crafty days

recently i have been quite crafty.... the latest activity was making shisa dogs at the ceramics shop in the glass factory. shisa dogs are traditional okinawan statues that are supposed to hold in happy spirits and shoo away the bad ones. the boy dog has the mouth open and sucks the happiness in and the girl dog has the mouth closed and holds the happiness.
luke and i made our very own shisas, complete with our very own personalities. :)

first, we started with just the ball of clay, with only the hole for the mouth.

and then we molded the mouth into the appropriate shapes. we both made ours "smiling"

then comes the tails, feet, eyes, nose, etc...

we added the ears, and extra facial details.... we had to roll out each piece of clay and make the shapes we wanted and then mold it onto the main body.

luke added a funny tongue to his :)

he is so good with the artistic details.... flip flops, goatee, winking eye, crazy teeth.....

and, of course, dreadlocks!!!!

the artistic process takes a little longer and more concentration for me though...

but in the end, they both turned out fantastic!!! mine has eyelashes, cute little toes, and a fun bow-tie! :) and the main ceramic sensei (master teacher) made the cute little one for us too!! :)

we get our creations back in 2 months... they have to dry them, glaze them, and fire them.
a super fun, crafty day for the flemings!!!

happy new year!!!

:)

making stockings!!!

so, i used to have a christmas stocking... but that's a whole 'nother story that is not discussed...

this year, i decided that i was going to make stockings for me and luke, and it would be special and crafty and fun!!!!

we were already headed to the 100 yen store to find $10 each worth of stocking stuffers to surprise each other with, and there we found some fun fabric and cool iron-ons for the stockings.

i am not a very experienced seamstress, but crafty luke knew what he was doing (of course!) and gave me instructions every step of the way. but, i did all of the labor on my own!!!!
making the pattern, cutting the fabric, sewing it all, making the hems, ironing on the patches.... all me!!

and here are the end results!!!

this one is luke's....  he loves chocolate, candy and donuts, of course, and tigers.... they're fierce!!! :)

and this one is mine... i love sunshine, donuts and candy, and lots of LOVE!!!

the fabrics are just the reverse of each other. and i added a border of fabric to make them thicker.... for more presents, of course!!! heehee

and here they are in the window.... sprockette's is the one on top, that jim and jackie got her. we need to get a little more fabric so i can finish hers, but she gets a family one too!!! :)

i am SO happy with the creations and SO happy that luke and i have our very own family stockings!!!
merry christmas, everyone!!!

okinawa glass factory

a couple of weekends ago when heather was here visiting, we made the trek to the southern part of the island to hit up the most beautiful and happy place that is known as the okinawa ryukyu glass factory. everything is colorful and beautiful and amazing.... i want it all!!!

they make the glass right there in front of you, so you can see the process... it is so cool! you can see this guy blowing the glass, shaping it with his hand, and applying a mold for texture.





this guy down here is making a wine glass. first they make the part that holds the wine, then the stem, and finally the bottom piece. it is such a rad thing just to see how exact they are with everything and how they keep applying just the right amount of heat and twisting the glass in just the right way.... amazing!







this last one is a picture of the ceiling inside the actual store where you can buy all the glass. everything is this colorful and wonderful.... so happy!!!