Bento love and first Feature Friday!

Hey everyone! Happy December! It's been a while since I've posted something, so I figured I'd clue you in on something I've been eager to try lately: bento! My good friend Sarah over at Saltwater Acorns has inspired me to look into this increasingly popular hobby that I consider "food art," and I've been itching to try it more and more! Right now, I'm in the last leg of my Fall semester, so I haven't really had the time to do much of anything, but an upcoming holiday party with my Craft Club cronies prompts me to give this a whirl.

As you can see, the sky's pretty much the limit with a bento box! :) These are extremely commonplace in Japan (perhaps not always as fancy as this one), but there has been quite a lot of enthusiasm for them here in the U.S.A. as well! The nice thing about bento boxes is that they're lunch for everyone. It takes a special kind of inventiveness to come up with certain creative shapes, themes, and color-coordinated lunchboxes, but you can really make one however you'd like for whoever you'd like. Businessmen, college students, and kindergarteners can all have them, and they range from easy to challenging. You can buy them pre-packaged on-the-go, or you can make one for a special someone.

Let's face it...how did we feel as children when our parents packed our lunches for us? Maybe you had a parent or guardian who made you cute lunches that really made you smile when you got to school. I know my mom would always make me sandwiches and put cute little stickers on my lunch bag (some of which I keep even to this day!). Getting a homemade bento is something that I would imagine makes you feel really special and loved; making one for yourself can give the same effect too! :)

As someone who LOVES food (and also wants to eat better and cut down on her portions), this is something I can definitely give two big thumbs-up to. Putting the time and effort into an attractive, creative, hand-packed lunch is something you or your loved ones will remember for a long time, I'm sure! Lunch in a Box is a really extensive and fun resource for amateur and seasoned bento fans, and Bento Box is also a cute little site that covers some of the basics. Just Bento is another really good one with recipes and basics.

~

Before I go, I wanted to kick off a little something I call Feature Friday, where I'd like to feature an artist or crafter's work that stands out to me and makes me smile. Sharing someone's work through word-of-mouth spreads smiles and might just make you more interested in something new! Since we're talking about bento and food today, I found an Etsy shop by the name of LorettaRed, who sells all sorts of adorable food jewelry, including a few bento like this one:

Check it out! Tamagoyaki, sushi, gyoza...what's not to love?

Well, that's it for this time, guys. Hope you're enjoying the holidays so far! Today's question: What is your favorite kind of lunch? Drop me a line in the comments below! See yah!

~Angie

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CRAFT: Thanksgiving tidings, and a new friend!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Wow, it's finally here! Today's going to be a crazy day, but the apartment's going to smell amazing. I just know it! Wherever you may be today and whoever you're with, I hope you enjoy it too! Please feel free to leave a comment about your upcoming turkey day, gobba gobba~

Normally I wouldn't post anything at 2:00 in the morning (especially with all the cooking I have to do today), but I couldn't resist. I finished sewing a lil' Thanksgiving buddy a little while ago--meet Waddlesworth, my turkey and personal assistant!

Isn't he adorable? He actually sits upright on his own, which is a big plus! (He enjoys fine arts, puffing away on his bubble pipe, and pecking at bugs.)

Something interesting I thought up on the spot: the way I sewed Waddlesworth's tail onto his body allowed me to have him hold some of my things, like a pocket! And then I thought, "This will help me by having him hold recipe cards and lists while I cook, so I don't have to dig!" Case in point:

My Thanksgiving just got a little brighter already! Thanks, Waddlesworth! ("Gobba gobba.")

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours! Don't brawl too much on Black Friday, now! ;)
-Angie

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Pre-Thanksgiving ponderings.

Hey everyone, hope you've all been doing well as the holidays approach at warp-speed! :3 Not too much on the craft front here, but I thought I'd post some holiday thoughts on my mind.

