What's in a Box?

Today my mail person was very kind to me - they brought an envelope which contained a much awaited box.

I was SO excited that I just ripped the packaging off to get at the package inside.  Patience did sustain me while I ran up to my studio to grab the camera so that I could share the fun of opening this precious gift with you. 

Aren't packages in the mail so much fun to receive?  They remind of when I was a little girl and I used to save the UPC codes off of the cereal box and send in for something fabulous.  The excitment of receiving something in the mail....  Thank goodness the internet now allows us to do this more often!

So what came in this beautiful gold and silver speckled box with my name on it?  Why... opening the lid reveals that it is the Drooping Cherry Japanese Embroidery and Kinsai Fan that I stitched last fall with Midori!  I sent it away last fall to Mary Alice in Texas to be sent to Japan for the finishing into a hand crafted fan. 

It arrived in absolutely beautiful condition in plastic wrap around the cloth embroidery fan with setup instructions.  Behind the fan sits a gorgeous bamboo stand that sets up easily.  Oh, the feel of opening it for the first time!  Ta Da!! 

Aren't the spokes absolutely gorgeous?  They are so smooth and rich....  See! I do finish some things.  Can I count this as a 2010 finish even though I technically finished it last year?  Hmmm....

Ok, some close ups.  Below is a picture of some of the cherry blossoms.  I want to share this picture with you because I worked some number 1 metallic into some of the cherry leaves to give the pieces some b-l-i-n-g.  Not that it needed, needed it but I like the metallic (as you may know already :) ).  For the darker metallic I used Sulky Metallic off of a spool and for the lighter, I used Pearl-Pale Pink Japan Plus 2751 (seen in petal far top left).

Kinsai... this was my first endeaver into Japanese Golf Leaf techniques and had a great experience.  Midori is an absolutly patient and giving instructor that I highly recommend.  In the picture below we silk screened then used a metallic to paint the gold and silver cloud.

Below is an example of where we both screen painted a Japanese design then applied gold & silver leaf to the fabric. There is also an example of one of the two stencils that I used on my fan.  This was so much fun.  We also painted the darker pink and blue areas onto the Chirimen silk fabric.

FYI -- not stitching any more on Mr Uguisu but plan on getting to those toes and branch this weekend. 

Keep stitching!

Christa
Lilystitch
www.lilystitch.blogspot.com and www.lilystitch.com