http://www.boncoton.co.uk en-gb boncoton.co.uk 2011-3-23T00:00:00Z boncoton.co.uk http://www.boncoton.co.uk/page5.htm#89958 As you are aware we had the worst earthquake in Japan recently. I will donate my works to this event Im afraid that I will not be there on the day as we have a small baby and a child. Where The ParkCity Hotel 122881830 Lexam Gardens Kensington London W8 5JEWhen Wednesday 30th March 2011 at 730 PM Ticket 20Pounds per person You can enjoy fresh home cooking prepared by Japanese volunteers accompanied by live Jazz music concert. You will also have an opportunity to purchase scrumptious sweets and goods from the stall. All the funds raised in this charity will be donated to Japan Tsunami Appeal at British Red Cross. 2011-3-23 13:15:51 http://www.boncoton.co.uk/page5.htm#86578 My sons birthday is coming very soon and I was thinking about those goody bags. There are many not lovely items in shops everywhere..so I decided to make something for girls. Im very pleased with the resolts I havent got any great ideas for boys so I will end up buying from shops buy at least I made quite nice things for my friends daughters..hope they like them..I will make some more and put them in my shop 2011-2-9 13:24:09 http://www.boncoton.co.uk/page5.htm#83934 I hope you had a lovely Christmas and new year. We had a great time in north London and its been wonderful spending time with our neighbour. I also want to say thank you for those came to see me at look mum no hands craft fair in Dec. I had such a good response there and met interesting people there. I sold all buffs this is cyclists scarf. My husband Paul is mad about cycling as you know.. so I will be making some more very soon. This is the book I have bought for Juntaro as one of Christmas gifts. It has amazing graphic and we love it very much. 2011-1-5 13:15:55 http://www.boncoton.co.uk/page5.htm#77021 Thank you very much for coming to see me in Phoenix garden in September. I have met lovely people and had a great time there. The time is flying and already its October. Our new baby is almost 3month old I started to make some plans for Christmas items and having a craft fair before then. I will make Christmas cards lavender bags and new jewellies as well. Please keep checking my website...meanwhile this is my recent favourite carrot cake Yum. 2010-10-4 12:17:26 http://www.boncoton.co.uk/page5.htm#73323 I will be having a stall in this fayre on 4th September Sat Please come and see me.It is in central London and this is the website. httpwww.thephoenixgarden.ik.comhome.ikml 2010-8-20 20:09:19 http://www.boncoton.co.uk/page5.htm#73163 My elder son is on summer holiday so we are having a great time in London. As we just had a new family last month we are not going abroad this summer. I didnt know that having two children is quite hard... I have some friends have 3 or 4 children Wow.. but its also lovely as well. Whenever the new little one is sleeping we try to do something fun like this cookie baking or art. This is Nigella Lawsons recipe and our favourite. 2010-8-18 17:14:35 http://www.boncoton.co.uk/page5.htm#71686 Yes I have been absent for long long time. I had a quite hard pregnancy and finally delivered our new family. His name is Kazumi Paul picked this name and we really love it. Mostly its girls name in Japan but we like the sound very much. Compare to the pregnancy the delivery was quick and I recovered really well. He is 3 weeks old and growing so fast. At the moment its hard to find the time to do sewing but I already miss it very much. 2010-7-30 11:27:13 http://www.boncoton.co.uk/page5.htm#61848 Recently I have finished this quilt and it reminded me that how much I love hand quilting...I am not good at machinequilting though. I have tried several times and it doesnt suit me and I found it very stressful. Hand quilting takes so long but this is something I really enjoy. When I started quilting oh dear it is about 10years ago I though I never finish my quilt but with practice and patience I have managed to finish quite many quilts now. 2010-3-31 12:33:33 http://www.boncoton.co.uk/page5.htm#60899 After this long long winter spring is on the way Its been very warm and lovely this week in London. I even managed to get to West End for shopping and meeting with my friends. I wanted to get a pair of jeans but I could not find them and typically I ended up buying something for my son In the end of the shopping day I went to buy a cupcake from Primrose bakery. I do love baking but it is nice to get something I didnt make occacionaly. I picked vanilla flavour one and it was really delicious. The sponge was not too sweet and the icing was a bit sweet but I loved