Hello Autumn

There is something in the autumn that is native to my blood

Touch of manner hint of mood;

And my heart is like a rhyme

With the yellow and the purple and the crimson keeping time

-Bliss carman

 

I have missed you so... summer left me weary

I am cozy up in my flannel pjs because today is the first chilly morning in months, right on time might I say so.  Now that fall is finally upon us, I can spend far more countless hours buried in a book and mindlessly wandering the only forest-like place nearest to me.  I have begun making a list in my head of things I want to do in Autumn...

Hot air balloon
Sew a sweaterdress
Get my hair cut short and donate
Try out new recipe for the holidays
Bake pumpkin bread
Early gift shopping/creating
New projects/ideas for the shop
Reorganize the craft space
Make new pillow cases
Read books, my TBR pile is getting high
Visit the pumpkin patch
Find a new favorite sweater and pair of boots
Carrie Underwood Concert
Snowboarding

What are you looking forward to doing this season?

Good-bye Summer

So long short shorts, sundresses, sun burnt lips, funky tan lines, dry hair, air conditioning, too hot weather, ice cold lemonade, summer freckles, sight and smell of pretty flowers, summer thunderstorms, cold watermelons, fairs, iced teas, outdoor movies, wavy beach hair, the hunt for the cutest big floppy hats with a girlfriend (we did finally find one), sheer make-up, braids, summer readings, open windows, sandals, relaxed attitude, hours and hours of natural sunlight, cold showers, old windshield wiper, window shopping.

Summer highlights...

 

We Remember

Outdoor Movie Night via Street Food Cinema

 Downtown LA Public Library

Huntington Library Japanese garden

Lots of marriages and babies on the way
 

My Etsy Shop hit 1 Year on a surprisingly good note

diy post earrings with polymer clay
 

obsession
 

SOLD ALL of my paintings

We caught the meteor shower one late summer night.  We located a nice park nestled up in the hills that was hosting a summer night sky watch in the city of Glendale.  It was totally free, all you needed to bring were lots of picnic blankets and friends.  The park provided all the snacks, which I thought was really nice.  From 9-11 p.m people gathered and laid under the night sky to watch the shooting stars.  I spotted six bright ones within 30 minutes, and poor guy only saw three the whole night.  It was his first time seeing a shooting star, so one already made his night.  If you've never done a meteor shower sky watch, I highly recommend it, and scout out the darkest location with the least amount of city lights.  My little sister was sad that she had not known about it so I promised her I would tell her next time.

What was your favorite moment this summer?

Avon Magix Cashmere Finish Liquid Foundation + Face Perfector

 

Avon Magix Cashmere Finish Liquid Foundation is a really great foundation for those warm and humid days.  I could just imagine how wonderful it would feel once the temperature here in California cools down.  It's creamy, smooth and very lightweight, it feels like skin.  It's a matte finish, and never dull, but slightly dewy, so not to wash out the complexion.  It's quite beautiful and soft.  It most certainly feels like a tinted moisturizer because of the soft texture and light-medium coverage.  There is a pleasant scent, it smells pretty and I enjoy it.

It's great for evening out skin tone and minor blemishes, but not so much for dark scars and dark spots.  Even though my freckles and under-eye darkness show through, I don't really mind because a little bit of concealer can take care of that.  

The only thing that I do not like about the product is that no matter how much I shake the bottle, sometimes the product may come out a bit watery, but it seems like it may have to do with the temperature, causing the ingredients to possibly separate.  Anyone else have this problem?

Now, the Avon Magix Face Perfector is a brilliant product.  I really love the way it feels and the way it works.  I'm also comparing it to the Smashbox Photo-Finish Primer that I have been using for the past 2 years until I ran out and picked up the Avon Face Perfector.  It applies beautifully onto the skin, starts off as a white creamy gel and smooths out to a clear finish, feels like soft powder.  It works just as well as the Smashbox  Photo-Finish Primer.

This is a great duo, and the finish I do love.  Regular price for the Avon Magix Cashmere Finish Liuid Foundation is $11 and the Magix Face Perfector is $10.  I got them on sale for $7.99 each, and they do go on sale rather often, wait for the sale!

Have you tried the Avon Magix Cashmere Finish Liquid Foundation and Face Perfector?  What are your thoughts?

Looking to pick up the duo?  Purchase here or visit www.youravon.com/nancychu

About Me: A to Z

I stumbled upon a fun About Me: A to Z post from one sheepish girl and I really love her blog and her style.  So I thought I would share mine...    

A. Age: 27.  I will be 28 on February 10, yikes! >_< 
B. Bed size: Queen.  My memory foam bed was my very first big purchase in college, and it's still just as comfortable as the first night I slept in it.
C. Chore that you hate: Cleaning the bathtub, only because my arms get really really tired.
D. Dogs: I really want a grey and white husky or malamute
E. Essential start to your day: Glass of water and e-mail
F. Favorite color: Always love all shades of purple.  Occasional favorite color: mint green, white, blushing pink, mustard yellow
G. Gold or silver: White gold
H. Height: 5'8" I'm starting to embrace my height more.  Being Asian and tall=giant... and bad posture!  Do not slouch, it is so unattractive.  To all the tall girls out there, embrace your height, tall is beautiful. 
I. Instruments you play: I played the violin and flute in middle school, so I know I'm not musically challenged.  Attempted the guitar recently with no go =(
J. Job title: Avon Rep and business
K. Kids: Hopefully a couple before I turn 35?
L. Live: Los Angeles, CA
M. Mother's name: Lan
N. Nicknames: Peanut (by my boyfriend), Ga Jei (by my friend Lora)
O. Overnight hospital stays: When my father hurt his spine
P. Pet peeve: Bent covers on new and old books
Q. Quote from a movie:  "The first rule of Fight Club is: you do not talk about Fight Club.  The second rule of Fight Club is: you DO NOT talk about Fight Club!" -Fight Club
R. Right or left handed: Right
S. Siblings: 2 younger sisters (Annie and Amy), 1 younger brother (Allan).  I'm the only one whose first letter is "N" and was named after Nancy Reagan.
T. Time you wake up: 6:30 a.m
U. Underwear: American Eagle Aerie, very comfy pretty cotton undies
V. Vegetable you hate: Bitter melon
W. What makes you run late: I don't run late
X. X-rays you've had: teeth
Y. Yummy food that you make: Penne chicken
Z. Zoo animal: Giraffe

