My First Attempt at something Ikebana-esque

A couple of years ago I was given a beautiful Ikebana bowl for my birthday.  It was such a treat because I was not only given the beautiful handcrafted ceramic piece and the "kenzan" (the spiky base the stems are placed into), but she also showed me how to do an arrangement.

Now I'm not the best student and didn't remember the measurements and angles that she told me are often used in ikebana, so please forgive my slap dash attempt at arranging... while I was setting the flowers in the base I told The Man that I was trying to channel my inner Natsuki (the lovely Ikebana arranging friend)...

... that being said I had a lot of fun doing it and really like how it looks sitting under some of my photos from Japan.

You can see Natsuki at work with her arrangement here.  And you know what, the following year she gave me two stunning sado (tea ceremony) bowls and the bamboo whisk and showed me the correct way to make matcha tea!  I have always been so spoilt by her!

And if you're wanting more Ikebana goodness.... 

Here you can see a lovely Ikebana book that Meanie of Momiji to Mitsukoshi showed us...

... and this Ikebana Flickr group has some stunning pieces for me to aspire to!

... and lastly... this video shows the very basics of Ikebana principals... 

...maybe I should have watched that before I attacked the flowers!  Well, that just gives me an excuse to buy some more flowers later and try again!

*** And I should mention... can you see all that lovely clear space on the dining table!!!  I had a huge tidy-up session since yesterday, motivated by family coming around for my dad's birthday dinner... I can't promise it will stay that way for long though...***

While I've Been Slack...

I'm falling way behind on blogging lately. With the little one getting more and more mobile and my computer in a room that is not baby-safe at all, it's getting harder to get to sit down and write. I'm starting to seriously consider getting a play pen for her so she can join me in sewing room/office at times during the day.

But in the meantime, the fabulous Momiji to Mitsukoshi has been doing a great job of keeping the Bookcase Tour Tuesday alive. This week she's shown us the Japanese text book her very own husband co-wrote (one that looks a lot more fun than the dry one I used for years). Last week she toured us through a beautiful Ikebana book.

Photo borrowed from here.

I hope to be back with the tour next week as my birthday present arrived recently - a stash of three new books!

Ikebana

I got the most wonderful birthday surprise today!

My birthday was actually last weekend, but as hubby and I went away, I didn't get to see many friends. For tomorrow, my dear friend Natsuki has organised a temakizushi, (hand-rolled sushi) party. It should be fun. Natsuki, as do most of my friends, lives in a different city to me, about an hour's drive away. I was surprised then when she insisted that she needed to come to my apartment today to give me my birthday present.

Upon arriving at my door, she quickly hid something behind her back and handed me a large, heavy bag, instructing me to open the big box inside it first. I did as I was told and found a gorgeous wabi-sabi ikebana bowl. A small packet inside the same bag contained a spiky ikebana thingy. With flourish, Natsuki then whipped out bunches of flowers and told me that she was going to do an arrangement to christen it for me.

This is her at work....


As she was doing each step, between talking to herself in Japanese, she was instructing me on what to do. I have to confess... I don't remember a lot of it. What I did get was; the first piece has to equal the diagonal width plus the other diagonal width plus the depth of the bowl. The branch should have the essense of being forward (not necessarily angled forward).

The next piece should be a third shorter than the first piece and the third piece a third shorther than the second. The should be kept somewhat in the centre line of the spiky thingy. Mmm.. can't remember the angles though....

From here on in, it all gets fuzzy.. I was just having a great time watching Natsuki hard at work and listening to her talking to herself in Japanese.

And in come the flowers....

Getting them just right....

Stems all in a row...

From here, she started doing the Japanese humble thing and was insisting that it wasn't very good. It looks great to me!

All finished! The artist and the artistry. She did make me promise that if I put these photos on my blog that I would say that she's not a professional and that really, she's just like a beginner....

It's now going to be exciting watching it change as the lilies open.

Thank you so much Natsuki! It was such a wonderful birthday surprise!