Category: Fun stuff

Festival Asiasie at Time Out Montreal

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Last weekend I had the pleasure of dragging Lynn and Sophie to the Festival Asiasie Pop-Up at the Time Out Market here in Montreal.  The market was great, but incredibly crowded. I suspect they got way more foot traffic than initially anticipated, and I hope the vendors all made some fantastic sales. I just hope that they find a larger venue if they do this again next year! I tried to capture the vibe and the chaos without focusing too much on strangers, but it was nearly impossible.

My initial plan was to share all the amazing goodies I brought home as soon as possible. Unfortunately, along with those goodies I brought home some miserable virus or other. I’m still sick but semi-functional, so I wanted to make sure I took the time to recommend all these amazing small businesses and craftspeople bringing both modern and traditional Japanese (and other Asian) goodies to us here. Wherever possible, I have linked to their socials and online shops as well!

 

Atelier Tsubaki

Atelier Tsubaki focuses primarily on gorgeous, handmade origami jewellery, but when I saw this necklace I fell in love. It’s an actual ume & uguisu (plum & warbler) hanafuda card coated in resin so it’s nice and sturdy and durable, and I already have the perfect outfit in mind for it, but it’s currently in California. I’ll be sure to take photos when I wear it!

If you’re looking for some unique handmade pieces, definitely check out their works.

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Bask Hour

Bask Hour make some incredible, elevated scented candles and diffusers focused around a variety of Asian fragrances. They’re made with soy, coconut, and beeswax for a nice clean burn and have crackly wooden wicks.

I know my mother is a huge fan of bright, citrusy smells so getting the Yuzu for her for mother’s day was a given. It’s deliciously balanced with grapefruit and rounded out with hinoki cedar to prevent it from being too sharp. I also love the mini paint can packaging, and their branding in general is great. I can’t wait to try out a few more of their fragrance offerings.

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Boutique MeiCo

The owner of MeiCo takes the beauty of kimono and transforms pieces that are too small, too fragile, or too damaged and turns them into stunning, wearable and useable items for modern life. I selected a keyring strap for my mum and a little lip balm holder for myself, since I am forever losing lip balms in the depths of my purse. But these are just a very small sampling, she makes absolutely stunning bags, hats, and my personal fave, bomber jackets. They’re out of my budget at the current time but hopefully one day I can splurge. She’s even offered to make some using pieces in my collection that are unuseable, and I am very tempted.

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Brasserie San-O Sake

Brasserie San-O focuses on using koji, or the fermented rice used to make sake amongst other things. They have a wide offering of drinks, condiments, and products and starters for making your own fermented goodies.

They were offering samples of their non-alcoholic ume sake and it’s absolutely delicious and refreshing. Please ignore the weird-looking cans, they were selling these at a discount due to a technical hiccup with the can-sealing machine. It had no impact on the flavour, I assure you!

I also grabbed a jar of their shoyu koji condiment, and it’s added a delicious salty umami balance to chicken so far and I intend to put it on a pork loin as soon as I have the energy to cook!

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Eliane Oba Ceramica

Since I live between two households at the moment, I am trying to avoid buying large housewares, especially fragile ones, so my original plan was to buy two handmade hashioki, or chopstick rests. These lovely black fan-shaped ones have an imprinted seigaiha design and I thought I was set. Until this teacup called my name. “Diaaaane,” it said. “Look at my beautiful glaaaaze. Taaaake me wiiiith you.”

How could I say no to such a gorgeous cup? I’ll just have to make sure to pack it well when I bring it to California! Eliane also included two sets of lovely bamboo chopsticks, which I don’t need but still appreciate!

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KotoAn Wagashi

I’ve had KotoAn’s wagashi offerings before, and they never fail to impress. They typically make a variety of nerikiri sweets with different flavours of filling, from anko to yuzu to raspberry. They’re always a pleasure to eat – the only negative is cutting into the beautiful designs!

I shared this box with my folks, don’t worry, I did not eat them all by myself in one sitting!

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Lam Atelier

Kat, the artist behind Lam Atelier, makes adorable prints, shirts, pins, stickers, and all sorts of merch based on traditional and kawaii imagery from all over Asia.

I of course selected this adorable maneki-neko pins, but I was very tempted by the hilarious Buff Sanrio character stickers.

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Miya Candles

Miya Candles is a one-woman operation, and she makes the most charming variety of hand poured, scented candles. I could not resist the funny little  Daruma face here. The scent throw on these is excellent – he’s been sitting on my dresser since I bought him and the fragrance is still noticeable in my entire bedroom.

All of her candles are at least this adorable, if not cuter, definitely worth a look!

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Sakao Tea

This tea could not have come at a better time! I’ve purchased from Sakao before and am always happy with their offerings, but this yuzu-pepper-sencha blend has been a gift from the heavens with my congestion this week. It’s bright and crisp without being uncomfortably spicy. I would drink this by itself, especially as a sick-day pick me up, or with a nice spicy meal. Something it could stand on its own with. I would bet it would also be lovely used in a rub or marinade!