it 2010-3-19 12:31:51 http://www.boncoton.co.uk/page5.htm#60371 Thank you very much for coming to see me on Sun at Highgate craft fair. It was such a bittery cold day but I had a great day. I met lovely artist there as well. Its always interesting to see other artist. Im hoping to do it again in May when they have a big festival in the park. These are my new brooches I have made them with some spring colour to cheer me up 2010-3-12 11:12:01 http://www.boncoton.co.uk/page5.htm#59651 This is the book I have picked from my local library the other day. I actually picked it purely from the cover. I liked this picture and graphic and in fact I really enjoyed it very much. I got this tip from my friend Eri and it often works quite well. I used read only classic in Japan and again Eri introduced me some modern Japanese authors now I love Banana Yoshimoto Kaori Ekuni etc. So how do you pick a book 2010-3-3 10:51:03 http://www.boncoton.co.uk/page5.htm#58952 I have updated my shop today so please take a look. There are some new items and something spring feel. I also made more brooches and hope to add them in my shop this week as well. We had a half term last week and it was great. I took my son to swimming and met up with some of my friends and their children. The next big holiday will be Easter and we will be visiting Japan. 2010-2-22 14:44:06 http://www.boncoton.co.uk/page5.htm#58617 These are the buttons I was given by Sally the other day. Yes they are my little treasure Apparently they are spare buttons some of which came with her clothing in the 80s. I was looking at them and discussing them with my son who also loves buttons so much and we never got bored. I also wondered about some of the 80s outfits that these came from. Im planning to make some accessaries using these as well. 2010-2-17 11:26:44 http://www.boncoton.co.uk/page5.htm#58267 I will be attending a craft fair again in Highgate Its called Lauderdale arts and crafts on 7th March 11am6pm httpwww.lauderdalehouse.co.uk. I will be selling new items and a sample sale as well. I have been making some rattles and bibs for babies etc. I really hope it will be a nice warm spring day. Please come to see me if you are around the Highgate area on the day 2010-2-12 14:32:35 http://www.boncoton.co.uk/page5.htm#57967 Its very cold here again...well its winter so I shouldnt complain. . Also I have a cold as well. I have been very lucky and havent had a cold since last summer. I guess that I have been busy on my work and catching up with my friends a lot. I love it So I will take a break this week and tidy up do some more creative work at home amp some baking Its a bit of a shame that my son is not too keen on home made cakes etc. His favourite sweet is actually Tic Tacs Paul and I end up eating my cakes... 2010-2-8 11:56:53 http://www.boncoton.co.uk/page5.htm#57593 My friend Julie brought this bouquet for me the other day as a thank you for my help during the recent snow. The flowers have beautiful scent and the colour combination is just how I like it. It really makes me feel very special and Im thrilled. I took Japanese flower arrangement and tea ceremony courses for years in Japan when I was in my 20s. I loved both courses because its something where you relax and observe time and the changing seasons. I learned about the delicacy of Japanese culture and history. What I learnt is still with me and I use the essence in my life in England. 2010-2-3 12:51:01 http://www.boncoton.co.uk/page5.htm#56577 We have a big cleaning day at the end of the year in Japan. Its the busiest time of the year in Japan as we celebrate New Years day rather than Christmas. Mums and housewives get so busy shopping for the special meal and getting ready. But they still manage to get the cleaning done as well. In Europe they do spring cleaning I find this makes much more sense because its warm and dry and its a quiet time of the year. Being Japanese I still felt like tidying up at New Year too but I could not find the time so now gradually Ive started my late cleaning and tidy up. I will clean this lovely machine today. 2010-1-20 10:53:46 http://www.boncoton.co.uk/page5.htm#55765 Happy new year. Here we still have a lot of snow in North London. Its really cold but I prefer snow to frost anyway. And everything stops The trains school amp local shops etc. You feel like you must slow down and have a break. In 2010 I will try to do some more screen printing when the weather gets warmer and I will make some more jewellery with fabrics and baby items. I will also try to attend more craft fairs as well. 2010-1-9 08:15:55 http://www.boncoton.co.uk/page5.htm#54270 I have been very busy for Christmas fairs and working for some orders. I really had a good time to meet lovely people. The weather was not great but I enjoyed it. It has been so wet last 3weeks in London. Finally its dry and slightly warm as well. I even feel like to get out and do some gardening today. Well its nothing to do with the Xmas or the weather but these are the my favorite polka dot fabrics. I have been collecting them over the years. They are from Japan America England. Its amazing to see how different designs you get from this fundamental simple design. 