snail mail | kimberly ah

May 12 2014

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

May 05 2014

2 Comments

adventures, Japan 2014, My Love Affair with Tokyo, snail mail

Postal Museum Japan

One of my favorite activities from our most recent trip to Tokyo was our visit to the Postal Museum Japan. The museum recently moved from its old location into a shiny new floor at the Tokyo Skytree, making it super convenient for visitors. It’s not a large museum, but we spent a couple of hours inside looking through Japan’s interesting postal past.

We looked at postal transportation (original cart & basket, and motorbike delivery)…And old postal uniforms…
A fantastic letter sorter…

Old Japanese Post advertising…Old letter bins and bags…Detailed postmarks…
And there was an array of old mailboxes…Aren’t they beautiful? I love all of the floral gold details on the last one.

As if the museum wasn’t wonderful enough, there was a mini post office in the gift shop and a modern mailbox at the exit. All mail sent from the museum gets stamped with a special Tokyo Skytree/Postal Museum postmark.Of course that meant taking some time to write a few postcards at the museum. (Thankfully I had my tiny blue traveling address book with me!) I think our entrance fees might have been the best ¥300 we spent all vacation! If you are in Tokyo and you love all things mail, you have to visit. Send me a postcard! 🙂

Tagged adventures, I *heart* Japan, Japan, mail art, snail mail

Apr 30 2014

3 Comments

snail mail

Bigfoot In My Mailbox

When April was in town we somehow got on the subject of Bigfoot. I admitted to her that I am fascinated by the creature, and while I don’t necessarily believe in its existence, I think it’s fun to wonder about. Also, one of my favorite movies from childhood is Harry and the Hendersons. And no, I am not ashamed.

A few weeks after April’s visit, the Bigfoot postcard (bottom center) arrived in my mailbox. April remembered! But she wasn’t done yet. Shortly after we returned from Japan, I opened my mailbox and found three cards from April–it was a Bigfoot party! Two of them are birthday cards. One says, “I hope your birthday is unbelievable.” And the other says, “Your age is a mystery” and it includes Loch Ness and UFOs! And the last one–my favorite–is a die-cut of Bigfoot that says, “Un-believe-able.”

April mentioned that she didn’t know Bigfoot was a trend in stationery. I didn’t either, but it’s a trend I can get behind. Goodbye chevron, hello Bigfoot!

Thanks, April!

(FYI, from the top center: Analog Supply Co, Greenwich Letterpress, Quill & Fox and Blackbird Letterpress.)

Tagged mail art, snail mail

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 17 2014

3 Comments

adventures, My Love Affair with Tokyo, snail mail

Treats from the Mail Ladies

Of all the places I’ve visited in Japan–other than Mister Donut–I think I’ve visited various post offices the most. Each one carries the same stamps and postcards (for the most part), but some have better selections of gifty things than others. I have a stack of treats that I purchased from the yubinkyoku (post office) and I will share those next week. Today, I’m going to share the gifts I’ve gotten from the post office ladies. The first time Naoto and I went to Japan, we visited Okaasan (his mom) in Niigata. Much to my delight, she lived right across the street from the post office!! We stayed with her for three days, and every day I visited the post office for more postcards or stamps or something. By the end of our visit, the ladies in the post office recognized me and they appreciated my enthusiasm for Japanese stamps. On my last visit, they presented me with this tiny blue bunny–a toothpick holder–as a thank you for my patronage. I was so surprised. No one at a post office had given me a gift before…and the little blue bunny is so sweet with the little cherry blossoms on the side. He lives in my china cabinet and comes out every spring for Easter. This trip, in Tokyo, I visited several post offices, but mostly I went to the one near our hotel in Sangenjaya. They had a good selection of post cards and spring stamps and the ladies were patient with my browsing. (How many glue sticks do I need?) On one of our lasts days, I went in to buy another sheet of stamps and the woman behind the counter, who had helped me throughout the two weeks, presented me with a pink hand towel. It says “Thank you very much, [from your] postal host.”

Naoto compared the gifts to the free toaster you used to get in American banks when you opened an account. He said that the gifts are a way to thank frequent patrons. Either way, I’m thankful to the Japan Post ladies for the treats and I look forward to visiting them again next year.

Tagged adventures, I *heart* Japan, Japan, mail art, snail mail

Mar 20 2014

2 Comments

adventures, snail mail, vintage

Stamp King

A couple of weeks ago, I met up with Donovan at the Stamp King of Chicago. Even though I read Donovan’s wonderfully crafted blog post about the Stamp King, I had no idea what to expect. I’ve never been to a stamp and coin dealer before…I’ve never been buzzed into a shop before.

But one look at the Stamp King (pictures on the aforementioned blog post), I knew we were in good hands. He was kind and funny and relaxed. There were two young coin collectors in the store perusing the coins and helping Donovan and I add up our stamp purchases. We ended up being there over the lunch hour and the Stamp King offered to order lunch and to share his bottle of wine. (Next time, I’m taking the bus so I can take him up on this offer.)

