rubber stamp | kimberly ah

Dec 01 2014

Our Thanksgiving 2014

Another Thanksgiving is in the books and the world (and our apartment) is moving on to Christmas. As usual, Naoto whipped up a delicious meal and my mom made a yummy spiced apple cheesecake for dessert. I wasn’t feeling especially inspired, so I set a simple table this year. I crafted a “centerpiece” from a turkey on a stack of books and some candles, similar to last year’s table. I used some thrifted paper turkey napkin rings and I made place cards with my Yellow Owl Workshop place card stamp. I embossed the stamp in copper and typed our names. Simple…and with a table of four, it is really important that everyone can find a spot at the table! It was a delicious, relaxing day…I feel like Thanksgiving is the end of the calm part of the year, maybe that’s why it’s my favorite.

How was your holiday weekend?

Tagged celebrations, crafts, decorating, food, holidays, home, homemaking, parents, rubber stamp, Thanksgiving, thrifting

Nov 05 2014

2 Comments

Adami Adventure, adventures, Office Supplies

JC Penney Museum

One of our first stops while we were exploring Hamilton was the J.C. Penney Museum. The museum is part of the local library and is filled with items used by J.C. Penney personally as well as in his first stores. There is a wax figure of Penney himself anchoring the exhibit…it was a little alarming at first, but he felt like an old friend by the end. Some of my favorite items in the museum were the office supplies–so many fantastic rubber stamps and little notebooks and handbooks. And there was a tricky looking calculator and a gorgeous Underwood typewriter. Swoon! I love this picture from the JC Penney Golden Jubilee Convention in 1952. It was held at the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago and it looks like it was a fabulous event! Brannock devices and other shoe-selling tools make me miss good customer service in the shoe departments of today. This is a plate that was made for J.C. Penney’s eightieth birthday. Isn’t James Cash a terrific name?Ah, catalogs…so good for browsing, so bad for the environment.

I didn’t do any research before we went to the museum, but J.C. Penney’s desk is in the museum and unlike most museums, you are invited to sit in his chair. I’m bummed that I learned this after we left and the museum closed. We did thumb through the catalogs though. There was no one working in the museum, so when it came time to buy postcards (which were only 10¢ each!) I took them into the library side to pay for them. I love how quaint and laid-back it was! A few blocks down the main road is the J.C. Penney childhood home. It isn’t open for touring and it’s not in its original location (Penney grew up just outside of town in the countryside.) In the 80s it was saved from being torn down and moved into town and renovated. It sits among the businesses downtown Hamilton, a charming reminder of the man himself.

Tagged adventures, office supplies, parents, rubber stamp

Sep 10 2014

3 Comments

adventures at the library, Forest Park, Oak Park, snail mail

Guess Who’s Coming To Forest Park?

On Saturday (September 13) the Letter Writers Alliance is hosting a letter writing social at the Forest Park Public Library!

I love attending letter socials and LWA events and it’s even better when I can walk to one! The social goes from 1:30-3PM and more details can be found here on the library website.

Since I sent out twenty-five letters earlier this month, I’m not sure I will have anything in my mailbox that needs a response by Saturday, so I plan to write some friends and family just because. Those are the best kinds of letters anyway, right?

To see what to pack for a letter social, go here.

Tagged adventures, forest park, mail art, office supplies, rubber stamp, snail mail

Sep 09 2014

2 Comments

crafty adventures, Office Supplies, snail mail, Uncategorized

Handmade “Aerograms”

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!

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

Jul 18 2014

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.

Tagged adventures, mail art, office supplies, rubber stamp, shopping

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 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

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?

Tagged adventures, I *heart* Japan, Japan, office supplies, rubber stamp

Mar 01 2014

2 Comments

crafty adventures, Letter Month, Office Supplies, snail mail, washi weekend

The End of Another Letter Month

Yesterday marked the end of Letter Month. Last year, I felt a little bit burnt out at the end. This year, I feel re-energized about letter writing. I don’t really think it’s due to Letter Month though. I think it’s mostly due to meeting so many of my letter writing friends and feeling inspired by the mail people I met at Ex Postal Facto.

In total, I sent forty-three pieces of mail–two more than I sent last year. While I did write a letter every single day, there were some days that I didn’t make it to the mail box (which is sad because we have one in our building!) because of forgetfulness (or hibernation). But the act of writing happened every day and I hope to continue that to some extent beyond Letter Month. I did spend out some stationery I’ve kind of been hoarding, but I did not expand my mail art skills at all…mainly sticking with the usual washi tape and rubber stamps… There’s always room for improvement next year!

Thanks to everyone who filled my mailbox this month!

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

Feb 23 2014

2 Comments

crafty adventures, Letter Month, Office Supplies, snail mail

Letter Month, Round Up 4

We are heading into the home stretch of Letter Month! I feel–similar to last year–that I’m slacking lately. I’m sometimes barely making it by midnight, and not every letter is getting dropped in the blue box on the day it was written…but I’m staying on top of writing someone every day and returning letters within a week so I’m feeling pretty good about finishing this week strong! I have a few letters to return and I’m going to try to write a few of the people I met during Ex Postal Facto.