Sending Maiko Thank You Wishes

Spring in Japan is a time of pink florals and celebration.

Since this month the StarStampz Challenge is an Anything Goes Challenge I chose the Maiko.  This image is something that is special to me.  I had a very in-depth education a few years back into Japanese culture.  You're looking at this image and thinking Geisha.   Well no, not really.  Based on this image this young lady is called a Maiko (Geisha in training)  and is marked by the long "obe" (belt), red collar, "Split Peach" bun, and the long sleeves. 

The ideology behind the Maiko is the look of a young girl being put into adult clothing that don't fit altogether well.  During WWII the concept of Geisha had traveled to western culture but in the wrong ways.  These women are celebrated as the keeps of tradition in Japan and akin to modern day celebrities in their country.  This is one of the few Female ONLY run businesses.  Men are only associated with the fabrication of the ornate Kimonos, dressers and trainers of craft. 

With that little bit of info, I encourage you all to join the StarStampz Challenge for your chance to win some adorable digital stamps.  

Maiko In Spring
Prismacolor Pencils
Stitched Scalloped Slimline Die
​Scalloped Edge Die
Gold Ink

Calligraphy Pen
Red Cardstock
​Black Cardstock
​Slimline Card Base
Liquid Glue
​White Gelly Roll Pen

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For this image I decided on shades of blacks for the Kimono.  I wanted to use the traditional Spring formal wear that is used in the Hanami Festival (Spring Festival).  Red is traditionally worn on the long obe by Maiko's as a way for them to stand out from the Turned Collar Geisha.  I also used gold to add in some accents to the Obe and around the hair.

Once I have my image colored in and ready to go, I die cut it out using the second larges of the scalloped slimline dies.  Then I used a scalloped edge die to trim the bottom of the image out creating a rounded edge.  I used the second largest of the scalloped slimline dies again to cut out a red card stock piece.  I used the same dies as my image to cut out a 4" piece of black cardstock.  As you can see I'm trying to keep within my color theme of the Maiko.

With the image and cut outs ready I begin to layer them down with the red cardstock at the bottom as the base.  The the black cardstock about 1" from the bottom and finally, my image to lay flush with the top of the red cardstock.  This creates a beautiful layered effect.  I then used gold ink to add to add in some dots in clusters of three on the black cardstock

Using the larges of the scalloped slimline dies I die cut out a piece of black cardstock.  I layered this so that it the image piece would have a 1/4" board from the top and the sides.  Using a white Gelly Roll pen, I hand wrote "Thank You" on the red cardstock that was peeking out at the bottom.  The final detail on this were some gold floral designs at the bottom of the card on the black cardstock.

Here is what the final card project looked like.  

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Thank you for visiting.  I hope that this project inspires you to use some gold in and using your own penmanship to add a personalized touch to any card you make.

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