To celebrate the new store opening, and the start of autumn, I'm also holding a sale. Expect a few more designs to hit the shelves (or rather, the walls) as the sale continues.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
A new store and an autumn sale!
A second branch of Flower & Willow is now open at Java Island, you can find it here. My existing stock looks rather puny indeed in the larger surrounds, so I suppose I shall have to go on a mad flurry of designing now. Ho hum!
To celebrate the new store opening, and the start of autumn, I'm also holding a sale. Expect a few more designs to hit the shelves (or rather, the walls) as the sale continues.
To celebrate the new store opening, and the start of autumn, I'm also holding a sale. Expect a few more designs to hit the shelves (or rather, the walls) as the sale continues.
First autumn releases
There's a lot going on over in the Flower & Willow camp at the moment! To start with, I have released three new kimono designs ready for autumn. They are:
The Kyomurasaki Chrysanthemum Furisode (kyomurasaki being a shade of purple that is, as far as I can tell, pretty similar to the colour of this design. And I already have a 'purple chrysanthemum furisode'... ):
The Chrysanthemums & Waterfalls Furisode:
And finally, the Chrysanthemum (noticing a theme here?) and Swirls Furisode - which is free to Flower & Willow group members!
These are all autumn appropriate designs and I plan to keep releasing them, along with some new tomesode, as the season goes on. Some of them might not have Chrysanthemum on them. You never know.
The Kyomurasaki Chrysanthemum Furisode (kyomurasaki being a shade of purple that is, as far as I can tell, pretty similar to the colour of this design. And I already have a 'purple chrysanthemum furisode'... ):
The Chrysanthemums & Waterfalls Furisode:
And finally, the Chrysanthemum (noticing a theme here?) and Swirls Furisode - which is free to Flower & Willow group members!
These are all autumn appropriate designs and I plan to keep releasing them, along with some new tomesode, as the season goes on. Some of them might not have Chrysanthemum on them. You never know.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
News - and updates on the horizon. Honest.
Phew - it's been a while! But I have news!
Today I was putting some finishing touches to a new obi (more on that later) when I met one of the Karyukai Geisha, the beautiful Gee Nakamura - pictured left. She is opening up a new shop at Kyoto BAKUMATSU selling geisha and maiko accessories, and she kindly asked me to place my darari obi and kanzashi vendors there - along with a landmark to my Semple Truth store.
You can find her shop here and the Okiya here
Anyway, back to that new obi... with Autumn approaching quickly, I've been working on some seasonal designs. I have a good dozen or so in the pipeline, so expect to see them filtering through in the coming days. At least two of those will be with you by the end of the week - hopefully more.
Today I was putting some finishing touches to a new obi (more on that later) when I met one of the Karyukai Geisha, the beautiful Gee Nakamura - pictured left. She is opening up a new shop at Kyoto BAKUMATSU selling geisha and maiko accessories, and she kindly asked me to place my darari obi and kanzashi vendors there - along with a landmark to my Semple Truth store.You can find her shop here and the Okiya here
Anyway, back to that new obi... with Autumn approaching quickly, I've been working on some seasonal designs. I have a good dozen or so in the pipeline, so expect to see them filtering through in the coming days. At least two of those will be with you by the end of the week - hopefully more.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Out of town
Bit of a break in updates at the moment as, as of now, I'm out of town on a business course learning how to video-edit.
There are plenty of ideas swimming around in my head though - from a new style of kimono (she says, fingers crossed), to a variety of shoes, haori, more kanzashi and a line of traditional men's clothing.
I'm still working on animated parasols and fans but hit a bit of a snag when I discovered that my walk animation is set at priority four and is therefore conflicting. I ask you, WHY would you feel the need to set a walk animation that high?! Bah. Anyway, this has meant I've got a little side-tracked with trying to sort out a walk animation for sale (and while I'm at it I might even consider selling my custom stands) but it's proving tricky.
Anyway, with all this stuff in the pipeline I've decided I probably need to find a bigger space to sell it all, in addition to the Semple Truth location. Ideally I want somewhere in a nice, preferably themed, locale with the ability to be added to the places search. So I'm not difficult to please! *cough cough* Anyway, if anyone happens to know of any decent places, I'd be eternally grateful ;)
There are plenty of ideas swimming around in my head though - from a new style of kimono (she says, fingers crossed), to a variety of shoes, haori, more kanzashi and a line of traditional men's clothing.
I'm still working on animated parasols and fans but hit a bit of a snag when I discovered that my walk animation is set at priority four and is therefore conflicting. I ask you, WHY would you feel the need to set a walk animation that high?! Bah. Anyway, this has meant I've got a little side-tracked with trying to sort out a walk animation for sale (and while I'm at it I might even consider selling my custom stands) but it's proving tricky.
Anyway, with all this stuff in the pipeline I've decided I probably need to find a bigger space to sell it all, in addition to the Semple Truth location. Ideally I want somewhere in a nice, preferably themed, locale with the ability to be added to the places search. So I'm not difficult to please! *cough cough* Anyway, if anyone happens to know of any decent places, I'd be eternally grateful ;)
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
I was chatting with one of Amatsu Okiya’s lovely minari at the weekend who happend to mention she was very pleased to see the maiko style dangling obi included with my kimono as they are, apparently, quite difficult to get hold of.
Inspired by that, I have released a range of maiko obi that are now on sale as individual items. Currently they come in eight colours - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink and white - with a nineth style that is black and white and therefore ripe for tinting. The obijime (obi cord) is tintable on all versions.
