Respect & Awe for Japan

Hello people of this world wherever you are!!!!!
As everyone knows ten days ago one of the most terrible natural disasters stroke Japan......
Although I live in Greece, a place so far away from Japan, I bet I have the same feeling with the most of you, that this disaster is like next to us.....
Having survived a major earthquake (for Greece at least) 11 years ago, I can assure you that there is nothing more scary than to feel the earth move under your feet.....now I think that the tsunami and the feeling of a huge wave come after you may be 100 times more scary.....
I don't want even to imagine how it is to lose everything.... it is beyond my mind what these people have been (and are still ) through.....

However, in various disasters all over the world through the years that I remember myslef watching the news, I do not think that I have seen another country and its people to react with such dignity in the aftermath of the disaster.....

These people although they had lost members of their family, their homes, their way of living, they were so modest, without yelling, crying, without accusing their goverment, their God, or whoever else...
Since I remember myself, when I first heard a Japanese tale my mother used to tell me, when I touched my first hello Kitty , when I  watched like crazy Japanese cartoons on TV, I loved this country!!! I still love everything about it, their culture, their design, their architecture, but now I also admire and have huge respect and awe for  them !!!!! And it's not only me look here http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/how-musicians-are-raising-money-for-japan-relief-20110322 what the music industry plans in order to help the Japanese people!!!! 
Let's hope that the tragedy will stop here, and there will be no further disaster with the nuclear plants.....
One of my dreams is to be able someday to travel to Japan. I don't know  when I ll be able to go but I know for sure that definetely I will!!!!!!

Kisses
&
wishes for a better tomorrow for Japan
mdq

Origami Facts!!!!!!

This morning I realized that today is the 1st of February and I have just 8 days in order to prepare my wholesale orders……

So while I started to make a schedule about which origami jewelry I have to prepare, I thought to give you some fun facts about the art of origami!!!!!

 First of all the word “origami” = 折り紙, has its origins in the Japanese word “ori” which means folding and the word “kami” which means paper.

 Origami can be traced to about 500 A.D. to China, but the art was refined in Japan hundreds of years later.

 Paper was invented around the time that origami art invented but it was considered as a luxurious material with a high cost, that’ s why only the rich people of Japan were able to practice this kind of art.

 One of the most famous origami themes is the crane, which is a symbol of long life and good fortune.

 Origami was also used for love notes. As the shape could represent a message, also the choice of color combined with the shape could help convey the emotions of the writer. In addition as origami is an intricate art, if the love note went in the wrong hands, it was unlikely that the reader could perfectly refold the shape. Therefore, the origami love notes were extremely safe as they could not be read by wrong persons without the recipient knowing about it.

 In 2007 the house of Christian Dior selected an origami and Japanese theme for its Haute Couture collection.

I hope that you found these as intersting as I did.....

till the next time...

kisses & wishes

mdq