Kanzashi Book Project Announcement

Hey guys. big news!

There's a huge deficit of kanzashi making info on the internet. Although there's far more out there now than there used to be, it's still an unknown craft to most people, and any of those that have heard of it seem to believe than any fabric flower is tsumami kanzashi. (I'm not against any other forms of flower making, by the way, I find them just as fun and pretty as tsumami, it's just that comparing a sewn flower made with a plastic template to tsumami folding is like saying knitting and crochet are the same thing. Same materials, different technique.)

Basics are easy to find, but detailed information on many of the more advanced techniques is very scattered and difficult to get. Most kanzashi artists do as I did, and seek help from the more experienced, or look at pictures and experiment until they figure it out.

So, to help people who want to learn, but don't want to spend hours looking for bits and pieces of information online, I'm in the process of writing a book on kanzashi making.

It started with a petal chart I made a while back, and it's kind of grown from there, (By the way, for anyone waiting for that, believe me, this will so be worth the wait!) as my own skill improves and I learn new techniques and think of new projects I'd like to add. Detailed instruction for a lot of the pieces in my gallery will be included, I'm a little over halfway done on my list of projects for it right now. a few months ago, I opened an Etsy store, and my progress on the book has slowed because I work on book projects between orders. But even if it takes me a while, I won't stop until it's finished.

I have a list on my account's front page, that has most of the projects I plan to do. My goal this year was to make at least one of each type of maiko kanzashi motif, and I've been marking the pieces off as I create them. Most of these will be featured as projects in my book. The bottom portion is just a list of random ideas I've had, that I would like to make someday, those may or may not make an appearance. I'm not sure exactly what time frame I'm looking at, but it will show up eventually, promise.

I plan to have the book available for free download here when it's done. If I do sell any hard copies, it would be at the cost of printing them, no more. I'm not looking to make profit from this, that isn't the goal.

I am looking for some help, though, if anyone is willing. I would like to include pictures of the "real thing", and as it's impossible for me to take my own, (I don't live anywhere near Japan!) I was wondering if anyone has any pictures they would allow me to use? They must be your own pictures, or pictures that you have full rights to and the authority to grant me permission to use them. You will be given full credit, of course.

I'm looking for:

Pictures of maiko wearing kanzashi, or close-ups of real professionally made kanzashi pieces.
Pictures of Japanese fans or umbrellas
Pictures of real (botanical) nanohana, pampas grass, bush clover, plum or peach blossoms.

I'd be very grateful for help with these!

ALSO, for anyone interested, I'm working on a group for lacemakers! Lacemaking is another hobby of mine (All types of lace, I've still got a lot to learn about the different techniques, but I couldn't stick to just one!) and I noticed there were lace appreciation groups on DA, but not one devoted to handmade lace pieces. It's not really live yet, as I haven't had a lot of time to work on it, but I'll have it running eventually.

My Etsy Store can be found here: www.etsy.com/shop/ImlothMelui
My Art Gallery is here: eruwaedhielelleth.deviantart.c…
My group, Lace Makers of Deviant Art: lacemakersofda.deviantart.com/

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