Quarantine Kanzashi III

Like many of us, I have a habit of getting distracted by shiny new projects. This leaves me with numerous unfinished pieces, and piles of unused materials.

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic when I was planning what projects to work on, I decided to try and achieve three goals - use up old materials, finish unfinished pieces, and work on things that really spoke to me. This third edition of Quarantine Kanzashi has a healthy mix of all three.

In between larger, more time-consuming projects I usually try to work on smaller pieces - like the above gradiated dahlia hair clip. This gives me time to plan the larger pieces and helps prevent me from burning out. This project helped me use up some of the large filigree hair clip bases that I've had in my stash for several years, and also used some silk material that was a bit of an oopsie - I dyed it for another project, but the color wasn't quite right and I had to do a second batch.

If the gradiated dahlia was mostly about stash busting, then the next project was a mix of heart and head - the Bunny of the Moon Kanzashi hairpin.

As a long time and avid fan of Sailor Moon, all things moon and rabbit (and rabbit of the moon) related have long fascinated me. This piece was a chance to take an idea that had been floating around on the fringes of my mind and make it real.

In Japanese folklore, the rabbit pounds mochi on the moon after having won the favor of the man on the moon. This story is normally associated with Tsukimi (moon viewing), and harvest moon festivities. Since mochi is also heavily associated with New Years festivities, my rabbit of the moon hair pin has winter themed flowers - plum blossoms and chrysanthemums. This piece is a fairly large one - around four inches tall - and meant to be worn with an updo.

I also used this piece as a cool down between more time intensive projects as well, and a way to test a new technique - connecting pieces of wire with resin to create more complex wire forms.

Last year I created a piece for myself - a cherry blossom ear cuff with a butterfly. I ended up gifting that piece to one of my kimono heroes, Mamechiyo, when I got the chance to meet her at Anime North.

When I got home, I figured I would just make another one for myself, but that didn't end up happening until more than a year later. I started off thinking this would be a piece just for me - all heart - but now I'm not sure. I have long hair now, and made this at a time when I was thinking about cutting my hair short again. However, I do think this piece turned out much better than its predecessor.

This piece is much fuller and more elaborate, and I really love the holographic film butterfly. The butterfly is maybe a little larger than I originally pictured, but overall it was a very satisfying piece to create.

'Quarantine' has essentially ended for me, as I have a new job and office that I work at every day, but I'm still using my free time to create new art and craft projects. Some days it feels like the world has shrunk and become darker, but I take comfort in these simple acts of creation.

Maybe I cannot control everything, but I can keep hold of the folds and stitches that add points of light and happiness to my little space on this planet. As long as I can, I'm going to keep making, doing, and learning. I hope you do too!

Like this post? Check out the other two stories in this series:

- Quarantine Kanzashi I

- Quarantine Kanzashi II

Or follow me on instagram @appledainty for more artful crafts.