New members of the Origami Family

A few weeks ago I sat down to work on a new jewellery collection.  When I'm designing I love to sit and play with papers and fabrics before I translate them to anything digital.  On that day with origami paper scattered all over the floor I my hands just wanted to get into folding and as a result, I have three new members to join my origami cranes.

May I introduce you to Kitsune the fox.  He's a little on the naughty side, but actually very sweet natured.

A delicate little hummingbird, she's magical to watch as she floats through the flower garden.

And lastly, little Usagi the rabbit, fun to play with, but best to keep away from the vegetable garden.

Playing with new Fabrics

I love playing with new fabric finds just as much as I love shopping for them.  These are pieces of a few of the kimonos I bought recently at the flea markets in Japan.

This stunning black and red pattern came from a woman's haori (a mid-length coat worn over a kimono).  I don't have a lot of the pattern, so I think I'll have to keep a few pieces from it for myself.

The beautiful blue and red came from a woman's wool kimono.  I can imagine it having been worn on those colder autumn mornings.

These all came from the same kimono, a gorgeous girl's kimono with stunning gold highlights.  It's the type of kimono that would have been worn to the shrine for a festival and prayers would have been made for the girl's future.  

These are all from another haori, a lovely fine silk one.  Does anyone know what this flower is?  It's done in a lovely dark pink, blue and also white, so striking on the black background.

And some yummy purple.  The Japanese do purple well, especially in older kimonos like this one.  It's a very fine silk and scattered over it there are a few red and blue flowers.

All of the kimonos I buy are flawed in a way, be it a tear or marks of age, so they can no longer be worn.  I love imagining what life they have seen before, where they've been worn to and then to what new life I can give to them.

These brooches are all about to packed to be sent to Hanasho and the new Piece Together store opening on the 11th, as well as to go with me to Young Designer Markets tomorrow and the BrisStyle Indie Markets next Saturday.  I do have to say, lately I really haven't been my online store enough, but please feel free to drop me a line if ever you see anything on the blog you like.

My Creative Space

I'm working on the fabric inlays for brooches today.  It's a fiddly job and I end up with fingernails that have been filed down with a dremel and bruised thumbs, but somehow I still find it enjoyable.  

It's one of those tasks that I can work with something on in the background (unlike when I'm creating something new and need quiet).  Last night it was Little Dorrit, I think I might put Tess of the D'Urbervilles on for this afternoon's shift.

And over the last couple of days I've finally had a chance to start playing with some of the kimono fabrics I bought on my Japan trip.  I'll show you more soon.

For more creative spaces, drop by Our Creative Spaces.

Are you doing anything creative today?

The Creative Link

I just love this artwork found on Pinterest this morning. (I'm afraid I couldn't find the original artist, if anyone knows, please drop me a line so that I can add their link.)

Things have been a bit quiet on the blog front lately, I've been in "lockdown" working on a new collection.  

I've been loving the process and I've found it interesting watching how my creative mind works, it's almost as if it's outside of myself.  I have an idea in mind, but that then takes on a life of its own.  I seem to work best if I just allow myself to play, if my designs are quite fanciful (and not necessarily commercially viable), and are simplified from there.  I can only sketch to a certain point and then need to be hands on, to experiment with materials and then get back to the sketchpad/illustrator.  I certainly work best in a quiet environment so The Man has been good at taking the little one out often to give me that.  I find that I need to go into "lockdown", cut out other distractions, turn off the music, forget about email, turn off my phone and just get in the zone.  Ideas don't come in the morning, that time for me is best spent sleeping in, tidying up, flicking through books, refining work on illustrator, the ideas visit me after lunch and well into the night.  I go through many, many cups of tea while I'm working.  I can forget to eat so The Man brings me treats through the day and cooks good meals for me to eat with the family.  I can't think about other things, I can't blog while I'm designing.  When I do take breaks, I like it to be an escape, preferable some creative play with the little one, or a fantasy film at night.

How about you, do you create?  How does the process work for you?  Do you control it, or does it control you?

Flickr Faves on a Friday

I locked myself into my room today to finally get down on paper and screen some designs that have been floating around in my head for a while.  Funnily enough they took on a life of their own and travelled to places I had never imagined before.  Hopefully, I'll be able to show you some sneak peeks in a few weeks.

