crafts | kimberly ah

Apr 04 2013

adventures, crafty adventures, Office Supplies, snail mail

Packing for a Letter Social

On Saturday, the Letter Writers Alliance is hosting yet another letter social and this time, it’s right in my neighborhood (sort of) at Pieritz Brothers in Oak Park! I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I lived a mere three blocks from Pieritz for two years (eleven years ago!) and I’ve only been in the store a handful of times. It is a Chicagoland treasure, and I plan to make up for my absence this year!

I’m packing my letter writing bag for the social and I thought I’d share what supplies I bring along to a letter social. Of course, you really just need a pen and paper and a letter recipient in mind, but I like to bring a few extras to spice up the mail experience.

Every time I go, I take a slightly different variety of things. For instance, in March, since the social happened just before St. Patrick’s Day, I brought a bunch of green stuff–shamrock stickers, tapes, pens and labels. This month, I’m going with more of a spring variety. I keep everything in separate little bags so I can take out what I need as I work and I’m not spreading out all over the table and taking up too much space. I have my pencil bag, a pouch for supplies and an air mail pouch for my stationery and letters.

In my pencil bag, I always carry a few different pen styles. This time, I have my favorite Pilot Frixions, my Pilot Varsity and a Le Pen or two. I’m very moody about what I write with, so I like to have a few options to choose from. I also carry a tiny stapler and tiny scissors along with a tape runner and a glue pen in the bag just in case I want to add mail art bits to the envelope.

In my little red cat pouch, I carry a small variety of rubber stamps, washi tapes and one ink pad. I usually have a color scheme to work from–this time it’s mainly pinks and blues and yellows for spring.

Finally, in my Air Mail pouch, I carry the rest of the mail essentials: letters to be returned, postage stamps, labels and stickers, my Letter Ledger (to track my outgoing letters), a few business cards (in case I meet someone new!), my mini address book, and paper and envelopes. This month I have spring flower postage–the cherry blossoms and Lady Bird Johnsons–along with some spring-colored labels and chick stickers.

Donovan & Kathy always offer a nice supply of paper, envelopes, rubber stamps, inks, washi tapes, pens, typewriters and even have postage on hand, but I like to bring some of my own things because there is no shortage of paper around here and because I enjoy theme-y stacks of mail.

Did I miss anything? Would you take more, or would you just show up with a pen ready to go?

Tagged adventures, crafts, diy, forest park, mail art, office supplies, rubber stamp, snail mail, washi tape

Apr 01 2013

4 Comments

crafty adventures, Office Supplies, snail mail

Jet Pens…Why Did I Wait So Long?

Last month, I placed my first order with Jet Pens. I’ve always held off ordering from them because we go to Japan for office supplies (oh, and to see family, of course!) but since we didn’t go last year and we won’t be able to go until the summer or fall this year, I decided it was time to treat myself. To be honest, it was the realization that Jet Pens sells Midori cat paper clips that sealed the deal. The rest of the stuff…it was just cart filler for the $25 free shipping. (I’m only slightly kidding.)

In addition to my beloved paper clips, I ordered two new Frixion pens in turquoise and blue-black. I talked about my love for the Frixion pens here, and having them in two more colors has made calendar keeping and letter writing even better.

And, after reading this LWA post, I wanted to try etegami, so I added the postcards, a waterproof pen and a water brush to my order. (I already have plenty of watercolors, otherwise I would have bought this.) I’m excited to try etegami this week–if anyone needs a dose of wabi-sabi in her life, it’s me!

Everything arrived from Jet Pens quite quickly, and although it’s not quite the same as going to Japan and spending six hours in Itoya or Tokyu Hands, it’s a nice treat to get some fancy pens and paper clips in the mail every now and again. Wouldn’t you agree?

Tagged crafts, mail art, office supplies, snail mail

Mar 06 2013

1 Comment

adventures, celebrations, Christmas, crafty adventures, handmade=happiness, homemaking

Monogram Tea Towel

I whipped up a quick tea towel for my parents last night. It was a last minute craft, one where I didn’t even iron all if the wrinkles out of the tea towel…

I keep a stash of plain white flour sack tea towels in my closet for craft emergencies. (Mine are from Target, but you get the idea.) They are the first things I learned to embroider (I made a sushi towel for Naoto) and the fabric is thin but not too thin for little stitches. My mom has several of these towels that she’s had for years, and like most things, the ones made today are much thinner than the old ones. (They don’t make things like they used to.)

