Tea Rose Home

A Few Fantastic Nights

noreply@blogger.com (Sachiko Aldous) — Tue, 21 May 2013 10:00:00 +0000

If you haven't entered in for a chance to win the cruise voucher for a family of 4, make sure to go to this post and do so!

Last Friday, a couple tickets to Les Miserables were given to us. Mr. TRH and I were able to have such a special (it was totally unexpected too!) date. I LOVE going to plays, but usually, we are too busy, or some of the ticket prices are a lot more than I can bear, we hardly ever do that. Les Miserables was one of the plays that I have always wanted to see. It was so wonderful, and there were several parts that I needed a tissue. Seriously, why didn't I think to take some? There were many times I was tempted to wipe my tears (and runny nose) on Mr. TRH's shoulder... I admire and appreciate the talents that other people possess so much. It was just a fantastic night.

Talk about a fantastic night! One of the things we started doing as a family since we started living at my in-laws is... Family walks.

They live near a nice walking trail, and we decided to take advantage of that. The thing is that I usually can't go on the family walks because I can't walk too much. If I do, it will aggravate my vein problem and I will be in pain for several days. Though, we found a wheel chair that Mr.TRH's grandmother used to use in the garage.

Yeah, take it for a spin! We really enjoy the time we spend together.

The last time I took my camera with me. I was clicking happily while Mr. TRH pushed me around in the wheelchair. Look at this amazing cloud. Watching the kids having a ball, talking to Mr. TRH, and taking pictures randomly... it cannot get better than that, oh wait! It did. We had ice cream after the walk. :)

What is your happy maker lately?

Mother's day and ...

noreply@blogger.com (Sachiko Aldous) — Wed, 15 May 2013 11:00:00 +0000

If you haven't entered in for a chance to win the cruise voucher for a family of 4, make sure to go to the the post and do so!

Hello! I have been scatter minded lately (as I talked to you a few posts ago...), but I have a lot of things that I have promised to do for blogging and non-blogging things. I have decided to make a list of them last night and clear my mind, and making a list may sound really simple, but boy it helped me so much to prioritize!

One thing I started doing today is making a flower arrangement for my friend's daughter's reception. Mainly, they are using real flowers, but they needed a flower arrangement with silk flowers as well. I haven't seen the flowers they ordered and I have no idea how they are going to arrange them. The only clue I have is the picture of the flowers and color scheme... hmmm... I hope I can make it work.

How was your mother's day? Mine was very relaxing and I enjoyed my family and extended family's company. I received a mother's day gift and cards from Mr.TRH and our kids. One of the cards I got from Rachel read:

Dear Mom,

Thank you for marrying my dad. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here.

love

Rachel

That was totally unexpected, and just gave me a huge grin. Seriously, what do you say to that? "your welcome?" :)

The day was a great reminder of how lucky I am to have the family that I have. Especially, to be a mother to all my kiddos.

I will share the flower arrangement when I am done. The wedding is getting close, and I should get working on it!

Summer is Near Necklace

noreply@blogger.com (Sachiko Aldous) — Fri, 10 May 2013 10:00:00 +0000

I have been wanting to create a necklace that looks delicate, versatile, and has a little more detailed design than just stringing beads. I drew up some designs and came up with this...

I was pretty happy with how it turned out, and had to take this for a test run. The beads and pearls I used are light beige, and as I predicted, it is pretty versatile with many different outfits. It has enough presence but it doesn't scream out "Look, I am here!"... this is exactly what I wanted. :)

I am going to make this with white or ivory beads & pearls in the near future. I think it will be a great addition to my summer wardrobe.

Norwegian Cruise Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Sachiko Aldous) — Tue, 07 May 2013 15:00:00 +0000

It is that time of the year again…the kids will be out of school for the summer, and we get to have fun! We get to visit the fun places in our local area, such as museums, fun centers and pool. Plan a summer picnic with family and friends. Play outside all day and watch movies till their eyes droop. Sure, there are lots of things to do every day, but I also love going on a big family vacation too.

I don’t know about you, but it’s not like we can afford a costly family vacation every year. That is why when we have the opportunity to do so, it is such a big deal for us. To make sure that we get the maximum fun for our modest budget, I get busy researching and planning for our trip. What do I do and where to start? There are a few key points I think about when I am planning for our trip. 1. Where do we want to go? 2. What is our budget? 3. How do we get there? 4. Where do we to stay? 5. What kinds of activities are there? Are they going to satisfy everyone? What kind of restaurants are nearby? Of course your list might contain something different from mine, or the order might be different, but for our family vacation planning, those are the things that come to mind. Let me share some examples how I planned our family vacation according to my list…The last couple big vacations we took was to Lego Land and Sea World one year, and Disneyland another year.

Because we wanted to take our children to those places for a long time, the answer to the question No.1 was easy. The No. 2 question on the list… budget… Mr. TRH and I already had a budget, but we decided to add a bit extra just in case (which turned out to be a good thing… on one of our trips, our van broke down after we got to our hotel, we needed repairs and that cost us over $300!). No.3 on the list “how to get there?” took me a very long time, here is why. Because we drove instead of flying, I looked at the actual map and got on Google maps. I not only looked at the route from our home to the destination, after I decided on questions No.4 and 5, I went back and marked all the places we wanted to go. Then, printed out all the directions on how to get from point A to B, B to C, then C to A and such; then I put everything in a binder. You might think that this is unnecessary, but I am glad I did. Our navigator system wasn’t working, and we weren’t familiar with that area at all! That planning totally helped us and we never had problems finding places.

