Pink and Black Glittery Kanzashi for Sale

This is a new kanzashi I made. It's more modern with it's sheer pink and black glittery fabric and shiny, sheer green leaves. It is attached to a clear comb. It's about 3 1/2 inches wide total. I am selling this piece for $10. Please comment or send me an email at jbgaston@memphis.edu if you wish to buy this item. If you need to find out shipping costs, please use the email address provided. We don't want your personal information floating around for all to see. =)


UPDATE: SOLD

Hanamachi-Ai is now JadexCore!

All of my items that I used to have for sale on Hanamachi-Ai will now be featured on here. If you are interested in the items, please inquire about price (if not listed) and shipping!

Hanamachi-Ai to be reborn

Since Yahoo has decided to shut down Geocities this month, I am planning on completely re-doing my website, Hanamachi-Ai under a new server. I could get all of my photos and html to use on the next site, but since I plan on entirely re-doing my kanzashi line, as well as adding new items, I am just going to let them delete it. I have already started on new kanzashi for the website, so I hope everyone enjoys them, and I will update soon with new developments!

Hello Kitty as Nurse?!

I found this adorable cell phone strap on Strapya World a few weeks ago, but I finally just bought it. I couldn't resist! It's Hello Kitty AND nursing in one cute package! There were white and pink versions of this particular style strap as well, but I chose blue because my school's main color is blue. So there's my tiny bit of school spirit. At least it's not like high school where I had absolutely no school spirit. I do love my university. Go Tigers!!! =D

New Yukata and Obi

I decided it was high-time for a new yukata. The yellow one I bought last year just doesn't suit my tastes anymore. So I bought this black and white striped one with pink bellflowers(?) from Gary-san. I was trying to go with a more sophisticated image without looking old. Too many yukata are too "cute" for me, but I don't want the extremely traditional and "boring" yukata either, so this one seemed to suit my personality perfectly.



I also got an obi to go with it because I don't have any hanhaba obi to match. Luckily, the pink flowers will be accented by the kinchaku and geta that I bought recently (see previous two posts for pictures). I finally have put a whole yukata set together, and I hope everything arrives soon so I can go to the Japanese garden soon!

New Kinchaku!

I waited all night for this bag from Ryu Japan. Because the funds are currently lower than they should be (my own fault for sure), I decided to wait until morning to see what was left, and if anything interesting was still there, I would get it (and for only $10 - what a steal!). It's pink to match the geta I bought just a little while ago. Now all I need is the yukata I have been eyeing for sometime, and my set will be complete!

Pink Geta!

I guess I was feeling pink today, because when I saw these geta on Ryu Japan, I HAD to snag them! There were so many colors and designs, but cute and pink won! I can't wait until they get here, but it's bound to be awhile because they're coming SAL. =(

So Summer!

I found this yukata/obi combo on Fuuka this morning. I'm sure it's been there for a while, but I never looked at it before. If you've read this blog before, you'll know that I'm very interested in modern kimono. It's not so much the yukata here that I'm raving about, but the obi. It's so simple, summery, elegant, BEAUTIFUL! I adore it! It would actually be quite simple for me to make because I sew quite a bit. I have had plans to work on a line of modern kimono this summer. So far, I have ideas and musings. I need to go get fabric, and considering the amount of boredom I accrue on days off, I need to seriously start a project!

RIP Tony (1993-2009)

Tony (my 16 year old cat) was put down today. My parents found him this morning, and he could not walk. He was so weak. I couldn't bear to hand him over to my father, because I knew it would be the last time I would hold him - EVER. He's gone. I can't believe it. I really need to be held right now.

It was just time, I guess. He had a long, healthy life. May peace come to him.

Song of the moment: "Runaway" - Something Corporate

MTAC

I got back from MTAC (Middle Tennessee Anime Convention) on Sunday. I have lots of very good news to report! We arrived on Friday morning, and the first day was fairly uneventful. I spent a lot of time in the hotel room with *someone*. I enjoyed that very much. ;D I went to a few presentations, namely the para para battle because my sister was in it. She did really well in the first two rounds, but because of time constraints, they weren't able to do the third and fourth rounds on that day like they had planned. But she ended up winning the whole thing! She was AWESOME!!! We also got to see Jeff Nemoy, who plays the voice of Wolfwood from Trigun. He was really funny and down-to-earth.

