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Ebru Kendama, 2016–2018 · a brand website designed by Vezpera · not a live storedesigned by Vezpera · not a store
EBRUKENDAMA
Hand-painted kendamas · Sonoma, CA

Specially bru’d in Sonoma, California.

An indie brand and custom paint shop: hand-painted, Ebru water-marbled damas and custom fades on natural beechwood kens. No two came out exactly alike.

See the collection How it started
Three Ebru kendamas on natural beechwood kens: a navy striped tama, a white tama with a dark brown stripe, and a navy tama with a white double stripe
Fresh bru’d · from the archive
Beechwoodkens, marked with the E
One of a kindevery dama hand finished
2016–2018Sonoma, California

The craft

So what does bru’d mean?

Ebru is the old Turkish art of marbling: color floated on water, swirled by hand and caught once. The brand took its name from it, because that was the idea behind every tama. The color goes where it wants, and it never goes the same way twice.

“Each kendama is hand finished and no two are exactly alike. There will be variations in color, placement and pattern.”From the original Ebru shop, 2018

Bru’d marble

Intricate water-marbled swirls over the dama, and sometimes down the whole ken: purple, blue and white, green, cherry red. The Multi carried four colors under three coats of clear.

Crystal Paint

Ebru’s own grippy, flat finish, developed to play like a broken-in kendama straight out of the box. It softens impact, adds control on lunars and balance tricks, and gets better with play.

Stripes & fades

Hand-painted bands and custom fades on white and navy bases. Every October the stripes went seasonal, in deep Halloween color combos.

The Penny

Copper tones with a weathered patina, from the Natural Minerals line: The Penny and the Old Penny.

An Ebru kendama balanced upside down on its navy and pale blue striped tama, on a white sweep

In every box

Ready to play the day it arrived.

  • 1Hand-finished Ebru kendama on a beechwood ken
  • 3Extra strings
  • 1Bead
  • +Ebru stickers

The collection · from the archive

Fresh bru’d, 2016 to 2018.

15 kendamas from the original shop photos. They all sold out years ago; prices shown are the archive prices.

From the archive. Ebru Kendama is no longer taking orders, and nothing on this page can be bought.

The series

Small runs, big color.

October Series · $24.99 each

Trick or Treat stripes.

Every October brought out the specialty striped Crystal Paint tamas in deep, Halloween-inspired color combos: Dark Sphere, Orange stripe and the Trick or Treat stripe, hand painted in the shop-house.

October Series Dark Sphere kendama
“Dark Sphere”
October Series Orange stripe kendama
Orange stripe

Crystal Series · $24.99

Grip you can feel.

Crystal Paint, a grippy flat finish that keeps its playability for life. “Purp” put purple and white stripes on a marbled ken; the Independent Dama went red, white and blue over a white base coat.

Crystal Series Purp kendama
“Purp”
Independent Dama kendama
Independent Dama

Natural Minerals · $22.50

The Penny.

Copper tones and a weathered patina on a natural beechwood ken. It came two ways, The Penny and the Old Penny, and they looked better the more they were played.

Old Penny kendama with a copper tama
Old Penny

Custom setups · commissions (archive)

Your colors, painted to order.

Alongside the shop runs, Ebru painted custom setups: a player’s own colors marbled or faded onto a dama, matched to the ken they wanted to play.

01Pick the colors02Marble or fade03Match the ken
An Ebru kendama with a navy tama and a white double stripe, on a natural beechwood ken The original round Ebru Kendama sticker

The story

It started in the shop, with my sons.

My oldest got his first kendama as a birthday present from a friend. Within a year, he and his two little brothers were playing every single day.

I’m an inventor, an artist and a painter, so one day I took the boys into the shop to try some specialty finishes. We spent hours painting and playing together. That’s where Ebru Kendama was born, in 2016: time as a family, and making something with our hands.

It grew into a small shop of hand-finished kendamas, sold from Sonoma until 2018, high quality finishes over quantity, every time.

Ezra PucciFounder, Ebru Kendama
A hand holding an Ebru kendama with a sky-blue marbled tama on a beach, the ocean and a jetty behind

Play

Made to be played, not shelved.

The beechwood ken was shaped with balance for juggles and lunar balance tricks, and Crystal Paint held on when it mattered. Take it to the beach. It gets better with play.

LighthouseLunarJugglesBalance tricks
Jams & sessionsEbru grew up at grassroots kendama jams and sessions around California, alongside the wider skill-toy community.
Video of the WeekPlayers sent their clips to the shop for Video of the Week, and for a shot at becoming an Ebru Kendama Pro.
Ebru Kendama Black Friday 2017 ad: a dark kendama hung on a tree among autumn leaves, with the words Black Friday 50% off all kendamasNov. 2017

From the archive

Black Friday, 2017.

Half off every kendama, made in-house: one photo of a dark-stained kendama in the autumn leaves, one big font, and a code. Homemade, a little loud, and completely the brand.

Code, long expired EBRUBLACK17

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