for us throughout the development process. We've also found a tremendous ally in Kat who has helped us locate resources in Japan, navigate our way through details of Japanese business, and been available at any moment to answer loads of random questions. Huge thanks to these 3 fabulous, crafty women for supporting our venture and helping it become real.

I hope you have a few moments to check out the site and let us know what you think. Although we've tested and tested, we've probably missed something, so do let us know if you find anything weird on the site. If you're interested in finding out about new items, just create an account and sign up to receive our newsletter. We're expecting 2 big shipments in the next month, so there will be even more eye candy very soon.

more books, part deux

As promised, I'm posting about 2 more recent Japanese craft book acquisitions today. I've selfishly saved the best for last!

ISBN 4391621274 - I had to buy this one for the cover alone! This book features cute kid zakka - bags, pouches, sleepover packs, pencil toppers, hair accesories, ornaments/charms, etc.

ISBN 4140311371 - This book is huge for me - such an inspiration and so beautiful! It's a quilt book, where everything is white, spare, minimal, refreshing, and modern. I love the way white was used with touches of color in each of the projects, and I love the play of bits of color used like pixels in some of the pieces. Tons of ideas brewing from this one - I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do!

How's that for some inspiration?!?

More books, oh my!

I should really update my Japanese craft book purchases more often, because I have *way* too many books to post today. I considered dividing this up into 2 posts... maybe I'll do that. Anyway, here are some of my latest Japanese craft book acquisitions; these have also been added to my library.

ISBN 4277171877 - Cute book of amigurumi, including softies, charms, and a coin purse/zippered pouch thingy.

ISBN 4309280404 - This is just what I had been wanting - only I didn't know it! A book featuring ideas for making stamps and projects for using them on fabric, paper, etc. The best part? The book includes pages of the stamp designs used in the book so that you can "borrow" them for your own stamp making!

ISBN 4277430716 - This book is all about making book covers using knitting or crochet, fabric, paper, etc., and it also includes some cute artwork for making your own stamps.

ISBN 4544043468 - I'm *so* thrilled I found this one! This is an entire book made up of full color (front and back) papercrafting templates to build an entire little city! Pages are heavy, matte cardstock and include cutting and folding lines. I think Brynne's still a tad young for this one, but I'm saving it until she's ready for papercrafting she won't destroy... The graphics in this one are really fun, and each of the cars is an actual car make & model.

 

Ok... I think I'm going to stop there in the hopes that I won't overload you with too many photos! I'll post some more new books tomorrow!

Settling down after Easter madness...

It's been nice to try to settle back to a semi-regular schedule today after an extremely busy Easter weekend, filled with egg hunts, feasting, family visits, and general chaos. The Easter bunny was very generous with Brynne this year (could it be because she's actually using the potty?!?), and hid her basket in the dryer at the end of a trail of jelly beans. The bunny was also in cahoots with me on a little side project for the basket - he requested a handmade soft toy to match Brynne's bonnet. I had the perfect inspiration from the spring issue of Cotton Friend magazine - the pattern wasn't included, but with Jerry's fantastic sketching skills we were able to collaborate to make a bunny pattern based on this picture:

I used the same vintage yellow floral and orange fabrics from Brynne's bonnet, and I added a green cotton for the bunny's dress. The main body of the bunny is made from super soft 100% wool felt and I embroidered the facial features with brown floss. This little one (still awaiting a name!) was hiding in the basket on Easter morning:

As you can see, she really likes carrots, so we're working out a plan to keep them in regular supply. This bunny has already been seen having conversations and play dates with other local bunnies, so we think she's settling right in to her new home. She's enjoying the warm weather that has suddenly appeared on our doorstep, and lounging with Brynne in the back yard appears to be her favorite pastime at the moment. Welcome little bunny!

Japanese Crafting Fans

I was so excited to see my Japanese craft library and Crafting Japanese mentioned in the Make blog (one of my favorites!). Does that count as 1 minute of fame?!?