Many things have happened and I promise I will update you on my life.
19 March 2011
Oh My I need to update my blog!
Things have been a little hectic with kitacon only a couple of weeks away and I'm busy making kanzashi and little pyramid bags (which is tomorrow's task).
2 March 2011
Stormy Skies is complete
Don't worry about the name, it was just the weather at the time of design.
It took some time to complete as normal because I wanted the clouds to look like clouds but Japan Craft came to the rescue with needle felting kit and the rest was up to my imagination.
However even after adding the falls onto the large cloud there was still something missing. That was it sparkle, it was missing sparkle! So rhinestones was needed to fit inside the falls and also into the bridge part of the set to give it some shine.
So what do you think about the results?
It will retail at $120 for the set although I am thinking of selling them separate but if you wear it as a set then you get a lovely look of cascading clouds.
23 February 2011
Work In Progress - Maiko style kanzashi
Being on the 8th floor of an apartment block, you can help but notice the weather outside. Especially in Sheffield when you can actually see the rain cloud marching towards you. This gave me an idea! Weather inspired kanzashi!
Since rain was the weather of the day, I thought a rain cloud based kanzashi would be ideal but what to make the clouds from? I wanted a soft and wispy feel to them because they are suppose to be clouds but what materials should I use?
I thought about using many fabric from white cotton to felt but all didn't give the puffy look that I wanted. Then I came across needle felting while I was just strolling through the internet, could this be the answer to my question?
My good friend Katie Chaplin who runs Japan Crafts sold needle felting kits and I thought why not give it a go.
First I needed to get the hang of needle felting by making something simply. A little yellow star.
Isn't it cute. It looks like the stars the Mario collects from the games (or that could be my imagination)
So practice over time to make a cloud. With a vague look in mind I set about making this cloud. The off-white roving was good as it gave the impression of a raincloud and after a new minutes of stabbing the needle, I built up a cloud that fitted my ideas.
I added some blue roving to give the cloud some more definition and for a second go not bad at all.
Time to make the clouds for the bridge part of the maiko kanzashi. This time I wanted a series of small clouds which I could arrange rather then one big long cloud. While I was making those, the blue roving gave me an idea of making raindrops as well. After some more stabbing with the needle my results was these little darlings.
I have created my soft and wispy clouds! Hooray!
I still have a bit more work on this kanzashi as I need to make the rainfall for the large cloud and then give the whole design some sparkle but it is on its way.
For all of you who are interested in the needle felting kit, you can purchase them from Japan Craft here.
14 February 2011
February KDJ meetup
Okay Kimono de Jack UK is meeting tomorrow and we are invading Cadbury World!
Yummy free chocolate..............although in a weeks time my nice brother will be visiting my favourite Belgium chocolate shop (yes I have a favourite chocolate shop) and he has promised to send my 1kg box of chocolates. I can't wait!
But back to KDJ UK! I thought I had a kimono all setup but then one of my friends said it would be best to wear a synthetic kimono which made me reconsider my choice. I am not getting my purple iromuji dirty for chocolate. So that does that leave me? I don't have a purple synthetic kimono but I do have a dark blue kimono with pink and white dots which looks purple from a distance but my pale yellow obi doesn't really match.
Then of course I could wear my dark red chrysanthemum kimono that I wore recently with a black obi but that is boring.
Well I have to decide tonight as I will need to pack it all up since I'm catching the 07.54 to Birmingham.
23 January 2011
January Kimono de Jack
A new year and it is time the kdj gang met up again in kimono fashion. This time we will be visiting the 30 years of Japanese fashion exhibition at the Barbican Centre in London.
We hope to be join by a guest however illness prevented him from travel so could not come. If you are reading this, get better soon!
So my day started earlier, 6.45am. Well early for me because I have been getting up around 8.00 for the past few weeks as I don't go to bed well past midnight. This time I was determine nit to miss my train and arrive 20 mins earlier. To aid my speedy kitsuke I wore my black tsuki obi although I'm not sure if I got the front the right way up?? Nevermind. I teamed this obi with a nice dark green wool kimono and the accessories with red since my obi has red on it. It is a safe option really but unless my hair is tied and pinned in an interesting manner then I find it hard to dress flamboyant. The obi-jime is interesting as it is braided strands of stiff leather. I won it as a lot and been dying to coordinate it but it is quite dark. However it appears to stand out against the black obi so I had to wear it. There was a little kitsuke malfunction, one of the strings that holds the belt closed came off so not only the obi-jime is holding the otaiko part but also keeping the belt closed. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that everything stays together.
Coach A the quiet coach, why does it never live up to it's name? The passengers were not overly rowdy but they were not quiet. Especially if you can hear a conversation from the other side. At least I should be great full that it wasn't like my last journey when I had football supporters swearing and shouting for an hour before someone told them to keep quiet.
There is nothing to report on the train journey. We twist and turned through the Yorkshire countryside which isn't too bad. Seeing the occasional sheep which is very important, you can't have a countryside without sheep!