The next thing on the list was where we are going to stay. I started looking for all the nearby hotels. Comparing their prices, location, and all the amenities are very important. Also, some hotels have special offers such as combining hotel stay and Lego land/Disney Land park tickets. I spent a long time looking for great deals and it was totally worth it! No. 6 on the list is amenities, activities and restaurants. Since our vacations have been pretty economical ones, our family is pretty easy to please. Here are the few things I look for… a pool at the hotel is a “must”, being able to watch movies in our room, having a small refrigerator, and a microwave would be nice. I also look for other activities to do, and finding interesting restaurants is one of the exciting parts for our family. Phew… I feel like planning for the family vacation is a lot of effort and time. Don’t you agree? That is why one of my dream family vacations is to go on a cruise!

Have you checked out Norwegian Cruise Line lately? I have been doing some reading on their site and found out many awesome things about them! They offer Freestyle Cruising, there are so many activities and entertainment for people of all age groups, and the youth program seems very interesting. I have children ages 7 to 12 years old, and a 5 year difference at this age is pretty big. If we were taking our family on a cruise, I would want to make sure that we will all have fun. On their kids and youth program, there are many things that caught my eye. I know my kids will surely enjoy something like CIRQUE DU JOUR (a circus program) and many of their sporting activities. There are of course overall family-friendly ship features to enjoy too. After all, we go on a family vacation to enjoy each other and make lots of fun memories. Head over to Norwegian’s site and find out more about their family vacation options.

Now, Norwegian and BlogHer are doing a sweepstakes for one grand prize - a cruise voucher for a family of 4!! This is one prize for all the blogs in the program---not a family cruise for each blog. “What is your dream vacation for your family?” Answer in the comments section below for a chance to win!

Sweepstakes Rules: No duplicate comments. You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

1. Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
2. Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: "#SweepstakesEntry"; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
3. Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
4. For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry. The Official Rules are available here.

Entries from all participating blogs will be pooled for winner selection; only two entries per household. This giveaway is open to US residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected. This sweepstakes will run from 5/7/2013 to 6/2/2013. Be sure to visit Norwegian Cruise Line's brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ posts!

Good luck everyone!

Scatter Brained, Delayed Projects

noreply@blogger.com (Sachiko Aldous) — Fri, 03 May 2013 10:00:00 +0000

I am leaving to pick up the kids in the middle of a project...At the end of last week, our house building process finally started to show some progress. After I picked the kids up from school, I drove by the site to see if there were any changes on our lot and there were... They started digging!! As I was watching them digging the ground I had a huge grin on my face; I was so excited and simply couldn't help it. I just sat there and watched them dig for a while. I know they were working hard, but I felt like the process wasn't moving quickly enough. Oh, how I wished I could just jump in there with shovel to help them dig!

Ever since our family moved to our temporary place, my driving each day has increased. Now my kids' school is 5 cities away instead of 2 cities. I am saying this to myself every day, "This is only temporary, and less in than a month they will be out of school".

I have been busy with other things too, and that leaves very little time for my projects.

Though my friends, I am still here. I can't wait to share my new ideas and projects with you in the near future.

One of the other things is that contributing to my "Scattered Brain Syndrome" is that I have been thinking a lot about how I am going to decorate my new house. I go through the entire house in my mind and try to picture how I am going to decorate each room. I can't wait to share the interior decorating process once we move in. It will probably be a slow process because I really want to create lots of things myself, instead of buying everything from the furniture store.

Ambitious (or insane)? Maybe I just love the process of creating our living space from a "house" to a "home".

I would love to hear your decorating stories and tips. Is there favorite area in your house? Where and why? I am looking forward to hearing from you!

Hat-ology

noreply@blogger.com (Sachiko Aldous) — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 10:00:00 +0000

Well, "hatology" might be too big of a title for this post, but basically I just wanted to talk about hats and my love for them today.

It was about 3 weeks ago... Mr. TRH and I were packing to move. In the middle of a really, I mean critically busy time packing our belongings I ran into my hat collection. Then, I had a desire to write about my hats. I started taking pictures of them and dragged Mr. TRH to take my pictures with some of my hats (sorry, hun).

My earliest memory with hats is of a very unattractive cap we all had to wear at gym class at elementary school. They were just regular shaped caps, and were reversible. One side was red, and the other side was white. So when we are separated into teams, one team would wear the red side, and the other team would wear the white side. I didn't like how I looked in that cap and the elastic went under my chin was very tight, and I never liked it.

I didn't wear any form of hat for a long time after that until I graduated from high school.

One day I was at a store when I saw this wool bucket style hat... it is a rather plain looking hat, but for some reason I fell in love with it. Yeah, I guess I could say that this hat started my love for hats.

Over the years my hat collection grew. All of my hats are not expensive at all. Most of the times I find them at Target, TJ Maxx, and some other retailers. Also, I never go shopping thinking that "I am going to buy a hat today". It's just happens. I just happen to find one I really like.

What I found out about buying hats is that, it is not always "more expensive is better". As I mentioned, I tried on some really pricey beautiful hats before for fun but when I looked in the mirror, it didn't look good on me at all. On the other hand, one of my most worn favorite hats came from Target; I only paid $15.

Hats are like sunglasses, you don't know until you wear it if it suits you or not. I am not an expert, but I think many things affect which hat is suitable or not for the person. For example, the shape of the head, width and height of the forehead, facial type, so on and so forth. Also, keep in mind what kind of clothes you own when you are trying to decide which hat to buy. I love checking out men's hats too.

I really love Fedora Hats. I own more of this style than any other style of hat. They go well with pants, and sometimes, I wear them with maxi dresses and skirts too.

This one is kind of a mix of Fedora and Homburg in my opinion. I love the color combination.

The straw hat with BIG brim is my "must have" during the summer to protect my face from the strong sun.

This flat cap is also one of my most beloved hats. It is made out of linen, and I wear this three out of the four seasons.

These conductor/Military style hats are made out of wool and velvet (the black one). They are such a fun and casual design that’s perfect for when wearing pants.

Beret is such a cute hat, I feel like whenever I wear one I'm a bit more girly. There are so many variations out there, but those are my favorites.