Because I wanted to keep things simple with a monogram (A for Adami, in case you didn’t put that together…), I just practiced writing a few cursive A’s until I found one I liked, then I traced the A onto the fabric with a Pilot FriXion Pen. I use the FriXion pens in my calendar, I love they way they write and the eras-ability factor. So imagine my delight when I heard from Mollie and read a great tip here that the ink disappears when it’s heated, making the FriXion pen perfect for embroidery and quilting (and probably other crafts). I didn’t have to worry about heating up my A to remove the lines because my 6-strand split stitch covered the thin (0.5) line perfectly.

Sidenote: I do have first-hand experience with the disappearing ink. I left my FriXion pen on my balcony on a sunny summer day last year and when I went back to use it again, the ink flowed clear instead of black. Huge bummer for me, but thankfully I had about ten back-up pens…

I think my parents liked it–my mom told my dad he should use it when he bakes bread–and I think the red variegated floss (Anchor #1206) matches their kitchen just enough. All-in-all I think a quickie tea towel makes a nice little gift, don’t you?

Tagged adventures, celebrations, Christmas, crafts, diy, holidays, home, homemaking, parents

Feb 28 2013

3 Comments

crafty adventures, Letter Month, snail mail

So Long, Letter Month…

Today is the end of February, which means the end of the Month of Letters.

The sad news is I missed one day–the day Naoto had his surgery, February 19th. I wrote a letter that day at the hospital, but I was unorganized and didn’t bring my stamp and envelope and didn’t get it sent out in time…I am super-bummed about not having a perfect record, but I’m going to try to let it go because I sent a total of 41 letters!! I’m pretty excited about that number and I hope it means I will keep on keeping on with my mail habit.

At one point in the middle of the month, my mailbox had been empty for a few days. I started panicking that I wouldn’t have someone to write to during my daily writing time. It also didn’t help that my life was particularly unexciting this month, aside from Naoto’s surgery. During the mail drought, I took time to write notes to my grandparents and to a couple of friends who are going through difficult times. Any other month, I probably would have put off sending these notes because I didn’t know what to say, or didn’t have the perfect card, or just because I let it slip my mind. This month, since letter writing was at the forefront of my mind, I made the time and I made the effort. In the end, hearing from me was more important than perfection… It was a good reminder: Don’t let perfect be the enemy of the good!

One thing that kept me ahead of the game was Valentine’s Day. It helped that this sweet little holiday gave me an excuse to churn out a few easy notes (along with buntings and decorated envelopes!) I felt so good on the days when more than one letter was going out the door…most days (19 of them to be exact) it was just one letter. Some days, I wasn’t into decorating the envelope, but other days I was really into it. During Valentine week, I was really into it. I was able to use up some papers and bits that have been hanging out in my stash for a long time (like those pink “Be Heart Smart” hearts on the envelopes above that have been around since, oh, maybe second grade…)

I got some really amazing mail from my always-reliable pen friends throughout the month, too. I returned every letter I received this month (except for one I received yesterday which I plan to devote some time to tomorrow night). I also gained three new pen pals–yay for more merry mail making!

I am so glad I participated again this year, and that I beat my goal of sending 28 pieces…it’s not often I beat a goal (ahem…guest room clean-out). It’s really thanks to my regular pen friends that I was able to send out more mail…because even my grandparents (among other non-letter writers) didn’t reply to my letters or Valentines…(cue the violins!) A huge postman-sized hug for those of you who filled my mailbox this month!

I’m ready to move onto another project (after the spare room is done!) Today I’m going to put my red and pink mail things away, tidy up my desk and bring out some fresh supplies for March. Because the mail making doesn’t end with Letter Month, but there’s room for something new, too!

These were some of my favorite envelopes this month. To see the rest, you can take a peek here on Instagram.

Tagged crafts, holidays, mail art, rubber stamp, snail mail, washi tape

Feb 15 2013

Over the Moon

I like to send silly greeting cards to Naoto at his office (the translation office, not Trader Joe’s). I do it because he mostly gets the boring mail at home and because I have a compulsive habit of falling in love with the perfect greeting cards for him and buying them too often. I love going to visit Naoto and seeing them all displayed on the ledge behind his desk.

When I saw this card with “Presley” flying over the moon, I fell in love (as I do with all Rifle cards!). I decided to send it to Naoto as a little pre-Valentine. I also made him a special blue washi tape bunting (because blue is his favorite and all of the pink ones just seemed too girly!) and tucked in inside the envelope.

