Of recent I have become more interested in Japanese art, especially Japanese illustrations. This came about as a result of getting one of Gwen Stefani's Harajuku perfumes. The perfumes are packaged in tiny squat bottles with tops that are colorful, collectible, doll figurines. These are just plastic tops but even more than that they are quite unconventional as perfumes go.



The collection is comprised of five doll perfumes with names such as Love, Lil Angel, Music, Baby and G. It is not hard to imagine that these are modeled after the intricate and feminine personality of Gwen Stephani. Needless to say, I am thoroughly hooked and am enwrapped in getting all the dolls as well as the other free goodies that you get when you purchase the perfumes. Although I do love the perfumes (and who would not) - they have the sweet flavors of youth as clearly these are targeted to a younger crowd. But who cares - you are as young as you think, right?

So far I have collected a charm bracelet, a Harajuku bag, and numerous samples- all free from a generous sales associate at a major dept store.

Why am I doing this at my age? Well, it is nice to have an obsession such as this harmless collecting of these cupie type dolls. It is acts such as these that reawaken the creative Phoenix in us, and keeps us fresh, sprightly and vibrant.

So, as a result of my foray into pop Japanese art I have created three Japanese inspired soap cigar bands.

To download labels - Go to Perfumekits Go to free labels soap cigar bands

The files are standalone files. All one needs to grab this design and print is good card stock or some other interesting type of paper. The background of the designs are transparent,so whatever color paper is used will be the background color of the label. This keeps things simple. The only other thing needed once you have downloaded the Microsoft Publisher file, is to zoom in to around 150% and fill in the text boxes with your soap information.