All packed and ready to go!

It has nearly been a month since my last post, I think?

So what has happened during the last month.......

I am engaged to my boyfriend of 10 years. There was no proposal, no getting down on one knee and no surprise involved. We both felt that it was the right time so we agreed that marriage was the next step.

We have found a flat in Sheffield city centre which has a great view and we are moving tomorrow.

Oh and since we are engaged, the wedding argument have begun between me and my mother. Today's argument has been my selfish and frugal behaviour toward the wedding ideas. My mother asked me to find a venue where you can have the ceremony and reception all in one. Of course this place is a nice hotel so the hotel staff suggested that I could get ready in one of their room. This sounded like a good idea as it mean that I do not have to worry about getting my dress and hair messed up by the wind and I will be on time. At first my mother thought this was a good idea but then she wondered about the wedding car. I said that if I was getting ready at the hotel then the car is not needed. This was the start of my mother ranting and raving that I was being selfish and frugal because I didn't want a wedding car. This then progress to my mother complaining that my wedding ideas where too English and that there is not Chinese traditions involved. So I asked her what traditions would she like to see but she was sulking like a child and just kept saying that it doesn't matter.

My fiance and I are thinking of getting married in October 2011 so I will have 15 months worth of mother telling me that I am being too selfish, childish, modern, English, controversial ........

You can fill in the blanks.

I couldn't resist this kimono!

The problem with a kimono collector is that there is always a kimono to tempt you and by god I had to buy this one!



It's purple, synthetic, matches with my purple hakama and a ko-furisode which I don't own yet.

Oh it ticks so many boxes and I can't wait to wear it.

I'm back in the UK

It is good to be back.

And to make it even better, my Okimono Kimono book has arrived, I waited so long for the English translation to come out and when it did I got it. My original order with Amazon fell through because of the publishing date and in the end Amazon cancelled my order. It has many ideas to make kimono wearing very modern and chic. Will need to practice kitsuke more often now.

Oh my boyfriend and I are now proud owners of a PS3 with God of War 3 and FF13 already brought and ready for us to waste our lives playing. I know it is very geeky to get excited about a game console but I can't help it.

Time to get some serious rest. I have been up for over 24 hours and it is not good for me.

It's been some time.

Wow, when was the last time I posted something.

Well what has happened since 23 May 2010.......

I have been making flowers for the Art in the Garden event in Sheffield at 4th and 5th September. Up to 110 flowers made but still need to make another 40 tsumami flowers for hair-slide/brooch/hair-grip, which will be standard stock but once those are out of the way I will need to plan what other kanzashi to make. I have decided to make some traditional maiko style ones but what modern ones should I make. Obviously tsumami flowers can be arranged to make many accessories like fascinator, corsage, pinhole flower or bouquet but I can't make everything. Whatever my decision it will have to be soon as I plan to make all the flowers I need before my big move to Sheffield and then spend the remaining month putting my stock together. Of course I have to figure out the best way to display my kanzashi at the event but I already have some good ideas on that.

In addition, I have been revising for my two ACCA exams and at the beginning of June I took them. I had the biggest scare in my life when my bus didn't turn up to take me to my first exam. However I managed to get my brother to drive me up to Chelmsford with 5 minutes to spare. After that I swore that I would take the train to Chelmsford as I use to in the past. Trust me to change my travel method and then see it go horrible wrong. So now I am waiting for my results which will be out by August. I would like to say I have loads of confidence about these exams but I don't so rather then worrying about it, I decided to do the next best thing. Forget about it!

Anyway after my exams I had to pack my suitcase for my trip to sunny London in Ontario, Canada the following day. Yes I left my packing to the very last day and I didn't actually pack my bags until I was about to go to bed. I wouldn't recommend it as for the past 12 days I have been cursing myself for forgetting silly things like not enough shampoo or body cream. But I can hardly say my holiday was ruined.