As you can see, I am pretty neutral in the color choices of my hats, because I want to wear them with many different outfits. I want the hat to be part of the outfit, not to stand out by itself to distract the whole image. Although, sometimes I can't help myself, I can be drawn to a hat with a little drama (really, it still has conservative colors).

Hats can spice up a simple wardrobe. Some hats are for practical use, and some are simply to make a statement. Whichever it is, I am so glad that I tried on the first wool hat despite the memories of the awful red and white reversible hat. :)

Do you love hats? What is your favorite style?

Jewelries 2 ~ Spring ~

noreply@blogger.com (Sachiko Aldous) — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 04:47:00 +0000

Since the last post, I made some more jewelry. I have been wanting to list them on my Etsy shop, but each process takes a long time and I have been putting it off. I guess I really enjoy creating something, but I am not ambition enough at marketing and the other aspects of running a business.

Are you ready to take a look at what I have been working on?

The first pieces are these earrings. I wear more silver than gold, but I love how these pair turned out. Don't you think they look a little antique-ish?

I had these parts for a while; I finally made up my mind on what to do with them. I threaded them with silver pearl and made them into a bracelet. I know this will go with many different outfits.

Then, I decided to play with some antiqued brass finished chains. I combined four different types of chains to create this bracelet. I have to say, this is one of my favorite pieces.

If you have been reading my blog for a while, you probably have a pretty good idea that I have weakness for ruffles, laces and stuff. Wouldn’t it be so lovely if I could wear a lace motif necklace?

Lace motif by itself is wonderful; but how about 3 times the lace motif? Awesome!

After making fairly simple jewelry pieces, I wanted to make something with more detail. How about some fun bracelets with spring/summer colors?

After going through my jewelry making supplies, I know what I have and what I want to make with them. I am excited as they come along, but I started missing my sewing machine too... :)

Jewelries ~ Spring~

noreply@blogger.com (Sachiko Aldous) — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 04:53:00 +0000

I had to put away many of my sewing/crafting items in to the storage, but I kept some fabrics and jewelry making supplies with me. I promised to make a couple jewelry pieces for one of my friends a while back, so I was working on that, and then I wanted to make more jewelry and kept on going. My problem is that I want to keep them for myself. Though, this time I am thinking about listing them on Etsy. I have been window shopping for furniture and day dreaming of how I can decorate the new house. I better start saving up for them! :)

I will share some jewelry pieces I have made so far...

I wanted to work with solid color beads that are kind of summery. I love this color combination, and the rose on the bracelet is my favorite.

This is another project that I used solid color beads. Originally, I was just going to do all the same beads and make it simple, but as I was making the necklace, I changed my mind. I added some sparkly pieces and I love how it turned out.

This necklace and earring set is for my friend. She has a really fun, outgoing persoanlity and I thought she would look good in the fun colors.

I love how this necklace hangs, and looks great with baggy tops you see in the shops right now. Usually, I don't wear this style of necklace myself, but I really like this one.

I am definitely keeping these earrings! I love the colors, and as you can tell from my blog name, I have a weakness for "rose" or floral items. I think these blue colors are giving the earrings the perfect edge to look sweet without being too cute.

Which one was your favorite? I will share more pictures of my jewelries as I create some more.

Have a nice weekend!

The Reason Why I am So Happy Right Now

noreply@blogger.com (Sachiko Aldous) — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 04:47:00 +0000

Yesterday, for the very first time after I moved out the house I made a couple pieces of jewelry. Though, I am not quite ready to share them with you yet. Hang on tight, I promise that I will post the pictures by the end of this week!

Meanwhile though... I have really exciting news that I have been dying to share with you. Last month, a couple of my projects were published in two separate magazines. If you are interested, or happen to be at the book store, please take a look.

The first one is my otedama (juggling bean bag) and carrying pouch in “Bags Pillows & Pincushions” by Better Homes and Gardens. I always drool over BHG magazines for their beautiful photos, and amazingly written instructions. Seeing my project in their magazine made me so giddy! My project is on pages 49 through 53.

The other project is my She Carries Flowers Bag on Haute Handbags. All of my projects are very close to my heart, but this bag is especially so. It took me quite a while to decide on fabric choices, size of flowers, placement of them, what beads to use etc... it was so exciting to receive the magazine in the mail! You can find my bag on pages 64 to 66.

Thank you everyone for keep reading my blog, and being so supportive with your comments and emails. I love designing and sewing. Coming up with new ideas and project is so much fun and sharing them is added joy to me.

Almost 10 years ago, I started selling stitchery patterns at the local quilting stores and as a business it did fairly well. Most of all, I had so much fun! Then, my third baby came... I was in love with her and wanted to take really good take care of her. Also, it was a huge adjustment to having three kids for me (two very busy boys+baby) and I just couldn't keep up with the business. I know there are quite a few talented designers who have many children and very successful with their business too. I guess I am not very good at multitasking.

I still sell my existing patterns, but I haven't produced any new patterns to sell for a long time. Having Tea Rose Home has been such a great way to share my creations, though, I have been longing for going back to pattern business again for quite some time. Psst... so my friends, what do you think? I want to keep blogging, and anything too big or too busy might overwhelm me, so maybe start small and slow? If you have some tips to share on how to successfully run your own business I am all ears (eyes?)! Thinking about this makes me a little nervous, but at the same time excited and happy. Is that a good indication?

Love you all, thank you again for being here. :) ((hugs))

My Moving Story Part 2 and More

noreply@blogger.com (Sachiko Aldous) — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 03:34:00 +0000

First of all, thanks to all who left very supportive comments or sent me emails on my first moving post. I appreciate them very much and enjoyed some of your experiences too. A couple of you mentioned, "I hope the worst part is over..." Hehehe... Believe or not, there is more to tell. Now when I look back at it, it is kind of funny and I can laugh about it (also, there is something I can write on my blog to share!), though, at the time it wasn't funny at all.

