Needle Felting

It all started when I watched Bubzbeauty who is a youtuber who does videos on beauty related things. She took up needle felting and made tutorials on it. It was a really fun and interesting handicraft, so I decided to learn it too. I may not be good in drawing but I love doing crafts like how I used to love doing cross stitch. My sister found a source to purchase a starter kit and then I started experimenting. The kit was beautiful containing many different colors of wool, 1 foam board, 3 needles and etc.  My first attempt was to make a carrot but it failed badly.

My second attempt was making this mushroom below and I was inspired by pictures from Pinterest. It was tough because it took more than 1 hour and 30 minutes to make it. I poked my own finger once or twice and I crouch my back too much to have a better look at the process to avoid poking myself. The mushroom turned out well and I was motivated hence I ask my friends their favorite color and made one for each of them. The stems I made were too long and so the more you use the needle to poke it, the wool will tangle more and resulted in making it shorter. The more you poke at the wool the more dense it will be.

I also attempted to make a piggy head but failed miserably so I went to surf around Pinterest again which resulted in making the bunny below. Then I made a piggy too and it looked better than before. LOL. Also made some shapes with cookie cutters as a guide. 

Bought all these at Daiso Japan, has many colors to choose from and also kits.

Bought this at Kinokuniya bookstore

I really enjoy needle felting especially seeing the wool come into shape. It's definitely something that needs patience because if you fail just try again. Besides that, it's also a delicate handiwork when you work on small parts, the more details you want the more delicate it becomes. Needle felting has been around for some time now, and it's always been popular in Japan but lately it has become such a trend that even a bookstore like Kinokuniya sells kits. The kits are mainly from Taiwan with mandarin instructions which luckily I can understand. I hope to post some tutorials if not make videos too but I need to organize my environment to find a suitable filming place. I have been hoarding things on my desk and it's kinda  messy to be taking photos or filming videos now. If you really want to try some and watch tutorials, do visit Bubzbeauty 's youtube channel, just google needle felting and there will be helpful sites. Have fun and becareful not to poke vigorously.

To Catch An Heiress

Caroline lost both her parents at a very young age and so she moved from guardian to guardian since those people passed away too. In her years of living with those guardians, she was never treated right, forced to do chores and living in small rooms. Caroline was going to turn 21 where she will obtain her inheritance and then she can leave the latest guardian Oliver Prewitt. One night Oliver was out for card games and it was odd that all the servants was given the night off. There was a gun shot and Caroline had to protect herself from being raped by Oliver's son. The plan was to force her to marry him so that her fortune will be his. 

Caroline had no choice but to leave the household and so she packed her valuables went out at night. Unfortunately for her, she had to hide for 6 weeks with only 50 pounds and she had no idea where to go to. In the midst for her escape, she was tackled by a gentleman and was kidnapped for mistaken identity. Blake Ravenscroft was stalking the house and when he saw a woman leave he was sure it was Charlotta De Leon, spy for the enemy of the country. Caroline did not know how to explain herself but she was glad that she was taken away since she did not know where to go. 

To Catch an Heiress by Julia Quinn  is about a girl trying to escape her terrible guardian and then being mistaken as another person by a gentleman. This is not the most hilarious book from the author but nonetheless it was still funny. In terms of how in depth you know the characters, I feel it's just their surface level, nothing too deep was written in. It would be more interesting if the readers could know a bit more about their past.

This book was just an okay book for me and it did not grab my attention like the Bridgerton series. I took some time to read it because I wasn't super excited about this book. But because I'm a fan of the author I will definitely read all her books and this book is a new one to my collection. It's up to her usual standards of historical romance but the characters are not super interesting. I wouldn't recommend a person who would want to try historical romance pick this up because there are better ones. I read this as a fan and a collector of Julia Quinn. Sadly it's not a book that I will read twice.

Brave

Lately I've been inspired by music and it sort of gave me the motivation to do things that I planned to do. Laziness have always been a downfall to me in executing my plans and I wished I was that eager teenager I used to be. Being all discipline and diligent in studying for my exams which I lack now. Of all the inspirational songs, Sara Bareiles' Brave was really meaningful. I thought of my past and remembered how I was bullied a lot in high school, being turned into a laughing stock. I kinda regret how I allowed it to happen and never stood up to the bully.

Secretly the way I thought that I was standing up was to beat her in studies but she wasn't particularly interested in it in the first place.  If only I was brave enough to tell her that even though you are bigger, taller, and look prettier that doesn't give you the right to bully anyone but I couldn't because I was dumber. I hope that more people who listen to this song will be brave to do what you want, things you want to say, and just be yourself without fear.  I hope I will also be brave to step out of my comfort zone from now on.