Japan Hobby Show and ABC Craft Store

While in Japan I had the opportunity to attend the Japan Hobby Show in Tokyo.  It was big and crowded as usual but worth the effort to try and see everything.  I only tried one of the make-and-take-it projects because the rest of them required signing up way in advance. There were resin, knitting, fabric, jewelry, and many other types of traditional Japanese crafts to try.  Many of the projects were way too detailed for me especially because they were being taught in Japanese.  The crafters in Japan have lots of patience and are really skilled in handwork.  I was again most intrigued by the 'fake' sweets because as you can see from the photos they look good enough to eat.  Can you believe these are made from clay?

The upper photo is of the little project I tried at the show.  It was very easy to do because the assistants spoke English!  The base of this memo holder (the little silver ring is for the note) is a styrofoam-like piece and the clay-like frosting is piped on like real frosting.  I bought some of the products like the dish memo holder for closer inspection (to copy???) and I hope to show you what I create.....someday.

Here are some of the crafts that were displayed at the ABC craft store in Osaka.  Their resin work is fabulous and the creators of some of their line will be in Hawaii during July to demonstrate and sell some of their products.  They also have a product line that can turn pretty paper napkins into pieces to iron onto plain canvas purses, folders, aprons, etc.  This craft will also be coming to our HM Ben Franklin stores.

 While in Japan most people take pictures of scenery and famous sites, but the crafter in me takes more photos of craft work so I can remember what I see and I can someday replicate or be further inspired by the handcrafted items. To me a vacation is to breathe in the sights and sounds, then absorb new ideas and let the gears in my brain start cranking all the way home.  Crank, cronk, clang...clink!