office supplies | kimberly ah

Jun 23 2014

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.

Tagged crafts, mail art, office supplies, shopping, summer, vintage

Jun 11 2014

4 Comments

crafty adventures, Office Supplies, snail mail

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!!

Tagged crafts, diy, mail art, office supplies, washi tape

May 27 2014

3 Comments

crafty adventures, Office Supplies, snail mail

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?

Tagged adventures, crafts, diy, mail art, office supplies, snail mail, washi tape

May 19 2014

6 Comments

Office Supplies, snail mail

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!

Tagged crafts, mail art, office supplies, rubber stamp, shopping, snail mail

May 16 2014

5 Comments

adventures, coffee talk, Japan 2014, My Love Affair with Tokyo, Office Supplies, snail mail, Tea

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!

Tagged adventures, coffee, food, I *heart* Japan, Japan, mail art, office supplies, snail mail, washi tape

May 13 2014

12 Comments

adventures, Japan 2014, My Love Affair with Tokyo, Office Supplies, snail mail, Spending the Yen

Spending the Yen 4: Yubinkyoku Treasures

One of my favorite places to shop in Tokyo is the post office. Or, I should say, the many post offices. Of course, my favorite was our “local” PO but it was fun to get out to other locations to see the different offerings. The postcards and washi tape above are from the Tokyo Central Post Office located near Tokyo Station and inside the Kitte shopping and dining center. (Kitte is Japanese for postage stamp.) Jess took us there and smiled as we walked into the post office. She knew it would be a hit. (Thanks, Jess!) The Kitte had special washi tape made for its first anniversary. I couldn’t resist. I also picked out some Posta Collect mailbox letter paper and a pen. It reminded me of the glue stick from last year. Anything that has that classic red mailbox on it is pretty much a guaranteed purchase.I loved the spring mailbox postcard and the big postal bear ready to deliver a big message. And this tiny tape runner is the perfect size for traveling and it’s shaped like a mail truck! I bought the fourth set of constellation stamps and my brother-in-law, Norio gave me the other set. It’s Tokyo Skytree and Tokyo Tower. Norio also gave me these post office stickers. The bike, the mail truck, the mailboxes, the mail bags…they were the best gift ever. I love that Japan has so many postal treats. I sent out so many postcards using the spring stamps (shown above). Japan really embraces unique shapes in their postage stamps, this time using round and sakura shaped stamps. This fancy mail van was delivering packages to our hotel and Lawson’s convenience store. Yay for good mail and good mail treasures!

Tagged adventures, I *heart* Japan, Japan, mail art, office supplies, snail mail, washi tape

May 12 2014

2 Comments

crafty adventures, Office Supplies, snail mail

All Caught Up On Mail

As of today, I am all caught up with my mail. If there was an open entry in my Letter Ledger, it was filled. This never happens. I’ve totally blown my resolution to return mail within one week of receiving it. But now that my inbox is empty, I feel like I can reset and have another try at responding more quickly.

I also took some time last week to finally pack up and send off some Japanese treats (of the stationery, snack and hand towel varieties) for friends far and near. I had a great time decorating the packages with some stamps, stickers and washi tape I picked up during my trip. For the most part, I kept my mail art simple with washi tapes and random bits of paper and stickers. Of course, now that I’m all caught up on mail, I’m behind on laundry, sweeping the floors and reading for book club this weekend. One thing at a time, right?

Tagged crafts, mail art, office supplies, rubber stamp, snail mail

May 09 2014

April & May Paper Parcels

I fell off the wagon of sharing my Saturday Morning Vintage monthly paper parcels from my Christmas gift subscription. I’m determined to continue to catch up on sharing, because every month is a delight in my mailbox. So today, I’m sharing April & May and I will go back to February & March soon.

