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It's been awhile since I've blogged.  A long while - mainly since HKO stopped.  I've been really busy.

With final projects just finishing up last week (a busy whirlwind of a week and a half up until about June 4th) to moving into a new apartment starting on June 6th - I'd say I have been busy.  After moving out, building new furniture (everything was from Ikea so EVERYTHING had to be built - took forever), we took a small vacation up to northern Ohio.  Akron.  We've had a nice time, and tomorrow we go home and start work.

Anyhow... I got Wii Fit!!!  I'm so in love.  Though I will have to restart all my progress when I get home (It is Jason's parents' Wii and not ours.)  But it is so much fun.  more about that later.

I've been really into my flickr lately.  Become my flickr contact.  My address is http://www.flickr.com/photos/o_hai/.  I am going to upload more photos of our new apartment soon!  Hurray!  Anyhow... more later.  I am really tired.

!!! I got this last week and was SO happy. It felt really really good to receive this adorable little thing boxed up.

Contents of the box:
Adorable (but huge - XL - I have to do some sewing) shirt with the winter uniform printed on back and front
Choco Cornet screen wipe - which is a cloth for cleaning your screen tucked inside a choco cornet plush
2 CDS : Konata Character CD (some songs performed by Aya Hirano - or Konata Izumi) & Motekke! Sailor Fuku! cd - which comes with another song and both song without lyrics
Special Edition DVD case with 4 episodes of Lucky star in japanese and english (dubbed of course)
Oh, and of course the adorable little box!

Hurray! I love Lucky Star, and they did a pretty good job with the voices. I still can't decide whether I like the fact that they stuck with Wendee Lee as Konata simply because she did Haruhi (because Haruhi and Konata were both voiced by Aya Hirano in Japanese.) I liked her as Haruhi okay, but she's a kind of weird Konata. I like Tsukasa's voice a lot. And my favorite character as always is Kagami. I just love her - she is so me.

I'm trying to start switching blogs from my hkotest blog to here. Now that the beta is ending... it's time.

 
Hello Kitty Strawberry Rice Krispie Cake

My boyfriend's sister's (her name is Sarah, just fyi) 19th birthday was this weekend. Sarah isn't big on a lot of sweets, so I decided cake wasn't the best for her. I wanted to make the cake cute, and I knew she enjoyed rice krispies, so I tried this. I thought of wrapping it in fondant, but I liked the idea of this a little more. This is a REALLY simple cake to make. I just shaped this while it was warm (I let the krispies cool in a pan for a little). It turned out really cute. Of course, I wouldn't let them stick 19 candles in this, so I had a small round cake as well for the candles.

 

The Cake Lit and Being Blown Out.

And EVERYONE loved the cake. It was gone pretty quick. :) Good birthday.

SO one thing that is really popular out in California are the delicious frozen yogurt places pinkberry and Ce Fiore. Of course pinkberry is only located in New York and California (if you are going to be hip, you're going to be hip there) and Ce Fiore in California, Nevada, Hawaii, and Washington. Oh and Kentucky. But Bardstown Road in Louisville is REALLY hip and it totally fits in. I used to stop by when I visited my friends who went to UofL (University of Louisville.) And now, Cincinnati has it's own : Yagööt. Yagööt (which is REALLY annoying to type because of the umlats...) is a delicious little place in the new shopping area in Norwood (a city within Cincinnati..) that is owned by a local bakery, Busken. Their ads claim it is the "original Tingly-Tart Yogurt" - which bothers me a bit since Ce Fiore and pinkberry DEFINTELY came first, but whatever. It's still delicious, and tastes a bit different. It is a bit creamier (my boyfriend says that the others feel more like ice and are a bit more watered down) and it tastes less like yogurt - which I agree. I do love both Ce Fiore and yagööt, but I'd agree with the boy. It is different. And different is almost always good :)

You can see the design is similar to some of the Ce Fiores and pinkberries (google image search and you will see this pretty easily). But not many in Cincinnati are going to know that or care. I'm just SO happy we have one. And boy, is it delicious. They have about the same choices in toppings as the other two places, plus a coffee ice cream (which I was not willing to try - I hate coffee). I got an original with mochi (theirs was really good) and blackberries and devoured it. I even finished off my boyfriend yogurt. And I'm trying to convince him to take me this weekend - as it if on the way to the grocery store :). If you are ever in Cincinnati, seriously stop by.

 
Anyone else loving the Haruhi headband ? Because I am. I wore it for my critique today. I just feel so cute in it!

So another tutorial.. this one you could probably figure out yourself. I decided to make a headband like Haruhi Suzumiya's because I love her hair. It's just way too cute, and I think it'd be a good headband for all time. I just finally bough ribbon recently...

First, you're going to need a headband. I suggest one that is under 1 inch, my ribbon is 3/4 of an inch (bought at JoAnn's Fabrics and Crafts for 1.49 a yard - you'll need about 2 yards, more if you want bigger bows.) The headband is really your choice - I chose a thicker one simply because I had it lying around, and I also like them more. But you can go thinner. I think 3/4 inch is about the right thickness. First, if your headband has something glued on it take it off. You can see in the picture the end of the headband I used was already coming off. I used a hair dryer (heat setting) to melt the glue a bit and it came off perfectly.