Until then... a ring that has been inspiring me.  Elisita's papercuts and all her artwork for that matter are just breathtaking.  You can see a lot more of it here.

Paper Ring by Elsita

Store Display

Seen in Harajuku, Tokyo.

Shadow Shot Sunday

It's been a long time since I've participated in Hey Harriet's Shadow Shot Sunday, but this morning as I opened the blinds in my workroom I couldn't not take this shot.  The sun streaming through the window was so inviting, the perfect start to a working winter Sunday.

Hope it's lovely wherever in the world you are today.

Origami

After a couple of sleepless nights with a sick bub, she's now sleeping like a log and I'm wide awake, can't sleep because I'm thinking of origami.

So here's an a beautiful video of some amazing origami set to one of my favourite pieces of music.

INVISIBLE FOES from MABONA ORIGAMI on Vimeo.

Origami Treasury

My bamboo crane brooches finally made it into both my store and Etsy store yesterday.

So I was really chuffed to see it featured in this lovely origami treasury last night.

Today, I'm going to try to lock myself away in my workroom to work on a new range that has been floating about my head for a while.... stay tuned!

Tokyo Streets

Japan isn't somewhere that I really think of having a lot of graffiti.  Wandering through the streets of Harajuku I did notice a bit of tagging but also a lot of old posters and stickers plastered over vertical planes.

Little Pieces of Japan - Japanese Masking Tape

I went a little mad on shopping for Japanese masking tape on this trip.  I'm not sure if it wasn't around when I lived there last, or if I hadn't seen it, but the first time I saw this gorgeous product was on this post over at a Spoonful of Sugar.  I quickly hunted some down and have been quite addicted ever since.

I love the pretty colours and designs it comes in.  I love how easy it is to use on so many surfaces.  I love how I can reuse little pieces over and over again.  Little strips hold notes to myself next to my desk.  I've used it to decorate old jars that hold paint brushes and pens.  I've used it in my journal, but there are oh so many more things I can do with it.

I also came home with a book for inspiration, the same book that Lisa showed us in that original post.

More masking tape inspiration here, here, here, here and here.

You can buy the masking tape (also known as "washi tape") from a number of places online including (insert shameless plug) my good friend's store on Etsy.

I'm now off to play with some more.  I'm trying to organise all the tasks involved in running a small business and think the tape will be a fun and pretty way to colour code my new schedule.

Danshari

clutter - illustration friday by Maandag

I was chatting on Facebook with a dear friend of mine tonight, talking about how I've given myself a year to de-clutter our home.  We're planning to make our treechange dreams a reality then and I don't want to take a huge amount of "stuff" with us.

My wise friend mentioned the Japanese word "danshari".  Danshari is all about throwing away things you no longer need and learning to live with less.  It believes that the clearing not only creates physical space, but also emotional.  "Stuff" weighs you down, keeps you looking at the past rather than enjoying the present and making plans for the future.  Without too much around you, you'll have more room, time and energy for the life you want.

This site also talks about the related theory of "Mottainai" - to not be wasteful.  This was a real buzz word when I lived in Japan especially with the release of the "Mottainai Furoshiki".  As a bit of a hoarder, a person who always finds myself saying "But I could use this for...." I found these words enlightening...

"... when you keep things because they might ‘come in handy’ and because throwing them away would be ‘such a waste’, do they actually retain their original meaning by being shut away in a cupboard somewhere? Things don’t actually have a meaning until they are put to use, so isn’t not putting them to use actually more wasteful than keeping them just in case?"

Or more simply put on this site "Does this item help me thrive in my present life?  Do I need this to reach my current goals?"

It will be these words that I try to keep in mind as I begin to clear out the bookshelves, the office, the wardrobe... and wouldn't it be a real bonus if with the space came some new energy to work towards that little house in the bush we dream of?

Little Pieces of Japan - Things I Brought Back with Me

Sorry for my recent absence from the blog of late.  I've had so many things that I wanted to blog about, show you from Japan that I found it all overwhelming and just didn't know where to start.

