Saturday, I met up with friends for a crafty afternoon making baskets. This is the third time we have done this together, but the first time to do it together at the shop. (Previously we made Santa baskets, and square baskets - I use mine for holding scissors.) This is the website for the business. We each chose and paid for the basket kit we wanted, in addition to the 600¥ shop fee, which included a cafe drink (I had a latte), help from the staff, and use of the tools in the shop. The shop has examples of each basket that we could look at, as well as the Japanese directions with pictures that came with the kits.
This blue basket is my chosen kit.
Our next planned get together will be a festival in February.
Update -
Another finish (basket maker on the right above)!
Sunday I had a fun time with friends! We started with a delicious healthy lunch prepared by our hostess.
I have been a scrapbooker for many years and wanted to share what I love about it.
They are a creative group.
After cleaning up from scrapbooking, it was dessert time.
I’ve never seen a dessert like this before. It was beautiful and delicious.
They also surprised me with a birthday cake!
Two delicious desserts!
We had a fun time and they were very creative with their scrapbooks.
We are planning another basket making session in January. Check out our Santa basket making last year at this post.
Sunday I went to my friend’s home, first for a delicious cookout, later for a craft project. I don’t cook, so this was a real treat for me.
Part 2 of our get together was basket making. We had such a good time in December, making Santa baskets that we wanted to do it again.
The kits came with the instructions and labeled parts.
Here are our finished baskets. Mine is the blue one on the left.
I had a great time with my friends and I’m already looking forward to our next get together in July!
Wednesday I joined another carving class and decided to try a new project. This is what I started with. The finish will be a small Jizo statue.
Mine is on the left, mid-way through the class. The one on the right is the finished example.
Our teacher, Hitoshi Yamazaki, is on the far right. The two women are advanced carving students.
This is the finished example and my piece at the end of the class. It still needs a lot of work, but I like how it is coming along.
I really liked the experience, so I signed up to take two more classes with this teacher, Hitoshi Yamazaki. This is what I chose as my project. (I should have chosen something less difficult!)
Using this Japanese measuring tool, called a shaku, and a chisel, I went to work.
There were three other longer time students working on various projects. We had a tea time break in the middle of the three hour class.
This is what my piece looked like at the end of the class. I know, pretty sad looking. The teacher said it looked better than he expected!
This picture was taken by my teacher and sent to me.
I hope I can do better next time.
One of my friends invited me to the Christmas Ladies Meeting at her church. The meeting started with a Christmas message from Joseph’s perspective.
After that we played an introduction BINGO type game. It was fun.
This was followed by a ribbon craft. The teacher of the craft asked that no pictures be taken during the class. I’m not sure, but I think the reason is because this little craft is taught at the ribbon shop, and the shop wants people to take the class from them. The ribbon is folded and stuck together with double stick tape and the final piece with glue from a hot glue gun. It wasn’t difficult and turned out cute, I think.
At the end, each participant was given a package of delicious cookies.
It was nice of my friend to ask me to attend! I enjoyed it.
