Happy Virtual Letter Social Day!! Although I won’t be able to participate in the video portion of the social (I hate it when work commitments get in the way of letter writing!) I will be finishing my Valentines and writing letters throughout the day (or as long as Presley stays off the table.)
Happy letter writing!
On January 1st, I spent the day catching up on all of my mail. I sent out a big stack of seventeen New Year’s cards and thank yous on the second.
For New Year cards, I sent three different versions–two different Japanese postcards and letterpressed greeting cards. We got the Japanese postcards at Mitsuwa again. Roughly translated, the fan one says “We humbly wish you a happy new year” and the bamboo one says “Thank you very much for all assistance rendered the previous year. We ask for your continuous guidance this year as well.” The little bamboo drawing on the bottom is a classic Japanese New Year symbol called a kadomatsu.
The greeting cards are from Saturn Press, a letterpress printing company in Maine. (They don’t have a website, but I found some information about them here, which I think is quite interesting.) The card features two juncos sitting on a branch and the quote by Rainer Maria Rilke, “And now let us welcome the new year, full of things that have never been.” I love everything Saturn Press does, but these are my favorites–from the birds to the simple phrase and the gorgeous paper stock with its deckled edge…these cards are dreamy. 
I put all of the cards in envelopes (even the postcards) and decorated them with washi tape, metallic stars, and old Japanese Woodblock Cavallini calendars. (I had several in my stash, so I picked out the wintry months to use. Cavallini uses artwork by Hasui Kawase, the same artist who was on our Christmas cards.)
And to seal the deal, I got to use my shiny new Letter Writers Alliance member stamp. It feels good to start the year out with a stack of mail…let’s hope I can keep up the postal momentum!
Thanksgiving crept up on me this year. My mind has been occupied with other things and I didn’t have any real inspiration for an invitation. So, I went with leftovers…fitting, eh?
A few years ago, I made our Thanksgiving place cards with this Acorn kit from Paper Source. I had some leftovers, which I saved and used as a garland or something last year. Anyway, one acorn got a new life as an invitation. I typed out a basic note on vellum and cut it out with a circle punch. Then I tied the vellum on with a little gold and white twine. 
I used a vellum envelope embellished with some squirrel and leaves washi tape and I used one of my “vintage” Thanksgiving stamps (a purchase from the Stamp King of Chicago.) 
Seriously, that stamp is a cornucopia of postal goodness. (If you’re interested, here is a little article that shows the USPS Thanksgiving stamp offerings.) 
Here it is, all packed up.
And now…back to cleaning and menu planning!
My pen friend April just became a citizen of New Zealand. I wanted to send her a congratulations card but of course, finding a “Congratulations on your New Zealand citizenship” card in the U.S. was a challenge. But I knew Hallmark would sell a U.S. citizenship card (Hallmark sells every kind of card.) so I dug around in the Congratulations section in the store and found a one. Naoto was with me, shaking his head. He didn’t see the brilliance in my plan. 
I figured if red, white and blue worked for a USA citizenship, it would work for a New Zealand one. I printed out a New Zealand flag and pasted it over the American flag in the forefront. It didn’t fit perfectly, but I was okay with that. It’s not like I was trying to hide that this card was modified. And I felt that the American flags in the background were a nice touch since April is an American, too.
I added some New Zealand flags to the envelope and went through my vintage stamp collection to find some red, white and blue postage stamps. I had such a great time digging through my stamps and adding up my favorites for this envelope. April often uses an eclectic mix of New Zealand stamps on her envelopes so I *think* she will appreciate the themed vintage postage.
Have you ever altered a greeting card to make it suit your needs? Or are you shaking your head along with Naoto?
Have a good weekend!
A couple of veterans from my hometown went on Honor Flight recently. Neither went with Honor Flight Chicago, so unfortunately I wasn’t able to see them off or welcome them home at the airport. They each flew on different flights with other Illinois-based Honor Flights. One veteran, my Great Uncle Tom went this year and the other veteran, my old neighbor Bud, went last year. When it comes to thank yous, I employ the “better late than never” rule.
This summer I came across an offer from One Canoe Two (and a sponsor, Veterans United) to get this 3-pack of military cards for free. I ordered a set because I knew two of the cards would be perfect for these guys. And, I had a couple of extra Honor Flight Chicago pins from when I started doing mail call a few years ago. (Maureen gave me several pins and told me to use them to “spread the word and good cheer” about Honor Flight.) At Saturday’s letter social, I wrote notes inside the cards and tucked a card and a pin inside some old notecard boxes. This is a trick I learned from Donovan who is the queen of reusing things in the name of mail.
The clear plastic packaging just happened to be the exact size of my A2 cards and left room for the pinback. I had a good time decorating the boxes with patriotic washi tape. At the letter social, we weighed the package and it was 1.5 ounces. There was some disagreement about whether it’s a letter or a package, so I came home and looked up the specifications on the USPS website. It’s technically too thick to be a letter (the box is 1/2 inch thick, the letter limit is 1/4 inch) so the postage came to $2.32. I happily used my Inverted Jenny stamps and a flag forever stamp. 
I hope Bud and Uncle Tom like their mail surprises!
P.S. That’s my Uncle Tom above with his daughters and son-in-law during his Welcome Home Celebration.
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.
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!!
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?
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!
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!
kimberly ah 