The auction for my pretty Geisha's Hikizuri is ending tomorrow!

Please check out the auction if you're interested in acquiring it:
[link]
________________________________________ _

KIMONO-LOVERS CONTEST WINNERS:

FIRST PLACE:
Submitted by ShoShanaShira


Title: Hanami: Cherry Blossom Beauty

SECOND PLACE:
Submitted by The-Darkwolf



THIRD PLACE:
Submitted by Akai-Tenshi


________________________________________ _

MY ETSY SHOP

CHRISTMAS CARDS:


POSTCARDS:


HALO FOR THE HOLIDAYS


PRINTS:



I've also listed the last remaining prints of a few of my recently retired pieces. If you want prints of those, this may be your last chance to get them!

KANZASHI:

________________________________________ _

MY GALLERY:

Some of the pieces in my other gallery are now over five years old, or nearing five years old. So take a few minutes to say goodbye to these babies because they will be removed from my gallery at the end of the month. Then they can rest happily and peacefully in their retirement.

Up for retirement on January 1st:


Up for retirement on February 1st:


Prints of some of these pieces are up for sale in my Etsy shop: [link]
________________________________________ _______

MY PHOTOGRAPHY: [link]

Killarney 2008:

[link]

Angola 2009:

[link]

Spain 2009:

[link]

Killarney 2009:

[link]

Well everyone, today I met up with a few of my colleauges from Angola. You see, Dr. Foster and his wife have come to Canada for a short visit and we decided to have a little get together with them while they were in town. Now, Dr. Foster brought us all a copy of one of the promotional videos made from the films taken on my last trip to Angola. I will post the video on YouTube for all of you to see once I get permission.

For now though, I wanted to direct your attention to the following photos:



This is a little girl I met up with in Angola. She had a massive facial tumor most likely caused by cancer. Dr. Foster originally planned to take a sample of it and send it back to Canada with us for diagnosis. When he got inside though, he found it connected by only a single tendril. So the tumor was removed, and we hoped it wouldn't return. Unfortunately, I found out from Dr. Foster today that this little girl ended up having very molignant and particularly aggressive cancer. She passed away in May 2009 - two months after I met her. She had been sick for only five months before the cancer claimed her life. She was only 9 years old. Please keep her in your hearts and prayers.

________________________________________ _

KIMONO-LOVERS CONTEST WINNERS:

FIRST PLACE:
Submitted by ShoShanaShira


Title: Hanami: Cherry Blossom Beauty

SECOND PLACE:
Submitted by The-Darkwolf



THIRD PLACE:
Submitted by Akai-Tenshi


________________________________________ _

MY ETSY SHOP

CHRISTMAS CARDS:


POSTCARDS:


HALO FOR THE HOLIDAYS


PRINTS:



I've also listed the last remaining prints of a few of my recently retired pieces. If you want prints of those, this may be your last chance to get them!

KANZASHI:

________________________________________ _

MY GALLERY:

Some of the pieces in my other gallery are now over five years old, or nearing five years old. So take a few minutes to say goodbye to these babies because they will be removed from my gallery at the end of the month. Then they can rest happily and peacefully in their retirement.

Up for retirement on January 1st:


Up for retirement on February 1st:


Prints of some of these pieces are up for sale in my Etsy shop: [link]
________________________________________ _______

MY PHOTOGRAPHY: [link]

Killarney 2008:

[link]

Angola 2009:

[link]

Spain 2009:

[link]

Killarney 2009:

[link]

Well, I've FINALLY gotten around to naming the winners of the last Kimono-Lovers contest. So without further adeu, here they are!

FIRST PLACE:
Submitted by ShoShanaShira


Title: Hanami: Cherry Blossom Beauty
Congratulations, you have been awarded 30 points in our ranking system. You've earned yourself another kimono! It's an Uncrested Tsukesage. This icon will now appear next to your name in the members list: You're winning deviation will also become the club's new featured deviation until the end of our next contest. Your image will be featured in Qiu-Ling's and Kurokami-Kanzashi's journal until January 2010. And you will recieve 5 pieces of kimono fabric for craft work.

SECOND PLACE:
Submitted by The-Darkwolf


Congratulations, you have been awarded 20 points in our ranking system. You've earned yourself another kimono! It's a Large Patterned Komon. This icon will now appear next to your name in the members list: Your image will be featured in Qiu-Ling's and Kurokami-Kanzashi's journal until January 2010. And you will recieve 2 pieces of kimono fabric for craft work.

THIRD PLACE:
Submitted by Akai-Tenshi


Congratulations, you have been awarded 10 points in our ranking system. You've earned yourself another kimono! It's a Large Patterned Komon. This icon will now appear next to your name in the members list: Your image will be featured in Qiu-Ling's and Kurokami-Kanzashi's journal until January 2010.

Let's have a round of applause for the winners!

________________________________________ _

MY ETSY SHOP

CHRISTMAS CARDS:


POSTCARDS:


HALO FOR THE HOLIDAYS


PRINTS:



I've also listed the last remaining prints of a few of my recently retired pieces. If you want prints of those, this may be your last chance to get them!

KANZASHI:

________________________________________ _

MY GALLERY:

Some of the pieces in my other gallery are now over five years old, or nearing five years old. So take a few minutes to say goodbye to these babies because they will be removed from my gallery at the end of the month. Then they can rest happily and peacefully in their retirement.

