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Nakatsu by JNA Designs is a Austin-based studio where Jenifer Nakatsu Arntson makes quality hand-built vinyl goods such as hand bags, wallets, checkbooks, and accessories. The materials used are animal-friendly and finished products are stylish and modern, with an attention to detail, quality and function. Our website is www.nakatsudesign.com.
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Lego build tray project

I am making some DIY lego build trays, inspired by this tutorial I found via pinterest (my lego pinterest board is here.) Instead of building the wooden framed board in the tutorial, I ordered 2 plastic handled trays in white, 2 10″ x 10″ plates, and a set from BrikTek that are supposed to be cross compatible. Judging by the measurements given in the Amazon listing, both trays should fit within the framed area of our Ikea Latt kiddo table, and the plates should fit within the tray area. We’ll see how accurate their measurements are…

Edited 1/25/13: I bought additional pieces at the lego store and was going to glue the boards together when hubby took over the project (he had the liquid nails adhesive at his studio.)

He cut the green plates on the bandf saw before gluing, and some of the gray small plates I bought so the final configuration was:

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New holiday stockings! And Blue Genie opens!

Blue Genie Art Bazaar opened today at the Marchesa Event Center near Highland Mall after a well-attended preview night Tuesday. The show will be open every day until Christmas Eve from 10am to 10pm!

Come see my Nakatsu by JNA display in the big room near the counters. I also have some new Christmas stockings and embellished crowns in the group display in the back left corner. Check ’em out, I had fun making these!

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Halloween book-a-day

While looking for ideas for a Halloween advent calendar I came across this unique idea of a {halloween book countdown} by Kierste of brown paper packages of fun (and not too scary!) Halloween books for the 3-8yo set to count down the 31 days to Halloween–starting with October 1st.

Last night over here we read Halloween Motel by Sean Diviny and illustrated by Joe Rocco, which might be a little scary for younger, more sensitive kiddos.

    Kierste’s 2010 List:
    1. Too Many Pumpkins, Linda White
    2. Pumpkin Soup, Helen Cooper
    3. The Biggest Pumpkin Ever, Steven Kroll
    4. Pumpkin Circle: The Story of a Garden, George Levenson
    5. How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin?, Margaret McNamara
    6. Pumpkin, Pumpkin, Jeanne Titherington
    7. In the Haunted House, Eve Bunting
    8. Room on the Broom, Julie Donaldson
    9. The Little Old Lady Who Wasn’t Afraid of Anything, Linda Williams
    10. The Night Before Halloween, Natasha Wing
    11. The Berenstain Bears Trick or Treat, Stan & Jan Berenstain
    12. The Big Pumpkin, Erica Silverman
    13. The Vanishing Pumpkin, Tomie dePaola
    14. Humbug Witch, Lorna Balian
    15. Bug That Go Bump in the Night, David A. Carter
    16. Five Little Pumpkins, Iris Van Rynbach
    17. Scary, Scary, Halloween, Eve Bunting
    18. Peek-A-Booooo!, Marie Torres Cimarusti
    19. Mrs. McMurphy’s Pumpkin, Rick Walton
    20. It’s Halloween!, Jack Prelutsky
    21. Thirteen Nights of Halloween, Rebecca Dickinson
    22. Miss Fiona’s Stupendous Pumpkin Pies, Mark Kimball Moulton
    23. Ten Timid Ghosts, Jennifer O’ Connell
    24. The Bumpy Little Pumpkin, Margery Cuyler
    25. Halloween Night, Arden Druce
    26. Haunted Castle on Hallows’ Eve, Mary Pope Osborne
    27. All Hallow’s Eve – The Story of the Halloween Fairy, Lisa S. Johnson
    28. Pumpkin Hill, Elizabeth Spurr
    29. Skeleton Hiccups, Margery Cuyler
    30. The Ugly Pumpkin, Dave Horowitz
    31. Trick or Treat Countdown, Patricia Hubbard
    Bonus suggestions via comments:
    32. “The Hallo-Wiener” by Dav Pilkey, about a dachshund
    33. “Where’s my Mummy” by Carolyn Crimeny, about a little mummy playing hide and seek with his mummy just before bedtime
    34. “Black Cat Creeping”
    35. “TOO MANY PUMPKINS”
    36. Big Pumpkin
    37. Humbug Witch
    38. The Little Old Woman Who was not afraid of anything!
    39. The Runaway Pumpkin!
    40. A Woggle of Witches by Adrienne Adams,
    41. “John Pig’s Halloween”
    42. Frankie Stein (Lola M Schaefer)
    43. Skeleton Hiccups
    44. Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman
    45. Spookley the square pumpkin, by Joe Troiano!
    46. Room on the Broom
    47. Skippyjon Jones in Mummy Trouble, by Judy Schachner (we read this one year-round)
    48. The Widow’s Broom, by Chirs Van Allsburg
    49. Moonlight: The Halloween Cat by Cynthia Rylant
    50. In a Dark, Dark Wood, An Old Tale with a New Twist by David Carter (pop up ghost in the back)
    Our addition(s):
    51. Halloween Motel by Sean Diviny and illustrated by Joe Rocco
    52.The Ghost Family Meets its Match (Story and pictures by Nicole Rubel)

Other lists I found in my travels:
Learning with Mrs. Parker

Peace, Love and Rainbows’ countdown to All Hallows Eve

———
We couldnt find any of these other titles at our library, BUT I didn’t search the computer index, just the shelves. Probably need to start earlier next year?

I did find several advent calendar projects (and will post links) kiddo #1 was excited about (we get very busy this time of year and aren’t able to decorate the house as much as he’d like, and many of our crafts only survive one year.)

11/17/11 Found a bunch of spooky books in the Folklore and Fairytale section of our library we will be revisiting. The Ghost Family Meets its Match (Story and pictures by Nicole Rubel) has had multiple readings since we checked it out yesterday.

With kids about 4 years apart there have been some instances that books or videos DS #1 is interested in are still a bit too scary for DS #2. For example, Y loves Nightmare Before Christmas, Corpse Bride, zombies and mummies, etc. and has since he was maybe 3yo? H at 2yo is not ready for most of Y’s faves.

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The Acro-Cats and Rock-Cats!

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Took the kiddo to see this and really enjoyed the show. Very kid-friendly and fun. They’re going to San Antonio, Houston and Atlanta next. Mostly rescued animals (not sure re the chicken, groundhog, etc), and Samantha even gives a how-to lesson on how to train a cat (she has cute kits with a DVD). Check it out if you can. They’re from near Chicago (?) and have a website CircusCats.com.

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How to Sew An Applique on Vinyl Using a Vintage Walking Foot Machine

I made a little video about stitching detailed appliques, uploaded it to YouTube and added some annotations/notes (not sure if they can be seen in all browsers?)

This machine may date to the 70s (maybe 60s?) I’ve had it since 1995, the second walking foot machine I ever bought.
(I’d like to give a shout-out to Maurice at City Service Sewing Machines, he’s the best in town.)

Please check it out, and let me know what you think!
Thanks xoxo JNA