I decorated the envelope with some blue washi tape and a vintage paper heart from this set by K is for Calligraphy and I used one of our leftover wedding invitation stamps for the postage (because who else wants to see that stamp!).

When I went to Naoto’s office on Wednesday night, he had the bunting all strung up by his desk. You can see his little card collection in the background (along with the all-business bulletin board information!)

For his “real” Valentine, I bought him a box of Choco Tacos (mentioned recently here)…I’m pretty sure he appreciated those more that the washi bunting!

Tagged celebrations, crafts, decorating, diy, holidays, mail art, snail mail, washi tape

Feb 14 2013

9 Comments

celebrations, crafty adventures, snail mail

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I know some of my Valentine’s are still en route, being lovingly handled by the post offices in a few countries, but I wanted to share them before red and pink become as stale as Christmas cookies in February.

I had the little gold foil heart cards in my stash from last year. They are from the Paper Source (and are apparently out of stock). I also bought these postcards from Rifle Paper Company. I am pretty much in love with anything Rifle and once I saw the little flying cupid postman and the postage stamp edging, I knew I wanted these in my stationery stash.

Last week I pulled out my washi tape stash and some twine and started making some simple washi tape buntings. I got kind of addicted to playing with different colors and patterns and ended up with more than a dozen of them so I tucked the tiny buntings into little glassine envelopes and sent them off with some of my cards.

I miss the Valentine’s of my school days when my classmates used to add little stickers or candy hearts in the tiny, thin white paper envelopes of their store-bought Valentines, so this seemed like a good way to bring that back.

I hope you have a super Valentine’s Day! Whether you are spending it with your significant other, your family (both human & furry!), I hope your day is full of love and good mail!

Tagged celebrations, crafts, holidays, mail art, rubber stamp, snail mail, washi tape

Feb 06 2013

1 Comment

adventures at the library, crafty adventures

Into the Fold

Last night my friend Jackie and I went to the Oak Park Library for an origami flower class.

Ian, a librarian and the origami class teacher, learned origami at a young age and has been doing it ever since. He was a cool cucumber in a large class, full of latecomers, adults, children and different paper-folding capabilities. He had a big board displaying the step-by-step folds, which was an awesome tool both for comparing my folds and trying to sneak ahead as I got more comfortable. I folded the three flowers above in about an hour and my folds were better each time. That’s not to say my last flower was perfect (oh, far from it!)…but I did get better!

Learning a new paper fold made me realize how much I enjoy learning and taking classes. I need to take advantage of opportunities like this one and get out more often, even in the snowy cold!

Thanks for joining me, Jackie!

If you are interested in learning how to fold an origami lily, I found a helpful tutorial here.

Tagged adventures, crafts, diy

Jan 21 2013

5 Comments

crafty adventures, homemaking, Office Supplies

Mrs. Cox Would Be Proud

Last Monday I started the unplanned project of organizing my desk drawers. (This led to the opening of the paper storage trunk and several other cans of worms.) Between the two desks there are four (large, but shallow) drawers. Since we’ve built the desks, I’ve just been using the drawers as a safe-keeping-dumping-ground for when company came over and when I needed to use the desk top for actual work/craft stuff. Over time, each drawer kind of took on its own personality–there was the mail drawer (letters to be returned, bits of stationery, stamps, the good pens), the coupon drawer (sale ads, weekly inserts from the Sunday paper, store coupons, the random checkbook that I can never find because I use it once a year), the crafting drawer (recently used rubber stamps & inks, all of the other pens, recently purchased washi tapes, random bits of paper, photographs, fancy paperclips) and a relatively empty drawer (where I was keeping stuff for the Election party and Thanksgiving, but now that stuff is in our storage closet and miraculously the drawer hasn’t been overtaken by other stuff).

So on Friday (after procrastinating and getting the rest of the worms in order) I finally finished–the desktop is clear (except the fun stuff) and the drawers are organized. And, not only are the drawers organized, but they are beautiful–I lined them with large sheets of paper from my stash. Spending out=big win.

Meet the newly organized coupon drawer (which also holds some other things I use while I’m at the computer):

The mail drawer (I am so excited to get some of my favorite stationery out of the second bedroom and into the desk where it’s easy to see!):

The “extra” drawer after:

The craft drawer:

Next I want to hang up the art that is just sitting on the desk top (and in the closet). I’m hesitating because I’m not sure how the vintage time card holder is going to work up there. Any opinions?

