I’ve had these stamp information sheets since this LWA RSVP series in 2012. I found them in my vast paper stash while I was geting my desk organized (which is still an ongoing project–so many drawers, so many decisions.) The stamp sheets have pictures and educational bits on one side and are blank on the other, so I figured I could write letters and fold them into makeshift aerograms. The paper is thick and sturdy, perfect for handwriting or typewriters and I knew if I used some washi tape to seal it all up, that the recipients could (hopefully) open their letters easily without cutting into them. 
I hand wrote a letter to April on the “Postage Stamps of New Zealand” sheet. Then I folded the sheet into thirds, paying attention to how the back would look. I wanted the title part (seen at the top photo) to be the feature.
I folded some red paper tape (from Target) over the two ends. 
Then I used thick washi tape (from Japan) to seal the top. 
I wrapped the thick washi tape around the front of the envelope and stamped the ends with an “OPEN HERE” stamp (from a set of postal-themed stamps that I bought it Japan). Hopefully, the little directions will prevent the sendees from tearing open the aerogram like an envelope. 
I had so much fun making these and spending out some of my paper hoard. I’m thrilled that I found my letter writing mojo again!
kimberly ah
kimberly at home
Category Archives: Office Supplies
A Place For Everything & Everything In Its Place
It’s been a little quiet over here on the blog these past couple of weeks. I’ve been trying to focus on cleaning up around here, spending time outside and drinking in this wonderful summer.
One of the most exciting things about cleaning up around here is that we added another, final piece to our desk set-up in the living room. (You can see the beginnings of the office area here and here.) The two desks kind of looked lonely so we added a third piece from the Martha Stewart Craft Collection at Home Decorators. It’s a flat file and I am thrilled to be able to have more space for some of my mail art and craft supplies.
The most exciting part is that two of the drawers are large enough to hold my huge collection of handmade papers. Some of them have been rolled up for years in my trunk and in a drawer and in a spare trash can in the guest room, so it’s amazing to have them all in one place, lying flat and ready to use. 
The other exciting part is that the other giant drawers have these little dividers, creating ready-made cubbies for all my stationery things. I’m currently picking patterned papers to line each section. Lining drawers is serious business around here.
We are still waiting for the parts to finish the last drawer in the cabinet. There were a couple of pieces that cracked during shipping, but thankfully we were able to get the whole thing together minus one drawer and that last drawer will be a piece of cake to finish once we get those parts. (Edit: we=Naoto…he did 99% of the work building this.) The furniture is all in place and I’m filling it up quickly. I hope to be able to show you another in-progress shot next week. There is still quite a lot of work to do–I will have to move the artwork and patch some holes in the wall and repaint the wall–before I can call the living room “complete.”
I will be back next week with an update, hopefully, and some more regularly scheduled programming. Have a great weekend!
Japan Does It Better 17: Calendar Decals
If you visit any stationery store in Tokyo you will find aisles upon aisles devoted to calendar keeping. Not only are there tons of options for calendars and datebooks but there are tons of styles of these tiny stickers to help keep your appointments, duties, birthdays and other special events organized. I am a big fan of using my paper datebook and I couldn’t resist picking up a new set of calendar stickers at each stationery store I visited.
I bought some basic green washi dots to mark my work schedule and some basic see through colored squares for random appointments like board meetings and book group. 
Most of the stickers I purchased are cat-themed. I use the cats and some other stickers I have in my stash to mark parties, coffee dates, birthdays and anniversaries. 
These stickers are the most literal calendar stickers. I just started using them to mark doctor’s appointments, car repair appointments and classes. 
I love looking at my month-at-a-glance page and seeing the cats, washi tapes and other stickers highlighting the fun activities each month.
Leave it to Japan to make something cute and practical! When it comes to kawaii calendar organization, Japan Does It Better!
To see the other JDIB posts, go here.
Greer Goods
I was really excited to learn that the Midwest Buddhist Temple was in the same neighborhood as everyone’s favorite stationery shop, Greer. I’ve been trying not to buy stationery, especially since I still have a ton of stuff to use up from my last trip to Japan, but a trip to Greer is always good for the soul. And, after being sick and shut in for a week, my soul needed some stationery. (How’s that for excuses?)
The City of Industry envelope pin was a must-have. I’ve worn it almost every day since Saturday, sporting my stationery love on my sweater. (I’m on my way to having my own “letter sweater“!) 