For once I turned up time 11.00 at London Liverpool street, Lyuba and Hong arrived shortly after me and we made our way to Barbican Centre.
Between trains and tube Tegan was going to be late and Mio (a new person to our group) was going to arrive around 13.00. The three of us waited until 12.00 before we decided to get our ticket and have a look at the clothes. No sooner we wandered round the first corner Tegan appeared. Once we were all together we peruse the exhibition. Then 13.00 came and Mio showed up, we stayed until 13.45 before we decided to find some food.
To summaries the exhibition in a few words the fashion was highly conceptual with some clothes just plain weird. No pictures I'm afraid as it was an exhibition but to put it simply the clothes on show are not really wearable. Once we were outside we took some photos. Hong got most of those so here are some of my ones.
By the time we finished lunch it was 15.30 and it was time for Lyuba to take photos. I must get hold of those and included them in a posting. It was freezing whoever predicted the weather to be mild was wrong!
By now it was time for me to get my train back to Sheffield. Hong was feeling tired so decided to go home, leaving the rest to invade Oxford circus and Haagen Daz. Oxford circus/Road was fine however Haagen Daz was closed for refurbishment. I hope they managed to find somewhere nice to have a treat.
We hope to be join by a guest however illness prevented him from travel so could not come. If you are reading this, get better soon!
So my day started earlier, 6.45am. Well early for me because I have been getting up around 8.00 for the past few weeks as I don't go to bed well past midnight. This time I was determine nit to miss my train and arrive 20 mins earlier. To aid my speedy kitsuke I wore my black tsuki obi although I'm not sure if I got the front the right way up?? Nevermind. I teamed this obi with a nice dark green wool kimono and the accessories with red since my obi has red on it. It is a safe option really but unless my hair is tied and pinned in an interesting manner then I find it hard to dress flamboyant. The obi-jime is interesting as it is braided strands of stiff leather. I won it as a lot and been dying to coordinate it but it is quite dark. However it appears to stand out against the black obi so I had to wear it. There was a little kitsuke malfunction, one of the strings that holds the belt closed came off so not only the obi-jime is holding the otaiko part but also keeping the belt closed. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that everything stays together.
Coach A the quiet coach, why does it never live up to it's name? The passengers were not overly rowdy but they were not quiet. Especially if you can hear a conversation from the other side. At least I should be great full that it wasn't like my last journey when I had football supporters swearing and shouting for an hour before someone told them to keep quiet.
There is nothing to report on the train journey. We twist and turned through the Yorkshire countryside which isn't too bad. Seeing the occasional sheep which is very important, you can't have a countryside without sheep!
For once I turned up time 11.00 at London Liverpool street, Lyuba and Hong arrived shortly after me and we made our way to Barbican Centre.
Between trains and tube Tegan was going to be late and Mio (a new person to our group) was going to arrive around 13.00. The three of us waited until 12.00 before we decided to get our ticket and have a look at the clothes. No sooner we wandered round the first corner Tegan appeared. Once we were all together we peruse the exhibition. Then 13.00 came and Mio showed up, we stayed until 13.45 before we decided to find some food.
To summaries the exhibition in a few words the fashion was highly conceptual with some clothes just plain weird. No pictures I'm afraid as it was an exhibition but to put it simply the clothes on show are not really wearable. Once we were outside we took some photos. Hong got most of those so here are some of my ones.
It was so cold and wet that even the seagulls felt at home in London.
Since we failed to see any restaurants open around the gallery we headed towards Carluccio were Hong's boyfriend worked to have some lunch. Yummy, chicken pate and then a panni washed down with a nice cup of earl grey.
By the time we finished lunch it was 15.30 and it was time for Lyuba to take photos. I must get hold of those and included them in a posting. It was freezing whoever predicted the weather to be mild was wrong!
Hong wanted pictures of her coat so here you are!
By now it was time for me to get my train back to Sheffield. Hong was feeling tired so decided to go home, leaving the rest to invade Oxford circus and Haagen Daz. Oxford circus/Road was fine however Haagen Daz was closed for refurbishment. I hope they managed to find somewhere nice to have a treat.
So the 4th kdj is over, our next meeting will be 19th February at Cadbury's World. Until then goodnight.
11 January 2011
Teardrop bouquet design
My wedding is drawing closer and I am still unsure of the style of bouquet I would like to make.
I have made a simple dome-shaped bouquet which is very cute but now it is time to play around with a teardrop-shaped one.
This time I plan to include some larger flowers to give it more body because the last one ended up smaller then planned.
I have made 36 flowers to far and I still need to make some matching ribbon bows that will go in-between the flowers. As everything is in the assembly stage I will not post any pictures, you will just have to wait for the results.
In the mean time, here are some cute clips that are for sale at my etsy shop.
7 January 2011
New kanzashi on my etsy store.
It has been a long time since I talked about my kanzashi and as it is the new year, I thought it was time to kick off 2011 with some new designs.
All of these lovely one of a kind clips can be brought on my etsy store, each costing a reasonable $5.00.
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