Japanese Craft Books a.k.a. dreamy, yummy good stuff

A few more goodies from Portland. These came from Uwajimaya - a ginormous Asian supermarket chain in the Pacific Northwest. They actually came from the Japanese book store *inside* Uwajimaya, but I can't think of the name - and really, that's not important. Once you are faced with mass quantities of Japanese cuteness, all brain function seizes up and suddenly you realize your life wasn't complete until you found that perfectly scaled, tiny plate of squid and tofu eraser...


Or not.

But that's about how it was for me. The supermarket was actually a lot of fun to wander through and actually made me want to cook. (what!? Me!? Craziness.) Diane, Lee and I slowly made our way back to the bookstore and started flipping through the books they had out on their "July Japanese Craft Book Fair" table. They were fun, and it was nice, but .... I couldn't find any embroidery books. That's kinda what I was banking on. I played like I wasn't totally devastated, and decided to check out the kids' section to see what other cool stuff I could find for my kids, and then turned down the aisle of ... the.most.fabulous.selection.of.Japanese.Craft.Books.Ever.


I think Diane heard me kind of squeal or something, because she came spinning around the corner, and joined me in that deer-in-headlights-overwhelmed-with-greatness look. Lee was next and we all looked at each other and then dived in to our respective crafts of choice. (which I have to say was nice shopping with folks who were looking for things different than I was. We didn't have to get all on top of each other or fight over books ...)

I scored three books. There were dozens more I coveted, but I just didn't have the budget. As it was, I went a little over board.

Here they are - enjoy!

An Ondori book - ISBN: 978-4-277-31164-9
The typical, stinkin' adorable tiny Japanese embroidery motifs.


How amazing is that mane?



Next up, more of a plushie book, but with embroidery: Felt Mascot - ISBN: 978-4-277-56312-3
You might need to sit down, 'cause there's some faint-inducing cuteness coming up.


I thought this little finger puppet with a gun was hilarious.

Check out this amazing food! Good grief! It's so awesome, I have to include a close-up picture. The raspberry makes me swoon!


Finally, one of my all-time favorite, most inspirational embroidery books. It was a big splurge. Sketching Embroidery of Kazue Sakurai. ISBN: 978-4-277-31163-2
It's beyond gorgeous, and I can't wait to implement some of the stuff I see in this book.

I can't wait to get back to Portland for more Japanese craft book adventures, but until then, I think I'll be able to keep pretty busy with these little gems.