Love this Dress

Vivienne by Pyxus Passion Project

If I just had the figure for it, I'm sure I could invent an event to wear it...

Slow

She wove her crown from the flowers that grew around her..., originally uploaded by Elly MacKay.

Things have been a bit quiet on my blog of late as I've been trying to take things a little slow.

I want to work hard to make a good living for my family but am realising that I can't do that if I don't take care of myself. To do that, I need to slow down. There are things I want to blog, I want to share, but lately have been going to bed instead, getting that sleep that my body is craving, needing right now.

I want my little one to grow up knowing how important it is to have time for herself, time for her family and the best want to teach her that is to model it myself. I want to be there, to be in the moment during the precious time I'm with her.

I've just been reading an article about the benefits of "slow parenting". It didn't really tell me anything terribly new, but rather reinforced my beliefs and helped take away some of the guilt I feel for not putting her in a lot of classes that might help her development. The Man and I are still leaning towards the idea of home schooling for the little one.

We're still dreaming of a slower, more self sufficient life. The Man is beginning to grow herbs and planning a vegetable garden. We continue to plan our tree-change home complete with chickens in the back yard.

While You Were Sleeping

A friend forwarded these beautiful images on to me and I just had to share them (thanks Dani!).  

They are all taken by a mum of her daughter during her naps.  "I'd like to see into your dreams, my little girl" she writes.   With the creative minds of her mum and her dad (the composer of the soundtrack), I can imagine that her dreams are rich and full of imagination.

You can see more images on her blog, Mila's Daydreams.

Taste Test Tuesday

Have you taken the Etsy Taste Test yet?  If not, be warned, it's rather addictive!  Just so I have an excuse to play with it regularly, I thought I'd make it a weekly event.  Here are some of the pieces Etsy chose for me...

Anna Brooch by Yalipaz

Natures Child by HarrietsArt

Sailing Along Together by TheatreClouds

Our Oak Tree by MarmeeCraft

Turquoise 3 Tier Cake Stand by EstherCoombs

How about you?  Want to join me, take the test and share your finds?  Leave us a link in the comments if you do.

**Oh, and I should mention, the Bookcase Tour has now moved to Wednesdays, no real reason except that I preferred the alliteration in "Taste Test Tuesday". 

Motif Monday - The Tsuru Crane

This year, I want to finish some of the things I started long ago.  One such neglected project is a look at the common motifs used in Japanese kimonos.  

What better way to start than to look at my personal favourite - the tsuru crane.

In Japanese culture the crane is believed to live 1000 years (a thinking they adopted from China) and so represents a long life.  As the crane mates for life (hmmm... I wonder what the traditional gift for a 950th wedding anniversary would be...), build the nest and raise their young together, it's also used as a symbol for a happy marriage.  Many wedding uchikake gowns are embroidered with cranes and are often pine, another symbol of long life.

This was a stunning women's kimono.  It was a gorgeous fine silk with shibori details.

This was from a boy's kimono, the fabric is from the sleeve and you can see the family crest at the top.  I love how it looks like a moon in the night sky.  This type of kimono would have been laid over a newborn (at about 100 days old I believe) during a visit to the shine to pray for his health and long life.

This is another boy's kimono.  It also has lots of motifs traditionally used for boys including taiko drums, arrows, Mt Fuji and arrowheads.

This is from a vibrant girl's kimono, from memory printed on a silk crepe and with gold highlights.

This was a heavily embroidered women's obi.  The gold was super shiny and the crane was done in soft silk threads.

I'm quite obsessed with the cranes and even used them in my wedding dress.  And they always look so elegant, souring across the fabric.

The Holiday and The Year that Was

Yesterday we returned from our wonderful New Zealand break.  We tried to spend as much time with family and to rest as possible, but fit in some kiwi-ness at the same time.

The weather treated us to everything from days with clear skies and teal-coloured seas, to wild wind and horizontal rain.