So here I begin, with a little series, a little show and tell of my treasures from Japan.

The Design Festa was huge and filled to the brim with so many talented artists and crafters, I believe there were 3000 artists exhibiting/performing.  With only a few days in Tokyo, I was determined to see as much of it as I could in one day (it's a two day event).  This meant that often I would cruise past many booths, stopping for a little while if something caught my eye.

There were a special few that I found it very hard to drag myself away from.  Happa Do's stall was one of them.  She makes the most magical little creatures, many of whom adorn fairytale-like mobiles.  I could just imagine her paper balloons carrying birds over fields of golden corn.

I really wanted to bring a mobile home, but knew that the quarantine officials wouldn't like the cute twigs, that the sweet wire constructions would get squashed in my luggage...

But one of her little birdies did fly home with me, and helped me carry some artwork of her other family members...

I did only bring the one bird, but she's different colours on each side....

Her catalogue that I also bought reminds me to dream of those paper balloons and fields....

She makes so many other creatures as well...

You can see more of her delightful work in the gallery on her website. 

Now lovely reader, I would love to ask a favour of you, a way to help me to decide what to write next... is there anything you'd like to know/see from my trip to Japan?

Life Flashing....

A bit of fun.  Created using Pummelvision.  Found via A Very Purple Person via Meet Me at Mikes.

Market Kokeshi

Wow, well there is much to show and tell about my trip to Japan.

So for today, some market shots.  I was there to buy kimonos but also found myself drawn to the old kokeshi dolls.

I added ten to my collection, all different shapes, sizes and styles, three of which you can see here.  I'm thinking about making some little shadow boxes for them, inspired by this image, or maybe some little house shaped boxes like these.  I think they would look so pretty on the wall.

Today, How did I love thee... Let me count the ways

I woke to a warm sunny day, perfect weather for the temple market I was going to.

Staying in the hotel next door to the market made it even more enjoyable and relaxing.  I bought a few kimonos, dropped them off in my room then went back and bought some more, dropped them off and picked up my camera and had a lovely wander around without being weighed down by my buys.

I caught up with some kimono sellers I've known and been buying from for years.

I had a lovely and very yummy sushi lunch with one of my favourite sellers (and he sells online here too!), Higashi-san.

I found an adorable, tiny family of three kokeshi dolls which I just had to adopt.  Then later as the market was packing up and I was on my way to the subway, I found eight more, all different sizes and styles.  A lovely young and chatty (in English) man sold them to me for about $10 (for the lot!).

At the markets I met some friendly Americal locals who told me that the fabric shop I was planning to visit while in Nagoya was having a sale today.

In the fabric store I found some beautiful traditional florals that I hadn't been able to find in Tokyo.  In a moment of panic as the sales assistant ran my cut fabric up, I realised that I hadn't refinanced my wallet after the market (and this was a cash only store!) but then found that I had hidden some emergency yen in there.  Japanese fabric at a discount price is an emergency isn't it?

My airline just changed their baggage policy and I was able to pay for an extra 20kg of luggage allowance for a fraction of what it was going to cost me to send the kimonos home via the cheapest (and slowest) postage rate.  This has also freed up some more yen for the other three markets I have coming up.

I then realised that I was going to need another suitcase to put that extra 20kg in, so am now the owner of a funky red hard suitcase.  So, in the end, I didn't save that much on sending things home, but I can use the suitcase again.

And now, I've settled in for a relaxing night with a cup-a-soup, vege sticks, chips and chocolate for dinner, to be followed by a soak in the bath and then to remove some kimono linings while watching some Japanese TV that I don't really understand.

It's been a pretty fabulous day.

The Design Festa - The Cute Version

Here I am, safely in Japan and time is already slipping away, the first four days of the trip have rushed by.

My first port of call here was the Tokyo Design Festa.  It was truly amazing event with everything from cute toys and characters, jewellery, clothing as well as a lot of work by illustrators and artists.  With something like 3000 booths, I did a pretty impressive job at seeing a large percentage of the visual artists.  The event also has outdoor and indoor stages housing musicians and performance artists, so given time, I would have much preferred to do it over two days.