On that note, is it just me or did Thanksgiving week arrive REALLY fast this year? Believe it or not, I didn't always place that much importance on Thanksgiving. (For those who know me well, you know how much I enjoy food!) Spending time with family and friends, though, is something I guess you could say I often took for granted. Thanksgiving was just another chance to see relatives I didn't get to see all the time, and I would usually sit back and watch everybody else talk. In addition to that, I didn't get to help make Thanksgiving dinner when I lived with my parents; it was always something they took care of traditionally, I guess you could say.

These days, though, I've been appreciating the holiday more and more. Maybe it has something to do with being moved out and living with just my boyfriend now, and maybe it's also that my parents (and other relatives) live hours away from me. Whatever the reason may be, I've come to believe in the importance of Thanksgiving because of the time I've spent reflecting on how lucky I've been to have the people that are in my life. I'm blessed to be living with my boyfriend, and to have lived under my parents' roof for so many years--to be cared for and supported in so many ways is something not everyone is lucky enough to have. I could go on and on about all the things I'm thankful for, haha!

I guess what I'm trying to say is, if you can, take some time to reflect on your life. Make a list of the important things and people and your life and, though this sounds a bit sad, try to imagine what your life would be like without them. It's hard to imagine sometimes, but once you realize the importance of what you have, I think you begin to appreciate it more. Look through old photo albums, get together with friends and family, and reminisce on the good times. You might not always think of them right away, but it's often the little moments shared with the people you love that you remember most fondly! :)

Back to the topic of food, now...haha! Last year was my very first time cooking a full-blown Thanksgiving feast, and it came out great! I cooked so many delicious things in such great amounts, that I was able to not only feed my boyfriend and I, but several of our friends that we invited over. I love feeding my friends and family! What are some of the foods you like to eat and/or cook most this time of year? (Mine is usually cranberry sauce with the whole berries, or sweet potatoes!) Leave me a comment with your responses, if you'd like. Looking forward to hearing from you!

Before I go, I'd like to share a link with you--it's a really cute plushie I found of a crochet cranberry sauce, with a tutorial for those of you who know how!













http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/crochet_cranberry_sauce

Happy Thanksgiving everyone, if I don't post before Thursday! :)

-Angie

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First post! Hello there and welcome to my blog!

Hi everyone! Wow, it's been a while since I've had a blog. (Kinda therapeutic, no?) My name's Angie and this is the blog for my up and coming craft line: Blueberry Crumble Crafts, a line of cute, homemade toys, plushies, and knick-knacks for people young and old. You see, I've always been a fan of artsy things and would doodle and paint from a young age. Making things makes me happy! In recent years, I've done and sold a lot of fan art at anime conventions (namely ConnectiCon and AnimeNEXT), and that made me happy too--not the money-making (though it's a bonus), but getting my arts and crafts seen and appreciated by people who enjoy the same video games and such. Over time, however, I started to ponder: "What if some people only (or mostly) like my arts and crafts because they're from their favorite series? Even if that's not the case, can I really keep doing fan art the way I am now?" That led me to make some more original plushies at my most recent convention--almost all of them sold out! That gave me a really big confidence boost, knowing that I had the potential to make cute, original things that people will enjoy just as much. Inspiration struck, and I decided I would go for it and try to start a new crafty chapter in my life--not just for the enjoyment of others, but also so that I could better enjoy the work that I do and truly call it my own. Thus, Blueberry Crumble Crafts was born!

Although I haven't made a whole lot of progress yet, I have a bunch of things that I'll be posting periodically on this blog, so you can see some of what I make and the experiences I have along my journey. From time to time, I'd also like to feature other crafters' works on my blog--not only does it help me remember some of the really neat things I stumble upon (and I do love stumbling upon neat things!), but it also helps share it with others...and arts and crafts are meant to be shared, in my opinion. It spreads smiles and makes the world happier, too!

Thanks for stopping by and checking me out! Hope to see you again soon!
-Angie

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