Mochi Studios

Kitty Kitty Crafts Cute Hippo Softies

Rita — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 20:45:18 +0000

Congratulations to my dear friend Karissa for launching her Etsy Shop ~ Kitty Kitty Crafts!! Karissa is one of the most darling and extremely creative person I know and I’m beyond thrilled she’s sharing her craft with the world! I first got to know Karissa from stalking her amazingly beautiful quilting creations on Flickr and she has since branched out into clothing design and plush making! I could not help ordering my very own voile Hippo Softie for my birthday last week as well as a goooooorgeous patchwork quilted scarf! Thank you, Karissa! Everything is so beautifully and thoughtfully made! I wish you lots of success and happiness!

Follow Karissa on her blog, Facebook, Flickr, and Twitter.

And visit her awesome Etsy Shop ~ Kitty Kitty Crafts!!

My Life in Pictures ~ Instagram

Rita — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:35:26 +0000

Love and fluff is in the air at Mochi Studios!! I’ve been so busy with orders for Valentine’s Day! And just a reminder, please order your custom handmade plushies by Monday, February 6th to receive your plush by Valentine’s Day, February 14th! This is for US orders only since I can’t guarantee international orders to be delivered by February 14th, sorry! Sorry, I don’t always update my blog often but you can follow me at “mochistudios” on Instagram to see some of my sewing progress! Here are some crafty Instagram pics from the last month~

~ Spring Gnome Plush for Jessica ~

~ Cakeolicious Plush for Wen ~

~ Personalized Candy Bat Plush ~

~ Good Narwhal Mornin’ ~

~ Calzone My Heart ~

~ Panda Peas in a Pod ~

Follow me at “mochistudios” on Instagram for more happy plush photos!

Thanks, everyone, for your love and support always!

Have a Happy February!

Flying Cakeolicious Plush for Wen

Rita — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:47:01 +0000

My friend Wen is a beautiful illustrator, fascinating foodie, camera addict and lover of cute! I have a poster of one of her prints hanging in my craft room that inspires me every day!

“Cakeolicious” by Wen!

http://wen-wen.net/illusts.html

After gazing at the cuteness day after day, I finally made her a plush based on her lovely illustration!

Thanks for the inspiration, Wen, and I hope you like your Plush!

2011

Rita — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 22:27:27 +0000

Disneyland New Years

Time Square, New York

Daisy’s Wedding, SF City Hall

Eleen’s Wedding, Cerritos

Lam at Hakone, Japan

New Plushies

Thank you, 2011, for being such a memorable and exciting year! It’s been the most sensational year since the year I graduated Cal and first met my love, Lam. Two of my best friends married the loves of their lives and I got to be part of their journies. Lam and I traveled to New York, Vegas, and Japan. Our trip to Japan was definitely the highlight of the year. I’m still sorting through our hundreds of pictures and plan to print some pictures and also make a photobook and 2012 calendar soon! 2011 also welcomed the birth of so many babies to cherished friends and family members. Welcome to the beautiful world, all you dear baby darlings! My family has grown and love is renewed all around.

This year was a quiet year for Mochi Studios because of all these life events and I continue to seek to achieve balance between life, work, and Mochi Studios. I hope to redouble my efforts to grow Mochi Studios and sew new plushies and also branch out to other products in the near future!

Thank you to all of you for continuing to support Mochi Studios because I couldn’t do this without you who cherish the value of handmade creations and small businesses.

Thank you and Happy New Years and Best Wishes to 2012!

Bored Inc. at Bazaar Bizarre SF

Rita — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 21:39:33 +0000

What a great weekend! I met Courtney (AKA TokyoBunnie), creator and mastermind behind Bored Inc. at the Bazaar Bizarre SF Holiday Show! She and her cutesy crafty business have been such an inspiration to me from her amazingly adorable illustrations to her fun Stinky Poo and Toilet Paper plushies and Toyland fabric line and more! She is so sweet in person and such a super supporter of Mochi Studios through her many blog posts about plushies I have made which have been extremely helpful in drawing interest in Mochi Studios and I greatly thank her for all her support *^_^* I couldn’t help getting some of her beautiful and cute appliqué wall art hoops and a Narwhal print that she happily signed for me with a little narwhal sketch!

Rita with Courtney from Bored Inc.!
(Sorry for the blurry pic taken quickly on my iPhone)

I loved meeting Courtney and I’m so happy with my purchases that I have already hung up in my craft room! I’m already planning to make her a special plush based off one of her illustrations as a thank you present!

It was the first time I went to the Bazaar Bizarre Holiday Show as a customer and not a vendor and I’m so happy I did so that I could relax and interact more with the vendors and volunteers! I went with my boyfriend Lam and friend Fan and it was the best day shopping and catching up with her and dining on yummy ramen afterwards.