My highlights of course were the traditional arts, namely the taiko drummers and my own presentation on kimono. I was surprised by the number of people that showed up. I actually asked if everyone was there for my presentation because I thought that surely I was in the wrong room! My audience was wonderful, and I had a great volunteer. I think I got a bunch of people interested in starting their own kimono collections. XD

Here are some pics some nice people took after the presentation:

Some new things!

These haven't arrived yet, but I ordered an obiage and obijime set for myself two weeks ago. I hope they will arrive this week since I had them sent AirMail, but who knows. Anyway, the picture is below. Sorry, there is only one. I will post kitsuke pictures when they arrive.

Spring is in the air! Kind of...

All of the cherry trees here in Memphis are finally blooming! I wait the whole year for this, so once the weather clears up (it is currently ICING outside), it will be time for hanami! My friends and I are planning to go to the Japanese garden at the Memphis Botanical Gardens and have a nice bento picnic. I hope many of my friends will come because it will be a relaxing day.

The crappy weather has most likely ruined our plans for a camping trip this weekend, but on the plus side, that gives me more time to study for my test on Monday, and we can maybe watch a marathon of Band of Brothers. Or play video games. Or just chill. I am good at the last one.

And update on my relationship issues. Jerk has not called. Thank God.

And finally, the big snow!

We here in Memphis have not had a big (well, big for our area) snow in a long time, and last night (my birthday, by the way!) the snow fell! We got about 4-6 inches of snow, so, of course, we all turned into children and had fun playing in the snow. I decided it might be fun to let the horses out around nine o'clock this morning. I was not sure if my new horse had ever seen snow, so I wanted to see his reaction.
Whether or not he's seen it, he had fun. Both of the horses ran around and played for hours. They even taught themselves how to break the ice on the tank to get water! They are clever, when they want to be... And I guess Teddy (the grey one) thought it would be fun to roll in the snow. It was like he was trying to make a snow angel. :)

Horse shows

I had no idea why (at first), but when I went outside this morning to get breakfast from the cafeteria, I felt like I should be at a horse show. It was early, cool, cloudy -- all things that tend to happen at horse shows. You are always up early (like 5 or 6 am) so you can get out, feed the horses, groom them for the show, and braid their manes, if needed. In eventing, you also need to get up to walk the courses, if you haven't already. Then, from the fact that it's early, you can assume that the weather is cool. And for some reason, it always seems to rain at horse shows. I just want to be at a horse show, or just the barn, so badly right now. Fortunately, my prelab tonight for hospital work tomorrow has been canceled (I guess because it's Ash Wednesday), so if it's not raining, I can go to my parent's house and ride my horses. I hope the weather clears!

Kimono 101

I am doing this panel on kimono at the Middle Tennessee Anime Convention (MTAC) on the first weekend in April, so I began trying to write out presentation and handouts. So far, I really only have my handouts. The things on them will probably not be discussed during the panel; instead, they will be take-home notes. So far I have basic kimono terms and definitions, types of common kimono and formality, and my personal tips on buying kimono. But I am still trying to figure out what I will EXACTLY say and how I will fit everything in. I have probably 55 minutes to present. I am going to present the very basics of kimono. I want to introduce some things about kimono, then do a demonstration, followed by a short Q&A session. I figure I need 10-20 minutes to present the opening material, 20-30 minutes to dress and discuss what I am doing and what pieces I am using and why, and then whatever time is left for the Q&A. I plan on doing my opening on types of kimono and obi, formal versus casual, and some basic etiquette. For the dressing demonstration, I plan on doing a full outfit that is not yukata or furisode (I want to demonstrate the otaiko musubi). I know a lot of people who are beginners will get a yukata first, but I really want to do a more full demonstration. I mean, you can "work down" to the yukata from the type of demonstration, but it would be much harder to do the other way around. So yeah, if there is anything that you would recommend, please tell me.

Peach Cloud Komon and Wine Red Nagoya

I took some pictures today of an ensemble I plan on wearing for a kimono presentation that I am doing in April. I finally got this kimono to have a flatter ohashori. Because it's shorter than my proper length, it tends to get poofy. But I found a trick that really helped: you fold the inner collar, and it cuts out some of the bulk. Why I didn't know this before, I have no idea. I feel dumb now for not knowing it. The only things I hate here are that my upper center seam is not centered in the back, and the obiage tying needs work. ANYWAY, here are the pics from the aforementioned ensemble.