After the first layer of ribbon.

Gluing the second layer

So once you get your ribbon and a plain headband - you can start. You will need a hot glue gun. For the first layer, I actually only hot glued then ends and then spray mounted the rest. I don't really know why I did this. But I did. The hot glue took to my ribbon a bit weird, but it isn't noticeable. I just didn't apply it allover, but in about 5 different spots. I did the same thing for the second layer. I chose to do a second layer so the yellow was really bright, as the black was still seen a bit with just one layer.

After this, I trimmed and glue the edges a bit. This isn't necessary, just something I decided to do.

Next, cut two pieces of ribbon. Tie a knot in them in the dead center. Then make bows. I use the bunny ear method and it took some time...

 :

First and final bows. After you get your ideal bow, take a dab of hot glue to the inside. I did this by pulling side the center part of the bow, and then once I put the glue on, placing it back where it belonged. Be careful - this could easily burn you.

Now it's time to place the bows. Go find a mirror, and just place them where looks good on your head and is more like Haruhi for your head shape. Take a pen/marker (Sharpie bleeds a bit) and put a small dot where you want the bow... Then it's time to glue!.

Place a dab of hot glue where your marker dot is on the headband and immediately place the bow (side you like the most facing out of course) and hold it there for about 15 seconds. This should allow it time to dry. Align the other one (make sure your dot isn't off) then put the glue down and hold the bow for the other side. Let it dry, and complete! Voila, your own headband/set of bows just like Haruhi - and all pretty cheap too!

So this post is a bit early, but I couldn't stop from posting it as this weekend is SO busy I know I cannot post it later!
May 10th is Chococat's birthday, so I have been making things Chococat since it's been on my mind...

 

 
I used fudge "Funfetti" frosting (only put the sprinkles on cupcakes) and a golden butter cake for this. Actually, Chococat is the "Chocolate Chip Cookie cake" which is a golden butter plus a lot of chocolate chips. The yellow icing didn't come out too well, and I was disappointed.

 

Chococat Pizza! So I have made a hello kitty pizza, but I was making a pizza tonight and didn't know what to make. My Chococat Pez dispenser was on the counter, so I just modeled the dough and stuff off of it. I think it turned out pretty well!

So Happy Birthday Chococat! I hope you all enjoy.

So in our pretty much weekly trip to Target (what can I say?), I grabbed some Hello Kitty / Chococat things...

 
Hello Kitty and Chococat Folders
These were 1 and 2 dollars. The folder is great because now I am not just throwing all my sketches into the backpack and letting them get crinkled. And the notebook will soon replace my other Hello Kitty notebook as I have almost used all the pages.

 

 
The Hello Kitty Mother's Day Card
So I bought it in the mother from child section. Well, I am my mother's child. So who cares that I am 20. I thought it was such a cute card, and I didn't really like any other ones. I have trouble finding cards, and this seemed so like me. Beats the time I gave her three random cards that had NOTHING to do with Mother's Day... Tehehe. This was such a cute card though.

That was all for the Target trip. Still, super cute!

So, new post time!!! Hurray!  This is a kind of tutorial for stenciling a tote bag.

 
Hello Kitty Tote Bag!

First off, these pictures are kind of a tutorial that shows how I made this Hello Kitty Tote Bag!  If you want more instructions, the web site I learned from as a sophomore in high school (so that's nearly 5 years ago) is .  Probably one of the best tutorials ever.  Choose all of seethesky's tutorials. It's changed a bit (I haven't looked at it in years.. one time really is enough.)

The materials you will need are as follows:
-T-Shirt / Tote Bag / Something To Paint On
-Freezer Paper
-Printer
-Fabric Paint (You can find this at Wal-Mart, Micheal's, Target - many places.  Craft stores offer more choices.  I use the 99 cent kind from Michael's or whatever is on sale at the time).
-Foam brushes or other paint brushes.  I suggest foam because it leaves less brush strokes.
-Iron
-Extra/Old Newspaper or Paper
-Ironing Board

So first thing first, creating a stencil.  Once again, there are some good  tutorials out there. You can do a few things to prepare the image.  If it is a photography, I use the "Cut Out" filter in Photoshop with 2 colors.  For most things, I just leave the image as is so I can choose where to cut.  If you want to make your own image, I suggest using vector art.  That way if you want to re-use it, you can re-size it at any size.  I use Ilustrator - but I am a student and have to own those programs.

Once you have your stencil ready, you can do one of two things.  My favorite is to cut the Freezer Paper (available in grocery stores, Target, etc) down to the 8.5 by 11 inch paper that printers print on and stick that into the printer.  If you do that, make sure you print onto the non-waxed side.  The paper feel side that isn't glossy is the side that you must have facing upwards when you iron.  So don't print on the waxed side - this may take a few trys to figure out according to your printer.  Or, you can print on normal paper, then somehow adhere that paper to your freezer paper.  With this, I have spray mounted onto the non-waxed side, taped the normal paper to the freezer paper lightly, or just held it in place and hoped for the best (which generally works.