So, after we packed everything and the movers took our stuff to the storage unit, we still had a lot to do. We had a couple more days to pack other things we need to take to my in-laws, clear out the food from the refrigerator and pantry. Also, the storage we rented didn't allow us to store food items or paint and such. We decided to rent a small U-Haul truck to take all of our food storage items and more the next day. We were so tired and decided to crash that night...

The next morning came... and guess what. Mr. TRH got sick. A week before that, one of our kids got the stomach flu and we guessed that that's what he got. He was so pale and weak and I told him to stay home. I thought I could do as much as I can by myself in my minivan (I can't drive other cars with my prosthetic leg) but he insisted in coming along. As soon as we got to the house though...he rolled on the carpet with a bucket. I felt so bad for him, but at the same time I was thinking to myself "Really? Why now, bahhhh!".

Long story short, the next day he was feeling so much better and we were able to do everything we needed to do before the deadline. Phew! Although, it would have been so much harder if it wasn't for our neighborhood friends who came over and helped me to carry stuff out to the garage. There is no way that I could have done it all by myself. Thank you SO MUCH you two!

After we moved in with my in-laws I still had lot to do to situate ourselves and belongings. A couple days later, we celebrated my mother-in-laws birthday and that same night we received a phone call from one of Mr. TRH's aunts saying that his grandmother wasn't doing well. I am not going to go into details, but the next day we all went to see her. Many of her children, some of her grandchildren, and some of her great grandchildren were there. Then, surrounded by her loved ones she took her last breath and passed away.

She used to live in a different state, and I didn't really get to know her, although I am extremely grateful for her and how she lived her life. Because of her, my mother-in-law is here, then Mr. TRH and my children. I feel a strong bond to her through them. It was a very sad and tender moment, but also it was so wonderful to see everybody how they interacted with each other, shared stories about great grandmother and laughed while we cried. They all are her legacy and I am so blessed to have married into such a nice family.

My kids were able to sit by her and hold her hands just before her passing. They were very sad but took it very well. Mr. TRH and I told our kids that death is a part of life, but we have the gift of hope that we will see her again.

Yesterday was such a beautiful day, we decided to take the kids out and enjoy some family time.

Aren’t you spinning a wee bit too hard daddy?

They are growing way too fast!

Life is a mixture of happy times and not so happy times but I am going to create and enjoy as much happy moments with my family as I can and I will not waste an ounce of it. :)

My Moving Story and How the "Sh" Word Escaped My Mouth

noreply@blogger.com (Sachiko Aldous) — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 05:55:00 +0000

Hi all! It has been a few days since I posted last. I am still in the process of unpacking at our temporary place and I am trying to set up a sewing area as well. It is a bit difficult to do since my kids are on their spring break and we are trying to spend time as a family.

I know I said I will share more about my moving drama, but there are so many things that happened I am not sure where to start and what to tell...

We were supposed to move out of the house completely by the 28th, and our moving truck and movers we hired were scheduled for the 26th. I was not done packing at all. I mean NOT AT ALL. I was packing here and there, but the couple rooms I was avoiding came and bit me hard. Can you guess which rooms I am talking about? The hobby room and my closet. Because we are not moving in to our new place right away, I have to decide what to put in storage and what to take with me. That is really hard to decide. I ended up packing till 5 am the night before I slept a couple of hours and got up to continue on. In fact, when the movers came, I was still packing!

Ok, turn the clock back to the 26th... that's where I will start telling you one of my mother of the year award moments.

I have been slowly packing and cleaning for a few weeks, but by the 26th I was under a ton of pressure. All I did was packing and I felt like the packaging tape and marker became parts of my body. We wanted to reschedule the movers to the 28th but since they are so booked, we couldn't. I was so disappointed that we couldn't, but what can I do? I just have to keep packing.

Then, several hours later, Mr.TRH talked to the sales rep of our builder and heard some bad news. We were supposed to move in to our new house in July, but now they are saying August or September. We signed the paper in January, but the paper work wasn't even submitted to the city. WHAT??? Was I upset? Ohhh...that isn’t a good enough word to describe how I felt. If we had known that was going to happen we would have waited to sell our home until May or June. I really wanted to stay in our house and move straight in to our new house. Sometimes I wish I could see the future and decide what to do, but I guess that defeats the purpose of having the ability to make choices.

I was feeling lava boiling in my stomach, but I decided to keep working. We sold our house; we have to move out there so I have to pack up everything.

The boys’ room was nearly done packing, all I needed to do was to take off the bedding and wash them and pack. I ducked down into the bottom bunk to pull the sheets out and then found TONS and TONS of socks, pajamas, books, and toys between the wall and the bed... SERIOUSLY??? Now I have to repack them but this time separately from the other things. I still kept my cool and was going to pull myself out of the bunk bed when...

BANG!!

I hit my head so hard on the rail. "SHxx!!"

The lava boiling in my stomach was reached its limit, hitting my head on the rail was the last straw. I had enough! The word just rolled out of my mouth.

The thing is though, I never swear. That's just not what I do. I am not tying to say that I am miss perfect or anything, but there is a standard I live by and strive to be. There are things I don't do and swearing is one of them.

In fact, my 10 year old was looking at me with wide eyes. He didn't say anything, but his eyes were saying, "What just happened?" Mr. TRH who was packing down stairs even heard that and came running up to see what was going on.

"Are you ok? What happened??" I took a deep breath and tried to explain myself, but near the end my voice failed and I knew I would start crying if I kept talking, so I stopped.

The great thing was that he understood that I was under a lot of pressure and gave me a hug. phew, he always knows what I need and makes me feel better (I am still mad at the builder though!).

I apologized to my son for my behavior later on and he said it's ok, but I told him that it's not ok. I should be in better control of my anger and be a good example for him.

