I also bought that antique rose-painted Nagoya obi I’ve been eyeing for months. The seller relisted it so many times, and I was a bit concerned that they’d quit relisting it, so… ^^;

I’m thinking that it may be from the time immediately following WWII- I’ve heard reports of kimono/obi being ‘painted’ in this manner since dyeing was too expensive in the post-war economy. The fabric is very thick and luxurious- I *think* that it’s silk, but I’ve never felt anything quite like it. :?

Really, though, I bought it because I love roses and wanted to wear it with this Taisho-era irotomesode. And it would have been JUST PERFECT, but after ordering it, I remembered that Nagoya obi are a bit too informal for tomesode. ^^; Not that anyone in my state would even notice that. TT_TT I live in the middle of a kimono desert… :(

Isn’t this lovely? :3 It reminds me of a yukata. I found this user via an adorable illustration she posted in Flickr’s ‘Bunny Lovers Unite’ group and she has all sorts of cute illustrations and prints in her Flickr photostream. Her adorable, softly-colored fairy-tale-like illustrations and Ukiyo-e style prints are very peaceful. :) Naokosstoop has a really unique and cute style. She also has an Etsy store, which sells reasonably-priced prints of her work (I especially love the kingyo print. I love traditional-style kingyo art.)

NAOKOSSTOOP @ Etsy : Mini-Store

Click on the thumbnails to view the items for sale in her store.

It’s a handpainted tray featuring LunaBunny the kawaii bunny and sakura.

This pikachu iPod nano case was a commission from Mooch4LoveKitty at SheezyArt. (Therefore, it’s not for sale to anyone but her.)

Features:
*full port access while case is in use
* bottom ports reinforced with hot-glue
* adjustable lanyard
* screen and scroll wheel protected by clear plastic, which still allows for use
* interior lining of felt + reinforcement of plastic for strength and water-resistance
* Pikachu’s “face” lifts up for easy access to screen, but when not viewing screen his face is down, which makes the iPod case look more like a stuffed animal and less like an iPod case
* Pikachu’s tail is made of two layers of felt with a hidden layer of plastic, reinforced by hot glue. (I was concerned that it might get damaged, since it sticks out a bit, so I reinforced it.)
* his lower legs are reinforced the same way that his tail is
* his face is painted on with permanent markers (felt was almost impossible for such tiny dimensions, and I didn’t want parts to fall off…)
* he’s very water-resistant. He shouldn’t be intentionally exposed to water, but in a light rain you’ll have ample time to put him away since he has so much plastic hidden between the felt layers
* the case stays closed by itself, but I put in a new closure system anyway. I noticed that the clear plastic I used for reinforcing his interior framework tended to stick to itself- and remembering that velcro sometimes quits working after a while, I instead used two ample pieces of this clingy-but-tough plastic as closure (see photos for details.)

* Pikachu had a tragic love story with my stuffed Mew, by the way, but it wasn’t meant to be… However, he’s eager to go to his new owner to soothe his broken heart.