We visited fabulous museums and galleries and even a bookshop dedicated to textile arts.  The Brian Brake photographic exhibition had me wondering "what if..." with photojournalism being the career I had planned long ago.

We went to the Weta Caves, where magical stories are woven.

Christmas lunch with family and friends was so delicious that some of us needed a good lie down afterwards...

We went to Kaitoke Regional park, where the elves of Rivendell once lived...

There was even a Gypsy market by the seaside to visit.  I had visions of a decorated caravan of my own to drive up, all prepared, to markets with.

 On fine days we met the local birds and played games of hide and seek...

...and had some short walks in the forests.

It was a great break, lovely time with our little family of three and my parents, a time to refresh, a time to take in new sights and sounds.

And now, all too quickly, the new year is upon us.  2010 wasn't the best one for us, much of it filled with treatments and a (stem-cell) transplant, with doctors, diagnoses, drugs and new diets.  But I prefer to look at it as being the year we needed to start getting our family healthy again.  It was a year filled with kind words, kind gestures, love, compassion and generosity.

There were some big moments in the year.  In March The Man was declared to be in remission.  That month I also shaved off most of my hair to raise $5200 for the Leukaemia Foundation thanks to the generosity of people around the globe.  

In April, the little one, at eight and a half months took her first steps.  From that moment on, nothing was safe.

In July we celebrated the little one's first birthday.  All through the year we delighted in watching her grow, watching her blossom into a little girl.  A girl that knows her own mind and is sure about the way things should be.  A girl that just loves giving people cuddles to random people and to blow kisses.  A child that delights in exploring and figuring out how things work.  

In August I participated in my first trade fair.  It was a huge learning curve and a great experience.  Since then it's been another child for me to nurture whilst it grows and blossoms.

In October, The Man's treatment was declared successful and completed.  He had another checkup just before Christmas and all is still well.  As the particular cancer he had (Burkitt's Lymphoma) was so aggressive, it means that once gone, if it hasn't returned within a year, he is considered to be cured.

New Year's Eve once again found me in bed before midnight but this time it was due to my body still thinking it was in the New Zealand timezone. 

And now here we are, at the beginning of a new year.  I have lots of creative plans, plans to travel to Sydney and hopefully Japan and plans to get back into top physical health and some resemblance of fitness.  I'm eager to continue to develop my business, to be more social and to have more dedicated family time.  I can feel that 2011 is going to be big.

And to everyone, I wish you the same.  I wish you a truly amazing 2011 filled with dreams and their fulfillment.  

"Wishing you always...

Walls for the wind,

A roof for the rain

And tea beside the fire.

Laughter to cheer you,

Those you love near you,

And all that your heart may desire"

                            An Irish Blessing

Sewing Dreams

My holidays are almost upon me... I'm having dreams about things I'd love to sew... Visions of ruffly pants for bub and skirts for me are dancing in my head...

Love Machine by -syko-

A Creative Odyssey - My Creative Plans for 2011

Today's post is part of the Creative Odyssey blog hop organised by the oh-so prolific Jess of Epheriell Designs.  We're now near the end of week two, with a couple more to go.  You can get the schedule of places to visit, people's creative dreams for the year to visit, here.

I'm planning on 2011 being a huge year.  And in a number of ways, getting back on my creative track.

I plan to "set myself and my work free".  I'm not sure how much sense this first one is going to make, but please try to bear with me.  As my regular readers will know, for much of the last year, due to family health issues, we were locked into a state of quarantine.  We needed to create our own little world, our own little safe bubble.  And I think that my work became a lot like that as well.  I stopped sewing, I stopped drawing.   I mostly worked on my colourful little pendants that had their own little silver barrier, the fabric was protected under resin and it was all done in a very exacting and clinically clean manner and environment.  Just like our home, the pendants are happy little places, but very safe and secure.

Now that The Man is well again, I want my work to reflect our re-gained freedom.  I want designs that loop and turn, that have their own sense of space.  I want to get in there to carve, to colour, to manipulate, I want pieces that are bold, that have a feeling of growth...