2009-12-10 09:08:12 http://www.boncoton.co.uk/page5.htm#52810 I just had a confirmation about it. Its such a short notice but Im really excited about it. Its in Waterlow Park in Highgate and my favourite park as well. This is a beautiful period house and Im honor to have a store there. I will be selling my usual items Xmas stuff and some sample sales as well. If you have a chance to come to this area this Sunday please come and see me. It will be Sunday 11am530 22nd November www.lauderdalehouse.co.uk 2009-11-18 11:53:01 http://www.boncoton.co.uk/page5.htm#52500 The perfect address for me Paul spotted it when we were around in Columbia Road. Its really small quiet street and Id love to live there one day. Its so cold and wet here now. The winter is coming and the problem is this darkness. I do rely on natural light for my photo shoot as I dont have that professional lighting equipment with me. I wish there is something small and not so expensive. So these days Im always waiting for the sun comes and get ready and photo done 2009-11-13 07:43:12 http://www.boncoton.co.uk/page5.htm#52119 As previous lavender bags were popular and I have sold them all so I have made some more Some of them are made with Liberty fabric as well. And I have added handmade cards and some bibs for babies as well. Please take a look. Im very happy to give you some discount if you buy 5 cards together please email me. Its very cold here in north London but its a beautiful day. I did some gardening this mornig and I feel really refreshed and good. 2009-11-7 11:20:16 http://www.boncoton.co.uk/page5.htm#52067 This is the sweet shop Paul used to go when he was little. The amazing thing is that this shop is still very popular and always there are some queue even outside Its great this traditional shop survive well and of course I love it I used to go to Japanese sweet shop called Dagashiya when I was little with my pocket money and I used to buy strange colourful sweets. 2009-11-6 15:13:50 http://www.boncoton.co.uk/page5.htm#51947 Im getting ready for Christmas fair. It will be interesting to sit down and sell my stuff. Im very excited to see some of my friends as well. I will be selling Christmas cardscushionslavender bagsdollsChristmas stockingsscarves etc.And I made this bag for my stall. I have used Pauls old pair of jeans. Its so cold this week in London and getting dark day by day. Making my stuff keeps me calm and happy. 2009-11-4 12:56:53 http://www.boncoton.co.uk/page5.htm#51598 After the lovely break at English country side I made some cards for sale. I will have Christmas fair at local school in north London. If you are interested in that please email me. I will give you the detail. I will be selling small gift items for Christmas like cards lavender bags cushions etc. 2009-10-30 08:04:24 http://www.boncoton.co.uk/page5.htm#51243 We are leaving London to see Pauls family in Shropshire tonight. Yes its half term. We dont have half term in Japan and I didnt understand it much until recently. Now I think its a quite important time for the little ones to have some break. Of course its a bit of a hard time for the parents who work and have to arrange childminders etc. Im very lucky to have a job I can take my son to I have another daytime job as well. Very big thanks to Ruth. I can work on holiday time. and I make things at home as well. Also there is no internet access there which will be good for us as well. We tend to use the internet too much recently and I need to stop for a bit I just want to have a quiet time in the beautiful English countryside. 2009-10-23 13:23:36 http://www.boncoton.co.uk/page5.htm#50693 My son wanted to do some origami and these are the creations Im afraid that Im not so good at it. There are so many different crafts in the world. I do love most of them and I suppose that sewing is my thing. I have done pottery felt making dyeing screen printing embroidery machine knitting hand knitting etc. Screen printing is still a favourite of mine as well so Ill be making some printed things when the weather is better. 