Stitched Jewels- oak leaves

Hi all,
I returned back from my home land and I am ready for a new year! I received an email from the publisher the other day, "Stitched Jewels" a book describing how to make several beautiful jewelry projects by using sewing techniques and textile products will be released May 2009. You can also find a section where I am describing how to make my oak leaves brooch/pendants. This is the first time for me to be featured in a book so i am very very excited, I can't wait for it be released! So I just wanted to share with you :)
cheers

Leaving on Sunday

black and pink head band, originally uploaded by offgenemi.

Hey,
Prospective shoppers! gochemoche will not be able to ship till December 23rd, please place your order before December 6th if you like to receive the items before christmas :)
have fun shopping!

Black friday to Cyber Monday gochemoche is full of awesome deals!

25-30% off a lot of items in my shop
I will be out of town between dec 5th -22nd
shop at gochemoche while you can :)
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HOLIDAY SEASON

Suki, originally uploaded by offgenemi.

!IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!
THE SHIPPING WILL BE STALLED BETWEEN DECEMBER 5TH-22ND. WE WILL RESUME SHIPPING AFTER DEC 22ND. IF YOU ARE PLANNING ON SHOPPING HERE, PLEASE PUT IN YOUR ORDER BEFORE DEC 5TH.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS :)

fruits and veggies from my garden

fruits and veggies from my garden , originally uploaded by offgenemi.

I wanted to make fruits and veggies for a while now, I started of with strawberry and raspberry, now I am mmoving on to eggplant ( my favorite!) pumpkin and apple. they are adorable :) I attached them to pins so the owner can use them as brooches or pendants :)

peacock blue chrysanthemum head band

peacock blue chrysanthemum head band, originally uploaded by offgenemi.

I am making a new ste of hair accessories... a lot of people have asked me about head bands and at last I managed to find bands that complement my flowers, I will be listing them in my etsy shop gochemoche soon. Let me know if you like to have head bands with specific flowers :) I like to work on custom orders.

Bridal kanzashi and veil

Hair accessory and veil, originally uploaded by offgenemi.

custom for a lovely bride; birdcage veil red and ivory silk cherry blossoms and chrysanthemums

Quilts Japan january 2008

Quilts Japan january 2008, originally uploaded by offgenemi.

I wanted to get a Quilts Japan magazine for a while now, after long hours of research I got my first issue. and I am totally in love. the only thing is I need to make something from all these books and mooks I get or Stef is gonna do something about it :)
you can go to my flickr to see a few more pics from this book and other japanese craft book I have

Heads up for a new place to buy japanese fabric

E-quilter has started to sell some japanese fabric from Kokka, Cosmo, and more
have fun shopping!

fall colors oak leaves and flowers-chirimen

fall colors oak leaves and flowers-chirimen, originally uploaded by offgenemi.

I uploaded more photos of my vintage kimono fabric collection, Ok I dont have yards of these fabrics, they are pieces of kimono, but they are soooo beautiful. every now and then I find some stains on them but I guess I can get rid of those. dry cleaning these pieces would be too expensive, so for now I am preserving them in my house. apparently instead of folding them I should roll them. Thank God I work a lot and turn all of them into a bag or a anti tarnish pouch, so they dont feel lonely for a long time :)
cheers

My first Tsumami kanzashi ecru and brownish red

Tsumami kanzashi ecru and brown-red, originally uploaded by offgenemi.

Yes, I call all my flowers tsumami kanzashi, but this one is the real deal. I was making something like this one for a customer (for her wedding!), and with the left over flowers I made this one, maybe I should keep it for myself, I am so much in love with it. Colors are perfect for fall, although there is no fall in florida maybe in january , for a bit :)
I dyed habotai silk 8mm from dharma trading with ecru and brownish red. I should try and get this color again. I work in the lab all day long and measure everything meticulously. so when I work on my craft I am not being precise. I should weigh the dye and the fabric I know but it is just too much work for now, maybe later...
cheers

Mural for the baby room

Mural for the baby room, originally uploaded by offgenemi.

I just wanted to share this with you all. I am very proud of my friend and her sister who painted this mural on the wall. She is a know jewelry artist here in Sarasota. With the babies (yes twins!) coming she started using her super powers to get the house ready for the girls :) Basically she projected the image on the wall and painted it on the wall. It looks much prettier when you actually see it. I took the photo when they threw the baby shower so I did not have time to adjust the lighting.

Digital catalog of my kimono fabric

kawaii little flowers on blue, originally uploaded by offgenemi.

For more you can visit my flickr kimono set.
I started taking photos of all the kimono fabric I buy. they are so gorgeous, and the variety blows my mind. I am so happy these fabric once were somebody's kimono, haori, etc. , now live on with the pouches and flowers I make. If I could I would hang all of them on the wall :)

Updated fabric index

Updated fabric index, originally uploaded by offgenemi.