...which brings me to more tangible plans...

I plan to learn new skills.  This really relates to the first plan.  I have designs, I have things I want to try, but I'm getting to a point where I need more technical skills.  I really want to take a silversmithing class.  I was recently having fantasies of going back to art college and doing a Masters in Jewellery (my under-grad is in photography), but in reality the time commitment is much more than I'm willing to give right now.  Instead, I'd love to enrol in a semester long course.

The Reincarnated Kimono Project - Three Kimonos, Many Artists.  I've whispered these plans to only a few... I've had a couple of good chats to Vicki from In.cube8r about renting the upstairs gallery space for a month... The Man and I have had long discussions (with more to come) about logistics and timing... And I'm now very excited to announce a big planned project for next year!  I want to do a collaborative exhibition next year.  It will involve fabric from three vintage kimonos and many different crafters/artists, to challenge to see the range of work that can be produced from the old gowns.  In the month, I want to exhibit the artworks and run workshops.  I'm really excited about it and will be calling for applications for artists early in the new year.

I plan to start drawing again.  I haven't picked up a pencil for a long, long time.  Even much longer since I've picked up some charcoal, my preferred medium.  You know, I've always planned on drawing The Man, and after being together for about seven years, I still haven't done it.  He and I have started having board game nights, maybe we should have a few drawing session nights as well.

I plan to also create for myself and my family.  This year has been an exciting one for Kimono Reincarnate as I've watched the business build into something that will hopefully soon support my family.  The hard work needed to get it to that point however has required all of my creative energy, with very little left for personal projects.  In 2011 I want to sew again, especially some dresses for the little one.  I also have some furniture that I want to do up for her.  I will finally do up her room.  We've decided that with her room so far away from our own (on a different level of our townhouse) that she'll continue to sleep with us, but her room will be made up as a lovely place to play.  I'd love to also learn some more seamstress skills to sew clothes for myself.  I've had this pattern for quite a while that I want to sew up for the little one, I think she'd look so cute in it.

I plan to write more.  I actually have 2 unfinished manuscripts.  One, that some readers remind me about every now and then is almost done, A Fabric and Craft Lovers' Guide to Tokyo.  The other one, My Life As a Gaijin, I'd like to finish, even if it's just for myself.  I also want to write more for, or at least clean up my writing style for the blog.  There are so many planned posts sitting waiting for me to do, post that will go back to my original intent of sharing inspiration.

As I said, I plan for 2011 to be a huge year!  I'm hoping yours will be filled with creative inspirations and an abundance of time to dive into creative plans.

Psst...

My holidays are almost upon me and I'm really excited.  I was telling the little one tonight how after four more sleeps we'd be on a plane to go and visit Granny and Grandad.  And bless her little 17month old soul, while not understanding the concept, she understood the tone and got all excited too.

It looks like life will still be crazily busy right until that moment we leave for the airport, but once I'm on that plane, I get to stop.  Stop for a whole ten days.  To do nothing much other than enjoy my family and see the gorgeous sights in New Zealand, oh and hopefully to read, to read the first novel since the little one was born.  It's going to be blissful.

But before then there are exciting things going on.  Tomorrow night is my final market for the year and it's going to be huge!  It's the BrisStyle Indie "Christmas" Twilight Market".  The best place to do your Christmas shopping!  

And with wholesale orders and Christmas markets, my poor little Etsy store has been left quite neglected.  I'm going to close up shop on Sunday, so am having a special 20% off sale for my Facebook "likers" and blog readers.  You just need to use the coupon code "XMAS10".  If you're in Australia, I'll pop your goodies into an express post packet for you too!

And, if you haven't already... you've still got until tomorrow morning to enter my Facebook giveaway.

I'm off now, more gluing to do, stock to pack and hopefully some sleep to get as well!

