***** Wedding Dolls *****

I made it in time! After researching about polymer clay and polymer clay dolls online, I was able to put together these two dolls. Big thanks to those polymer clay artists! I baked the dolls for about 10 minutes after the shaping was done. Then I did the decorations using a pre-packaged wedding theme stickers. I followed the advices by those artists to use aluminum foil to form most of the core body parts to save clays so I still have lots of left over clays to make more dolls : ) Hope my cousin and her husband will like the dolls on their special day.

I got hooked on Photobooth at Unique OC

Unique OC was inspiring!

The size was smaller than the one in last December but it seems like I was spending more time looking at high quality products. I was able to attend on both days since I was in the area on the weekend. It' s cool that they allow you to come in for both days with one admission ticket from Saturday. There are lots of well-designed&crafted products there. I wish there was a village where I could go anytime I want to to buy products made in local by people from here in LA or OC. I have been working on some designs of my friend's products for a year now and I am suggesting her to debut her products at Unique LA event. It would be nice to meet other creators at the event as well. I can't wait for the day to come!!

Oh, there is one thing I got hooked on at the event. It was a photo booth by photoboothlove.com.

They had a photo booth setup and you can bring any props you want to take pictures. It's unexpectedly fun! This photo taking experience was very popular and I saw many people lined up and kept on taking pictures. They can come to your house or any place you request to setup the booth. Here are some pictures I took with my lovely friend...

UNIQUE LA at LAB in Costa Mesa on Aug14th&15th, 2010

If you are into design & craft, you should visit the Lab in Costa Mesa this weekend. They are having an event called UNIQUE LA / Independent Design & Gift show.

I have been working on a craft project with my friends and we would like to have a booth for our products at this event soon. I have been to their December show before and it was inspiring. All the things are made locally by local artists. I am going to update more images from the event*

Polymer Clay Wedding Dolls

My little cuisine is getting married this September. Unfortunately I am not able to attend the wedding but I really want to do something nice for her wedding to show my love to her and her husband. She asked me if I can make a "Welcome Board" for their reception party and my answer was "Of course!". She said that her older brother didn't want to do it although he is pretty good at drawing (he is a graphic designer and he designed and made a scull motif motorcycle for his graduation exhibition!)

I don't have two kids like him so decided to make dolls of bride and groom as well as the welcome board. Here is a picture of the progress. You may notice how tanned the groom looks. It is requested by the groom. He said "Please make it Ganguro (Ganguro means tanned face in Japanese.)" He also wants me to make the sideburns 2mm longer : ) What a fun guy he is. I don't have enough experience with the polymer clay so it is taking sometime for me to handle it right but so far so good it seems!? I will post the progress as I move forward.

Packaging Design of W Coffee by Itoen

Packaging Design of W Coffee by Itoen

Itoen is a well-known beverage company in Japan whose famous drink is called "Ooi Ocha (hey, Tea in Japanese...)" When I try drinks from vending machines in Japan, I often find myself choosing drinks from the vending machines by Itoen. It's a coincident but they sure make good drinks that catch my eyes. During my recent trip to Japan, I found cool packaging designs for coffee by Itoen.

Here is a photo of the coffee I tried on the train to Sapporo from Asahikawa.

I also like their another beverage series called TEA'S TEA. It attracts me with its woven textile like patterns with gradient colors. I am looking fotward to seeing more designs from Itoen.

San Francisco Trip

I got a chance to visit San Francisco end of the last month to attend a visual design training

at Cooper. During my stay, I explored the town. The look of the buildings in SF are very different from LA and I enjoyed observing and taking pictures of the cityscape.

babycakes NYC in LA

Last month, on the way to Little Tokyo, I saw a sign "babycakes." (http://www.babycakesnyc.com/) I know what it is immediately because I have had their cupcakes in NY before. Parking in la downtown is impossible so I didn't stop for a bite last time. Another chance came unexpectedly last weekend and I was landed at their shop successfully. Here is a perfect shot of a vanilla cupcake with a purple icing on a turquoise green antique plate. They know how to please me ; )