2009-10-16 07:29:10 http://www.boncoton.co.uk/page5.htm#50379 I went to the knitting and stitching show at Alexandra Palace with Jenny on Friday. I have been going to this event for almost 10 years. I loved the university students selected textile work. They always have a very high standard and theyre inspiring. There are more and more young students coming to this show and I think this is great. Knitting has been very trendy recently and Im not sure about quiltings popularity which is a bit worrying. 2009-10-11 08:17:07 http://www.boncoton.co.uk/page5.htm#50344 I made some dolls bedding It was really good fun and I could not stop smiling at them. When I was a little girl I spent most of my time with my dolls. In Japan they are called Ricachan. Im afraid that I dont have any dolls left from my childhood. I used make kimono and clothes and bags for them with various fabric. I didnt have any sewing skills then so I just wrapped and taped them I really wished I could sew and make them properly. After many years its good to be doing this now. 2009-10-10 08:53:14 http://www.boncoton.co.uk/page5.htm#50155 This is the scarf I made for my son I thought it would be nice to show how it looks. Its getting colder and darker in London now. We all need scarves and gloves I have used fabric from BEYOND FABRICS www.beyondfabrics.co.uk. see my blog on 21st Sept The back is wool 100 and the front panel is made out of 3 different fabrics and a vintage button for the finishing touch. Originally these are for boys but I think they look very chic for girls as well. Dont you think I have added more items to the shop as well. Please take a look. 2009-10-7 10:21:52 http://www.boncoton.co.uk/page5.htm#50084 This another photo from last Wednesday. Its the phoenix garden www.thephoenixgarden.ik.com its tucked in behind the phoenix theatre on Charing Cross Road. Its a great place to rest after a busy day shopping in London. I prefer here to Soho square as its not so busy and commercial. The locals come here with their lunch and its a very important place for families who live in central London as they have no private gardens. The garden has a very English and wild feel to it which I try to recreate in my own garden. They have family events here in the summer too. 2009-10-6 07:28:07 http://www.boncoton.co.uk/page5.htm#50033 Last Wednesday I went to central London for a day out. I had a lovely lunch with Yoko at Gordon Ramsay at Claridges. The service was great and we had a very special time. The three course meal is 30 pounds and I think that for the service and the atmosphere you get it is not expensive at all. But I must say that it was not the best meal Ive ever had in my life. I tried to take some photos but they came out quite dark and not really great. So instead Ive posted a photo I took at Asprey. This is the window display I really loved it 2009-10-5 12:08:19 http://www.boncoton.co.uk/page5.htm#49853 I have created this little space to show my works at home. This is the smallest room in our house and Ive displayed my work everywhere. My friend Pashla came to shop for Christmas. Yes it is already October and Christmas is coming It was really nice to talk over Christmas gifts with some coffee. I do really appreciate other peoples opinions they are interesting. Everybody has a different idea about what they find beautiful. 2009-10-2 10:29:43 http://www.boncoton.co.uk/page5.htm#49656 It was a wonderful weekend in London. I still dont believe its October this week. It seems this week is also nice so we should enjoy the weather. We went to Trent park on Sunday. It was great to walk around amp do a little bit of autumn watch. How great to get fresh air and just look at the trees. I never get bored from it. The smell texture amp lines...so inspiring. 2009-9-29 11:28:11 http://www.boncoton.co.uk/page5.htm#49505 These are the scarves I have made on Friday. I really enjoyed making them but I feel I should have gone out to get some fresh air. It has been warm and lovely this week in London. I found it very hard this time of the year because it is getting darker amp cold. Although we went to NY for this summer I do love English summer. The time I really like to go away from England is November for me. Its sill beautiful today Sunday now so I will make sure to do something outdoor today 2009-9-27 08:40:33 http://www.boncoton.co.uk/page5.htm#49436 It was a very busy weekend for festivals in London. And Im quite late to update these news. We went to the Japanese Matsuri in Spitalfield market and also watched some of the Tour of Britain in Westminster on Saturday. We also went to the Food festival in Green lanes on Sunday too. There is an amazing Turkish restaurant called Antepliler 46 Grand Parade Green Lanes and they do the best Turkish