The Hole Story

While living in South Korea, a little friend came to live at our house, a woodpecker. He pecked a rather large hole in a post on our front porch and made himself at home. When I would go out to get the mail, he would fly out of the hole and wait on a nearby tree for me to return to the house.

Sometimes it would startle me when he flew out of the hole.

We have been home now for over a year and I've been asking Rocketman (a mechanical engineer by degree) to fill the hole. I told him that we need to do it in the fall when the woodpecker has gone south for the winter and he would always shake his head in agreement.

But now another fall is almost gone and the hole is still there. The problem is that Rocketman doesn't really know how to fix the hole. He's not a carpenter but an engineer. I thought that since he is an engineer he can fix anything. We'll see if he comes up with a solution.

Maedeup Monday!

I now have 5 yard bundles of 1.5mm Korean cording available in my Etsy store. They are $5.00 a bundle so you can now use the same cording that I use. It's my favorite not only because it was what I was taught with but because it works so well for maedeup.

Now is a good time to be thinking about Christmas presents. When the kids were younger, I would always try to make their teachers something and maedeup makes a wonderful gift for your family and friends. It's also pretty inexpensive which helps a lot these days.

Kim Bum Soo's 7th CD is Out

Just released Kim Bum Soo's 7th CD called Solista Part 1. It's fantastic! His voice is amazing. This time he teamed up with JY Park who produced the CD. He's the genius behind The Wonder Girls and Rain.

This first video is the first official video from the CD. No sign of Kim Bum Soo anywhere in the video.



This second video is mostly of JY Park producing with some glimpses of Kim Bum Soo. They still seem to try to hide his face.

It's Serious Business!

Duck hunting in Minnesota. I see this camouflaged boat in a neighbor's driveway this time of year and I know it's duck hunting season. I used to work with a gal who took duck and deer hunting very seriously. She doesn't use perfumed detergent or deodorant. Nothing in their house has an odor. She would complain about how she would have to untangle the decoys as they put the 50-100 into the water to attract the ducks. All the meat that they ate was meat that they had hunted. It was not surprising during deer hunting season to see a deer hanging in their garage waiting to be taken to the butcher.

Maedeup Monday!

Join me on November 14th, 1:30-3:30pm to learn garakji maedeup. The class will be at the White Bear Center for the Arts. This knot is a classic way to end your maedeup jewelry project. It also makes beautiful earrings.

Rocketman returned on Saturday from a three week stay in Asia. He again had to pick up some things for me at the maedeup shop in Seoul but luckily Hannah, my Korean girlfriend, was able to have the order shipped to his hotel room so he didn't need to take a trip into Seoul. I'm restocked now with loop turners.

Today we go to the retina center for a visit with the brother of Dr. NBM (no bedside manner). Luckily, he is not like his brother and is very nice especially with the questions I tend to ask. I'm somewhat of a worrywart since this whole detached retina thing started. Rocketman is still having some sight issues and we'll see if he will be having more surgery.

The FaveCrafts Blog Hop

I am participating in The FaveCrafts Blog Hop. Each month I will be sharing a different project. Enjoy!!

Halloween Pumpkins
By Becky Meverden

Materials:
Polymer clay: orange, white, black, brown and green
Round toothpick
Small paintbrush
Stylus
Plastic straw, optional
Circle template, optional for measuring ball sizes

Instructions:

1. Condition clay according to manufacturer’s instructions.

2. Pumpkin: Roll a 7/8” orange ball. Use a toothpick to indent lines around the entire ball. Stem: Use the blunt end of a paintbrush to make a hole in the top of the pumpkin. Roll a ¼” brown ball into a teardrop. Press the widest end of the teardrop against a flat surface to flatten. Use a toothpick to indent lines randomly around and on top of the stem. Press stem into the hole. Leaves: Flatten two 5/32” green balls into teardrops. Indent veins onto each leaf and press leaves onto both sides of the stem. Vine: Roll a 1/8” green ball into a 1/16” diameter log. Use your fingers to coil and press onto pumpkin.

3. Eyes: Flatten two 5/32” white balls into teardrops. Press the narrowest ends together slightly and press onto the pumpkin. Pupils: Roll two 1/16” black balls and press onto each eye. Nose: Roll a 5/32” orange ball into an oval and press onto the head below the eyes. Eyebrows: Use a toothpick to indent. Mouth: Press half of a straw end just under the nose and remove. It leaves a great smile. A toothpick can also be used to indent the mouth. Use a stylus (or toothpick) to indent both ends of the smile.