There is also a multipack available, which includes all nine designs for a L$100 discount. Hurrah!
Inspired by that, I have released a range of maiko obi that are now on sale as individual items. Currently they come in eight colours - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink and white - with a nineth style that is black and white and therefore ripe for tinting. The obijime (obi cord) is tintable on all versions.
There is also a multipack available, which includes all nine designs for a L$100 discount. Hurrah!
Sunday, August 12, 2007
New designs and a note on gift giving.
I'll slow down with these updates soon enough, but here are three more new arrivals at Flower & Willow.
First is the jade koi furisode - a vibrant green kimono with rainbow fish and the traditional 'wave' pattern in the background.
Then we have a summer design with a peacock and peony pattern (alliteration for the win!) on a rich (some would say peacock) blue.
And finally a lovely purple irotomesode with a pretty floral design at the hem. This one is *just* an irotomesode (ie, no additional mix and match options) and is therefore slightly cheaper.
In other news, prototype versions of fans and parasols are now sitting in my inventory, so hopefully these will be available to match the various kimono styles before too much longer.
Also, I have been asked to deliver my first gift. Those of you who have been to the store will know that my designs are no transfer (mostly because I want to give people the option to modify the prim attachments to fit,
and the ability to make safety copies in case of accident!). I am pleased to say that I am very happy to help with gift giving though. I'm hoping to get a gift vendor up and running in the not too distant future, but for now if you want to let me know what kimono you're after, who you're giving it too and include any personalised 'gift tag' you'd like included, I'm more than happy to deliver them myself. I'll even gift wrap them for you at no extra charge.
First is the jade koi furisode - a vibrant green kimono with rainbow fish and the traditional 'wave' pattern in the background.
Then we have a summer design with a peacock and peony pattern (alliteration for the win!) on a rich (some would say peacock) blue.
And finally a lovely purple irotomesode with a pretty floral design at the hem. This one is *just* an irotomesode (ie, no additional mix and match options) and is therefore slightly cheaper.
In other news, prototype versions of fans and parasols are now sitting in my inventory, so hopefully these will be available to match the various kimono styles before too much longer.
Also, I have been asked to deliver my first gift. Those of you who have been to the store will know that my designs are no transfer (mostly because I want to give people the option to modify the prim attachments to fit,
and the ability to make safety copies in case of accident!). I am pleased to say that I am very happy to help with gift giving though. I'm hoping to get a gift vendor up and running in the not too distant future, but for now if you want to let me know what kimono you're after, who you're giving it too and include any personalised 'gift tag' you'd like included, I'm more than happy to deliver them myself. I'll even gift wrap them for you at no extra charge.
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Summer fans and spring wisteria (at least the background is white...)
Two new furisode styles for you today.
First up is the red fans furisode - fans being a summer design so nice and seasonal. As usual, geisha and maiko options included with this one.
Next up is the wisteria furisode. It's a little out of season - wisteria are for spring but I simply couldn't resist. Not everyone's cup of tea I imagine - it's the 'loudest' design to date, but I love it! I've only included a maiko version, mainly cause I have a slightly hard time imagining a sophisticated geisha wearing this but if you want the other obi style just send me an IM/notecard and I'll be happy to put both that and the white collar together for you for L$50.
Enjoy!
First up is the red fans furisode - fans being a summer design so nice and seasonal. As usual, geisha and maiko options included with this one.
Next up is the wisteria furisode. It's a little out of season - wisteria are for spring but I simply couldn't resist. Not everyone's cup of tea I imagine - it's the 'loudest' design to date, but I love it! I've only included a maiko version, mainly cause I have a slightly hard time imagining a sophisticated geisha wearing this but if you want the other obi style just send me an IM/notecard and I'll be happy to put both that and the white collar together for you for L$50.
Enjoy!
Free Tomesode!
I've added a free tomesode to the store, so drop by and pick one up.
Futher offers and freebies will be group-only; it's free to join so why not sign up?
Futher offers and freebies will be group-only; it's free to join so why not sign up?
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
The case of the missing skirt
I have just been informed that the Cherry Blossom Furisode vendor is missing its skirt! Unfortunately I'm stuck at work and so am unable to rectify the problem immediately. It will be fixed by around 7pm GMT when I get home, so in the mean time if you've made a purchase do send me an IM or notecard so I can send you your missing kimono bottoms!
On a related note, if you ever notice that one of my sets has a wrong or missing item, or there are any problems at all with your purchase, please do not hesitate to contact me and I will do my level best to address the issue as soon as I am physically able. After all, customer service is free of charge.
Monday, August 06, 2007
Open for business!
Flower & Willow is now open! Though the range is still rather small at the moment it is expanding - and there are plans afoot to launch new lines of accessories and the like for all your kimono-wearing needs.
The geisha and maiko among you might be pleased to know that one of my future projects will be a seasonally accurate line of kanzashi. I'll admit up-front that I'm a bit of a perfectionist, so they might not get churned out at a rate of knots (unless I find myself terrifically inspired) but watch this space.
For now though, here's a little sample of what you might find at the shop:
And something a little brighter:
The geisha and maiko among you might be pleased to know that one of my future projects will be a seasonally accurate line of kanzashi. I'll admit up-front that I'm a bit of a perfectionist, so they might not get churned out at a rate of knots (unless I find myself terrifically inspired) but watch this space.
For now though, here's a little sample of what you might find at the shop:
And something a little brighter:
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