Kanzashi Fairy Godmother

Helen's first-ever outdoor selling event is less than a week away, and she's nervously trying to take care of details, but I wanted to tell you a fun little story of serendipitous luck which has already resulted in some lovely new kanzashi pieces!

Helen's friend Kas has a Japanese-Polish cousin who lived for a while in Japan.  Kas's cousin has a Japanese friend whose son attended an English language program in Madison, WI. Every weekend, he would come to stay with Kas and her husband, and do normal American family type things with them. Eternally grateful, Kas's cousin's Japanese friend has been sending Kas lavish gifts for years. Well as it turns out, the lady makes kimonos.

One day, Kas casually asked Helen if she would like some more fabric for making kanzashi, explaining that she has a Japanese friend who might have some of the stuff to send. Helen said sure. Then they both forgot all about it.

Until about 3 weeks ago, when a beautiful box stuffed with primo kimono remnants arrived in the mail. Gorgeous, colorful chirimen silk, silk linings, cotton remnants, obi scraps, silk that Helen doesn't know what to call or how to describe. Fabric that Helen can use and fabric that she's giving away to her friend Angela. For a kanzashi maker, this is like dying and going to heaven.

Just to show you how crazy beautiful some of these Japanese textiles are, I made Helen take some pictures. First, here's a remnant that Helen couldn't bear to cut up....it's going to Angela....

Photos cannot do it justice. At least, not Helen's photos. Similarly, here's a gorgeous piece that Helen also hates to cut up, but might anyway.....a big pattern with beautiful flowers. Here's a detail...

So. Helen wanted more colorful silk for making pendants,and that is what she received. Here are only the first six long ribbon necklaces...

Buy them this Saturday, August 17th, at the Walk for the Animals, benefiting the Washington County Humane Society here in Wisconsin. We'll be at Jackson Park, in the village of Jackson. All day.

There are so many more possibilities in that box full of fabric, so carefully packed by its sender. It's a silk candy store. Helen is so grateful to her kanzashi fairy godmother, somewhere in Japan, and planning on including a pendant for her in the next care package that Kas sends.

Dog and Pony Show

First, I'd like to say thank you to all the people who have been inquiring about my health. I'm gaining weight and I have much more energy for playing than say, a year ago. Also, during a recent summer cold snap, a mouse came and visited us. I had a blast with this mouse at about 4:00 in the morning, sometime last week! Helen thought something in the house had fallen down. We were having so much fun and making such a ruckus  that I didn't eat him/her (not sure) until the next day, when Helen encountered the mouse, screeched, woke me from my nap, and carried me to where the somewhat worn-out mouse was hanging out. We had a little more fun and then a snack. I had the snack.

OK so, Helen was recently invited to sell her wares at something called the "Walk for the Animals", an event benefiting the Washington County Humane Society here in Wisconsin. I think that's all wonderful, except that you know who's going to be walking....a bunch of dogs. And worse still, Helen has been making kanzashi for......dogs. Seriously, I don't know what to say. She's making brightly colored cotton flowers on ponytail elastics to attach to dog collars....or wear with your ponytail. She is making fabric flower centers using her styrofoam molds....something she figured out a number of blog posts ago. Very useful, because once they're glued, you have to work hard to pull them off! Even a dog would have problems losing these flower centers. OK, let's look at a few of her favorites.

The challenge of designing these seems to be in figuring out which fabric will do which petal shape without getting squashed by, you know, a dog rolling around on the ground, or something. Also, since Helen doesn't want to spend a lot of time on each one, she has limited herself to 6 petals per flower. Here's a delicate little number in a pale pink dotted Swiss....

...which can be purchased here . And here's a fun floral cotton that J9 gave to Helen...

...buy it here...A different sort of shape made from the last of a beloved cotton print....

....a one-of-a-kind item you can buy here if you can't wait for the show in a couple weeks. And here's a group of other lighthearted, happy-go-lucky things, perfect for dogs....

Note the solid colored black and white flowers; these are dupioni silk, for formal occasions, like weddings. In fact, Helen came up with a way to make kanzashi "bow-ties" also to attach to ponytail elastics, especially for very masculine dogs' formal occasions...

It has been a fun project, and less time-consuming than other kanzashi perhaps, but still pretty time-consuming. Helen is thinking about duplicating some of her favorite designs, but at least she doesn't have to spend time experimenting anymore. Until the next exciting new, fun fabric turns up, that is to say.

So, if you are anywhere close to Jackson, Wisconsin on August 17, 2013, come walk in Jackson Park with whatever pets you have that like to walk (I'm not going anywhere near the place) to support the Humane Society and to see Helen's dog flowers (also lots of other fabric flower accessories for humans)!