I took so many photos and they are going to take me a while to go through.  I have links to the artists for many of them and stories to tell of some, but in the meantime, here's a small taste of some of the cute versions of the Design Festa.

1. Embroidered Brooches, 2. Norah and Jam, 3. Oni Oni Town, 4. Button Lamp and Artwork, 5. Cuddle Me, 6. Monster Purses, 7. Stitching on a Sofa, 8. Tweet Tweet, 9. Kame

While here in Japan, I am getting less time to blog (and I have so much to blog about!), but I'm posting random pictures of what I'm seeing on my journey on my Facebook page.  Thank you to everyone who has joined me on there and has commented along the way, it really helps me feel like I'm not travelling so alone.

While I'm in Japan...

Only one more sleep (and a very short one at this rate) before I leave for Japan!

While I'm away I'll try to do regular photo updates on my Facebook page.

On behalf of a dear friend that I know misses them, I'll have a bath or two like this, but I'll probably skip the electric bath this time.

I'll catch up with this old friend and this lovely man as well as a number of other good friends over there.

I'll certainly be visiting lots of my favourite craft shops for fabric, paper and vintage kimonos.

In Kyoto, I'll have a little more free time and would like to try my hand at a few traditional crafts.  There are so many to choose from!  I'm considering maybe one at the Kyoto Handicraft Centre, or over here both the yuzen and furoshiki wrapping workshops look fun, and it's been years since I last visited the Nishijin Textile Centre.  I'd also love to try some shibori dyeing if I can.

I'll be staying in normal hotels, not ones like this or this.

I'm planning to buy some books and really hope there are some more recent issues of this one.

This will be my first time eating gluten free in Japan and with multiple food allergies, will be a bit of a challenge.  This sweet friend was kind enough to give me a lot of advice from her own experience.  I'll also be carrying one of these around with me or you can get a free version over here.  I chose to buy the first one as it specifies soy sauce, which is a very common ingredient in Japanese cooking.

So, the next time you hear from me, it will be from the land of sushi, sumo and kimonos.

My Creative Space

I'm playing with mixing some leather offcuts and old buttons with vintage kimono fabric today.  Challenging myself to create a piece with as much recycled material as possible for Reverse Garbage's New Beginnings Exhibition.

For more creative spaces, drop by Kootoyoo.

The Sakura Knucklebuster

Last weekend I had a ball in a silver and acrylic workshop run by Dan Cox at BIA.

When you do a workshop like this, you really appreciate the time that goes into handcrafting jewellery.  I spent two days cutting, filing, filing and more filing, sanding, rivetting, polishing and cleaning, all just on the single piece.  It's certainly a statement piece and one that no-one will want to mess with me while I'm wearing it.

I have to say though, that I found the process really addictive and can't wait to book into another class.

I loved the work completed by the other students in the class.  You can see picture of their rings here.

The One Thousand Crane Project - Wish #7

Today's Wish: May you always find the words for what you wish to express.

Today's Paper : Crane - From an old calendar with the quote "When the thoughts we think are the same as the words we speak, others will feel our integrity.  

The speech bubbles (empty, ready for the little one to fill) are from the same calendar.

Cranes to date: 36

We've been thinking a lot about language and speech, or lack there-of in this house for a while now.  The little one hasn't found her words yet.  She can communicate so very well and is certainly vocal and expressive, but can't seem to form words.  

With a background in applied linguistics (and language acquisition) for the last year I've listened to her with concern.  At the same time, I've also listened to well meaning friends and family assure me that she was just a late talker, that at one point it was all going to tumble out.  We've tried different methods to encourage language, but it just isn't happening.    I'm now going with my gut and after I get back from Japan, she will start with a speech therapist.

I know the words will come, but we may just have to take a longer road to get there.  And I must say, I'm really looking forward to hearing what she has to say.

"Kanzashi" Workshop and Saviours of the Lost Arts

Have you heard about the Saviours of the Lost Arts program happening in Brisbane? It's a fantastic event filled with craft workshops, talks and a market.

I'll be running a "Kanzashi" workshop, using vintage kimono fabric. Bookings can be made here.

There are so many fun workshops, you can see the full program here. Book in early, spaces fill up pretty quickly.

