The Little Purse That Could

Eager to try out my new sewing machine, I followed a tutorial from Craftster.org from memory and made my very first purse. It's very simple and a little small, but it's cute and blue and holds things, which is really all you could ever hope for in a first ever made-it-myself purse.

Here it is, kindly modeled by my computer chair. It's a little floppy because I was too excited to wait and buy stuff to stabilize it (called interfacing... isn't sewing jargon grand?). And the strap is a little stretchy. I didn't realize that until after I put stuff in it and slung it on my shoulder. And there's nothing closing the top yet, but I'm trying to sew Velcro into it now.

Here's the inside! Future purses will have pockets and zippers, but as I said before, I was too excited and didn't have the patience to mess with zippers and pockets. It's lined with some super pretty fabric I found in the remnant section of Joann's Fabrics. I think it's called batik, and it looks all dyed and Hawaiian-y. I made my first skirt with the rest of that material, which I'll post sometime in the future. It's a little itchy, but I figure that will remedy itself after it's been washed.

And here it is, bravely standing on its own. Yay! (Don't mind the crease down the side, it hasn't been ironed...) It's quite the floppy bag. I think after I get the Velcro to keep it shut, it'll be a nice little bag for light summer adventures. Right now, though, I'm kinda afraid that all my stuff will fall out while I'm being a klutz. I am often a klutz.

This weekend, I'm aiming to make at least 2 skirts, both with zippers! o.O;; Zippers are scary... Other future projects include a messenger bag, a hipslinger (aka fannypack), stuffed animals, and yet more skirts. It's a good thing I'm starting to shave my legs more often, what with all these skirts that need showing off! ;)

Nimalee's Graduation

There are a ton of photos from Nimalee's graduation, so I thought I'd just post a few highlights. If you're interested in seeing all the pictures I took at Nimalee's graduation, you can visit the album. (It's a little weird... it goes in reverse chronological order...) I'm only going to leave it up for 2 weeks, because it takes up a good portion of my Photobucket account, so if you missed it, or need a particular picture, leave me a comment and I'll email it to you. Anyway, here are some pictures:

This is a slightly boring picture, but way out there is the stage where everybody got their diplomas and what have you... and there are all the people who came to see Nimalee graduate! No, really! ;)

Here's Nimalee with her dad. Hee, it's a cute picture.

Nimalee and her boyfriend Paul! I think the flowers in her hand are the ones I helped him pick out. He was really worried because he knows nothing about flowers, so I pointed out the ones that would be least likely to die right away. :P

Happy Graduated Girl! (I was a little scared she'd fall backwards into the fountain...)

This is what happens when you're really short and behind a ton of people who also want to take pictures...

LOTS of Filipinos! o.O;; I think this is her Liwanag youth group.

Rocking out at Macaroni Grill!! ...The sign we're making is actually the UC Irvine mascot, the anteater. Mmm! Yummy Italian food. Poor Nimalee's dad. I think he felt a little out of place. :P

And that's it! :)

Here's my first beaded rose from a few angles. Since the flash is on, it really reflects off the sparkly beads. I tried in the last picture to show how deep the blue really is without the flash, but it just turned out dark. This took me about a day to make (8 hours abouts?), and for a first try, I think it came out really well. I experimented a little with the next two, but those pictures will come later. What do you think of my blue rose?

Conejo Valley Days

Last month, Sam, my cousin Ciara, her boyfriend Matt, and I all went to the Conejo Valley Days carnival. Now, I'm not too excited on carnival rides. They're usually overpriced and kinda dirty. (But we went on the bumper cars and ferris wheel, which was tons of fun.) So there's only one reason why I always go to carnivals when I get the chance - the food! I ate so much there! Hot dogs, cotton candy, chocolate-covered strawberries, Hawaiian Ice, and funnel cake... I would've eaten more if I had enough money and enough stomach capacity...


The Hawaiian Ice was no match for our wrath... Mwahahahaha! Tremble, o carnival foods! For I will devour thee without mercy!

We're cool in our shades! Sam and I are posing with the little white bear Sam won for me in a carnival game. He had to throw a dart at a wall and pop a balloon, and he did it! I jumped around and giggled madly when it happened. I was so so excited and happy! (Ciara was jealous... hehe...)

Ciara and Ciara's boyfriend, Matt

The exhilaration (or terror... whatever) of riding the about-to-fall-apart ferris wheel.