Tagged crafts, decorating, homemaking, snail mail

Jan 17 2013

4 Comments

crafty adventures, homemaking, some stuff about me

Tiny Plastic Pig

I had the nicest teacher ever in third grade. Mrs. Cox was so patient and caring, but she was also firm. One morning when I walked into the classroom, I found the entire contents of my desk tossed on the floor and on my desktop sat a tiny plastic pig. I was a very sensitive child–a bit of a goody, goody–so at first I was stunned, then I was saddened by this “mean” act. But when I looked at Mrs. Cox, she was smiling and she said that when desks got this messy it was best to start over. That just made everything better (well, a little bit…to this day I still feel slightly mortified by that moment, even though other students–mostly boys–had pigs on their desks, too). I got to work putting my desk back together and throwing out a ton of old papers and other stuff (I was apparently a hoarder back then, too!). My third grade desk never got that messy again…but I hardly learned my lesson–I am still very messy today.

So on Monday, I pulled out the tiny plastic pig (unfortunately, this is only a metaphor…I really do need a plastic pig) and started dumping everything out of my desk drawers. What you see in the picture above is some of my desktop clutter mixed with the contents of one of the drawers. All week I’ve been working on getting my desk to “perfection” status (all while trying to remember not to let perfect be the enemy of the good!) It’s quite a challenge. Since most of my crafting happens on the desks but most of my craft supplies are in the second bedroom, the process involves a lot of walking around and deciding what should go where…and what should go into the donation pile. In other words, organizing the desk has opened a whole other can of worms that involves the spare room (and somehow the junk drawer in the kitchen). I’m trying to keep my eye on the prize: a neat & tidy & functional work surface.

Tagged crafts, decorating, homemaking, memories

Jan 16 2013

27 Comments

crafty adventures, in my library, Office Supplies, snail mail, thoughts, Words to Live By

Spend Out

When I read The Happiness Project, one thing that stayed with me most was the part where Gretchen Rubin talks about “spending out”. She confesses to having a hard time using brand new things for the first time (not wanting to ruin their “pristine glory”) and tells a personal story about a bottle of perfume that sat on her grandmother’s dresser for as long as she remembered. The bottle was full when her grandmother died, most likely because her grandmother was saving it for a special occasion.

I’m a total saver. In some ways, it’s a good thing. My savings paid for our wedding and the down payment on our apartment. But in many other ways, my saving is just crazy. I save my “good outfits” (just in case some fun, unexpected plans come up) instead of wearing them to work or to run errands. I save gift cards for the perfect purchase. (We still have three gift cards from our wedding almost seven years ago.) I save the snacks I bring home from Japan. I save the “good” pens for the “right” use, as if I don’t deserve to enjoy writing out my to-do list. I save the good stationery for special occasions (which, for the record, never happen). I save scrapbook supplies because I never think I’m good enough or creative enough to use them the “right” way. I save good art in the closet because I’m afraid to mess up where/how I hang it. I save (as pictured above) fancy paper for juuuust the right project. (Full disclosure: this is just a small portion of my paper collection…the rest is in bins in the closet. Shall I take a break while you call the Hoarders people now?)

I don’t think I’m alone in my saving (hoarding). I often hear to other crafters lament that it’s hard use up their “best” supplies. I know other letter-writing lovers who talk about “hoarding” their vintage postage. I know people who have a hard time making the first pen mark in a brand new journal. I have a set of teacups that my mother received as a wedding gift that sat in its original box in her attic for thirty-nine years before she gave them to me. (A year later, I have yet to use these teacups.)

One of my goals for 2013 (and beyond) is to spend out–to use up or wear out everything I’ve been hoarding. I am going to break out the new dishcloths that my mom gave us for Christmas in 2011. (See how crazy I am?) I am going to use up my fancy papers, even if it means dreaming up reasons to use them. I am going to spend the gift card stash and wear the good clothes until they cannot be worn anymore. I am going to hang up all the art, even if it means patching a few mistakes in the walls. I am going to crack open the journal I made five years ago and fill it up with messy handwriting. I am going to use up ALL of my stationery (I’ve actually been doing well using up this lovely stuff Naoto bought me!) I am going to fearlessly use my typewriter, knowing I can easily buy more ribbon for it, and use my vintage Dymo label-maker knowing I can buy more tape for it. And…I’m going to use up my washi tape–which is by far my most-hoarded supply. I don’t want my craft stash to become the perfume bottle of my existence.

Are you a saver? Is there something you would like to use up this year? Are you a spender? Any words of wisdom for the savers?

Tagged books, crafts, decorating, washi tape

kimberly ah

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