Visit local craft fairs near you and find unique handcrafted holiday gifts and support indie craft artists and small businesses. I wish everyone a happy and crafty holidays this season!

Check out more of Courtney’s awesomeness at Bored Inc. and TokyoBunnie!

Rita — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 21:35:57 +0000

I’m back and I’m so thankful to have had the opportunity to travel to Japan with my dear love, Lam, a dream of mine since forever. I could never think of journeying so far for so long without Lam. Without his love, patience, boldness, and streets smarts, I would have been completely lost and friendless. We thrived off the lightning-speed energy of Tokyo, drank in the quiet majesty of Hakone and Nikko, let loose in the culinary carnival that is Osaka, and lived like locals in the serene parts of Kyoto, all within a very small budget and small backpacks.

Clockwise from top left:
1) 七五三 (Shichi-go-san) Festival at 明治神宮 Meiji Jingu Shrine in Tokyo
2) Our 草履 Zori slippers at 春光院 Shunkoin Temple, where we stayed in Kyoto
3) Giant red torii gates at 伏見稲荷大社 Fushimi Inari Taisha in Kyoto
4) Robot from Laputa: Castle in the Sky at the Ghibli Museum in Tokyo

With months of planning and with the help of some friends, we set forth with a very ambitious itinerary to see as much as possible within our time in Japan, and we did everything we wanted to and so much more. Japan is a beautiful, exciting country full of the most happy, friendly, and polite people I have ever met. I wish I understood more Japanese to truly appreciate the many courtesies shown to us each day. I’ll be posting more pics from Japan soon! I hope they’re not blurry and awful since we were on the go the whole time. It’s hard to be back home and back at my stressful day job but I’ll still keep dreaming of Japan and definitely plan to visit there again!

On Vacay!

Rita — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 17:58:11 +0000

Mochi Studios is on vacation until December 1st! The Mochi Studios Etsy shop is closed while I am on vacation and I will not be able to respond to emails until I return (Sounds like my away message at work!). Follow me on twitter or instagram if you’re curious about where I’m vacationing! Thanks, everyone!

Hope you’re all enjoying the Autumn season and had a great Halloween!

Here are the pumpkins that my boyfriend Lam and I carved this year on Halloween! He took lots of great shots of them well after midnight even though we were both tired from carving!

My Halloween Dragon Pumpkin Carving
(I usually carve Hello Kitty or some other easy cute cat so this was very hard for me to carve!)

Lam’s Steve Jobs Pumpkin Carving
Wow, right?

Happy Halloween from Mochi Studios!

(Please disregard my funny look and messy room… I was very tired after pumpkin carving!)

See you all in December! *big hugs*! *muah*!

Mini Pink Chuchutaco Octopus Plush

Rita — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 19:52:33 +0000

Remember Chuchutaco The Giant Octopus? I made him a small friend! She fits in your hand and just as squishy and cuddly! Her smiling eyes are embroidered and there’s a tiny embroidered red heart on one cheek. She’s special and has six tentacle legs that are super soft and ready for a hug. I love her funky colored underside and the colors match the colors of Mochi Studios’ logo! She can be adopted in the Etsy shop and she’s ready to ship today!

I’ve sewed Giant Octopi Plushies for years but never sold them online… till now!

Giant Octopi are way to hard to ship though so I hope someone out there would love to a dopt this sweet Mini Chuchutaco Octopus Plush!

Orange and Red Batty Bat Plushies

Rita — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 15:25:53 +0000

Halloween comes early around here! I don’t like to get scared but I love love getting enough Halloween candy to last me all year! Here are more sweet and happy Batty Bat Plushies for Halloween! Choose your own Batty Bat to adopt at the Mochi Studios Etsy Shop!

Choose your own Batty Bat to adopt at the Mochi Studios Etsy Shop!

Two Owls in a Log Pod Plush

Rita — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 19:03:12 +0000

More woodland critters join the Log Pod family! Sweet pink and blue Owls take naps and cuddle together in this Log Pod Plush. This is just the beginning of an owl sewing marathon. I am ridiculously in love with sewing these owls! All the details are embroidered by hand and they cradle themselves with big warm wings. I plan to sew them in other colors soon too! These Two Owls in a Log Pod Plush are now available for a limited time in my Etsy shop!

These Two Owls in a Log Pod Plush are now available for a limited time in my Etsy shop!

Also, Mochi Studios will not be vending at craft fairs this year (too expensive! I can’t afford it!) so please feel free to browse the Mochi Studios Etsy shop for gifts this holiday season!

Thank you!