When I get my paper parcel and take it out of the mailing envelope, it always looks like a gift, so pretty and perfectly packaged. I leave it on my desk for a few days to savor it for a little longer, until I just can’t wait to see what’s inside. You can see April’s “gift wrapped” paper parcel above…the theme was Spring and it was one of my favorites so far. I don’t know how Xenia gets all the little bits to stay in place, but they always look so pleasing in the cellophane envelope. I especially love how the birds are peeking out from behind the label. I am planning to use most of this paper pack for yet-to-be-created garden journal to document our first year of gardening last year. I want to blend the pictures and notes I took of Plot #6 into a pretty mini-book. These larger pieces of old nature journals are going to be perfect background and filler pages. I love the old “Honey Do Pad” and the Yard Work order form. What unique finds! The old seed packets are so lovely and I love the vintage bird information card, but I have to say the vintage Dennison flower and bird labels (bottom right) are the big treasures here. They are die cut and embossed and their colors are so vibrant, it’s hard for them not to steal the show!I would love to see Xenia’s entire playing card collection because all of the paper packs have a few enclosed and each one is fabulous. She really outdid herself with the floral playing cards though. Can’t you just imagine a 1950s ladies bridge club playing with those pretty round cards?May’s paper parcel theme was Travel. It was gift wrapped in an old map and tied up with an air mail envelope. I’ve been using up a lot of my air mail envelopes lately. I can’t get enough of those red and blue stripes! Again, everything was wonderfully displayed in the cellophane…In the bigger pieces, there were old maps, dictionary pages, postcards, travel cards and vintage air mail envelopes (one with 6 cents of postage printed on it!)There were old train tickets and a lot of travel game pieces. I love those travel bingo cards (center bottom). My favorite piece from this month’s packet is the round “United States Lines” sticker. The little bits include taxi tickets, stamps, more Dennison labels and a fabulous American Airlines air mail label. And the playing cards!! American Airlines, England, Canada, Santa Fe…so many good ones.

Next month is the last month for my subscription, but Naoto already promised me a Paper Parcel anniversary gift so I’m looking forward to getting treats in my mailbox for the rest of the year!

For more information on the Saturday Morning Vintage Paper Parcels, go here.

Have a good weekend!

Tagged adventures, crafts, garden, mail art, office supplies, snail mail, vintage

Apr 23 2014

2 Comments

Japan 2014, My Love Affair with Tokyo, Office Supplies, snail mail, Spending the Yen

Spending the Yen 3: Sakura Stationery

It was hard to resist the pull of the sakura in Japan this time of year. I got swept up in sakura season mainly because I’m a sucker for that pretty pink flower, but also because things in Japan are merchandised so well…stores really get into their themes, especially when the spring flower emerges. Poor Naoto, every time he saw the pink displays, he knew we were going to linger in the store just a few minutes longer.

Other than the sakura postcards I sent from Japan, I came home with some extra postcards, stickers, tiny cards and envelopes and kaishi papers (the two folded stacks at the top of the picture). Kaishi papers are traditionally used as table decorations or mats for sweets served at tea ceremonies. I bought some Mt. Fuji kaishi papers during our last trip and have been using them as stationery. That’s my plan for the sakura ones too. The tiny cards and envelopes are my favorites, even though they aren’t very practical. And the Mt. Fuji sakura stickers have a lovely texture and gold foil accents. Sakura season might be over, but I’m having fun using my sakura stationery here at home. It is definitely early spring here (though it’s cold again, after our beautiful day Sunday) so sending flowery mail just feels right.

Oh hey…this is my 400th post!

Tagged crafts, I *heart* Japan, Japan, mail art, office supplies, snail mail

Apr 14 2014

Spending the Yen 2: Inkan

I have many favorite purchases from my trip to Tokyo, so I’m reviving the (defunct) Spending the Yen series.

On this trip, I bought a custom-made inkan. An inkan is an official stamp used in Japan (and other Asian countries) to sign important documents and contracts. Now, I know I’m not living in Japan or signing anything important here at home, but I wanted one as a fun way to sign letters.

Because it had to be custom-made, we knew going in that we had to order it at the beginning of our trip. We planned to go to Itoya to order it because we had browsed their selection last September and we had seen some inexpensive, decent styles. But as luck would have it, we got to buy it at a tiny inkan shop near Naoto’s mom’s neighborhood! We happened upon the shop while waiting for Naoto’s sister to join us before visiting their mom. The shop owner was wonderful to work with, explaining the choices of materials and the process of making the inkan…I love shopping with small businesses!I chose Japanese cedar because it was budget-friendly and natural. A really special inkan can costs hundreds of dollars. I didn’t need anything that serious.The characters that “spell” Kimberly are delicately carved out of the wood. The stamped image is about a half inch tall and I love that it’s oval. (My name is too long for a round stamp.) We picked up the stamp a week later and it was packaged (complete with a little ink pad and case) in the bag you see above. Along the side, the shop owner wrote “Miss Kimberly”. I wrote a couple of thank yous and Easter cards last week and used my inkan to sign them. Official, right?