4. Bake in a preheated 265 degree oven for 30 minutes.

Books, Books, Books!

Once a year Half Price Books has a gigantic sale at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds. Hardcover books are $2.00 and paperback are $1.00. Last year was my first time and poor Rocketman had to carry bags of books to the car three times. This year I was going alone since Rocketman was in Asia. I brought a big bag and filled it to the rim with books. The total was around $41.00.


If Rocketman had been there, I know I would have bought more. I love books! When I got home and was putting my books into my closet, I noticed I still had a huge stack from last year that I hadn't read yet. So I am vowing to not buy another book until I read most of my stash.

I was surprised to see a police cars ticketing cars that were parked illegally like in a handicap zone or by a yellow curb. The fairgrounds are closed to the public except for the state fair and other events. So some people were going to be really surprised when they returned to their car. I parked legally although it was over 2 blocks away. I can't wait for the next sale.

Maedeup Monday!

Yesterday I had the privilege of teaching two maedeup classes at the Korean Heritage House in St. Paul, MN. The first session was from 11-1 and the second from 1:30-3:30. I taught the easiest maedeup knot which is the hapjong maedeup. The students learned how to make the knot and then they made a bracelet or necklace.

Both classes ended up with additional walk-in students but I was prepared by having extra kits. I loved to watch the look on each student's face as they went through the steps to create the maedeup and then the joy in their faces when they completed the knot.

I like to keep my class sizes to no more than 15 but I prefer 10-12. I always like to go around and help the students individually just like Su-Mi, my Korean maedeup teacher would do with my Korean maedeup classes.

I was really nervous the day of the class. I'm always that way when I'm teaching. I want the students to enjoy the class and really leave feeling good about what they accomplished. Yesterday's classes were very special to me because the students were adoptive parents of Korean born children. Learning Korean culture to teach their children was very important to them and it touched my heart.

My sponsor even went out and got me mandu guk (Korean dumpling soup) from a local Korean restaurant and it was just like being back in Korea. It made me homesick but now I know a good Korean restaurant that Rocketman and I can go to for Korean food.

After class, I met a Korean couple with their two adorable children. She was interested in maedeup classes. Her husband was working on his post-doctorate at the University of Minnesota. They had just arrived in Minnesota the day before from Pennsylvania. We talked a long time about Korea and her husband kept looking at me and saying, "You really are Korean!" It was quite a compliment. I gave her my business card and told her if she needed any help in getting situated or just wanted to talk, to call me. She looked at me and said that her church in Pennsylvania was going to pray for her to meet someone in Minnesota that would help her. She told me that she did not think she would meet me so soon. I had goosebumps after that conversation.

Isn't life amazing?!

It's That Time of the Year - Boutique Time!

Fall has always been a big time of the year for craft shows and boutiques. One of my favorites is the Chickadee Boutique located in a northern suburb of St. Paul. It is unique in that it is in a little cottage behind the owner's home. She decks out this little cottage in all kinds of handmade crafts, nothing made in China here. It is heated by a wood burning stove and she always has fragrant candle burning along with samples of food items for you to taste. What better atmosphere to shop?


It used to just be the cottage but it grew beyond that.

There was so much to see and I was lucky to get there when it wasn't crowded.

I love the way she displays things.

Just picture perfect.

The one thing that I wasn't and still am not good at is setting up a booth. I just don't have the talent to display things and I'm in awe of those who do.

I thought this sweater was beautiful.

Of course, I couldn't get out of there without filling up my basket. I bought these as gifts. I thought they were priced really reasonably at $18.95 a piece. They were so cute! She had so many different kinds to choose from.

My daughter has a thing for boxes and I bought this one for her for Halloween.

It was hand painted and only $7.99.

I even picked up some polymer clay. I love to collect it for other artists. These two were only $2.99.

She has a lot of food items for sale. I love having a little help with my cooking.

This is Rocketman's favorite soup so I thought I would try these out.

They also have the best homemade caramels. My daughter and son also love them so I always get a bag for each. I try not to sneak too many.

Maedeup Monday!

As you can see, I am still intrigued with rings. I found these huge JHB buttons at JoAnn's the other week and thought they would work great with maedeup.

This one I made two jamjari (dragonfly) maedeups and glued them to the button.

This one is a gukhwa maedeup with a charm added glued to the button. Then I glued a ring base and that was it.

I have a contact at JHB that I'm going to email to see if they have any other styles of these large buttons. I had a lot of fun making these.