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.

If you like this set and want to see more of my work in the future, be sure to join the Mailing List to get notified whenever an update is posted. You can also follow me on Instagram and check out my Youtube for videos showing my crafting process, travel, shopping, and gaming. 🙂 Check back here again next week for more crafty projects, and at the end of the month when this set and more will be dropping into the Shop!