The Secret Garden postcard book was too good to pass up! The postcard book is a companion to the Secret Garden coloring book by Johanna Basford. The coloring book and the postcard book are filled with detailed drawings of gardens and flowers and birds and butterflies just waiting to be colored in. (That link is from the artist’s blog and includes so many great pictures of the coloring book.) I think I might color in some postcards and send others blank so my friends can decorate a card for themselves. 
And finally, a YAY! ring. Made by Plastique and Paper Trail, the ring is a rubber stamp…because you never know when you need to stamp a little YAY on something. Greer has several of these stamps to choose from, including their own exclusive “THX” stamp. I tend to overuse YAY! so it just seemed like the right purchase for me.
Those were my purchases…chosen with restraint. I will be going back for some new paper-y goodness at Greer. But for now, I just need to get back into letter writing so I can use up some of my stationery hoard.
Sakura Decorese Pens
Last time we were in Japan, I tried one of these Sakura Decorese pens. I didn’t know anything about the pen, just that it looked a little fancy and that the ink was a little bit glittery. It wrote beautifully, leaving a thick layer of ink behind that was vibrant and a bit glittery. Fun! I bought the red one thinking it would be perfect for addressing holiday cards or Valentines. (I tend to enjoy glitter at the holidays.) 
Naoto picked up a few more colors for me when he was in Japan last month. I did some research about the pens and learned that they are really made for writing on metal, glass and plastic. Of course they work on paper as well, and I feel like on paper you can appreciate the shimmery ink a little bit more, but it’s always fun to have a writing tool that works on multiple surfaces. 
I used one to label my simple syrup jar. The ink is not so permanent that it will stay on the lid forever, but it will survive a light hand washing. 
I do find the “make-up design” of the pens a little bit odd…they kind of look like they belong in a cosmetic bag instead of a pencil pouch because of their odd shape and their flowery barrel. In fact, one Ebay store is selling the pens as nail art pens. Meh, I will stick to using them on paper and other non-human surfaces…
June Paper Parcel
June’s Paper Parcel was another stunner–the theme was “Farmers’ Market” and every little bit was better than the last. I am really excited that Naoto renewed my subscription for the rest of the year because it has been such a treat to get these in the mail every month. 
This is how it arrived…sweetly packaged in brown paper with a fruit label and sweet gingham fabric ribbon. (Sorry for the weird foot picture. I tore open the package before taking a proper picture.) 
These are some of my favorite bits: milk and juice caps, milk tickets, stamps, a Dennison orange seal and tiny Dennison labels. 
And I love these red fruit and vegetable labels. 
The “big pieces” this month consist of ledgers, cookbook pages, gardening book pages, fruit & vegetable delivery receipts and dairy receipts. 
A Florida orange grove postcard, a recipe card and two seed packets were other vintage treats. 
There were lots of little price tags and fruit and vegetable crate labels. I love the graphics on those labels and the “Fruit Cup” one is making me crave a can of fruit cocktail. I’m going to use the pea label in our garden journal. 
And as always, Xenia can find a playing card for every theme. The rooster and the pear are wonderful, but the soybean and oat cards (both from different Pit games) are so unique and have the best graphics. And of course the Florida orange round card takes the cake…round cards for the win every time!
To see more Paper Parcels from my subscription, go here and for more information on Saturday Morning Vintage’s Paper Parcel Subscription, go here.
Balcony Mail Art Afternoon
Last week the weather was perfect: low 80s, sun shining, breeze blowing… On Tuesday I had my morning coffee on the balcony and decided to stay outside and work on some mail art. I grabbed a big sunhat and my mail art kit from the LWA Lab and decided to use all of the components up and make as many envelopes as I could. I brought out part of my washi tape collection to supplement, but otherwise almost everything I used was from the kit. Here’s what I came up with…
There were so many great vintage papers in my kit. I was tempted to hoard some of the bits, but making myself use them up was quite satisfying. One of Donovan’s mail art tips was to limit yourself on supplies so you’re not overwhelmed with choices. I think limiting myself to the kit and a few rolls of washi tape made this mail art afternoon more fun and productive than some of my other mail art making sessions. The weather didn’t hurt either… I still have a couple of leftover envelopes and a huge map to work with on later mail art projects. Now…I just need to write some letters to fill those envelopes!!