So what did I do for 12 days in Canada.......pretty much nothing. I didn't want to hire a car (as I am a bad driver and I would not want to inflict my driving on another country) so didn't see the sights and sounds of Ontario. Although seeing my boyfriend was the main aim of this holiday and he was kind enough to buy my plane ticket. I did managed to catch up on some much needed sleep which was great, whether it has re-energised me I have no idea but I can make myself believe it. Oh and another reason why I did nothing in Canada, it has been hot and very humid, which made even the shortest walks very tiring. I should not be complaining about the weather but I'm British and this is what British people do best.

And the best thing about the return journey is that my boyfriend is coming with me as he is finally coming back to the UK for good. After 2.5 years aboard, he has managed to get funding at Sheffield University for 3 years which means we can start to plan our lives together again. I can't tell you how much I have been looking forward to this day.

Now I am sitting in my boyfriend's flat thinking about what we need to do once we get back to the UK. Of course a list has been made by us but someone needs to actually get things going and at the moment I think I'm the one. Maybe I'm nervous about the move to Sheffield and the event in Sheffield. Oh and not to mention that I have not worked for the past 6 months and can't really get anything until September is also worrying. I suppose I haven't been idle for those months since I have been studying and also helping my family takeaway but employers can be so cruel when one has breaks in their work life. I suppose part of me hopes that the Art in the Garden event is a success as it would give me a morale boast and income both current and future. However that is to much to ask for but one can dream.

The Yoshiwara and the world of Japanese courtesans by Lesley Downer

It almost slip my mind but on 18 May I went to a talk titled

The Yoshiwara and the world of Japanese courtesans

It was given by Lesley Downer who is an author of various books relating to the Japanese culture.

The talk was brought to my notice by a ImmortalGeisha member and I have to thank Lyuba for arranging myself and Hong to be on the guest list because tickets for the talk were £7.00. Although when we got to the place we mentioned we were on the guest list and the girl didn't know anything about it. However she kindly checked with the organiser for us and although there was no official guest list anywhere she said that we said the right things to her and it would appear that we are guests. SCORE!

The talk lasted for just over an hour and although it contained many interesting pictures of the Yoshiwara past and present, I have to say I didn't learn a great deal. It would appear that ImmortalGeisha website has taught me a lot about the courtesans life although it was interesting to see where the Yoshiwara is situated in modern Tokyo. However I don't think I will be visiting to anytime soon as it is not the most pleasant part of Tokyo.

Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures as there wasn't really anything to take photos of.

Afterward there was an opportunity to buy her latest book and get it signed but I don't read books often and the last thing I need is more useless things.

Cherry Blossom Series

After a whole week of intensive revision, I thought it was time to complete my Cherry Blossom Series. This will be my last set of kanzashi designs that I will put together until Art in the Garden event is over as I have a lot of basic stock to make before the event. Not too mention I will need to do a couple of professional exams in June, go on holiday straight afterwards and then find a flat in Sheffield in July. Phew it doesn't sound much but there is a bit to organise and I can't do any of it until my exam is over.

Anyway, I was getting side track......

First my designs.

Cherry crescent



Cherry fall



Cherry bow



These kanzashi were made from the cherry blossom flowers from the previous post and I always wanted to make kanzashi from cherry blossoms. Not sure why but I do.

Well this is how they turned out.

Cherry crescent



Cherry fall



Cherry bow



Surprisingly, this series was harder to arrange then my previous kanzashi arrangements but I am pleased with the overall design. Some of the flowers are not as circular as I hoped but this was the first time I used this fabric and the later flowers I made look a lot better.

Hope you enjoy them!

New lunch box

I'm a little bit too old to get excited about a new lunch box but this one is great!



It is a little bit bigger then standard bento boxes that you can buy but the good thing about this one is that it is insulated! Therefore one can make something hot in the morning and it should be warm at lunchtime.

Supposedly you can carry soup as well and it will not leak but that will need to be tested. I'm thinking of creating noodle soup where the bottom container will contain all the ingredients (noodles, meat and veg) and the top container has the stock.

So many possibilities!! I can't wait to use it.