Sakura Spark Plug — n.

Sakura Spark Plug
–noun
An unusual species of the Prunus genus of trees and shrubs, the Sakura Spark Plug only blooms for a period of one to two weeks in late March/early April in Japan. When exposed repeatedly to this flower, humans tend to experience a spark of creative energy.

Second, some sakura kasutera, aka Castella cake. This is a sponge cake, made of flour, eggs and sugar. This cake was introduced to Japan by the Portuguese in the 16th century. Traditionally the Japanese do not have ovens, so the improvised oven gives the cake the texture of a steamed cake. It is often given as a gift here in Japan.

Finally, some little sakura sugar cookies from 3分クッキング(3-minute Cooking) magazine.

As a result of all this hanami, I have been doing a bit of sketching, but not in the traditional pen & paper sense of the word. I’ve been “sketching” with other mediums like clay and cotton string. These sakura will soon become hair clips for some little girls I know:
As soon as I get the ends woven in on these babies, they will also become hair clips:
This item was created when I was trying to design a new flower, but it didn’t quite turn out how I had been seeing it in my head. I liked it, so rather than rip it out and start over, I just kept adding on to it and it became . . . something. Maybe a super fancy hoighty-toighty coaster?