I added my new lovelis from Lecien, their website does not do justice for these soft and pretty fabric. The print is very precise and colors are gorgeous, I collected so many fabric it will take a while before Stef can start making some triangular bags from these.
cheers

My little treasure

fabric index , originally uploaded by offgenemi.

I took pictures of all the japanese or japanese influenced fabric I have and play with photoshop a bit to make this fabric index of mine. I am expecting more japanese fabric from lecien , nani iro, kokka, it is gonna be fun to add more and more to this collection :)

Anti tarnish jewelry pouch party

My light box is too small for pics like this one. I need a new one! I guess I have to ask Mr German Engineer :)
well I made some new jewelry pouches, these fabrics are so lovely. I am so glad that I can save them and turn them into something that can keep more pretties :) The fabric I use for these bags (99% ) comes as scrap pieces of tradition japanese outfits like kimono, haori, etc. Usually these outfits are stained so people cant wear them anymore so people take them apart and sell them. Basically we recycle the fabric to make these pouches. It would have been a shame if they wound up in trash, right?
The ones I use are mostly silk, chirimen (mostly rayon), sometimes cotton. They are all beautiful.

MY NEW FABRICS CAME!!!

my cosmo and shinzi katoh fabrics came, I am soooo happy, most of them are canvas .

Well I like blue

Flickr 144, originally uploaded by offgenemi.

I made a similar barrette a few weeks ago and got an overwhelming response. I played with more colors. Layers of blue looks so calming to me :)

custom order

Flickr 151, originally uploaded by offgenemi.

my customer wanted purple to pink transition with white center, she is happy with the result, I am hoping to get a picture of her with this barrette :)

Red to pink chrysanthemum

Flickr 148, originally uploaded by offgenemi.

I made a similar barrette a few weeks ago and got an overwhelming response. I got some custom orders so I played with more colors.

Vintage jimono fabric

fabric 013, originally uploaded by offgenemi.

I get my kimono fabric from different suppliers, most of the time I dont know what I am getting. I know it is silk or cotton but everything else is in the air. So every time my package comes I rip th envelope like a kid and look at the gorgeous fabric I have. I wish I can keep them all, but no I have to make them into other things. The fabric in the picture is very pretty, it looks like water color huh? I wish I can have the chance of seeing these kimono fabric artists in action. that would be truly awesome. I have a big crush on fabric, God help me :)

mini patchwork book

mini patchwork book, originally uploaded by offgenemi.

I got hooked on quilting at a very young age. I think I was 16 years old, my father sent me to an sewing machine embroidery class. all summer I made 16 pillows and 5 bags. I worked on bigger pieces like bed cover, bags, etc this book is about "tiny patchwork" pieces. it is very adorable. my mom will love this one.
if you click on the picture you see other pictures and ISBN

amigurumi no hon

amigurumi no hon, originally uploaded by offgenemi.

I got this one from Kinokuniya San Francisco. I was in a dream when I was there, looked at like five thousand books I wanted a amigurumi book and this was the perfect one. A very good beginner's book, very lovely.

if you click on the picture you see other pictures and ISBN

kimono mook

kimono mook, originally uploaded by offgenemi.

Kimono Hime magazine is awesome I got two more volumes I will take pictures as soon as possible. since I cant read very fluently the japanese articles I rely very much on the pictures. and if you are a fabric freak like me this is the best magazine to salivate over. especially this volume is the best... so far.

if you click on the picture you see other pictures and ISBN

Mini kimono dressed dolls

Mini kimono dressed dolls, originally uploaded by offgenemi.

This is one of my favorite japanese craft books. it is super adorable and I got it so much cheaper at amazon.co.jp from a seller who ships USA. not every seller in Japan sells to international customers. Thank God they have the web site in english so I can order with some sort of ease. I think I ordered twice from there. SO far nor problem since I had to pay for the expensive shipping 12 bucks per book, it came super fast in like 3 days. which is impressive :)

if you click on the picture you see other pictures and ISBN

Kokka fabrics I used so far

where to find japanese fabrics?

Fabric Brands
lecien has a very nice collection of fabrics that will appeal many quilt makers and children's dress makers
Kokka is full of cute, fun, elegant and modern fabric designs. Every fabric lover must see them.
Cosmo has the cutest fabrics designs, I just want to get them all!
Hobbyra-Hobbyre has both fabric and a ton of cute projects
Shinzi Katoh is a great designer both fabrics and other cute houseware worth getting or al least looking at them.
Kona Bay makes a lot of traditional symbols as their design elements, they are simply gorgeous. I think they are one of my most favorite fabric designers

Where to get them
Fabric Tales is a great store that is located in Japan, my experience with them has been great so far. everything was shipped super fast in great condition
Superbuzzy has a good selection of adorable fabrics from japan.
Kitty craft is a nice store where you can get both books/ magazine and fabric from famous japanese designers
Modern craft is carrying both books and fabric, too.
Purl soho has a section devoted to Japanese fabric, too
Retro depot is another online fabric store that carries a lot of Japanese imports along with other fabrics.

I gues this is enough for you to looks around, have fun shopping :)