I guess it left a vivid impression and he told several people that mommy used the "sh" word. I felt like it was the talk of the town. He told my mother-in-law (we laughed together though), and my oldest son came to me that night and whispered, "Mom, I heard that you used the "sh" word today??" his eyebrows were moving up and down. Why are children so excited when parents make mistakes.

My response? "what? Oh, you mean "shoot" or "sheesh"?"

Later we found out that the reason the paper wasn't processed yet was that the lady who was supposed to do that got mad about something and quit her job. When she left, she hid all the paper work in a drawer and didn't tell anyone. When the company started getting phone calls from clients they didn't know what was going on and started opening drawers and found the papers. Who does that?? The way she handled her anger was so unprofessional and irresponsible, now we are the ones that get to suffer. :(

I guess big or small, it's better to be in control of our emotions don't you agree?

Sigh...

noreply@blogger.com (Sachiko Aldous) — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 06:04:00 +0000

Last Tuesday was our big moving day. I will tell you all about the details later, but I am just checking in to say hello, and believe it or not, I am still alive. :)

Seriously, it was such a crazy few days...I never wanna repeat it again.

My in-laws opened up their home to us until our new house is done. We moved our stuff in and all, but there is still so much to do and setting up my computer is way down on the to do list. So, no pictures in today’s post.

I can't wait to have some normality back and start sewing and blogging again. Wait patiently folks, I am still here((( waiving ))).

Right now I need to take a looong bath with candles and good books and 12 hours of much needed sleep. :)

Shabby Apple Winner Announcement

noreply@blogger.com (Sachiko Aldous) — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 03:12:00 +0000

The lucky winner of the Shabby Apple $35 certificate giveaway is:

Lisa Clark Summerhays

Thank you everyone for playing. See you at the next post. :)

We are Moving

noreply@blogger.com (Sachiko Aldous) — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 10:00:00 +0000

At the beginning of February, I mentioned that we put our house up for sale. I am so happy to say that, near the end of the same month, we got an offer on our house! I was hoping to stay in our current house while our new house is being built, but that is not an option... we are supposed to be out of the house by the 28th this month.

When Mr. TRH called me to tell me that we need to be out by the 28th, I asked, "In what month?"

He said "this month."

Then after a pause, I replied "What? You mean in March?"

...Bahhhh!! I was a little panicky at first, because it seems like it`s coming up so soon and we have so much to do. After I took a few deep breaths, I just decided to do whatever I need to do every day.

Right now my house looks like it was hit by a tornado or that someone broken in. I have been working on packing every single day, but I feel like I’ve made little to no progress. Though, when I take a break and look around, the walls no longer have our family photos, there are boxes everywhere. It is starting to look like it’s not our home anymore...

For instance here is our family room,

A view from the front room,

Shoot... the boys were supposed to start packing the books last night... they bailed out. Gah, they are at school.

We are all excited about the move, but when I was helping my 7 year old daughter she wanted me to stop for the day. Also, she put some of the decoration back on the shelves. I was a bit annoyed by her attitude, because I thought she didn’t want to help pack anymore or that she was teasing me.

Then I noticed that she had tears in her eyes and curled up on her bed with her favorite blanky.

What?... Oh...OH! I sat on her bed and asked her quietly, "Are you a little sad, because your room doesn't look like your room anymore?"

She nodded her head and didn't say anything. I told her that we will pack her room little by little and she seemed to like that idea. Right, this is the house she grew up in, the only place she has known as her home. Of course she will be a bit sad or take some time to adjust to the idea.

The items that are removed from the walls, they are still visible, but not packed. :)
I am avoiding my closet and sewing area, because it is so hard to decide on what to pack and put in to storage and what to keep with us. How would I know what I want to wear a few months in advance? How can I make up my mind of which fabrics to keep for projects? Sigh... my packing days will continue on.

Although, I am having so much fun looking around and coming up with ideas for the next house; I don't think we will go overboard with new furniture or anything. I do want to refinish my old coffee table that I bought over 13 years ago at a thrift store, another thing I want to do is to install my kids artwork with picture hangers and come up with exciting ways to organize my dedicated sewing space.

I will keep you all posted, but I better get back to the boxes, tapes and markers for now. I will talk to you later. :)

Refashion Challenge ~ Result~

noreply@blogger.com (Sachiko Aldous) — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 11:00:00 +0000

A couple posts ago, I shared a dress I found on the sales rack for a seriously killer deal (about $13!). Though there was one problem...I thought it was a dress, but it was actually a jumpsuit.

I decided to change it to a dress, and so I tried. Here are the steps I took.

1. I cut along the seams of the inner legs to open them up.

2. I laid the dress flat on the table to see how I could sew the left and right seams together in the middle to make this jumpsuit into a dress.

3. I cut off some excess parts then sewed the seams together in the front and back.

4. Because there are broken parts where the cotton lace was connected to the other cotton lace, I completely took off the thread which was attaching the two and directly sewed them together.

5. I sewed a liner and added that to the waist down.

6. It was ready for testing!

Today was a much warmer day than normal and I felt like spring was finally here! It was such a perfect day to try the new dress. :)

I am so happy that it is no longer a jumpsuit. It is the dress!

Very flowy and comfortable too...

The place we took pictures had nice features, but was a little bit challenging. Lots of narrow mismatched walls with graffiti in some areas. We had a hard time picking the background, but it was still fun... can you tell by my smiley face?

There is something I haven't told you all, and I have been crazy busy right now because of that. Hopefully, once that settles, I can start creating the things buzzing around in my head and share with you. I will check in when I can, Have a great weekend!

Review~ Dressing Your Truth

noreply@blogger.com (Sachiko Aldous) — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 11:00:00 +0000

Do you ever feel like you are not beautiful or have no clue what kind of clothing to buy or how to dress yourself? If so, this review post might be perfect for you!

Have you ever heard about Dressing Your Truth?

Dressing your truth was created by Carol Tuttle who is a teacher, speaker, healer, and best-selling author of five books. Carol is helping women worldwide to discover our natural beauty by learning our type of beauty. It doesn't matter our age, weight, or dress size; we are all beautiful in different ways.

