I have been working away on some childrens’ tote bags for my dear Kompadres K & L.  They asked me to make bags as the graduation presents for their students – adorable little munchkins 4 and 5 years old in an all-English preschool and daycare program – and I was happy to help out.

I spent the weekend cutting my fabric and felt appliques, and hopefully I will be able to get these finished in near-record time.  I’m already behind!

I do have to show you a little bit, though.  I mean, look at the colors she is using.  They’re fantastic.  Plus, she is using ricrac.  Is it possible that a project with ricrac in it won’t turn out well?  I doubt it.

The thing that really gets me, though is that she found all her wonderful fabrics at Yuzawaya.  It’s the same store I go to.  It’s not the same branch, but the idea with national chains is that you can find the same things at any location.  That’s kind of how they work.  But the thing is, I’ve either never seen the fabrics she is using, or I’ve seen them but walked right past them.  It really is remarkable how easily we can get sucked in to routine in a store and stop seeing the boundless possibilities behind everything.  At what point did I stop looking upon the contents of Yuzawaya as a source of inspiration and start to view it as an obstacle course to be navigated while in pursuit of one specific item?

I think there is only one solution to this: I must return to Yuzawaya when I do not have a specific project I am working on and just spend half a day wandering around.  The difficulty, of course, comes from trying to find a time when I have half a day to kill and no projects in the works.

Getting to see all of L’s goodies did remind me of a wise decision I had made many months ago – avoid the ribbon and trim section of the store.  When it comes to things this lovely I have absolutely zero self control.  L wisely kept her marvelous ribbons and laces out of sight, but I did manage to ogle this ribbon as it was being sewn onto a piece of fabric during the early stages of product assembly.  Absolutely wonderful.

Tomorrow I should have pictures of my own progress to share with you.  Until then:

May life continue to inspire you,

Miss Kaizer

Shortly after we arrived at our Kompadres’ house, they started turning the bathroom into a darkroom.  Screens have to be pre-coated with a light sensitive cream (but you can also buy them pre-treated, which was the case here).  The screens are then exposed to light – where the cream comes in contact with light, it solidifies.  The rest is then washed out and presto, you’ve got your silk screen.  This particular screen was a tester for determining just how long it should be exposed to light, hence the three pairs of owls.

Just after the the pork was injected with maple syrup (I cannot even  begin to tell you how amazing it tasted) there was a test run on a piece of paper.  It came out beautifully and there was much rejoicing in the land.  Many more ideas have begun to flood our little brains as we consider the full possibility of this new medium.  Our Kompadre hosts are extremely talented, and I can promise you that you will be seeing more of this.

After the initial success of the silk screening, it was back outside to enjoy the perfect weather while the food was expertly cooked by a bevy of barbecue masters.  I don’t know why guys always have to barbecue by group consensus, but as long as it tastes as awesome as it did on Saturday I’m 100% ok with it.  There was pork injected with maple syrup, shrimp skewers in a super spicy Thai sauce, marinated chicken, corn on the cob, and an absolutely amazing potato salad.

I got up early in the morning on Saturday to make a loaf of Grandma’s banana bread to take along.  It was extremely popular, even with the two Brits who I don’t think had ever had banana bread before and were reluctant to try it because they thought it would have a super banana-y flavor.  And yes, it was a multicultural Independence Day: 4 Americans, 2 Brits, 1 Aussie, and 1 Japanese Kompadre.  We also shouted lines from the Declaration of Independence at our British friends as thought they were official representatives of the British Crown:

“Please pass the potato salad.”

“He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people!  Oh, sorry.  Here you go.”

I’m kidding.  But we did steal their tea and dump it down the drain (we’re too far away from a harbor of any kind).  I’m kidding again!  They are wonderful Kompadres and we thoroughly enjoyed sharing the day with them.

What about the fireworks?  I was extremely excited about this part of the day.  When I was seven years old, my family moved to a different state.  It was a move from a place where fireworks were legal to one where they are not.  So while I remembered the joys of shopping for fireworks with my Dad and lighting them in front of my house as a kid (while the entire rest of the neighborhood did the same), it was something I was unable to do for a VERY long time.  Unfortunately, the Kompadres’ neighbor was less than thrilled about a bottle rocket being set off at 9:30 at night, so we were only able to light one.  But it was still fun.  We’ll just have to save the fireworks for the next Japanese holiday.

May life continue to inspire you,

Miss Kaizer