Progress shots

So my boyfriend and I have just closed on our first house a few days ago, and I am super excited to renovate and decorate! We already have paint colors and now I just need to make a few paintings to make the place comfortable. When I finish, this is one of the paintings that will be in the bathroom. :) I  still have a lot to do, but these paintings are tricky- sometimes you have to step back often and make sure you don't overwork the image.

This summer I was lucky enough to join my boyfriend's family for a vacation at a cottage on Cape Cod. The place was right next to the water, and everyday I could see the tide come and go from my bed. One afternoon there were these beautiful thunderheads in the distance, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about them since.

Bigger kanzashi piece experiment

I still have to figure out how to attach this to a hair comb, haha. Molding the wire is still tough for me, but at least I am getting the hang of it.

First cluster and new designs

Tadaaaaaaaah! More wedding pieces. These were a PAIN to make because of the wiring and shaping, but the dimension looks so much more impressive than a flat assembled piece. I have decided to not attach a veil because brides may have different plans for veil placement, and if they do want one close to the piece, it is a very simple process to add it on separately.

The double layered look is especially fun because I get to make tiny flowers for the top tier. The specific weave of the silk fabric that I use keeps the whole piece so light despite the larger design. I've made one for myself and often forget that I am wearing it very quickly because it feels like I have nothing in my hair.

If a bride-to-be wants to have her wedding colors incorporated in her kanzashi pieces, all I need are fabric swatches mailed to me and I will create custom kanzashi for anyone's special day!Even though it's not my wedding, I can't help but feel so excited and happy for couples who order from me.

ETSY STORE!

At last! I have an etsy store! Sorry for the wait, you can visit it at etsy.com/shop/maimaipie. I will post more items on there once I am done with them.

Everybody loves weddings!

Hello, everyone! I have been working on some kanzashi designs for weddings (and developing my etsy store!) lately and so far I am concentrating on keeping them simple and clean. There are a lot of elaborate designs out there, but I feel that they would be too overpowering visually, so I will be starting off with basic design and explore more intricate ones later without pushing the boundary too far. ***Please keep in mind the products below are all prototypes and any imperfections will be improved upon for future orders.***

The one below is not finished yet, I am trying to figure out how to attach a small veil to it. My goal is to have this piece reflect the style of the 1920's, but made with today's design. I prefer smaller veils as I think they are tasteful, modern, and more elegant than the longer fashion.

Here is a simple design for a bride made with plain white silk charmeuse, it has a slight cream color to it which makes it look light and airy instead of stark and fluorescent. This is my absolute favorite fabric to work with, it is extremely soft and the weave that I use is very versatile. I have learned how to attach chains without having them twist and kink in certain areas, unfortunately I did not discover this until after I finished this piece -___-. The dragonfly charm and filigree bead complete the look by adding a soft touch and makes it very suitable for weddings in warm weather.

This is actually the first bridal piece I started, also unfinished without the veil piece. The flowers are clustered together and look a lot like forget-me-not flowers as a unit. The smaller blossoms are incredibly cute, see below for a size comparison. The larger blossom is 2"x2" and the smaller is about 1 1/8"x 1 1/8".

Of course, I did not forget about making some cute pieces for the bridesmaids or flower girl to wear. :)

I am really happy with how the third one turned out- so much cuter in person! I found these new bobby pins that are silver-plated and have a small pad on the back to hold to the flowers better. All of my single blossoms will have these new bobby pins, but if you have an allergy I also have hypoallergenic stainless steel hair clips that work just as well!

*The three pieces so far for flower girls and brides maids are complete, if you would like to order please contact me via e-mail with details concerning quantity and deadline. To ensure that your order gets to you on time, I ask for at least 3 weeks to create and ship your pieces.*

Thank you so much for your patience and interest in my work, I am working hard photographing and editing pictures so that I can open up my etsy store soon!

Hello, everyone! I just want to thank everybody who stopped by to chat and purchase my products yesterday at the Japansese Spring Festival. It really meant a lot to me to hear all of your wonderful comments and I had a lot of fun meeting people. My sister and boyfriend enjoyed it as well, and I am also grateful for their help, as our booth was flooded at times. I will definitely improve my designs and table set up.

Many people were interested in custom made kanzashi pieces for other special occasions like weddings, and I would be happy to create a one of a kind piece for any void that must be filled with cute kanzashi. In fact, earlier in the month I was already considering the possibility of creating designs for weddings, and after the warm reception I am extremely excited to get started on that! Please e-mail me if you are interested in custom kanzashi and I will work the details out with you!

Again, thank you for the compliments and patronage, you have all made my first festival a huge success! I will order more fabric and make some more, find a better photographer, and post them on my etsy store soon! :)

More cute items

I wanted to make a few of these simple but cute rabbit kanzashi, and while I was making them, I had another idea...

 Yes, pikachu kanzashi! They are all hand dyed, hand painted, and have a felt backing. Now I understand that not everybody is right handed or wants to wear these on the same side, so I have decided to make them wearable for every preference by making it adjustable in the back.

See? You can switch the direction of the bobby pin with ease and wear it on either side as you please. This feature will be available for all of the rabbit and pikachu pieces. I hope you all are as excited as I am, I can't wait to display these at my booth :)