What I thought was so unique about this program is that unlike other makeover shows or fashion advice the expert tells you, this program help us to learn ourselves from inside, and lead us to discover our own beauty. There are 4 types of beauty, and we express one of them through our body language, facial features, thoughts, and personality.

The first time when I heard about the Dressing your truth was actually a couple years ago. My neighbor let me borrow one of Carol's books It's Just My Nature. The book talks about 4 different types of personalities. The book was very interesting and eye opening. While I was reading it I wondered which of the 4 types of personality I am, or my loved ones. I read the whole thing right away. Some of my neighbors and friends were also attending the dressing your truth meetings and they asked me if I was interested. Although I loved the book, I thought "no, I really love what I wear, or what I have in my closet, I don't need help with that aspect.", so I didn't go.

Over the past couple of years, I have been noticing the change in people around me who I knew are doing dressing your truth. They started dressing in different colors, textures, adding some jewelry and they seemed happier and more confident. Once, my friend said that she feels like what she wears and how that represents her matches who she is on the inside. Hmm... Doesn't that sound so great?

Also, every time when I get together with my friends, the subject of dressing your truth pops up in different ways. Some of them have been guessing my type and that really triggered my curiosity.

I was so excited when I was given the opportunity to review their online course recently. It was just such perfect timing!

By reading Discover Your Personal Beauty Profile and learning about it, it has given me a really good guess of which type I am but I wasn't sure. After taking the Dressing your Truth course online, it made it even more clear to me which personality/beauty type I am. The online course is very well constructed and user friendly. They also have an online (on site too, if you live in UT) store that are customized for each beauty type, how awesome is that?! After taking the course, I am pretty happy to say that I have been dressing my truth. Most of the colors I choose, the styles that I love match with my personality type.

It's impossible to talk about all the different types and details about them, but you can visit their website or Carol's blog and learn more about them. I would recommend their online course as a very eye-opening and helpful guide to discover yourself and move forward with confidence.

Wouldn't it be so fun to find out about your true beauty type?

New Refashion Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Sachiko Aldous) — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 05:49:00 +0000

There are lots of things going on around here and I think I will be ready to share that with you soon...

Meanwhile, let me share a picture of this clothing I found the other day for a major KILLER deal.

At Down East, they sell some name brand clothing for a great price. I was checking the sales rack the other day, and found this beauty. I fell in love with it, and lucky me! It was my size. I think I have seen this at Anthropology before...and I know that some of the dresses from Anthro can be 200 to 300 dollars. With all the laces, and detailed work, I am pretty sure that this was not an exception. Wow, why is this dress hanging around here and not in someone else's closet??

Then, I noticed that this isn't a dress... actually, it is a jumpsuit...oh, shoot.

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing going against jumpsuits. It just that, when I tried it on, it was too long, and I looked funny (I almost heard the circus theme some...ta, ta, tara rara...) Even if I try to make the vogue face or the pose that models do (by the way, they are like 6'or taller and I am a self-claimed 5'4"), the mirror in the fitting room wasn't buying it. I thought about giving up on it, then... I saw the price tag.

Most of the dresses are 130.00 and up originally, then, at Down East, they are sold for $45. I guess it was on the sales rack for a while, and reduced to $19.99.

Then, get this; they were having an additional 30% off all the clearance items that day! I was deep in my thoughts in the fitting room, and thought, oh, gosh just get it.

I am not one of those people who can pull of the jumpsuit look, but I was thinking that I can cut into the middle and refashion this to a dress. Yeah, I can do a dress! (grin)

Even if that doesn't work out, the laces used for this dress alone is totally worth it.

I paid a little over $13, and left the store thinking that I got such an amazing deal. Well, we shall see what happens with the refashioning... (to be continued :) ).

Copyright Infringement conclusion

noreply@blogger.com (Sachiko Aldous) — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 07:48:00 +0000

First of all, let me tell you how grateful and surprised I am by your overwhelming support on this issue. When I wrote the post, I didn't think you (yes, YOU, lovely ladies) would leave me such supportive comments, do some digging, or contact Listia for me. I am such a blessed blogger to have so many awesome readers! So, thank you everyone!!

As many of you know, her auction was taken down. We filed a notice copyright infringement claim and sent it to Listia late last night, and they immediately removed it. We were having some technical issues and couldn't send it sooner.

There are few things I learned from this experience...

One of my lovely readers who is an attorney sent me an email with advice which I deeply appreciated:

"...There is no such thing as a copyright in a fashion design. Fashion, clothing, home goods (such as towels or bedding) are not protected by copyright law because they are considered functional goods. There is little to no protection for fashion designers under US copyright, trademark or patent law."

Ok, I didn't know that about the law. Although she also told me this;

"As long as the woman who is selling her own tutorial for a shirt similar to the one you created has not directly copied any pictures or substantially similar text or instructions from your blog tutorial, then she is perfectly within her rights to sell her tutorial."

Right, I don't think I didn't get offended if she was just making the shirt or selling it on the side or something. You see ruffle shirts at so many different boutiques, and shops. But she was using my picture and even after I nicely asked her to not to use my image, she switched the photo to a different ruffle shirt image of mine. If she was selling her own tutorial like she was saying, why is it so hard for her to take her own picture and use that instead of mine?

I also learned that everyone has different ideas about things like this. There are the people who don't care and steal peoples’ ideas, there are people who think it is wrong and take action, and there are people who think, “Why bother? “

I feel like there are so many gray areas in this society, and we are getting too afraid to say when something is wrong. Also, coming up with ideas and designs of my own, taking pictures while I am making something, and writing a post about it is very time consuming. I do it because I enjoy it, though when you find out that someone stole the content and is claiming it as theirs at the click of a button, gives me a really bad taste in my mouth. I think people who have creativeness in their blood would understand what I am trying to say. It's not just about getting credit or money.

