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In a way, it's satisfying when an item up for auction on Ebay shoots way out of my budget. I don't have to feel guilty about spending the money and I don't have to regret letting the item go. Still, that was some really pretty silk. But not pretty enough to pay 40$/metre. Or rather, I don't have that kind of money right now.
Today, in order to distract myself from the fact that our things won't arrive tomorrow after all, but sometime next week, I went back to the Best Store Ever (its real name is Yuzawaya and it's right outside the Kamata Station). I guess you could call it a department store, of a sort, but it's split up into different buildings, more or less by theme, though I can't really figure out why the lingerie is in the sewing/fabric building, nor why toys are sandwiched between two floors of craft supplies and two floors of knitting supplies in another building. But model trains are in the fresh & silk flowers building. O_O
Anyway, the wife of one of G's colleagues took me there last week and we spent over two hours looking at craft supplies. The ground floor has everything you could possibly need for any type of beadwork, including clasps, chains, kits to make cell-phone charms, as well as pipe-cleaners and other elementary school staples. On the second floor are quilting, embroidery, doll- and teddy bear-making supplies, plus beautiful, beautiful decorative paper. The third floor is toys, with a whole wall devoted to miniature food items: they come in little boxes, so you don't know what you're going to get -- could be miniature sushi, a tiny set of dishes, little grocery items, mini pastries, etc. We spent nearly half an hour looking at them, comparing, deciding which ones to buy, when all of a sudden my partner in crime exclaimed, "How the hell am I going to explain to my husband that I spent half an hour and 1000 yen on tiny plastic food?! What would I do with it, anyway?" So she bought none. Floors four and five have knitting, crocheting, woodworking and leatherworking supplies, but by then our eyes had mostly glazed over, so we just breezed through before heading back down to pay for our items. I got some gorgeous paper and the necessary items to make coasters, though my first two attempts haven't been as successfull as I'd have liked, I'll need a bit more practice. We also took a look at the ground floor of the stationery & art supplies building. Two words: Engrish abounds! I was compelled to buy some deliciously surreal wrapping paper. Often, it's not so much the odd English phrasing that gets me, it's that it's just completely random and out of context.
Today I went back there on my own (it's actually a fair distance away -- three subway stops, almost 15 minutes on one train and then three stops on another train) to explore the fabric. There's lots of it. I wasn't looking to really buy anything, as I'm scouting to see what kind of stuff is available here for my planned period outfits, but I felt it would be a shame to have gone so far without buying something. Ahem. So I got some nice, fine embroidery thread (polyester, until I know what the hell I'm doing) and a remnant of a pretty cotton print. I love cotton prints, they're so light and summery. As for the selection, it was quite good, but I didn't find much velvet, though I suppose it's really not a practical choice for the climate, here. Too humid and warm. But still, two (huge) floors of fabric, plus a third floor with sewing machines (Toyota! I want a Toyota! :D ) and notions, aisle after aisle of thread, ribbons, trims, needles, even some wigs and related items!
After that, on to the crafting building for an embroidery hoop. I do have one, which I actually used for silk screening, but my things won't arrive until next week, blah, blah, see above. And I wanted to embroider NOW, dammit! Last stop was the stationery building. This time I made it past the first floor, which is all cards, stationery, wrapping paper, pencil cases, office supplies and pens. The second floor has notebooks, more pens and artist's markers, notebooks, folders, notebooks, binders, did I mention I have a weak spot for cute notebooks, specifically cute notebooks with weird sentences on them? I couldn't resist. I was sorely tempted by one with an elephant on it that said "Take us with you", but then I saw one that proclaimed, "Choose me! and you will be happy. designed and produced for sensuous people." and I had to go with that one. I mean, who doesn't want to be happy? And I'm a sensuous person, right?
Today, in order to distract myself from the fact that our things won't arrive tomorrow after all, but sometime next week, I went back to the Best Store Ever (its real name is Yuzawaya and it's right outside the Kamata Station). I guess you could call it a department store, of a sort, but it's split up into different buildings, more or less by theme, though I can't really figure out why the lingerie is in the sewing/fabric building, nor why toys are sandwiched between two floors of craft supplies and two floors of knitting supplies in another building. But model trains are in the fresh & silk flowers building. O_O
Anyway, the wife of one of G's colleagues took me there last week and we spent over two hours looking at craft supplies. The ground floor has everything you could possibly need for any type of beadwork, including clasps, chains, kits to make cell-phone charms, as well as pipe-cleaners and other elementary school staples. On the second floor are quilting, embroidery, doll- and teddy bear-making supplies, plus beautiful, beautiful decorative paper. The third floor is toys, with a whole wall devoted to miniature food items: they come in little boxes, so you don't know what you're going to get -- could be miniature sushi, a tiny set of dishes, little grocery items, mini pastries, etc. We spent nearly half an hour looking at them, comparing, deciding which ones to buy, when all of a sudden my partner in crime exclaimed, "How the hell am I going to explain to my husband that I spent half an hour and 1000 yen on tiny plastic food?! What would I do with it, anyway?" So she bought none. Floors four and five have knitting, crocheting, woodworking and leatherworking supplies, but by then our eyes had mostly glazed over, so we just breezed through before heading back down to pay for our items. I got some gorgeous paper and the necessary items to make coasters, though my first two attempts haven't been as successfull as I'd have liked, I'll need a bit more practice. We also took a look at the ground floor of the stationery & art supplies building. Two words: Engrish abounds! I was compelled to buy some deliciously surreal wrapping paper. Often, it's not so much the odd English phrasing that gets me, it's that it's just completely random and out of context.
Today I went back there on my own (it's actually a fair distance away -- three subway stops, almost 15 minutes on one train and then three stops on another train) to explore the fabric. There's lots of it. I wasn't looking to really buy anything, as I'm scouting to see what kind of stuff is available here for my planned period outfits, but I felt it would be a shame to have gone so far without buying something. Ahem. So I got some nice, fine embroidery thread (polyester, until I know what the hell I'm doing) and a remnant of a pretty cotton print. I love cotton prints, they're so light and summery. As for the selection, it was quite good, but I didn't find much velvet, though I suppose it's really not a practical choice for the climate, here. Too humid and warm. But still, two (huge) floors of fabric, plus a third floor with sewing machines (Toyota! I want a Toyota! :D ) and notions, aisle after aisle of thread, ribbons, trims, needles, even some wigs and related items!
After that, on to the crafting building for an embroidery hoop. I do have one, which I actually used for silk screening, but my things won't arrive until next week, blah, blah, see above. And I wanted to embroider NOW, dammit! Last stop was the stationery building. This time I made it past the first floor, which is all cards, stationery, wrapping paper, pencil cases, office supplies and pens. The second floor has notebooks, more pens and artist's markers, notebooks, folders, notebooks, binders, did I mention I have a weak spot for cute notebooks, specifically cute notebooks with weird sentences on them? I couldn't resist. I was sorely tempted by one with an elephant on it that said "Take us with you", but then I saw one that proclaimed, "Choose me! and you will be happy. designed and produced for sensuous people." and I had to go with that one. I mean, who doesn't want to be happy? And I'm a sensuous person, right?