My Creative Space

Once upon a time there was a girl who lived in an exotic land.  Every couple of months she would take a train that snaked past patchworks of rice fields, tea plantations, industrial estates and one gorgeous snow-capped mountain.  The train would transport her from the little town of vegetable fields and bicycles she now called home to a metropolis of buildings that touched the sky and people that moved in waves.

This not-so-young girl was a Japanese-fabric-ophile and she had arrived in the promise land.  A place that had an entire "Fabric Town" where five story buildings were filled with gorgeous print after gorgeous print.  A city with craft stores so large they needed seven whole buildings to hold them.  Somewhere that you could not only buy materials for almost every craft imaginable, but also be inspired by all around you.

That girl wanted to share her new-found knowledge with the world.  To map out the places to go and how to get there.  To help those navigate the foreign language and customs of the land.  With each trip, she would explore a new area, madly writing notes, subway exits and drawing maps.

But alas, while she had filled notebooks with her excited scribblings, before she could put them in order for others to read, life took over and the guide was carefully put away, but never forgotten.

But now, the not-as-young girl has only eight more sleeps until she visits this exotic land again.  The maps, the writings are all seeing light again and are being put into careful order.  It has been a number of years since the girl has visited the fabric promise land so with the guide in hand, she can see it with new eyes, check her maps, add new findings into the book so that she can then finally share it with the world.

There are many more magical creative spaces to explore, Kootoyoo is where you'll find the map.

The One Thousand Crane Project - Wish #6

Quite a while ago now, I started my "Wish a Day" project, and not long after, daunted by the daily requirement I had set myself, it was cast aside.

I'm now ready to pick it up again.  No longer in a daily format, but trying to create something regularly until I reach 1000 cranes.

Today's wish: May your imagination always be ripe and may it always bring you joy.

Today's paper: Taken from a drawing that the little one and I did yesterday that inspired today's wish.

The little one and I sat down to do some drawing.  With crayons in hand I decided to draw a story, one of the house we'd like to have one day.  We (I) drew a house with a red door.  I drew our little family.  She gestured that daddy had to be wearing a hat, and she and I hairclips in our hair and then hats on top.  We drew the pet dog we'd like to have and then she suggested a pet purple elephant as well, because every family needs a pet purple elephant of course.  We drew trees and grass, a strawberry patch and flowers.  And from the tree hung a swing.

The little one loved the swing and gestured that she was going to do something.  I didn't quite understand until she promptly sat on the drawing where the swing was and pretended she was flying back and forth on it.  With a little suggestion she picked the strawberries and they were declared delicious.  She smelt the flowers and patted the dog and elephant.

We played with the drawing for quite a while and mummy was also given a number of goes on the swing while she pushed.  The whole time I loved watching her interact with our little, simple illustration and the wonder and joy that it created in her active mind.

Cranes to date: 35

It's been quite a while, you can see the first cranes and five wishes here;

Wish One

Wish Two

Wish Three

Wish Four

Wish Five

While I'm in Japan... Antique Markets

One of the main reasons I'm heading to Japan, and what I schedule my trip around, are the antique markets.  It is there that I buy my vintage kimono fabric that I use in my jewellery.

The antique markets are held in temple grounds around the country and are such a feast for the eyes.  With a gorgeous backdrop of an old temple or shrine, often the soundtrack of monks chanting in the background and the scent of incense carrying people's prayers to the heavens, it makes the experience even more enjoyable.

As well as gorgeous old kimonos, there are stalls filled with antique toys, painted scrolls, cameras, pottery, candy moulds, kimono pattern stencils, swords and coins. 

It was at one such market that my love and obsession for vintage kimono fabrics first began, and another that I just happened to "coincidentally" plan my Kyoto honeymoon around.

1. Kingyo + Kewpie, 2. Ultraman, 3. Netsuke, 4. Kimono Fabric, 5. Obi, 6. Tsuba, 7. Writing, 8. Astro, 9. Kimono, 10. Japanese Banners, 11. Paddle, 12. Kokeshi, 13. Mon, 14. Hina Dolls, 15. Flowers, 16. Hina Doll

Here's hoping for some lovely blue skies to go with the markets while I'm there!