Next you have to cut your stencil.  You can do this with an exacto knife (which requires a cutting surface) or scissors.  There are some complicated issues here, and I will just send you to an external link because it is quite hard to explain.  What are called "Bridges" and "Islands" are an important thing that you probably need to read.  Here is the link.  Be careful when you are cut - and don't hurt yourself!

Next is ironing and painting!  Set your iron to a cotton setting, and let it heat up.  Place your cut stencil on to your fabric.  Usually I put on the shirt (if it's a shirt) and make sure the stencil is in a good place ( not too low/high or something) and with tote bags I just play around. Once you like it, take the iron to it.  With the GLOSSY SIDE DOWN and the PAPER SIDE UP iron in a circular motion for about 30 seconds.  You may need to go longer, depending.  Just make sure your stencil is sticking well to the fabric.  Don't worry, it comes off really easily.

Painting is easy.  For beginning, I suggest one  to two color stencils.  You can just pour the paint on and spread it - that is what I do.  You can paint on the paper which make this easy.  Just make sure you coat it well, but not really thick.  Then you wait.  Some take the paper stencil off right away, but the paint can bleed this was.  Some take it off at the end.  I generally take it off at the end because I find it does give crisper edges.  I wait about 2-3 hours to take stencils off.  Or overnight.

After that, let it dry.  Then, if you have any clean up (like bridges to gap) you can do that with a small paintbrush, q-tip, or something else (I tend to take a pencil and dip it into the paint... which is kind of weird.)  After that dries, you are ready to go!

You can see more of my stencil work in my online portfolio at kitkatherine.info

I know I have spoken of guilds, and perhaps the "buddy list," but one of the main things of Hello Kitty are the friends. I feel that this is somewhat important to talk about because it's not a "feature" of the game that the programmers write, but something that the users create.

 
A bunch of players sitting around, having a good time.

Currently, it seems that in the main town of Florapolis, people gather and talk. Every time I get on, someone is there to talk with. I got a call back for a job interview (I am trying to get my first co-op, a intern like thing where a job is tied to my schooling). The first person to find out and congratulate me was a GM online at the time. Just today a bunch of us gathered in Florapolis to talk about Hello Kitty, hoodies with ears, and more.

One of the things I feel strongly about is community. I have played a fair share of XBOX Live, and as fun as I find Halo 3, I can't help but shudder every time a rude or just down right mean person comes across my headset. It is one of the more depressing things of online games. In World of Warcraft, it seemed people did nasty things all the time like steal loot. For beta testers and soon to be HKO players, I feel there is something we all have to keep in tact, and that is the sense of caring and community currently in the Hello Kitty Online game.

Helping other players means they will help you, or help others. I have seen it done, and done it myself. You can interact with people, and they become your friends. You know perhaps what age they are, or their favorite character, or perhaps each time you get online you discuss music, anime, or anything really. I've already spent hours chatting away with my friends in the game. Any people are so personable.

So I encourage everyone to strive for a friendly community that supports. Helping others figure out quests or get items is not only fun, but nice and helps to build the sort of game atmosphere that really makes gaming fun.

So one of the things I have been wanting to do is interview the GMs (Game Masters) and the players in the Hello Kitty Online beta. These are the people who are currently dedicating their time to making the game it's best.

My first interviewee is character GM - Abby, a dedicated GM who is always there to help. Abby always says hello whenever a player enters whatever town/area she is in and is always willing to help with anything. Here are some of her opinions.

kitkatherine: What are some of your favorite features of HKO?
GM - AbbyFarming, definitely, and houses, cause the'll http://blog.sanriotown.com/hkotest256:hellokitty.com/files/2008/05/abby1.JPGreally have a lot more stuff in the futre. Also that you can customize your characters so much, as you will see inthe future versions. But farming is so addictive for me. (And the cooking game!)
Note: The cooking game is a minigame available within the Hello Kitty Online Game

kitkatherine: Who is your favorite Sanrio chracter?
GM - Abby: Actually it's an old character named Zashikibuta-- But here in the game I love Purin Note: In each guild, the guild master chooses a character as a guild guardian. This affects some features in the game, but not many. You can choose from a few of the different chracters to be your guardian.

kitkatherine: What is your favorite item in the game?
GM - Abby: Hmmm... that's a tough one. Of everything here in the CB, I suppose it's this boar pet. Like a living cardboard box :P. *hug* It's too cute.

kitkatherine: Which town/land are you looking forward to the most?
GM - AbbyKitkat, tough call between London and Moscow. But I'd have to say London.

kitkatherine: Do you have any least favorite features?
GM - Abby: Definitely the lack of tooltips, but they'll definitely be up in the future anyways. :P

kitkatherine: Any other thoughts or anything else you'd like to say?
GM - Abby: Hope you all enjoy playing the game. I can't tell you how excited I am for you guys and future updates! See you around. :]

So thank you Abby for your interview. I am hoping to interview more gamers and let you know how people are feeling about the HKO CB!