More Fall Leaves. It’s three years in a row now that I’ve gone and seen the Fall leaves in Japan. This year was the most vibrant of the trips too. The trees were on fire and the rock formation with it’s shrine, carved out steps and caves were awesome. This place in Yamanaka was really amazing.

New Adventures. I just got back a couple days ago from my latest trip to Japan. It was an awesome trip. The leaves were amazing and the weather was perfect. Only half a day of rain out of the 15 days there. This trip started out in Kyoto, then up to the Japanese Alps to see a bunch of little towns and then ended in Tokyo. The one thing that made the trip go super smooth was new suitcases with wheels. No more travel backpacks. And the addition of a new tote bag I made was cool to have too.

A Year of Making. I set out last October to make at least one new project for the Store each month for a year. And now my work is complete. Not to worry, the Store isn’t going away. It is just going to change to a seasonal posting. I think this will allow me a little more time to focus on a small group of things and not worry about a once a month deadline. The first season will be Winter and should come out mid January.

Wood Skulls. For Day of the Dead this year I made these Wood Skulls after the colorful Sugar Skulls used to celebrate Day of the Dead. They are also the final posting to the Store to wrap up my project of trying to make something new each month for a year.

New Techniques. I just finished working on a new piece for Manual that I’m really stoked about. It’s for a project they are currently working on that will come out in the early part of next year. For the piece I made different folk crafts from bead work to tin items and braiding done by Samurai. It was really great to apply some new techniques I’ve been working on to a project.