Did you do one?  Leave me a link to yours, I would love to see it.

Celebrating: Etsy 1 Year

 

One year ago, from today, I ventured back into what I loved and missed the most... arts and crafts.  My friends tell me all the time that I'm a crafty person, but I have always loved art in forms of colors, pencils, paper and paint... and never really got into crafts even though I was pretty good at it when I wanted to be.  

Until my good friend Lora, bless her heart, introduced me to Etsy.  She made me a crochet turtle as a thank you gift because she was moving up north, to the Bay Area, to start a new life.  That's when it hit me... She's a CRAFTER!  I've known her for 12 years, and for those 11 years I never knew she was into crafts.  I've always wanted a crafting buddy or an artsy friend, and she is that to me.  Funny how we learn something new. 

Then blogging, then fabric, then yarn, the intro to Michaels craft store (omg, I was in heaven), stamps and card-making, scarp-booking, I love it all.  Through etsy and blogging I have discovered so many creative and talented people.  I dipped my toes into the crafting world and am now knees deep, and I don't think I'm ever coming out.  

Within this one year...

• Etsy is my inspiration and my heart    
• I opened an Etsy shop, FancifulChaos
• I went to my very first craft fair, and now I attend most if I can
• Make more cards and gifts, than I do buy
• Developed a huge collection of crafting stuff than I have storage
• Discovered Washi Tape (I know, I'm so late), it's my latest obsession
• Wow to cling stamps
• Make jewelery
• Realize vintage is actually pretty cool and strangely beautiful
  
• Blogging

and so much more... that if I sat down to write out all the new things that I have gotten myself into, it would be quite a long list.

One Etsy year later, I have 355 sales, 128 awesome feedbacks from creative people from around the world, and 199 Etsy admirers.  And knowing that fills me with excitement and humbleness.  The cherry on top... every month just gets better and better, so Thank You!

Here's to celebrating FancifulChao's Etsy 1 Year.  A give-away!
To enter this give-away:

• Leave a comment in this post telling what/who inspires your creativity (in art, fashion, music, photography, etc).  Even though winner will be chosen in a random hand-drawing, I'd love to hear your story.

 Winner will win (your choice) any one item from my Etsy Shop

Give-away ends Friday, September 14th midnight (12:00 a.m)
Winner will be announced the following day, Saturday, September 15th

It's been a wonderful journey so far!

Outgoing Mail

Had a handful of Etsy orders over Labor Day weekend.  A snapshot of the orders in pretty packaging before going into the manila envelopes and out to the post.

Really loving the Tab die cuts that I picked up over the summer.  It's becoming more and more useful.  I'm currently using them to make outgoing orders a bit more personalized, writing customers names on their sweet little packages.

Short trip up to San Francisco to see my cousin's precious baby, Lana.  She smiles in her sleep =)  So far there are already two new babies in the family and there's two more on the way.  My cousin's sister is due this November and my brother's baby is midway.  Wow, baby BOOM?

Pretty Birthday Card

A Birthday card I created for my friend Lora this summer.  Because we don't see each other that often, our goal this summer was to go on lots of fun adventures and do lots of crafting.

We both love crafts, and this gives us a reason to go craft shopping.  I got a Jo-Ann gift card and created a pocket to neatly tuck the card in place.  A little bit of glue and washi tape to hold the pocket for sturdiness, and to also add fun whimsical texts.

Curious as to how to created the green floral embellishment?...

Using a cloud punch, punch out several clouds on pattern paper.  Form them into cones and secure with a dab of glue.  Glue the cones together, adding a button and twine for extra detailing.

Here we are at the LA Renegade Craft Fair this summer.  I must say the Renegade Craft Fair was pretty awesome.  I literally wanted to buy everything.  The RCF is up in Chicago this weekend, I wish I could go.  One day I hope to have a booth in a craft fair, oh... to dream. 

Now that the end of summer is nearing, I am crafting friend-less.  She's back up in norcal and I'm in socal without a craft buddy.  Summer came and went... and fast, we didn't even have time to squeeze in a single craft project this entire summer, or much adventure... sad.  Even though its going to feel like summer for another month or two here in California, I still go by the the actual time the seasons begin and end.

So I am more than happy to welcome Autumn.  I've been patiently waiting for fall season to grace me with patches of scarlet, and piles of falling leaves littering the grounds.  And rain... how I miss you.  Usually, I want summer to go year round because I love warm weather, but now I'm taking a liking to cooler weather and cozy-under-the-cover-weekends.

Autumn... I'm waiting...