Once things are on internet, it is hard to know what will happen to the content and this may not be the last time that I have to deal with something like this. Although, I am so grateful to the person who told me about this and my readers who supported me through this, I will keep creating and blog on. :)

Big thanks from me to you everyone!! (((big hug)))

Sachiko

Alert: Copyright Law Infringement!

noreply@blogger.com (Sachiko Aldous) — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 06:28:00 +0000

Hmm... I really don't like to create a drama here, and I am usually not the type to get upset easily.
Though, there is a problem that has been bugging me the last few days, and I wanted to share this with you and I really need your support and advice.

Last Tuesday, someone (I am not sure if she is a reader or not) sent me an email with a link and told me that "an individual is using your content for her personal gain".
My first reaction was "oh, ok, I better go and check it out."

When I went to the link, I saw my most well-known ruffle shirt picture and she is selling the tutorial!

What?!?!?

How come she can steal my content and sell it… something I am providing free for my readers to enjoy on my blog? Then I thought "oh, maybe she doesn't know the copyright law." Yeah, you can laugh at me for being so naive... I decided not to rush into conclusions and sent her an email to say, it is my material she is using, and it is against the copyright law. I simply asked her to take it down.

I received a comment from her which was...

"ok :)"

So, I decided to go back and see if she really removed it, then guess what I saw (You probably wouldn’t believe it too)...

She switched the picture to a different ruffle shirt which I did back in 2010 and she is still selling it. Who does that!? My initial "Oh maybe she doesn't know..." bit quickly goes out the window there.

Here is the link to it;

http://www.listia.com/auction/8389910-diy-ruffle-shirt-beautiful-elagance

Before I commented on there, someone else also asked her the question saying that "how come you can sell someone else's content, which is free" and she left the link to my tutorial (thank you whoever you are!). When I went back again to see if she has any intention to take it down, she actually hid comments telling her what she is doing is copyright infringement including mine. Also she blocked me so I can't leave any more comments.

I contacted Listia, and am right now filling out the paperwork to have the auction removed. Ugh... I wish we lived in a perfect world, where everyone is nice and honest.

So, my beloved readers... have you ever dealt with stuff like this? Do you have lots of knowledge of what to do? I would LOVE to hear your stories and advice on this matter.

Thank you so much for putting up with my not so happy post, I really appreciate it.

I will keep you posted. :(

Tutorial ~ Coin Wallet

noreply@blogger.com (Sachiko Aldous) — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 04:49:00 +0000

I don't exactly know the proper name for this. When I googled it, it came up as "kiss lock wallet"(which is kind of cute), "metal clamp" and simply "coin wallet". So, I am going to use coin wallet, as I feel that's the most universal name.

I bought the kits at the 100 yen shop in Japan (dollar store here in America). It came with the metal part, rope, and instructions with a traceable pattern. At some fabric stores, they sell the metal parts in the US too, but they don't come with instructions or a traceable pattern. In case you are wondering what to do with it, I will show you the steps and how I made my coin wallet. :)

{You will need}

Metal Part
Rope (optional, because they don't come with the metal around here)
outer and inner fabrics
thread
glue

{How to}

1. I traced the pattern and pinned the pattern onto the fabrics and added 1 cm seam allowance. Cut the fabric. Do the same with the inner fabric too. When you just have the metal part, you can trace the inside line of the metal and extend the lines on both sides down, and make a pattern for it.

2. Right sides together, sew from sides and bottom for outer and inner fabrics.

3. Open the seam and press. Draw a line on the bottom corners (I did a 1" line) and sew to make a boxed bottom. Cut the excess.

4. Fold the top seam allowance and press with an iron. Put outer and inner fabrics wrong sides together. Then, slip stitch to sew them together.

5. With my kit, it told me to put glue on the rope, and put it in to the opening of the metal part with the fabric. Use a sharp tool to push it in.

6. Use long nose pliers to press the metal together, so the fabric will stay securely attached. It is best to use fabric to cover the metal when you press, so the metal won't get damaged.

7. Finished!

I used Amy Butler fabric and polka dot inside. If you change the length from the metal to the bottom, you can also make a pen case or eyeglass case as well. Wouldn't that be fun as a small gift?

I hope my mini tutorial was helpful to give you some ideas of what to do.

Have fun creating everyone!

Tutorial ~ Pom-Pom Scarf

noreply@blogger.com (Sachiko Aldous) — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 05:41:00 +0000

In my last post, I mentioned a project that I am working on with pom-poms. At first, I was just going to make some hair accessories for Rachel, and decorate the house with them. Just like the picture below...

Than all of a sudden the idea to make a pom-pom scarf hit me. It is super easy and inexpensive (just like most of my other projects), I only used two balls of yarn. That's it!
Of course, this is for my 7 years old girl. If you want to make one for yourself, you will probably need more yarn.

{You will need}

Red and pink yarn one of each
2 - 17" red ribbons
Red thread

Pom-pom maker

{How To}

1. First, Make pom-poms. I used pom-pom makers to make my pom-poms as I shared in a different post. You can make them with different methods as well. I made 32 red, pink and mix of red & pink pom-poms. When you tie the middle of the pom-poms, make sure that you use long yarn (about 10" to 12") and don't cut it off. You will need that yarn to put the pom-poms together.

2. I put the pom-poms together just like when you make flower lei (have you done it as a little girl?). To start up, combine two pom-poms together. Use the picture as a guide.

3. Keep adding pom-poms in the same manner.

Then, it will look like this...

4. Tie the end and add ribbons on both ends. Then fold the ends to tack it in and sew it securely. I treated the other ends of the ribbons with fray check.

5. Done!

I think this will be so cute with different color of yarn. This one happened to be the perfect color for V - day, but, I know Rachel will love it for a long time.

I hope you enjoyed my tutorial; have a happy Valentine's Day!

