Spring is finally in swing here in Saskatchewan. While cherry blossoms aren’t all that common here, when it comes to kanzashi I still very much think of this as the month of cherry blossoms and butterflies. I’m starting this month off with a relatively small project using elements that I reclaimed from older projects – namely, the blue resin butterfly.
The cherry blossoms have also been waiting partially finished in my studio. I started crafting the base parts for these a few years back, then swapped over to something else.
While I always feel a sense of accomplishment when I finish a new piece, there is always something very satisfying about repurposing elements of old projects. Even though this piece isn’t particularly complex, I still feel pretty satisfied looking at it – not everything needs to be super complicated.
And of course, it’s still pretty early in the month of April; there’s still plenty of time this month to craft bigger, fancier cherry blossom kanzashi.
One of my dream kanzashi ideas is to create a cherry blossom and lantern piece that either has glow in the dark material so that the lanterns glow, or that incorporate small lights.
A few years ago I did purchase some miniature lights – the kind that people use in their doll house miniatures – but I never have incorporated them into a kanzashi piece. Part of me hesitates when it comes to using new materials or materials that I think of as special – even though that’s kind of silly. I think it’s because I never want to accidentally ruin a material in the process. I will eventually get over it, hopefully sooner rather than later!
This piece, like many of the pieces I’m going to be creating this year, was made possible by a production grant from Creative Saskatchewan – who were kind enough to support the production of over 500 new works of tsumami craft made by me. They were also kind enough to extend my grant after I was diagnosed with cancer, and while I was going through cancer treatment. I can’t express enough how grateful I am for their support. If you’ve ever wanted to support an arts organization, I can’t recommend Creative Saskatchewan enough.
Anyhoo, that is all I’ve got for today. I hope to see you guys again next week with more crafty creative projects.
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