Hanji Happenings

How lucky am I !!  When the grandchildren come to visit they love getting up into my Hanji (Craft) room and making things.  I usually have some small kits they can put together and they love creating in a room especially designed for craft with everything on hand.             Last week I received a lovely surprise from Isaac, my six year old grandson. He loves drawing and doing craft with me so he drew a picture of us both working together in my Hanji room.  I'm sitting on a chair next to a green table and he's sitting next to me doing his craft work. When he and his sister visited us in the UAE last year they made a small Hanji pot each and he  decorated his with cut out soccer balls. He loves it and keeps it on his desk at home to keep his pens and pencils in one place.         His picture is precious and it just goes to show how special it is to ...

Just to update you all, I really haven't fallen off the edge of the planet !! I think this has been the longest break I've taken over the last 4 years, from writing my Hanji blog but, my Hanji interests are very much still alive and well. Since my return to Adelaide I've realized that I needed to take a step back from Hanji for a few months to decide exactly what direction I'd like my business to take during 2015 and beyond. Sometimes it's good to take time to reflect on what is important to us and certainly having  time back here in Australia with my family and friends, is one of them and setting up my Hanji business is another.  If it's of any help to those in similar situations, here are just a few of the lessons I've learnt over the last few months: 1) I've found that I can't just continue  where I left off in the UAE but instead, I need time to build local networks. (As I'm sure you're aware, doing Hanji outside of Kore...

I've just returned after a wonderful summer of meeting up with family and friends in different parts of the world.  The travel has been exhausting but the time refreshing as we only get the opportunity to meet up once or twice a year.  Living in different countries as an expat over the last 12 years has had it's disadvantages,  not least of all being away from my family and loved ones for a length of time.  It has been difficult but, it has also had it's advantages  as it's opened up  many new opportunities for me to make more friends and to explore different cultures and their crafts. It has given me time to explore all things Hanji as I  work on my projects, conduct classes, develop worksheets and travel to meet other Hanji artists. I've attempted to keep up with the Hanji Happenings postings over the summer but have not done as many as I would have liked.  I hope you'll all bear with me. Now I'm back in the UAE I've been working on de...

Summer break with family and friends means being able to spend time with my six, soon to be seven, year old identical twin granddaughters Jasmine and Tamika.   You ask me, "How can you tell them apart?,  well, unless I'm looking at them straight on, or I take note of what clothes they're wearing on any particular day, then I do have difficulty.  They're great though and if I call them the wrong name they just casually reply, "I'm Jasmine/Tamika" and keep on with what they're doing. We've been working on a craft project together over the last week and they're making butterfly lanterns. It's not quite Hanji but it's still working with paper, only in a different way.  I hope when they're a little older and I'm settled back in Australia I'll be able to work on some Hanji projects with them as well. Children are amazing when given the opportunity to create, the materials to work with and the directions to guide the...