Hiroko Ishii Embroidery Kit - Daily Life with Cats Bookshelf

I ordered two of the Ishii kits, primarily because I was interested in trying out Cosmo floss, and these came included. Of course the designs are adorable, too. I noted in the product details that the instructions would be in Japanese, but assumed I would be able to figure it out, thought there might be a translation somewhere, or I'd just wing it. As it turned out, there was no translation available online anywhere, so wing it I did. I didn't have a problem choosing my own stitches based on the photo or personal preference, but I did not understand the diagrams for the fusibles included to attach the fabric appliqué pieces. I am not very familiar with using fusibles, so I ended up just pinning and using stitches to appliqué the fabrics on. The base cloth fabric is nice, but do be careful around the edges it frays easily. I sewed on some extra fabric along the edges so I could use a larger hoop for stitching, and on one edge where my seam was a bit too close base fabric edge, things got a bit dodgy, and I had to be careful with the tension along that side to avoid fraying the base fabric too far.
But it all worked out, and it was so nice to have the frames for the finished work and the square size is a nice change. (Sometimes it's nice to have something that's not round, right?).
As for my experience using Cosmo floss for the first time, I didn't find it to be much different than DMC 6-strand for working with, quality and workability seemed very similar to me. I made some color choice changes, so used some alternative floss, and it all felt very similar.
Overall, I would recommend the kit as long as you have enough stitching experience and/or confidence to make decisions without the step by step instructions (in lieu of knowledge of Japanese!).