Mamechiyo is my muse! ;D

So like I said in the last post, I have been looking to Mamechiyo for inspiration. Their "Puzzle" line has been quite interesting, as I have been into simple geometrics lately. I think I have come up with an idea for a late spring/early summer ensemble this year. I want to make a juban with lavender polka dots and a kimono with wide buttery-yellow stripes. The picture on their juban page is my muse for this. I want to make it all hitoe for the warmer season. I am not ready to try to make a ro kimono as that type of fabric can be tricky to deal with, so I may not have anything to wear for July through August except yukata, but I'm not going to be doing anything fancy anyway. I think I will make a han eri of the a complementing color to the juban and obi. The reason I chose the yellow/purple combo is because they are my favorite colors. And, I don't own a yellow kimono. Also, I want to make instead of buy for several reasons: 1) I can't afford Mamechiyo, 2) I don't want to wait forever to find something like this on eBay or another site (which might also turn out to be too expensive), 3) I am tall and hard to fit in most kimono, 4) I want something modern, 5) I need hitoe, 6) I might make more to sell if it turns out well, 7) I want longer sleeves (but not furisode) because I love that retro feel. Retro-modern. I like it! :) So anyway, the pictures below represent my ideas for the patterns:


Of course, they will not be exactly like this. The obi/juban/haneri could be darker with light spots, for example. I just hope it still looks nice. :)

Modernity

I have been looking all week for new kimono kitsuke ideas. I had heard of Mamechiyo before, but because the site was in Japanese for the most part, I could not read enough to get interested. With the help of Google translate and my curiosity, I started looking through their webshop and blog. The ideas they have come up with for modern ways of wearing kimono are fascinating! They sometimes use more modern or Western things, such as lace, for their pieces, but they still have that traditional Japanese flair. The ideas that I am especially smitten with are the stripes and polka dots combos. But, unfortunately, I cannot order from them because I couldn't get through the order form if I tried (again, the Japanese), and I don't think that they ship to the US anyway. But, I thought that if I got the Folkwear pattern for kimono and some fabric similar to theirs, I could makes some neat items. The good news is, fabric like they use is easy to find at almost any fabric store because of its modernity. Since I probably will not be able to work on this project until spring break or even summer break, I have plenty of time to change my mind about the patterns, but I think it will be similar.

I am not crazy about everything Mamechiyo has though. There are some obi that have a sort-of fall fruit theme that to me looks like someone non-Japanese bought cheap closeout fabric without knowledge of traditional kimono patterns. Now, I know that the people who run Mamechiyo know all about kimono, but I simply dislike the look of that obi. They have a few others things that are not exactly my style, but I was DROOLING over most of their items! I am anxious to start my project, but being in nursing school right now is barely allowing me to do anything other than study, so I will just have to plan and wait.

February is ume!

I am so excited that February has finally arrived! It means beautiful ume are going to be in bloom soon! But of course, not in Memphis. I will fortunately get to see pretty pictures of those is Japan because of the lovely members of the Immortal Geisha forums who take a plenty of pictures each season and post them on Flickr. But as for me, I have just been enjoying the nice weather here. It's been in the upper 60's and 70's all week long - which is my favorite temperature range. So comfortable, you don't need a heavy jacket (if any), and you're not sweating either. It's so nice! We were supposed to have some bad storms last night through this morning, but it never happened. Not even a clap of thunder. Just rain and A LOT of wind. The university I attend even put out a high wind warning to all of the students. It was quite funny, actually, because we have "TigerTEXT" which is an alert system that texts you when something happens. I was sitting in my Health Assessment lecture class, and everyone checks their phone at the same time because of the text. 200 phones at once. LOL.

Anyway, I decided to get into the February spirit by doing an ume-inspired kitsuke yesterday. The kimono is one that my fiancé bought me for Christmas (at the time seasonally inappropriate), but now it is PERFECT! It is light and dark blue checkerboard with "bouncing" ume blossoms. I paired it with a multi-seasonal beige and multi-colored obi, an orange shibori obiage, an orange and gold obijime, and a big white ume kanzashi. According to the "rules", the obiage and obijime are too formal for a komon and nagoya obi, but, hey, I don't always follow the rules. :)

More snow? and sick...

