Presents in the mail

Last week, I got a lot of things in the mail, despite the CanadaPost strike. Surprisingly, ONE of them was an actual gift from my friend in Japan! She visited me at the beginning of May, and I took her to Niagara Falls, Toronto, and Montreal. We were also supposed to go to NYC, but she got sick, so we never made it. She sent me something super pretty.... It's kind of not my style, but I really like it because it's too pretty!

It came in a set of 5.

Her mom wrote me a thank you letter. It's in hiragana so I can actually read it!

The second "present" I received was my dye stuff from Maiwa! If you're from Canada, check them out:  http://www.maiwa.com/ They have a great selection of natural dyes, but I bought the synthetic stuff (for direct application). It looks exactly like the stuff I used in class, so hopefully, I shouldn't have any problems with it.  Natural dyes are attractive, but they're SO finicky. You always have to scour your fabric, and even at that, your dye job may not be consistent.  I might use them one day, but at the moment, I'll be sticking to my direct application.

Next up, a present to myself! Last month, I stumbled upon a Japanese movie title called "Suki da,". I saw a short clip of it on youtube. It really intrigued me, so I looked everywhere for a torrent, but couldn't find any. I finally decided to reward myself after the long month of plushie-making, so I bought it! With the EMS shipping, it cost a good 60~70$. o_0

It came with a picture booklet and even the music score for the theme song.

I was SO excited to get it. I popped it into my player and GUESS WHAT? It's a REGION 2! So it couldn't play!!!!!!!! But alas, when there's a will, there's a way! I went on my pc and changed the region. Apparently, you can only change it a few times until it's permanently stuck, so I'll be keeping it on 2 for now.

The movie was breathtaking. It's an art film, and I think a lot of people wouldn't have the patience for it (there's not much dialogue), but it was really to my liking. I've already watched it twice, and I BAWLED. Oh gosh, especially the second viewing... I usually don't cry, but somehow, it was too beautiful that tears kept flowing. It was worth the 70$+ hassle of changing regions! Anyways, I really want to make a print design for a totebag in inspiration with the cinematography.

 And last but not least, my last gift (that came with a nasty surprise) is the infamous stovetop steamer for setting dyes! I call it the mirrored coffin because that's just what it is.

The whole case sits on a stovetop (and sorta hangs off the sides)

The fabric is placed on the metal rod inside.

So the nasty surprise is the 375$ C.O.D duty/freight charge/tax/brokerage fee!!! That's basically more than what I paid for the actual thing, lol. I knew it was going to cost a lot, but I was expecting more like 200$. Anyways, I gotta do what I gotta do. Hope I can put this thing to good use. :p

Now my wallet needs to rest a little. I'll be purchasing an industrial sewing machine in due course, so the wallet will yet again be screaming at me about the damage. o_0