DIY Clutch Frenzy!

I've been able to operate a sewing machine probably since I was in elementary school.  There's no greater feeling than sporting something that YOU made, especially when you're out in public and compliments are flying at you left and right!

My most favorite thing to make are bags.  Bags in all shapes and sizes.  You can never have too many! Especially here on Maui, they've banned plastic bags in all stores (which is pretty awesome for the earth), so it's always nice to have some extra ones handy for grocery shopping or the farmers markets!

I've made simple purses and totebags before, but lately, I've been on a clutch kick thanks to the ever-so-addicting Pinterest.  Why clutches?  Because they're tiny, and in my mind tiny = quick project.  Yeah, I love to sew, but the most grueling part is cutting out patterns, measuring, pinning, pressing seams open..the whole nine-yards.

Sometimes, I just want to have a quickie sewing project to get it out of my system.  Is that too much to ask?!

So, I scoured Pinterest for the cutest and simplest patterns...and came across this one.  I bought all my supplies from Fabric.com (if you are from Hawaii, free shipping does not apply...boo!)....some microsuede fabric, awesome triangle print for the outside, a nice mint-green cotton for the lining, and a sick brass zipper for some detail.  Here is my first attempt:

Super cute right?  Of course!

However, the thing turned out HUGE.  I followed the dimensions that she had written out and thought, and when it was done I was pretty pleased with the looks of it...but when I started using it as a daily purse, I immediately came to the conclusion that it was too big, bulky, and awkward/impractical to use as an every day purse.  Plus, since it's bigger, you tend to put more stuff in it, and when you want to get stuff out, having no strap means you need to find a place to set it down so you can dig through and find what you need.  By all means, I love the clutch and think it's super cute, but it was a tad to big.

I had a bunch of fabric left over, so I decided to make a smaller one, this time using some fabric I had found at a garage sale a while back (I totally forgot I had it LOL).  I bought a 9" zipper from walmart. In the instructions from the tutorial, the whole adding a zipper thing was really difficult to follow, especially WITHOUT using a zipper foot like how she recommends, so I looked up other tutorials on sewing zippers/bags and came across this site that had a great explanation on how to install one.  I used her technique on adding the zipper and lining and it was SO MUCH EASIER!

I am SOO happy with the results!  It turned out better than my first one, and it was quicker to assemble since it was my second go.  It's the perfect size for a night out, and the colors came together really well!  I took it with me to Fred's for some Taco Tuesday action with my hubby and friends and got lots of compliments!

The flap actually stays down pretty well on it's own, but I want to add a magnetic purse snap closure next time.  Overall I'd say that this was a success!  What do you think?

Kimchi

Hi from out of nowhere!

I is back.

Let's see how long this'll last LOL.  So, I've been craving something lately.  Something that I haven't made in a while.  Something time consuming to make, but oh-so-delicious.

Kimchi.

What is it may you ask?  It is fermented, spicy vegetable goodness.  Yes, I said it, FERMENTED.  But it isn't as horrible as you may think. It's actually really good for you, and in Korea, it has been said to have great health benefits, much similar to the benefits of yogurt.

Kimchi ingredients waiting to be chopped up

The most common kind is made from napa cabbage, or as we call it in Hawaii, Chinese cabbage.  You take the cabbage, let it sit in a salt bath until its bulk is cut in half, but still crunchy.  This process takes about an hour and a half.  Every thirty minutes you turn the cabbage so everything is evenly salted.  After the bath, you rinse it several times.  For this Kimchi making extravaganza, I decided to make napa cabbage kimchi AND daikon, or radish, kimchi.

The salted cabbage, along with other vegetables added for crunch and color variety, such as carrot matchsticks, daikon (radish) and green onions, is then mixed with dried chili peppers, a paste made from ground onions, garlic and ginger, and "porridge" comprised of water, sweet rice flour (used to make mochi), and a little sugar.

Daikon and Cabbage kimchi mixed and ready to be put into jars!

STOP.......Fermentation time!

After everything's all mixed together, you pack it carefully into some jars, let it sit out on the counter for a day or two, then put it into the fridge for another few days to finish the fermentation process.

What's left as the end result is this spicy, slightly sour, vegetable goodness that accompanies almost any entree, but can even be so satisfying by just eating it with a plain bowl of hot, steamy rice!

Yes, the process seems lengthy and tiring, but I can promise you that the end result is worth it.