Having a Hoot

Have you seen the Free Owl Lover Calendar featuring gorgeous work curated by My Barn Owl?  I recently found it via Decor8 and just about squealed with delight.  The hardest part is choosing only 12 designs, that's right you design your own, download and it's ready to print.  Here's how mine looks.

Create your own over here.

Looking for Me?

If you're looking for me today, I'm over here.

If you're looking for me tonight, I'll be here under the stars and Christmas lights (and the weather is looking lovely).

If you're looking for me tomorrow, I'll be here with some other very cool cats (we have wet weather options so are on rain, shine or thunderstorm).

If you're looking for me on Sunday, I'll be back here for the last Boutique of the year (and bring your umbrella if need be, we'll still be there).

If you're looking for me on Monday, I'll most likely be in bed catching up on cuddles with my little one.

Where will we find you this weekend?

Hello

I just popped in to say "hello".  All's been quite quiet on the blog front of late while I busily prepare for markets and send out wholesale orders.

Photo and artwork by Penelope and Pip

I hope you're doing well and I'll see you again soon.

Twas the Day Before a Market...

Twas the day before a market

And all through the house,

There was a flurry of activity,

...mouse... louse... dowse... strauss... ok, forget the rhyme, you get the idea...

Lots of last minute preparations going on today.  Pieces are getting packaged... I'm really pleased the new String of Cranes fit snugly into my usual brooch box....

And some business cards worked perfectly I think, to card a couple of single crane brooches.

Still lots more to do today.  The kanzashi flowers need to be hand stitched onto their backing felt and then the brooch/pendant backs sewn on...

And I'd really like to finish three more kimono cranes.

And why is it that I always think of new display ideas at the very last minute?  I'd like to make a new business name sign, some strings of paper cranes to make my stall look more festive, more paper cranes to give people with their purchase, and The Man has informed me that, no, in this weather, the painting I want to do will not dry in time.

So tomorrow it's on, rain or shine.

BrisStyle Indie Designers Market

Saturday 4th December  9am - 4pm

St Augustine's Church, Racecourse Road, Hamilton.

Hope to see you there!

My Creative Space

I'm playing with my The Man's dremel today.  I bought it for him as part of his birthday present at the beginning of the year and well... he hasn't been able to use it yet as I've kind of claimed it.  It's lovely and light and fits comfortably in your hand.  I can't say I'm using it to do anything pretty at the moment though, I'm scuffing up the backs of brooches to give the glue for the brooch backs a better hold.





Once the scuffing is done, they'll be getting made into String of Cranes and Evolution of Cranes brooches, with a few singles thrown in.


For more creative spaces, drop by Kootoyoo.

Bookcase Tour Tuesdayish - 2011 Japanese Nengajo Book

The day late but just arrived version of Bookcase Tour Tuesday.

A couple of months ago, I showed a Japanese Nengajo Sourcebook - a book that comes with a CD-ROM filled with designs to create New Year's postcards.  The lovely Melanie from Crafty Japan (with a name like Melanie, how could she not be lovely) was kind enough to pick me up a copy for 2011.

She did a great job at choosing one for me with a good mixture of traditional and cute.  One quick flip through the publication and you'll soon realise that 2011 must be the Year of the Rabbit.  There are so many cute bunnies adorning these pages.

I was really drawn to the gorgeous colours in some of the designs.

This phoenix is just spectacular!

With most of the main designs, it appears that you're given three options, one with just the picture, one with the basic greeting and one with a full greeting.

I'm tempted to just print this teapot and cup image and frame it.  It's stunning.

There are a number of papercut designs in this one too.

And the part of the book that I've always found really useful - the Japanese script.  My Japanese writing is awful, so even though every year I'd create my own design (usually a photo), I'd use the book to for the Japanese greeting.

You can read a little more about nengajo and Japanese New Year traditions here (though be prepared for the red background on the site).

ISBN:978-4-04-868873-4

Now I haven't checked with Mel yet, but if you'd like a copy, maybe if you ask her really nicely, she might be able to pick you up one on a special order...