Guest Blogger: Helen

I'm Helen, Sadie's person. Sadie just got back from the kitty hospital becasue of kidney failure. She was treated with fluid therapy, and did very well. Last week, I became very concerned about her, because she wasn't eating, didn't seem to be grooming, and spent a lot of time crouched next to her water bowl. People on the Facebooks strongly suggested that I take her to the vet. She had just been there less than 2 weeks earlier, but I took her, and I'm glad I did. It was pretty expensive, but she's eating really really well, now.

So, while Sadie is resting, I thought I'd write an article about finishing your kanzashi, which I've been thinking about lately. Let's say you've made all your flower petals and have glued or sewn them together. Now you most likely have the task of covering up a bunch of raw edges in the center of the flower. What can you use? The easiest thing to do is glue something in there, if you are so lucky as to have just the right thing. I was lucky to have a glass "pebble" to glue in the center of this silk brocade flower...

 

...I also sew lots of beads into the centers of my flowers, such as the onyx in the middle of these silk snap clip flowers...

 

 

I don't use stamens, but many kanzashi makers do. One of my favorites for this practice is Polished Kanzashi on Etsy www.polishedkanzashi.etsy.com . I admire the naturalistic beauty of her handmade clay stamens...

 

 

Another perennial favorite of mine is Emily from Cuttlefishlove on Etsy www.cuttlefishlove.etsy.com . Emily's unique assemblages of fabric and I-don't-know-what-else in her flower centers give the flowers a distinctive look...

 

 

I've seen many buttons in the centers of kanzashi. These can look relatively casual, as in this creation of mine from a couple years ago...

 

 

...or they can look dressy, as in this collar ornament for well-dressed dogs from Arcadius Elegantly Dog on Etsy www.arcadiuselegantlydog.etsy.com ...

 

 

Many people combine beads or little rhinestones with inside-out bead covers, which they glue on (I think?), as in this example from Magpie Creations on Etsy www.magpiecanada.etsy.com

 

 

Or, you can use yet more kanzashi petals, as I did for this sunflower for sale here https://www.etsy.com/listing/105110135/yellow-flower-hair-clip-or-brooch 

 

 

OK, now what can you do when none of that stuff works? I had a situation like that myself, just recently. I tried all sorts of things. None of my beads looked good. I wanted the design to look inevitable, rather than...I don't know, desperate? I decided to make something like cover buttons, but didn't want to mess with actual cover buttons. What could I use instead?

 

All hail styrofoam.

 

When I was a child, I used to visit with my father down at his basement workbench. To keep me occupied, he gave me blocks of styrofoam, into which I hammered nails. We called this "happy wood", for some reason. Anyway, I still save stuff like styrofoam, and I never knew why, but maybe now I do!

 

Here's what you can do: take some styrofoam packing material....you can use the blocky kind, or you could probably even try the peanuts kind. Use a kitchen knife to carve out a piece the size you want. It should probably be relatively flat, with a slightly concave underside. It doesn't have to be perfectly round. If the underside is slightly concave, that's good. Now, cut a piece of fabric to glue over it. Here's mine....the piece of fabric could have been smaller, perhaps...

 

 

Gosh, I have dry skin. OK, use a hot glue gun to cover your styrofoam with fabric. Glue it into the center of your flower, and voila.....

 

 

This flower is part of a snap clip pair...

 

 

...that you can buy here https://www.etsy.com/listing/115257962/blue-brown-flower-hair-clips-kanzashi 

 

So, long live styrofoam and other packing materials. If you use them this way, you will be keeping them out of landfills, if nothing else! What other non-traditional materials do you use for your flower centers? Let me know; legions of kanzashi makers are waiting to find out!

 

Uh-Oh, Film Festival...

So, Helen is into cinema. Not distractedly so, but she likes a good movie, and is drawn to indie films. When the Milwaukee Film Festival http://mkefilm.org/ happens, all bets are off. She goes to as many films as she can, and deciding which ones to view is a momentous decision, requiring all sorts of study, schedule juggling, checking of Netflix, etc., etc. Last year, Helen was busy making stuff for a gallery (which sold almost nothing) during the festival, so she missed the entire thing. This year, I suspect little or no kanzashi will be made. It's going to be work, eat, sleep, watch movies. I shall not be partaking, as there aren't any films about cats, so why would I care?

Meanwhile, I thought I'd post an oddity that Helen made a while ago. Back when Helen first started making hair accessories, her friend Marcia commissioned a matching Tudor Rose hair clip and boutonniere as a wedding present for some hardcore Ren Faire junkies. Helen didn't even know about kanzashi back then, and made everything using singed fabric. Here's what she came up with:

Not too bad I guess, but check out the latest kanzashi version of the same thing:

Whaddya think? Better? Helen's friend Irene bought one of these, and she particularly liked the way the kanzashi flower appeared to be "carved", which is the way Tudor Roses in England are frequently found. To read more about it (or buy it!) check out the Etsy listing here https://www.etsy.com/listing/53982760/tudor-rose-brooch-or-hair-clip

So, um, I don't know how much time I'll have to post for the next couple weeks....uh, I'm a very busy cat, you know.

UPDATE: This item has been in a few Etsy treasuries, but here's a new one specifically about the War of the Roses http://www.etsy.com/treasury/MTQ0ODQ2MDR8MjcyMDgxODM3Mw/the-war-of-the-roses?ref=af_shop_tre