Here is the link to the recipe that I started off using.  Maangchi is a Youtube personality that shows the world how to cook delicious Korean food!  Her website and Youtube channel are both a great resource for those who would like to learn more about korean cooking.  I've tried many of her recipes with success!  If you decide to try and make some kimchi, this is a good recipe for older kimchi that you'd like to get rid of from a huge batch.  Kimchi stew.  OMGAH...sooooo good!  Soooo easy too!

I started a Word document to document my kimchi experiments.  I'm trying to come up with my own recipe that produces the perfect kimchi results that suits and satisfies my palette.  Maybe when it is perfected, I'll post the recipe???  We shall see!  Right now I have my batch sitting on the counter for fermentation.  I'll post results!

Happy Kimchi Making, and wish me luck on this batch!!!!

Fermenting on the counter.  OMNOMNOM.  Can't wait!

My love of food

Wait wait wait...I KNOW it's been a WHILE since I've written..in fact, two years..teehee...but I felt like I needed to get inspired again. Lets face it: I get tired. I get lazy. After work, I just want to plop and do nothing...and I want to stop it! On this day off from work I decided to blog...about one of my favorite things: FOOD, and my memories with it.

Oh how I love food. I love to make it, eat it, and look at it. Often times my eyes are way bigger than my stomach.

Growing up, my mother cooked for us every day. It was her pure love of cooking for us that stuck with me long after she had passed away in 2006. I always appreciated it, and told myself that I wanted to be just as great a cook and baker as she was. We only went out to eat when it was someone's birthday, or for some other special occasion, and it was usually at this old chinese restaurant in town where the old lady who owned it would give us White Rabbit candies when we went to pay the check.

But it wasn't just my mom who cooked like crazy. Our whole family was into food. We always had some kind of occasion, holiday or excuse to get together and have these huge feasts.

New year's was my favorite. My mom would whip out our mochi making machine she had gotten from Shirokiya in the mall, and make fresh mochi on new years eve. I remember when the mochi was ready, we would dump it onto the tray, dust the working surface and our hands with potato starch and try to roll flattened balls of mochi out of the big hot glob of rice. We would eat it with kinako flour and sugar mixed together for the next several days.

We would also gather at my Aunty Honey's house and make laulau - a traditional hawaiian dish of pieces of pork, beef and butter fish wrapped in taro leaves and steamed to perfection. It was a family affair...everyone would gather and start an assembly line down the picnic tables in the downstair's kitchen. My uncle had (and still HAS) a big galvanized trash can he used specifically for cooking and steaming the lau lau in. The whole thing would be full of laulaus, enough for New Years, and left overs for everyone else to take home and freeze for the rest of the year to enjoy.

There are so many memories of family and food that come to mind, and it has become a big part of who I am today. I am always thinking about what I want to make next, constantly scouring the web for new recipes, and perfecting ones I already have tried. Whenever we go out to eat, or I make something for dinner, my boyfriend tries not to laugh every time I stop before we dig in as I take pictures of my food to post on my facebook. I want to share, not only my arts and crafts, but my love of food with the world. I'll be posting some pictures soon of some of the things I've made :)

Long Overdue...

This is way overdue, but I made a promise with myself that I was going to do something artsy that one weekend...and I DID!!!! I did a watercolor of a rose that I had picked from my aunty's rose bush...here it is...

I got frustrated a little...I forgot how un-forgiving watercolor could be...but hey gotta start back up somewhere, right? I was going to enter it in the Black Book art competition at the Art Supple Warehouse in Huntington Beach, but could not due to a HECTIC schedule lately...

I recently found a new job back at home on Maui! I found out about 2 weeks ago that I got hired..therefore less than 2 weeks to move. STRESSSSS. But I am still SO excited and thankful for this opportunity. Will post more about this later, but I wanted to post my painting...so here it is....let me know what you think!

Tight budget till next paycheck = art project!

Sooo, I've been trying to save some $$$. The result? Super strict budgeting...and because of this, I cannot spend any more money until next week Thursday. This means...I've grounded myself and will not leave the house this weekend..and I'm forcing myself to eat what I already have at home instead of going out and picking something up. Hello samin! Hello tuna and rice!!! Hello frozen gyoza!! Hello plain pasta with EVOO (really?? am I using Rachel Ray terms?!), Salt, and Garlic Powder...How I've missed you so (kind of...sort of...not really...)... I feel like I'm reverting to my extremely poor college student diet. I don't think I would have survived if it weren't for those foods..

