Zawa-Zawa Shimokitazawa

 

 Welcome to Shimokitazawa. 

Known for its youth subculture and bohemian vibe, Shimokita is also home to lots of families and many elderly people who have lived here all their lives. Antique and vintage clothing shops are everywhere. The trendy and unique sit alongside the traditional and old-fashioned. It's such a fun and friendly place to live with its abundance of coffee shops and restaurants, and always something interesting going on at the weekend. So inspirational for design too...I just have to step outside my door.....

 

One of the three (yes, three!) local supermarkets within a few minutes of each other.

Colourful shutters keep the graffiti artists at bay in Shimokita (mostly). This is a shot of the Senbei (rice cracker) shop before opening time.

A 4 year old's persepctive of our closest vintage shop. 
When we went in here, my daughter was amazed that I remembered having similar things in our house when I was her age. "Was that the olden days, Mummy." No, no it wasn't!

 

Traditional toy shop, also selling vintage-style sweets for kids. These displays change for the seasons and the upcoming festivals. Very retro, very cool, always colourful.

 What is this place? Japanese speakers, no cheating please;-)

A) A restaurant
B) A hair salon
C) A flower shop
D) A bar
E) All of the above

Leave your answers on my Facebook page to find out the answer on Friday:)

Much more to show you next time.

Mata ne,
Victoria

More kimono earrings

Another pair of kimono earrings made the other day. Loving working with these old fabrics. It has been especially challenging to find a process to encase them in resin without changing the colour. At the start I was worried about the bends and irregularities in the finished pieces, but as they are fabric, I think this adds to the end result.

300 Facebook likes today!

Thanks for the follow everyone! 

Your clicks, likes and shares make a HUGE difference:)

Victoria x

Custom Made Vintage Silk Necklace Made Last Night

The babies are getting older now, so that means more evening studio time as they go to sleep earlier and sleep much better through the night. It is quite amazing what you can accomplish in just an hour of focused work...

Let me know your thoughts:)

Mata,
Victoria

PS Clicking on the pics will take you straight through to my FB page.

Let's Spend it Laughingly Every Day

I'm not one to go in for New Year's resolutions. It seems strange to me  
that you have to wait until January 1st to make a fresh start. Why not  
make a fresh start when you feel you need it? It could be October when  
you start your fitness regime or July when you take up a new hobby.  
Why does January have to be the month when all things change? And for  
that matter, why does February have to be the month when you come back  
down to earth with a bump when you realise your resolutions are  
unachieveable? 
 
Design in Japan focuses on the printed word like no other; mangled  
sentences, grammatical errors and crazy language abound on anything from 

T shirts to note books, from hats to handbags and stationery items to lunch 

boxes. When I asked my Japanese English teaching friends why these phrases 

are popular, even though they are obviously riddled with mistakes, the answer  
I got was quite astonishing. "Yes, we know the English doesn't sound  
natural, but the words used are the ones most Japanese people will  
understand or identify with." And if you think carefully about the meanings 

of these slogans it is difficult to say whether they are actually gobbledegook 

or just plain genius.
 
So today marks the day when I will start to use these slogans to  
define my own life.
 
And just like the guy opposite me in the coffee shop wearing a text-laden 

baseball cap, I think it's a great idea to "let's spend it laughingly every day".