mail art | kimberly ah

Sep 08 2014

USPS Consumer Advisory Council

Thanks to another Letter Writers Alliance virtual letter social and a long Labor Day weekend of letter writing, I am all caught up on my mail. These four letters were just the start of a deluge of mail that left my apartment over the past couple of weeks. I’m still doing my best to keep the USPS in business.

Speaking of the post office…I’ve never mentioned it here, but I have the best letter carrier. His name is John and he knew my name within a couple of weeks of living here. He goes out of his way to wave HELLO from down the street when he is delivering in the neighborhood. He patiently and enthusiastically handled thousands of pieces of mail for me during my Honor Flight Mail Call days. He is incredibly detailed and efficient, yet takes time to answer a question or chat with you for a moment when you run down to his truck to hand off some letters. If he’s not training the next generation of letter carriers, he should be. He is a model postman.

I feel very lucky, and spoiled by John. This winter, during the polar vortex, John didn’t miss a beat delivering our mail at normal times in sub, sub-zero temperatures. But the polar vortex highlighted all sorts of problems my community was having with mail delivery. I read a lot of articles like this one where people in Forest Park, Oak Park and River Forest had a laundry list of complaints about missing mail, no mail, late mail, wrong mail…all sorts of problems.

So, the USPS created a Postal Consumer Advisory Council made up of local citizens and “mail officials” to help solve the problems of the post office on a local level. Of course, I applied. I love the post office and in general, I have a lot of positive things to say about the USPS. I feel like it’s still a great value to send a letter or a card across the country or across the ocean. I feel like those letters get there pretty quickly, too. But I also know from some pretty dreadful experiences at the post office counters in Forest Park, River Forest and Oak Park (I frequent all three out of desperation to find good service) and some bad experiences with delayed and missing mail when John is on vacation that there are some serious customer service issues.

Last month I got a letter saying I was accepted to the committee! Our first meeting is next week and I couldn’t be more excited. According to the letter, the council will “increase opportunities for postal consumers to interact with postal representatives.” We will be able to voice concerns, share ideas and suggestions and resolve issues. It all feels sort of rose-colored glasses idealistic, but I’m hoping the committee and the post office can come up with some good ideas for improvements. And that those improvements are implemented and positive changes are made.

I promise to report back.

Oh, and if you, too, love your letter carrier, One Canoe Two created this fun printable for you to pass along.

Tagged forest park, mail art, snail mail

Jul 29 2014

2 Comments

snail mail

Cat Postcard

I’m still catching up on my pile of mail. I’ve caught up to June…it’s a slow process. In the meantime, I wanted to share a few interesting pieces of mail I’ve received lately.

I got this cat postcard from April in New Zealand. She wrote it during the LWA Virtual Letter Social earlier this month. I think the card is packaging for maybe a Christmas cat costume? (I’ve bought Presley a couple of hats from Target and they’ve come in similar packaging.) I love that she reused something the would normally end up in the trash to make a great piece of mail! April wrote a note on labels (seen at the top) and affixed plenty of postage to the back. The day I received it, the postcard was the only thing in my mailbox, making it the perfect surprise–seeing that sweet face smiling at me when I opened the mailbox door made my day!!

Thanks, April, for the Good Mail Day!

Tagged mail art, 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

Jul 15 2014

1 Comment

Office Supplies, snail mail

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…

Tagged crafts, Japan, mail art, office supplies, shopping, snail mail

Jul 02 2014

2 Comments

snail mail

LWA Virtual Letter Social

I’m super-behind on my letter responses again. I pretty much haven’t written a letter (just a few birthday cards and thank you notes) since my last catch-up post. So apparently, I’m a binge-letter writer.

I’ve decided that I’m not going to think about mail until Sunday when the Letter Writers Alliance is hosting a Virtual Letter Social. Basically on Sunday (anytime, all time zones) if you are writing a letter, know that there will be a whole community of letter writers writing along with you. If you’re social media inclined, you can share your progress (and “socialize” with other letter writers) on Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #lwasocial. I’m looking forward to enjoying a cup of coffee and writing a bunch of letters on my balcony…in my pajamas.

I hope to see you there!

Tagged mail art, snail mail

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!