This would be a neat picture if it wasn't for the freaky expression on my face.

Rather than posting all my boring Fair pictures individually, I decided to make an artsy fartsy collage of them. Many of these pictures were taken from the creaky, rickety, too-fast ferris wheel.

Switching gears...

So I've decided the story-creating aspect of this blog is a lost cause. I don't have time to write while I'm at work anymore, due to the whiny people at Disney calling me at all hours. But fear not, this blog will not go to waste! Presenting... PhotoJournalism!! (Now in 3-D!)

I occasionally take fun pictures with my nifty digital camera, and I'd enjoy sharing them with everybody. So without further ado, here is my first picture post!


A thrift store we came across while roaming around Ventura. Sure, the children aren't bright, but that sign can't do much for their self-esteem...

Untitled (children's?) Story

Weird things happen when I fall in love. Does this happen to everybody?

I met him when I was 6. He already had glasses in first grade and liked to fingerpaint - an intelligent artist. All the other boys liked playing in the jungle gym during recess, but my artist sat outside with sidewalk chalk, drawing inspired stick figures and cars.

I never admitted to my friends that I liked him. Boys had cooties. Everybody knew that. None of the girls would be caught dead without our daily cootie-shot. But I still found myself watching him everytime I swung up on the swingset.

One day, I was outside building a small city with blocks and my artist was nearby, drawing a forest on the concrete. Two fat boys came up to me, casting a shadow over the city, even though I had predicted a sunny day for its inhabitants. I looked up at them. They had boogers in their noses.

"It's our turn. Give us the blocks," one said. He had red stains on his white shirt. I wondered if he'd murdered a tomato.

I looked back down at the city with its invisible little people scurrying to work and running errands. "It's not your turn. Mrs. Miller said I could have them all recess."

"But we wanna use them now. Give 'em," the other one said. His black hair was covered in mud and stuck up menacingly.

"Why do you want them? Go ask Vanessa for hers. Or go play kickball. I'm still using them."

The Tomato Murderer kicked, toppling all my little skyscrapers and houses in one fell swoop. "Not anymore." He and his friend cackled, like little fat warlocks. I stared at the crumbled city with tears in my eyes and stood up. No Godzilla-boy wrecks my city!

"Hey! Why're you picking on her?" My artist was suddenly standing beside me. He wasn't much bigger than me, so I was hoping he knew kung fu or something. We'd have trouble teaching those boys a lesson if he didn't.

The kid with black hair rubbed his nose. "We wanted the blocks and she wouldn't give them."

"You should've asked nicely. I'm telling Mrs. Miller what you did," my artist threatened, his voice breaking and wavering a little. In outrage, maybe?

"You wouldn't."

"Would too."

The Tomato Murderer punched him in the nose. My artist immediately started crying and I could see his nose was a little bloody.

My mouth opened to call Mrs. Miller, but I stopped. I was really angry. Here, the boy I liked stood up for me, got a bloody nose, and all because these fat stupids couldn't wait their turn. I glared at them, even as I put my arm around my artist to lead him away, imagining all the blocks pelting them on their ugly heads.

And to my surprise, they did.

The blocks rose up and hit them from all sides. One block in particular bonked the Tomato Murderer on his head over and over again. It was like the invisible people in the city had super-strength and were hurling the pieces of their broken homes at the boys. The boys screamed and ran. I giggled under my breath, and the blocks fell to the ground.

"What happened?" Mrs Miller asked, running over. She looked around at the blocks and at my artist's bloody nose. "Never mind. Just take him to the nurse's office and I'll talk to you two later."

I nodded and led him away. "Thank you. I'm sorry they hit you."

He sniffled. "It's okay."

"I'm Lara."

"I'm Nate," he said stuffily. We reached the nurse's office.

My mouth felt dry. "I, um... I like your pictures. The trees look like broccoli."

Nate pulled away from me and frowned. Pushing the door open, he stuck his tongue out at me and went in.

I stared at the door in confusion. "What? I like broccoli..."

So I've buckled under...

Yes, I've begun a blog. Yes, I'm a sheep. Baa.

Anyway, I mostly intend on using this blog to help me back into the swing of writing. If that doesn't work, but I still like Blogger better, I'll ditch my LiveJournal. Or maybe if I like LJ better, I'll ditch this. Whatever. At any rate, I've got like 3 journals now. Will I buckle under the pressure?? Stay tuned and find out!