A Brief History of Tsumami Zaiku September 25, 2021 – Posted in: Art, Crafts, News

Before I begin, I would like to express my gratitude to Miss Tomomi Yamashita from Knot Japan, who provided valuable information on the history of Tsumami-Zaiku, as well as much needed support to fellow Tsumami-Zaiku artists around the world. When I began my artistic journey of Tsumami-Zaiku in early 2016, I could not find much information about the craft. Living in the UK, I didn’t have access to lessons or textbooks, so I learnt the…

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Nori Rice Glue: Make your own September 23, 2020 – Posted in: Art, Crafts, News

Hime nori is crucial for tsumami zaiku yet difficult to find. Let me show you how to make your own hime nori for your tsumami zaiku projects.

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Kanzashi Roses Reindeer Moss Bottles March 30, 2020 – Posted in: Crafts, News

Just to let you know that we are still trading as usual but shipment may be delayed. We have redecorated the bottles of roses and added reindeer moss to it. They are now available in our Etsy store in 5 colours

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Wayo Secchu: Butterfly Bow and Kanzashi November 2, 2016 – Posted in: Accessories, Crafts

When talking about Japan, what image does it give you? Cities of neon lightings? Or traditional shrines and Torii gates? Of course, both can represent Japan. It’s a big country after all (Psst, it’s bigger than the whole of the UK). But to me, there is another side of Japan that I really like and often overlooked by other people. It’s the hybrid of Western and Japanese ideas. Wayo Secchu: Combining the West and the…

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Restarting Website, and My First Custom-Made Item October 1, 2016 – Posted in: Accessories, Crafts

Journey restarted It has been a very long time since I wrote anything here. I wish I could do a bit more work on the website but I’m not exactly good at writing. I have been using Instagram and Facebook to showcase my work because they are more picture-orientated, but I guess it is also important to have a website of ourselves in case anything goes wrong. I guess it will be easier for me…

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Dainty work: Tsumami-Zaiku and Kanzashi June 5, 2016 – Posted in: Art, Crafts

Today I am going to write about another type of Japanese traditional craft which I spent most of my time on making.

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Cast off – How I learnt to knit May 20, 2016 – Posted in: Accessories, Crafts

I still remember the time when my granny used to knit (that was over 20 years ago). She and her circle of friends used to work on big projects like adult-size sweaters with complicated patterns. I asked my grandma to teach me knit, but for some reason it never happened. And as I grew up and overwhelmed by homework, exams, and other things that I was expected to do, I have completely forgotten about it.…

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A bit of fun – Pom pom making May 9, 2016 – Posted in: Crafts, Decorations

Does anyone remember the time when we were using an ordinary mobile phone. By ordinary I mean flip phones, slip phones and Nokia 3210. Phone charms were very popular at the time and there were all sorts of designs, one of which was pom pom. And if you want to make you own, you will need a pom pom maker. I wasn’t that interested in phone charms, but somehow my mum thought it was a…

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Turning point: Start of Craftsmanship and Mizuhiki May 1, 2016 – Posted in: Accessories, Crafts

I have always been interested in Japanese art and crafts, but I never thought that would became the turning point of my life – I started searching for all the different ways of making mizuhiki knots on the internet and gradually became a self-taught accessory craftsman. Interestingly, the word “musubi”, meaning knot, can also means “connection-making”. I have learnt many different craft skills since. But this time, I would like to talk about my first…