Demo At The Caritas Residence

Added on November 29, 2013 by the ikebana shop.

Last Nov 27th, we had the opportunity to present an ikebana demonstration at the Caritas Residence, Halifax NS. The Caritas is a retirement residence sitting on a hill just above Mt. Saint Vincent University with a beautiful view of the Bedford Basin. Senior citizens and retired Sisters of Charity live there.

About 15 lovely ladies joined us. Most of them had never heard of ikebana before so it was a pleasure to introduce this beautiful art to them. They were a rapt audience!

"It was like poetry in motion," commented Sister Helen. The smiles and words of appreciation after the demonstration made it all worthwhile. :-)

Thank you very much for your kind and warm welcome! We hope you enjoyed the ikebana.

Thank you to Susan B., Recreation Coordinator, for making this possible.

Special thanks to our friend, Fran, who made the introductions...and for taking pictures with our clunky old camera! Thank you Fran!

Roller Erasers! Making Mistakes More Fun!

Added on November 22, 2013 by the ikebana shop.

Introducing an eraser that makes writing more fun...

...or more precisely, it makes mistakes more fun! :-)

Erase as usual. Then, flip open the top cap and use the little roller to scoop up the eraser dust. Cute, no?

The eraser bits get collected in the box underneath the roller. Don't forget to empty it into the trash from time to time! :-)

We have four different colours in cute designs. Children love it!

Made in China for Lemon Stationery Co., Japan.

Available at the shop.

Reminder: Not just for kids! :-)

My Ikebana: A Fruity Arrangement

Added on November 18, 2013 by the ikebana shop.

Bob, the husband of our friend and ikebana student, Patti, dropped by the shop one day bearing gifts of branches. He said it was a kind of dogwood but it had fruits hanging on them!

It is called "yamaboushi" in Japanese. A little research told us it is called the Kousa dogwood. The fruit is actually edible and is supposed to be sweet when ripe...but I didn't take a bite! :-) I was quite thrilled to be able to use such an unusual branch for ikebana!

I chose a bamboo container for this arrangement. The delicately latticed bamboo basketwork brought an air of lightness to the space.

I arranged the fruit around the very thin branches...as if they were bursting right out of the container!

Here's a top view.

And just when you thought the arrangement is complete, I added a thicker branch with an opposite movement...just to surprise you with something unexpected! :-)

Here is the complete arrangement. I hope you like it. --Miyako

A very special thank you to Patti and Bob for always bringing interesting branches to me!

Origami Crane Tree

Added on November 17, 2013 by the ikebana shop.

Have you seen our shop window recently?

We made a Christmas tree out of origami cranes!

There are about 50 origami cranes per line...so that makes about 250 cranes! (Disclaimer: We did not make an accurate count!)

We also had fun with the colours. Do you like the rainbow gradations? :-)

It's lovingly hand-made, of course!

...and look who is peeking underneath the tree. :-)

Please drop by the shop and see the real thing. It will be on display till the end of December. See you soon!

Ikebana Demonstration At SMU

Added on November 16, 2013 by the ikebana shop.

Last Thursday, Nov 14th, I had the chance to give an ikebana demonstration at St. Mary University in Halifax.

It was for the Introduction to Japanese Culture class in the Department of Modern Languages and Classics.

It was great to be around young people. Their enthusiasm gave me energy. They posed many interesting questions. I hope I was able to answer them adequately!

The following day, some of the students even dropped by the shop to say "Hello" and told me they had enjoyed the presentation. I really appreciated that!

Special thanks to Dr. Alexandre Avdulov for giving me this opportunity to present what ikebana is all about to your class....and thank you for being my photographer! :-) --Miyako

Ikebana Workshop At ALCC

Added on November 14, 2013 by the ikebana shop.

In the middle of their busy lesson schedules, some students and staff of the Apex Language & Career College found the time to attend an ikebana workshop last Wednesday, Nov 13th.

A small taste of what ikebana is like...

We hope you enjoyed it!

Thank you to all the participants and thank you to ALCC for making the workshop possible.

Special mention to Ms. Yoko Irisawa who did all the organizing and preparing!

O-sewa ni narimashita. Domo arigatou gozaimashita!

All photos are courtesy of Yoko Irisawa. Used with permission.

2013 Holiday Arrangement Offer

Added on November 10, 2013 by the ikebana shop.

We are preparing an arrangement for the holiday season for you! See the end of this post for details.

The poinsettias are kept intact in their pots so they will last through the season as long as they are watered properly. (Cut poinsettias do not survive for long and so are seldom used in ikebana!)

We hand-painted some dried branches and leaves to give it the season's glitter! The greens are fresh.

...and some fun holiday ribbon to wrap it all up! :-)

This arrangement will make your house ready for the holiday season. ..or they are great house-visit presents too!

Price of the arrangement:
40.00 plus HST.

Available for pick up at the shop on Dec 13th-15th.

Call or email us to place your order!

The Black Kenzan

Added on November 7, 2013 by the ikebana shop.

Black is one of the basic colours of ikebana flower containers. A shiny kenzan in a black container would be a distraction and draw attention away from the real focal point of an arrangement. It is something that one would rather not see! For a discriminating ikebanista, obscuring the shiny kenzan used in a black container could be quite the challenge!

You can put the covering pebbles aside... Say hello to the black kenzan!

It is a steel kenzan that is stained black by ionic bonding. The tone is smooth and uniform.

It "disappears" inside the black container!

Hardly noticeable! Don't you just love it? :-)

It's that little bit of extra detail that could sometimes spell the difference between a so-so and an outstanding arrangement!

Add the black kenzan to your ikebana arsenal!

We have a collection of black kenzans available. Click here to see!

The Haori Holiday Special

Added on November 1, 2013 by the ikebana shop.

It's almost that time of year when we think about gifts to our loved ones. We've added a lot of new haori in our online shop! and we'd like to give a special offer to our online customers. See available haori here.

For purchases between Nov. 1st and Dec 15th, 2013, we will ship haori orders for free to destinations within Canada and the continental United States. For other destinations, we will take off 50% from the shipping cost.

Choice of shipping method will be at our discretion. We will normally use Canada Post. Regular Parcel for Canadian shipments, Expedited Parcel for continental U.S. shipments, and International Parcel Surface for other destinations.

In fairness to our walk-in customers, we offer 20% discount for in-store purchases!

PLUS, for the first five haori orders, we will add a haori hanger (a $12 value) for free. In-store customers will also get one, while supply lasts!

First come, first served!

Hand-Sewn Picture Frame Brooches

Added on October 30, 2013 by the ikebana shop.

When we were working on our "owl project"....

...we had a lot tiny scraps of felt leftover. It felt (pardon the pun!) like such a waste to just throw them away. So, we decided to make little pictures out of them...hand-sewn!