cuisine. Thanks to Elif and Albert who introduced us to this place. If you ever come to Green lanes highy recommended 2009-9-25 19:35:53 http://www.boncoton.co.uk/page5.htm#49350 These potatoes are another produce from my garden. They are called Arran Victory Potatoes they are purple potatoes and very smart looking I think. This is the first time I tried growing potatoes and it was quite easy so I will try some more varieties next year. I will just boil these ones and make some simple salad. Hope it tastes good. 2009-9-24 15:13:11 http://www.boncoton.co.uk/page5.htm#49290 This is the yoyo quilt I bought at a quilt show in San Francisco about 4 years ago. Its vintage 1930s and the fabrics are amazing. It was never completed so I planned to finish it myself. As some of you may have many ongoing projects this was one of them. In the end I decided to use the yoyos as embellishments for my peices. Now you can enjoy a little of this vintage piece as well. 2009-9-23 11:52:52 http://www.boncoton.co.uk/page5.htm#49226 I made some blackberry jam this year. I love blackberries so much and I use them in several ways. You can make smoothies with a banana some blackberries and yogurt or they are great with apple crumbles. This year I used jam sugar which helped them to set really well with perfect texture. 2009-9-22 12:00:39 http://www.boncoton.co.uk/page5.htm#49145 This is the very lovely fabric shop in Columbia Road. Beyond Fabrics 67 Columbia Road. www.beyondfabrics.co.ukThey have a great selection of fabrics tools sewing classes etc. My friend Jenny bought me some fabric from this shop for my birthday the other day so I didnt buy any on the date that I visited. But I will be back very soon Ill also be shopping for the cupcakes on the same street and flower shopping too. 2009-9-21 13:10:29 http://www.boncoton.co.uk/page5.htm#48959 This is the quilt I made for my son Juntaro about 4 years ago. Its not a vintage quilt yet but after a lot of laundering its started to have that amazing old textile texture. Some of the fabrics colour is fading and its just lovely. Hand quilting is my favourite part Its so time consuming but at the same time its very relaxing and almost healing. 2009-9-18 11:31:56 http://www.boncoton.co.uk/page5.htm#48850 Its harvest time I love gardening and eating our produce very much. This year we had swiss chard spinach spring onions tomatos salad potatoes beans blackberries figs and many different herbs. I was also given some Victoria plums and cooking apples by my friends as well. Were almost self sufficient 2009-9-16 12:40:25 http://www.boncoton.co.uk/page5.htm#48683 The summer holiday is over. My son is back to school and life is going back to our normal routine. We are very fortune to have some of our family in America and this summer we had an amazing holiday. Thank you very much to Jo and Mark my sisterinlaw and her husband. The fact is that we enjoyed being with them more than anything else. Going to beaches and BBQ and chatting....NYC is a great city and we would love to go back there again 2009-9-14 12:54:14 http://www.boncoton.co.uk/page5.htm#48420 This is the window display from Barneys NY. I still remember that when Barneys opened Tokyo branch and I went shopping there about 15years ago. I was so excited and have bought a pair of brown gloves. They have grown up quirky style there. I was walking on my own because Paul decided to take Juntaro to Intrepid museum. It was a bit strange to be on my own as Im always with my family or friends. But I enjoy myself very much. I also went to Takashimaya as I was told Takashimaya in NY is very special place. Indeed its totally different from Japan and they have boutique feels in whole store. I managed to have a coffee in the restaurant. 2009-9-9 07:46:52 http://www.boncoton.co.uk/page5.htm#48355 This is the gift from Pauls colleague Maria. Yes Portuguese Cock Since I saw it on TV long time ago I always wanted it. Im so thrilled and love it so much. The colour is so vivd and wonderful and very inspiring for my work as well. Thank you Maria 2009-9-8 09:27:01 http://www.boncoton.co.uk/page5.htm#46606 These are my birthday treats from Paul. They are from Sketch in London and I always wanted to try some. Im not keen on coffee or chocolate sweets so these are the choices. I really loved all of them. They had delicate flavour not too sweet. 2009-8-9 09:15:50 http://www.boncoton.co.uk/page5.htm#46593 Hello amp welcome to my blog. Hope you enjoy it. These are this years first figs I picked from my garden. In fact this tree belongs to my next door but most of the tree is growing into my garden because of the sun. Lucky me They are very sweet and delicious. 2009-8-8 21:57:01