Tried and Tested: Pom-Pom Maker

noreply@blogger.com (Sachiko Aldous) — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 11:00:00 +0000

I bought these pom-pom makers a while ago; I have been dying to try them out!
I will show you how it's done...

1. Open up the arches on one side.

2. Wrap yarn firmly around one end to the other. You want to wrap quite bit to make the pom-poms full and fluffy looking. Close that side and open up the other arch and repeat the process.

3. Cut the yarn between the arches with a sharp pair of scissors. Tie the pom-pom in place in between the arches and open up the arches gently. Make sure to tie the yarn tightly, so the yarn will stay together and won't start falling apart.

4. Separate the parts.

5. Cut the loose ends, and trim the pom-pom to make it into nice rounded pom-poms. The little hands trimming the pom-pom in the picture are my 7 year old daughter’s. When I was making the pom-poms, Rachel came over and wanted to try it. I showed her how, and helped her the first couple times. She had so much fun making them, she was hooked! She and I sat next to each other and made a BUNCH of pom-poms. Her friend came over and she also wanted to try it... can you guess what happened?? The three of us were making pom-poms! The girls made them in different sizes, mixed colors, and named each pom-pom... Who would have thought that pom-pom making would be such a hit with 7 year old girls. :)

6. Here is the finished pom-pom. The pink one I used is the smallest size.

Let me share a picture and some tips...

I made these pom-poms from the same size pom-pom maker, but when I first made the pom-pom, I didn't know how much I should wind the yarn. The left pom-pom is the very first one that I did. It is smaller and not very full looking. The middle one is my second attempt, but still I didn't care for the fullness of it. The third time, I really wound more yarn till it was really puffy, and the pom-pom came out very full and nice.

I am making a few projects with the pom-poms and I will share them soon. That night, Rachel didn't wanna stop making pom-poms, and she was begging me to let her make some more. I said no, because it was her bedtime, I told her to take a shower and get ready for bed, and she went upstairs. A few minutes later, I went up to see what she was doing. She was still in her room trimming her pom-poms! Also, when I was tucking her in bed, I found all her pom-poms in her bed... boy, I think we are gonna have pom-pom fever for a while.

Nice Sunday Afternoon

noreply@blogger.com (Sachiko Aldous) — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 11:00:00 +0000

Hmmm... Ever since we listed our house for sale, every day has been so busy and crazy.
All the cleaning and organizing to keep the house clean at all times has been such a pressure for me and of course for the rest of the crew. Can you picture me freaking out over every little thing I find on the floor and counter tops that make the house look messy? hahaha...

Today was such a nice day to take a break from all that.

After church, we all relaxed and hung out as a family. I even let them leave stuff on the couch and floors and didn't fuss over them.

We had fun making and eating Ice cream sandwiches with chocolate chip cookies I baked the night before.

I pushed the images of what this week is going to be like for me to the back of my head and I indulged is the relaxed and slower pace of life this afternoon; which was very, very nice.

New App: The Inspirational Board

noreply@blogger.com (Sachiko Aldous) — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 11:00:00 +0000

Hi everyone! I want to share a new online app The Inspiration Board by a fellow blogger Jamielyn of I heart Nap Time. It launched this week and I was asked to play around with it and see what I could come up with. It was so much fun!

Here is how it works:

I had several idea for the board. I decided to make a board for my thrift store finds and furniture makeover. I chose the background, played around with the accessories and such... I came up with this:

Right now I don't have other boards made, but I am pretty sure I will start making more. Here is another great reason to check out this app.

Jameilyn is having a luanch party that will run to the 11th. She is giving over $1500 in prizes! Hurry over to her site and get inspirational!

Cleaning and Packing

noreply@blogger.com (Sachiko Aldous) — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 17:58:00 +0000

I feel like I am finally seeing the end of the tunnel of a series of nasty flu infections, there is a cough that still lingers, but I feel much better. I really appreciate everyone’s well wishes, and telling me to get some rest. If I was getting proper rest, I might have gotten better much faster, but there was a reason why I really couldn't take it easy...

After the first wave of flu, I really thought I got better. Meanwhile, Mr.TRH and I have been looking to buy a new home, and one day we found a perfect floor plan for us. We decided to buy the house, signed the papers, and we put our house up for sale. We had LOTS of things to take care of to prepare our house for showing... then bam! I got sick again. I pushed myself to keep going through our stuff (LOTS and LOTS of stuff), kept cleaning, kept organizing and doing some more cleaning... It has been a little over a week, and thanks to our realtor, we had about 11 showings so far. Since our new house won't be ready for several months, we don't have to move right away. Hopefully we can sell our beloved house for what we are asking for to a nice family. We still love this house, we just out grew it...

When we first moved to this house, we had a 5 to 7 year plan to move. Loss of jobs, my health issues and not being able to find a house we like in an area we want in a price range we could afford. There was never a right timing. Then before we knew it, we have been here for 11 years! I wrote about it back in 2009 little bit here

Growing up, my parents moved around, we never stayed in one area for that long. Now we decided to move, as much as I am excited to move, I feel a little sentimental. This is the house we moved in when my oldest just turned one, and we had other two more children. I can still picture the excited face of my little boy when I painted the play room as surprise. We created lots of fun memories as a family here, so I would love whoever lives here to have a good happy feeling.

I am not done clearing stuff out of the house, there is much more I need to do. Wow... do you know how much stuff you can accumulate in 11 years? When we bought this house we were a family of 3, two adults and one baby. Now we are family of 5, who knew that when kids get bigger, their stuff gets bigger too!?

Right now, I have no idea what will happen in the next few months. We might sell the house and have to move to a rental, or we will be able to stay here till we move straight to the new house. Sewing and blogging will probably be affected in some ways too, but I will do my best to let you know what's happening around here.

Well friends, I feel like our little family just took its first step into a new chapter of our lives. Wish us best, ‘cause we will need it! :)