Up for retirement on January 1st:


Up for retirement on February 1st:


Prints of some of these pieces are up for sale in my Etsy shop: [link]
________________________________________ _______

MY PHOTOGRAPHY: [link]

Killarney 2008:

[link]

Angola 2009:

[link]

Spain 2009:

[link]

Killarney 2009:

[link]

Well, everyone it's that time of year again. I'm heading off for another summer in Killarney tomorrow morning. I think I'll have somewhat better internet access than I've had in the past, this year. So I'm hoping to still be active here from time to time. However, I am closing commissions until I return home. I will finish up any remaining commisions I've agreed to, but I will not be accepting anymore until September. Also, I may not be able to answer questions, comments and notes until I get home, so please be patient.
__________________________________________

KIMONO-LOVERS CONTEST VOTING!!!

Well everyone, I'm hosting the contest voting for the KIMONO-LOVERS club here. You're welcome to take a look at the entries and cast your vote for the winner!

If you are a club member, be sure to leave a comment under the poll so you can be awarded points. You don't have to state who you voted for, simply that you did in fact vote.


The KIMONO-LOVERS' "Hanami" contest:

For this contest, entrants were asked to create a kimono design or kimono related art work based on the them of Hanami: Cherry Blossom Viewing. Both traditional and non-traditional kimono designs were accepted.

CONTEST ENTRIES
In the order that entries were recieved.


Submitted by shadowgeisha


Title: Hanami


Submitted by Alexandra-chan


Title: Hanami Contest Entry


Submitted by The-Darkwolf

:
Title: Bushi Hanami


Submitted by ShoShanaShira


Title: Hanami: Cherry Blossom Beauty


Submitted by Akai-Tenshi


Title: Hanami


You can vote for the winner here: [link]

Voting will go on until June 18th, 2009.
__________________________________________

CONVENTION AND TRAVEL SCHEDULE

June 15th - September 13th
KILLARNEY PROVINCIAL PARK

July 25th and 26th
2009 KILLARNEY ART SHOW
_________________________________________

MY ETSY SHOP
Close until I return in September.
_________________________________________

MY GALLERY


Some of the pieces in my other gallery are now over five years old, or nearing five years old. So take a few minutes to say goodbye to these babies because they will be removed from my gallery at the end of the month. Then they can rest happily and peacefully in their retirement.

Up for retirement on July 1st:


Up for retirement on August 1st:


Prints of some of these pieces are up for sale in my Etsy shop: [link]
_______________________________________________

MY PHOTOGRAPHY [link]

KILLARNEY 2008:
[link]


ANGOLA 2009:
[link]


SPAIN 2009:
[link]

Well everyone, I've been back from Spain for a little more than a week now. The trip was awesome, eventhough I was sick and missed out on hiking a part of the pilgrimage. I don't have any photos from Spain posted yet, but I'll be sure to add them to my flickr page soon.

Other than that, I've spent the last week working like a dog to get ready for Anime North 2009. This year, not only was I staffing in the Comic Market, I was also selling in the Crafter's Corner and curating the Kimono Display in the Art Room. The Kimono Display went smoothly eventhough we were missing one of the kimono... The komon was forgotten at home.

Anyways, for those of you who couldn't attend Anime North, or missed out on the Kimono Display - you can take the virtual tour:



Thursday
Thursday evening was the Artist's Jam, where as usual we have the artists draw on a large board which is later sold at the charity auction. I spent a few hours there finishing up some last minute kanzashi, then joined in the fun by adding a detailed phoenix to the charity board.

Friday:
On Friday I spent the morning and early afternoon with some of the other staff setting up all the tables in the Comic Market, Crafter's Corner and Display Area. Then at about 1pm it was time to set up the kimono display. My kimono stands were delivered promptly and and I got right to work setting up. After the kimono display was looking all pretty and such, myloko and I headed over to the Crafter's Corner to set up our table there. We got dressed in our kimono as well. She wore a black taisho houmongi and I wore my Eibetsu no Fuyu houmongi with my pink haori. The weather couldn't have been worse for a winter ensemble though - I was wearing about 4 layers and it was easily 30 degrees in the convention centre.



Saturday:
On Saturday I got up at about 6:30am and got all dolled up in my chaya-tsuji maiko ensemble.



Myloko and I spent the day manning our table and we had some fun with . For the early part of the day she was dressed in her AMAZING Tomoe-gozen costume. Her armour was fully authentic and incredible.



And later that day, Frenchlily changed into her geiko costume once her armour got too heavy. So we got all got a nice photo together. Myloko was playing the part of Shikomi, while I was a Junior Maiko and Frenchlily was a Geiko.



Sunday:
On Sunday, I was up at 6:30am again to get my geiko ensemble on.



I ended up using a couple of the hairsticks from my Ryuu-sama kanzashi set for this outfit, since the kanzashi I had planned to use had gone missing. You see, I had been storing two antique hair pins in the box for my sensu - and either I had mistakenly left the box somewhere, or it was stolen from our hotel room. So I no longer have the box for my sensu or the two taisho hair pins that had been among my first kimono purchases. I'm very sad to have lost them...

Anyways, I spent the afternoon disassembling the kimono display, but not before about a dozen people asked me if they could buy my kimono. One lady was hoping I would sell her my wedding furisode to wear for her wedding. Unfortunately for her, that's the first kimono I ever bought and so, it's quite special to me.
__________________________________________

CONVENTION AND TRAVEL SCHEDULE

June 15th - September 13th
KILLARNEY PROVINCIAL PARK
_________________________________________

MY ETSY SHOP

Will be reopened shortly.
_________________________________________

MY GALLERY:

Some of the pieces in my gallery are now over five years old, or nearing five years old. So take a few minutes to say goodbye to these babies because they will be removed from my gallery at the end of the month. Then they can rest happily and peacefully in their retirement.

Up for retirement on June 1st:


Up for retirement on July 1st:


Prints of some of these pieces are up for sale in my Etsy shop: [link]
_______________________________________________

MY PHOTOGRAPHY: [link]

KILLARNEY 2008:
[link]


ANGOLA 2009:
[link]