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Thé Gurus

Thés Gurus is another brand I have tried before and know I enjoy, but when I saw this little set of pre-measured matcha and cute little shaker, I was influenced, as they say. As someone who spends so much time travelling back and forth, it will be really nice to have an in-transit option that isn’t an over-sweetened coffee chain matcha latte. This is proper, high-grade ceremonial matcha, just packaged for convenience.

Admittedly I’m not a huge fan of single-use packets but at least they are recyclable!

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Tokusen.Store

Tokusen is a high-end direct-from-Japan importer of sauces, marinades, and cooking products. I’ve been wanting to review a selection of their offerings for quite some time now and never got around to it, so when I saw they were going to be selling at this market I made a point of grabbing a variety. I will be doing a proper review of these all when I’ve had the opportunity to use them all a few times. The products I purchased are:

This entry will be updated once the full review is live!

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There was also a booth with tons of gacha machines, and I’m proud to say that I did not succumb! I also stopped by Kimono Yuki‘s booth but behaved and only bought a fan because I was overheated, no textiles. Mostly because I just have no dang space at the moment.

After shopping we grabbed dinner at the Time Out market. I just had to share how beautiful this dang poke bowl from Le Blossom was. Look at it! So fresh and bright, and the flavours absolutely lived up to the aesthetic.

Please forgive any typos or nonsense in this entry – I read over it and spell-checked multiple times but I am still very sick and also incredibly distracted by a hockey game.

Kimono-inspired Nails with Maniology Stamping Plates

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Back when I wore kimono regularly, I used to love matching my nails to my outfits. Obviously in recent years that’s gone out the window, but when Maniology released a set of very clearly kimono-inspired stamping plates I knew I had to give them a shot. Nothing wrong with having a fresh set even if they don’t match your outfit, right?

I knew I wanted to make a set that match this blog, so of course I grabbed the Sashiko Stitch plate. I also fell in love with the Draped in Elegance plate that featured a variety of kimono design motifs.

Where possible, I have linked to the polishes I used. However, I’ve been hoarding collecting nail polish nearly as long as I’ve been hoarding collecting kimono so many of these colours are no longer available. In one case the brand doesn’t even exist anymore! I do recommend getting a good white polish if you plan to use it for stamping, especially over dark colours, but the selection for the yuzen-style manicure has a ton of room for interpretation.

Sashiko & Kintsugi Blog Manicure

Plate used:

Maniology M650 – Sashiko Stitch
(plus the asagao from the plate below)

Polishes used:

Navy – Expressie Feel The Hype
White – Maniology Bam! (B170)
Gold – Maniology It’s Lit (B262)

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Golden Yuzen Manicure

Plate used:

Maniology M677 – Draped in Elegance

Polishes used:

Plum base – NARS Tokaido Express
Gold stamping – Maniology It’s Lit (B262)
Red – Nubar Sultry Red
Orange – OPI Totally Tangerine
Green –  Zoya Midori
Blue –  Revlon Blue Siren
Purple – Revel Nails Whirled View
Pink – CND Tutti Frutti

@kimono_tsuki

Kimono nails featuring @hellomaniology stamping plates マニキュア #着物

♬ original sound – Kimono Tsuki 着物月 – Kimono Tsuki 着物月

Other tools & products used:

Medium almond nail tips
Polish stamper and scraper
Nail art liner brushes
Nail stand
Silicone mat

I did standard straight-to-nail stamping for the sashiko manicure, and made my own transfers for the yuzen-style one. If you’re curious I did make a little video of the process for the transfers, but there are plenty of incredible videos out there that explain how to use stamping plates far better than I could. I would suggest starting with Maniology’s own YouTube page, they have tons of clear and helpful videos.

These plates were a dream to use and the stamping polish made things so smooth and intuitive. I’ve tried some very basic stamping in the past and didn’t have nearly as much luck, and this was my first time doing anything layered or complicated, and I can’t get over how well they turned out. If you want to give yourself a manicure to match your favourite kimono, or just bring a little bit of Japan to your fingertips, I highly recommend these! My only regret is that I didn’t buy more of them. I’ll have to snag some other ones from this collection in the future.

If you buy anything from Maniology, you can use my code TSUKI for 10% off!

 I purchased this item myself and chose to review it.This post contains affiliate link(s). If you choose to purchase, I receive a small rebate or commission which goes to the continued maintenance of this site. 

Kokeshi Picrew for Hinamatsuri!

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Today is Hinamatsuri! In the past, I’ve usually either done a coordination, displayed dolls I’ve collected, or done some sort of DIY to celebrate. This year, I had bigger plans; Sophie and I were going to attend a gathering at a local tea house over the weekend. Unfortunately, I woke up with the most miserable cold and sore throat I’ve had in eons, to the point where I could barely swallow. I wasn’t up to doing much and did not want to risk spreading the ick. I was at a bit of a loss on what to do for today but then I realised it would be the perfect time to share my newest long-term project!

You all know how much I love finding and reviewing picrew avatar creators, and I figured it was high time I make my own! Presenting the official….

