Continuing with the winter themed kanzashi, this two-piece set features purple and white ume – or plum blossoms.

Traditionally, this type of kanzashi would be made as one piece with the bouquet and the sagari bound together onto a large u-shaped pin. This was made into a set for ease of use – using modern a comb for the bouquet and a u-pin for the sagari. This gives the set more flexibility than if it were made as a single piece.

This piece also uses a combination of habotai silk and textured chirimen, which makes for an interesting visual contrast.

I don’t normally mix fabric types in my pieces, but I actually like the way it looks in this piece. So, maybe I’ll explore the mixing of different types of fabrics in the future. The one thing I probably won’t take away from working on these pieces from my certification course is the use of round pearl beads; I love beads, of course, but I don’t like that they have holes in the sides and I’ve noticed that they sometimes shift while the glue is drying, which makes them off center. I much prefer the flat back pearls that I normally use; they’re just easier to work with.

Altogether, I am really pretty happy with how these pieces turned out. I feel like I learned a lot while making this set. It was the last piece in the intermediate class that I completed as part of my teaching certification for tsumami-zaiku – which you can learn more about here.

While I have been making tsumami-zaiku for many years, I feel like these pieces have really helped me refine and understand the traditional crafting techniques that I’d learned originally from youtube and other website tutorials made by people like me – foreign hobbyists.

These lessons have also given me so much more insight into the cultural relevance of the color schemes and motifs involved in tsumami craft, which is fascinating.

I am, as ever, grateful for the support of SK Arts. Without grants from organizations like SK Arts, I would not be able to participate in the exhibitions, workshops, and certification courses that have really grown my artistic practice.

Anyhoo, if you’d like to have a piece of my work, this will be part of my end of month product drop! 🙂 Keep an eye on this page or follow my Instagram for more crafty chill updates.