Embroidery hoop & modern calligraphy

I finally took the leap and tried embroidery + handlettering as a Christmas gift for my friend K, who teaches workshops on mindful brushlettering.

 I was worried that the letters would turn out all shaky or crooked but am pleased with the final result! K had mentioned that the combination of embroidery with calligraphy has been a rising trend this year. I've been practicing brushlettering with brushes, Tombow dual pens, and Daiso pens recently, and Andrew also gifted me with this calligraphy set that I'm excited to try out soon.

 Mindfulness is a practiced discipline of just noticing and describing events so as to process them more carefully instead of automatically repeating a script or mantra. The Mindful Brain, by Dan Siegel

Click below for the tutorial!

DIY Tutorial: Wood Branch Slice Monogrammed Coasters

My brother-in-law is getting married this weekend and I decided to gift the newlyweds with monogrammed wood slice coasters!

My friend Alex helped me slice the logs. He was quite the trooper because it took us several tries to a) find the right size log that didn't have cracks and b) he did all the slicing while his wife Kristin held the log steady and closed her eyes because she didn't have extra safety goggles. Do as I say not as I do...wear safety goggles to protect your eyes from flying pieces of wood!!

 If you don't have wood logs/branches laying around and/or a saw, you can buy wood slices here.

Read on for the tutorial below.

Ecosphere closed aquatic system

My sister surprised me this year with one of the most unique birthday presents I've ever received: an ECOSPHERE ! She noticed me admiring hers sitting on her bookshelf and thoughtfully ordered me one this year. It arrived in a very well-padded/temperature-controlled/protected box from Amazon.



See the little orange and translucent shrimp? They were zooming around the ecosphere when I took this photo, so you can only see little orange blurs around the perimeter.

What is an EcoSphere, exactly? The ecosphere concept has apparently existed since the 1980s but the EcoSpheres that you can order from Amazon are based in Arizona (which makes it even more awesome because Arizona is my birthplace). The shrimp consume the algae, which grows faster when exposed to light. I read the instructional pamphlet that came with the ecosphere from front to back several times because I want to keep my pet shrimp alive as long as possible. The science nerd in me is intrigued by how the enclosed system works and how I'll never have to feed the shrimp. Best. Pets. Ever.

It's already provided me with many cumulative hours of staring at the shrimp, mesmerized by how they move faster when the light is on and become sluggish when I turn off the light.

The "warranty" on it is that if all 4 shrimp die within 6 months, they'll replace the ecosphere. So far, my sister's shrimp have survived for more than a year!


*Disclaimer: I was not compensated by Amazon for this post. I just thought I'd share about an awesome gift that I received!

Framed quilling and brushlettering: Jeremiah 29:11

One of my best friends happens to create stunning brushlettering calligraphy, and now that we live in the same city, we finally pulled together some collaborations. For instance, this framed Bible verse with quilling that we recently gifted to a bride-to-be at her bridal shower. Here's the 7-day storyline of this project!

DIY Personalized Baby Hat

When I found out that one of my best friends was having a baby boy, I was elated both for her expanding family and for the chance to finally use my Pinterest board that I'd been adding to for the past few years! I decided to create a simple personalized baby cap with their last name, "Baker". Here's the tutorial below!