Kimono Tsuki Kokeshi Doll picrew maker!

 

It’s been a labour of love for the past few months, puttering on weekends and after work. I still have plans to continue updating, adding more hairstyles, more hand-held items, a variety of kanzashi, maybe a haori layer… if you have any other ideas or suggestions please don’t hesitate to let me know! For fun, here’s a variety of dolls that have been made using it, by myself and my friends.

 

If you need a primer or a refresher on how to use the Picrew.me interface, I broke it down in my first post about the site, which you can read here. I hope you have fun with it, and if you make any cute dolls please show me! I would love to see!

Art Gallery – Spy X Family X Kimono

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What’s this? I drew an actual male character in male kitsuke for once? Alert the presses! I was in the mood to draw more comfy anime kimono fanart, and ended up with these three perfect precious idiots. Very capable idiots,  but idiots nonetheless.

My original plan for this was just to draw Anya because I love her so much. But as I started on it, I realised it would be even cuter if it I took a riff on a traditional family portrait. I like to think they’re celebrating Anya’s shichigosan (even though we don’t know exactly how old she is, we know she’s in the right range).

Once I had that in mind, their outfits sort of fell into place. Anya’s in a bright and cheerful pink furisode (which admittedly I should have tucked at the sleeves as well as the shoulders, but I realised it too late) with a cosmos pattern. She’s holding them in the first season closing credits, and they fit the pink theme well. They’re also said to represent pure and innocent love, which is what Anya feels for her family. If you look closely at her obi and zori, what initially looks like a fairly traditional black and gold obi with a geometric design is actually a tessellation of her favourite snack; peanuts!

Yor had to be red and gold with a rose motif, of course. Nothing less for our Briar Rose Princess. Her updo hairstyle already suits kimono so well, she was possibly the most natural fit for this picture. I gave her a yabane motif obi as a nod to her secret life as an assassin; I know she doesn’t use a bow and arrow, but I wanted something a bit less literal. Maybe she’s got some daggers tucked into her obi?

Loid was a bit more of a challenge, since he’s such a blank slate. In the end, I stuck to the usual colours of his clothing and think it works well. He provides a nice neutral counterpoint to Yor’s elegance and Anya’s vibrancy. Of course, as much as I don’t condone piercing holes in your kimono, I had to include his WISE lapel pin.

Mini Washitsu 2026

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I am no stranger to making Japanese-inspired dioramas (see here and here), but until this time they’ve not been particularly accurate. The first one was assembled from literal junk including a cardboard box, and the second was a kitbash into an “inspired” home. But I was itching to do something a bit more detailed, proportional, and accurate than my previous attempts, so I hauled some of my miniature supplies from Montreal to California and got to work.

I started out with a basic MDF room-box kit with two walls and a floor. From there, I constructed the inner walls to create the tokonoma, butsudan alcove, and decorative shelving using square balsa dowels I hand-staned, and pine craft rectangles. I wallpapered the whole thing in decorative rice paper. The tatami ended up stumping me for a while, and then I remembered I had this beige textured shelf liner left over from organising the pantry. A bit of beige paper underneath it and some washi tape to form the borders, and voila. Itty bitty tatami committee! I divided it into typically balanced proportions, ending up with a room that’s four and a half tatami, plus the toko and shelving spaces.

Once the room structure was complete, it was time for the fun part – decorating! This is always my favourite part of making a miniature or diorama, since it’s where things really start to come to life. They go from looking like boxes to looking lived-in. I like to imagine the resident of this room is a young woman trying to balance modern and traditional life based on her hobbies (calligraphy, reading poetry). She knows she’s too old for it, but she still puts her childhood hina dolls out for Girl’s Day and still pays her respects to her family altar, but she’s also busy enough that she picks up pre-made meals on her way home from university. I don’t generally imagine this much of a resident in my scenes, but every detail I added here just kind of helped flesh her out, what can I say?

The details are a combination of printables from Etsy (links to the shops below), Re-Ment miniatures (the hina dolls, zori, and butsdan set, as well as the onigiri in her bento box), and a few small items I picked up from specialty shops on our recent trip out to Torrance. The tiny blue and white ginger jar was quite possibly the most expensive individual element here, at nearly twenty dollars, but it’s so stunning in person I knew I had to have it.

The greenery is all from MGA’s MiniVerse DIY sets. The ikebana was a kitbash of a few flower sets, the bonsai trunk was handmade and the leaves came from a strawberry kit, the fig tree and small plants in the shelving unit were just placed in as-is, and so was the tiny koi in the bowl with lilies. They’re not quite to 1/12 scale but I think there’s a lot of leeway to be had with plants, since they’re never one fixed size anyway.

Please enjoy exploring this tiny space as much as I loved creating it!

Printables came from the following  Etsy shops, but I’m afraid I’ve lost the references as to what came from where.

As for the Re-Ment miniatures and MGA’s MiniVerse; they can both be found on Amazon.

 This post contains affiliate link(s). If you choose to purchase, I receive a small rebate or commission which goes to the continued maintenance of this site.