Me? Not leave the house? Stay in ALLL weekend? Is this possible? I make it sound like I'm in prison, but ever since I got my car, I don't think there is one day where I haven't had to leave the house...you know, gotta go to the bank, run some errands, go get groceries, put gas in the car, etc. I'm just wondering if I can force myself to just NOT go anywhere. Well, maybe the only place I'll allow myself to go is the Gym, since I am paying for it, and I have been slacking the last two weeks...but YOU know what I mean.

What's a girl to do? How will I keep my sanity?

Do I hear..."ART PROJECT"?!

HELLS YEAH! I need to keep up with my blogging commitment of staying crafty and documenting my every artsy-fartsy move. I'm scared to even say all of this because it means that I HAVE to put out....but what do I want to do?

I was thinking of doing a watercolor painting. I bought a set of watercolor tubes from the Aaron Brothers store when I first moved to Cali almost 2 years ago, and I think I've only used it less than a hand-full of times since then.

I remember in the 6th grade, my mom had me enter the Maui County Fair art show. She never forced me to. It was my own decision, always...and I always enjoyed doing it...ever since the 1st grade. I did a still life of some fruit in a wicker basket with a chiffon scarf and Japanese tea kettle...and I won best in show :) My mom taught me everything I know about art. She taught me how to watercolor paint....and I want to remember it all, and continue it. And, because I haven't touched paints as often as I should, or picked up some charcoal or colored pencils and started drawing my heart out..I feel kind of guilty. I also kind of forgot how to get inspired. When I even THINK about wanting to draw or paint...I kind of freak out and don't know where to start...and when I do start, I get frustrated if it doesn't look like how I want it to look.

I guess I'm a perfectionist when it comes to art..but maybe I'm being too hard on myself? Especially since I haven't kept up with it, I can't expect things to just pick up where they left off and have everything looking fine and dandy..I kind of have to just, well, go with the flow, and deal with the kinks along the way....

So my reader(s? lol), I am challenging myself to a watercolor painting. Let's see what I can pull off. Time to whip out the newspaper, paper towels, paints, and brushes!!!!

Aloha! はじめまして、どうぞよろしく！

I'm finally doing it! A blog! Something I've always wanted to do but just never got around to it. I was always the type of person who would start a journal or diary, write in it for the first 4 days, forget about it for months, and repeat the cycle again...hopefully it wont happen here! I've been posting my creations on my Facebook like crazy, but you're so limited with just a picture and a caption...then there are the notes...but to me it's a humbug and unorganized...I just want a place where I can dedicate and document all the creative and culinary creations that I come up with. Hell, maybe I'll even post some makeup blogs too. I've really gotten into tutorials on Youtube, and have been getting better at my makeup application, so it would be fun to post that stuff here as well!

So, for those of you who don't know.....Who am I? I'm Miss Aiko. Born and raised in Hawaii, currently residing in California. I'm Japanese, Hawaiian, & Korean fun. I love food..eating, cooking, trying new recipes. Growing up, we never really went out to eat unless it was a special occasion, like a birthday, etc...therefore, or family was ALWAYS in the kitchen. My family was always big on food. We never skimped and would always go ALL OUT when it came to family gatherings. Hawaiian food is what I grew up with. I use that term loosely...there IS real deal Hawaiian food: lau lau, poi, lomi salmon, kulolo, etc....but also a huge impact from other cultures as well going back to the Plantation days...mainly Japanese, then Korean, Portuguese, Filipino, etc. I am so fortunate to have grown up in such an environment, as it taught me to be open-minded about different cultures and their foods.

I love art. My mom was an art teacher and so, ever since I could remember, I was always drawing or doing arts and crafts. You name it, I've done it...beading/jewelery, sewing, crocheting, kniting, polymer clay, ceramics, origami..the whole shebang! It's a passion of mines. I love creating something different and unique..seeing something in the store, or something that someone is wearing and thinking to myself "I could make that!". Up until my days at the community college, I was really crafty...after that, you know, life happens, I got busy (or maybe just lazy LOL), and kind of lost touch with my creative side...hopefully by starting this blog, it will kind of force me to keep up with it and showing the world what I have to offer...one day, I would love to sell my creations on Etsy! My problem is that, I always come up with a whole bunch of ideas, get excited about it, start, and not finish. I really need to just take it one project at a time..this might be a good place to start and enforce that!

Well, that's good for now...lets see how this works out..I'm excited!!!