Believe it or not, we actually got more snow on Wednesday. It was deeper, prettier, and lasted much longer than the previous snow, but sadly, I was (and still am) ill, so I could not get any pictures. :( I tried to go to class, but ended up leaving my first class, Health Assessment Lab, about an hour early because I thought I was going to throw up. And the people at the student health center did not help a bit. Then, I had to miss all of Thursday, which was REALLY bad because I had to miss my clinical hospital time, so now I have to write a 6-page paper and show competency in all skills learned that week. Ouch. And on top of all my regular studying! So I went to the doctor, and they think it's just a "nervous stomach", but I want to see the results of the H. pylori (stomach ulcer bacteria) test first. I have had so many symptoms that could be signs of an ulcer, but who knows. I certainly feel though that my blood pressure is up when I have my "attacks" of nausea. It's like a bounding pulse in my stomach. Well, I hope it subsides today, because I'm going to work anyway.

Enough? NEVER!

As if I did not already have enough kimono things! I could not resist all of these things on eBay and RyuJapan!


The first buy was a yellow and dragonfly kinchaku bag from Ryu. It matches my yukata fairly well, but I love that butter-yellow color, and I will MAKE it match some of my other things. :)




The next was a red and black hakata nagoya obi from Ryu's eBay store. It might be a little short for me, but I can fudge things pretty well most of the time.








Then, I got this wine red (really sort of purple) colored obi from Kimono-Bestbuy. I love the white peonies on it. They totally pop out at you!









The last one is also from Kimono-Bestbuy. This one I bought to match my orange tsukesage. That kimono has green, yellow, red, and gold accents, and I think it will match nicely. And I love the modern woven squares on it.

Snow!!!

Since I live in Memphis, Tennessee, snow is a rarity. Mostly our winters are brown and cool, but not cold and white. I don't think that there will be any closings (although Memphis is known to shut down everything when a little snow begins to accumulate), but we finally got some snow this morning. I threw on my scrubs and ran out to get breakfast to see the snow while it lasts since any snow we get typically melts off the same day. It was only a small amount of accumulation, but oh is was beautiful!



Anyway, it was all gone by noon, which really sucked because it was so pretty! I wish we got more snow here, but unfortunately, you can't make the weather do what you want it to do. :,(

New Beauties!

I won a few new items yesterday on eBay. I really needed all of the items, and I got everything for a steal! The first and most important thing I won was a pair of white size L zori. These are vinyl and will match for almost any occasion!


Next, I got a white, pink, and light blue juban with 22 inch (56 cm) sodetake, because the orange tsukesage I own has longer sode, therefore not fitting my other juban with shorter sode.







Then, I got a pink obiage with sakura blossoms embroidered on it. I needed a color that would coordinate with many different outfits, so I figured that a light pink would be just the thing. Now I need a pink obijime to match. I'm on the hunt right now! XD



Last, a package of gold mizuhiki for my kanzashi creations.







Probably the best buy of the whole thing was the obiage. I only paid $1.80 for it! I am really surprised that I didn't get outbid on it, especially since my max bid was only $5, but hey, I'm not complaining! The shoes were also a shock, because everyone wants plain white zori. I only paid $8 for those. Another surprise because they are a size L which is harder to find. This same seller had them for $30 on his website, so I saved a lot by winning the bid. I just can't wait until all my things arrive, but since they are coming SAL, I expect it to take a while. :(

Meisen Kitsuke

I took these pictures about 2 weeks ago, but I wanted to share them here. I bought this vintage blue-purple meisen kimono months ago, but really did not have a proper obi to wear with it until Christmas when my sister bought me a red hanhaba obi. So, I finally got around to practicing kitsuke with them. The look to me is a casual chic, but that's just my opinion. These are better pictures than the last post, but by no means fantastic quality! O.o

Purple Edo Komon Kitsuke

I was bored so I began practicing kitsuke the other day. I pulled out my nagoya obi, which really is a little small, but I was determined to make it work! I got it looking pretty nice, I think. Personally, I was very happy with my first real attempt at making a good otaiko. Sucks that the pictures are crappy, but I've just been taking them off of my computer in a really poorly lit dorm room. It's sad we can't get better lighting, and on top of all that, I only have one small window off of the porch, so the building blocks nearly all of the sunlight.



Anyway, I would love opinions if you have them, but please be constructive, not cruel! :)

First Post

I had my blog on my own website, but since it takes up too much space, I will be transferring it here, and adding all new posts to this blog. You can still access the blog through Hanamachi-Ai.