LWA Lab: Mail Art Master
On Sunday, my friend Karen and I went to the very first ever Letter Writers Alliance Laboratory. We drank and ate envelope-shaped cookies and an array of other snacks while Donovan and Kathy wore lab coats and went over the basics and tips and tricks about mail art, encouraging us to push the envelope (pun intended) when it comes to sending mail. As part of the class, we each got a mail art kit, complete with loads of envelopes and vintage paper bits, washi tape, adhesives, a map, an envelope template all in a handy carrying case. 
You can see some of my bits above. I sat at the seat with the orange mail art kit. (Everyone got a different color.) All of the kits were amazing, but I’m so glad I picked mine. So many of the pieces inside were perfect for certain pen pals and I got the map of Illinois (shown on the envelope above) which has both my current town and my hometown included in it! (My hometown has a tiny population of 1100…it never shows up on maps!!) I only made one envelope from the template and decorated one envelope during our free time…I was too busy talking and listening to everyone’s fun mail ideas. It’s so much fun gathering with fellow mail lovers outside of my mailbox! 
For our last mail art project, we each received a giant pencil to mail. We wrote our recipients’ addresses right on the pencil, posted it with stamps and then later dropped it into a neighboring mailbox. 
Our pencils dropped into the mailbox with a thump, mingling with all the other pencils from the workshop. I think the letter carrier who empties this box is going to have quite a surprise today!
Thanks for a fantastic afternoon, LWA!
(To see more pictures from the workshop, you can look under #LWALab on Instagram.)
P.S. Remember when I mailed a pigeon?
LWA Address Stamp
My friend Karen gave me the most thoughtful birthday gift–a custom Letter Writers Alliance member address stamp. I’ve been wanting one for a long time, but never bought one because Naoto and I have two address stamps already so it didn’t feel practical to buy another. But those two stamp have our shared name, Hasegawa. I really wanted one with MY name, since really, most of the mail that goes out of our door is from me to my pen pals and not from us as a family.
That’s why the address stamp was such a perfect gift–it’s not something I would have bought for myself but it was something I really wanted.
And because address stamps can be very personal, Karen set everything up with Kathy and Donovan and they whipped up a gift certificate for the stamp. That way, I could pick out how my name would look.
The stamp is teeny–“about the size of a postage stamp” (according to the LWA site) and it is perfect for postcards and mail art because it does the job without taking up so much space. Honestly, I’ve rarely used my other address stamps since getting this one. It stamps crisply and clearly and–the best part–it includes my member number!
Thank you, Karen!
Scenes From Bunbougu Cafe
Oh Bunbougu Cafe! Please expand to my community!
I know, I know…it wouldn’t be the same. I wish more people in the US would embrace the marriage of cafes and stationery shops.
I spent a lot of time at Bunbougu during our vacation. In addition to spending my birthday there, we went back again and again for coffees and shopping. My favorite thing (other than my birthday dinner) was the snack you see above. I ordered a set that included a pot of tea and three tiny sweets. As you can imagine, I was blown away by the tiny office supply-shaped cookies. I ordered the strawberry matcha poundcake, the hazelnut ginger pencil cookies and the yuzu pepper key cookies. Everything was so flavorful and delicious–the keys were so peppery that my mouth was burning (in the best way possible!) There were other options on the menu (including a coconut flavored triangle and protractor) and you can see them here.
All of Bunbougu Cafe’s menus are hand drawn (by one of their own workers) with gorgeous colored pencil illustrations of their food and cocktails. 
One of my favorite things to order was the caramel tea latte, a milky black tea with a hint of caramel-y sweetness. I’m working on perfecting my own at home since it will be awhile before I can drink one at Bunbougu again! If you received a postcard from me in Japan, most likely it was written at Misdo or Bunbougu…it’s the perfect place for mail! 
Bunbougu offers loads of unique stationery, desk items, pens and pencils, washi tape, office supplies… Many things are made in Japan and most of their offerings are from small makers and businesses. I saw many familiar American makers’ products too. I ended up buying two more silver boxes, pencils and washi tape.
But my favorite “purchase” was my new membership at the Bunbougu Cafe. For ¥700, I now have my own membership card and a key to the stationery drawers at Bunbougu! Now each time I go, I can show off my key or my membership card and get into special events (if they ever occur during our visits) and unlock the stationery drawers at the cafe. I already left my business card in one and sifted through the pretty papers and pens…apparently too busy enjoying things to take a picture (sorry!)
See you soon, Bunbougu Cafe!
kimberly ah 