Even without wine, I had zero control over myself. There was a lot of vintage stamp goodness and Donovan and I made a huge dent in the Stamp King’s inventory. After the first ten dollars, I stopped counting, because, really, how quickly can tiny one cent and three cent stamps add up? Well, evidently they add up pretty quickly…plus I picked out several larger denominations, too. Anyway…next time I walk into the Stamp King, I’m just going to hand him all of my money. It was well spent as far as I am concerned.

Tagged adventures, mail art, snail mail, vintage

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 26 2014

5 Comments

adventures, adventures at the library, cocktails, snail mail

San Francisco Favorites

I have quite a stash of paper bits that I picked up along the way in San Francisco. I am hoping to get them all stashed into a mini book with some pictures from the trip soon. (Of course, the fact that I still haven’t finished my book of our trip to Japan hangs over my head as I type this.) Hopefully, I’ll be back before I leave for Japan with a completed mini book…

As a final post about San Francisco and Ex Postal Facto, I thought I’d share a few favorites from my trip. I stayed at the Hotel Abri near Union Square. Naoto and I chose it blindly because it was super close to the BART and within a short walking distance of two of the three Ex Postal Facto event locations. We got a really good rate, which made me nervous…inexpensive hotels in expensive cities can be scary places. Thankfully, the Abri was fantastic…the staff were all kind and helpful, the room was clean and modern (there was a super-large TV on the wall, perfect for middle-of-the-night viewings of the Olympics!) and they served little juice shots in the lobby every afternoon. When I checked in, they offered me the choice between an interior room or an exterior room. Of course, I wanted the street-side! (I’m no stranger to noise!) It turns out, the nightclub across from the hotel was JUST below my window (pictured above, velvet ropes and all). On Friday night when I got home, I had to laugh at all of the commotion, but it didn’t really bother me…the club music became white noise and I was up watching the Olympics anyway.

On Friday, I came back to the hotel to find a surprise from Naoto. When I used to travel for work, he would send me something on every trip–a fruit basket, chocolate covered strawberries, a fruit bouquet, a cheese plate… It was fun to get a treat again. This time it was Ghiradelli chocolate-themed and it made me smile. Riding iconic streetcars was the best way to travel! (Read more about car No. 1073 here.) We had drinks at Tradition on Saturday night. They have a large book of handcrafted cocktails organized by style/era (Speakeasy, Dive-Bar, Tiki, New Orleans, pub…) and you can sit and enjoy those drinks in “snugs” to match. I had an Old Fashioned and a Colony and maybe it was just the company I was with, but man, those cocktails were tasty and I really liked this place. (We have a lot of bars in our neighborhood here in Forest Park, but sadly none of them are good craft cocktail bars…sigh.)On Sunday, Bob, Ana and I had breakfast at Craftsman and Wolves. Pictured above is The Rebel Within, a tasty asiago, sausage and onion muffin with a soft boiled egg baked inside (!!!), chocolate sourdough bread and the best cup of coffee I had all weekend. (I brought some beans home for Naoto…coffee makes the best souvenir.) I played around with a real life card catalog at the San Francisco Public Library while Ana perused their calligraphy collection. Japan Town was loads of fun…I think I would have appreciated it more if my trip to Japan weren’t so close. As a matter of fact, I’m super jealous that San Franciscans have such a huge portal to Japan!My trip ended (well, before that other ending) at La Boulange where I met up with a group of friends from letter writing and xPF. I didn’t eat or drink anything here, but I did covet the giant bowl of hot chocolate that everyone seemed to be enjoying! (Pictured above is Melissa of Craftgasm.)

All of my food and drink stories made Naoto wish he had joined me. I think if Ex Postal Facto become a recurring thing, he won’t be staying home for the next trip!

Tagged adventures, cocktails, coffee, food, mail art, shopping, snail mail

Feb 25 2014

10 Comments

adventures, in my library, Office Supplies, snail mail, vintage

Spending in San Francisco

With our upcoming trip to Japan planned, I was able to restrain myself from spending too much in San Francisco. Don’t consider it saving though…consider it delayed spending. (I’m already making my wish list for Japan.)

Patrick and Co. is an old school office supply store much like Pieritz Bros in Oak Park. It is simple and charming and they had an awesome selection of pens and pencils. I’ve never owned a Palomino Blackwing pencil–which is regarded by pencil lovers as the best pencil ever–so I figured I would try out all three versions. I also picked up a Prismacolor Turquoise pencil, just because of its snappy color. And do you remember taking essay tests in the Blue Books? When I saw them on a shelf at Patrick’s I had instant flashbacks of staring at the blank pages in high school and college. I thought it might be fun to write a letter in one. Finally, I bought a bunch of postcards at Patrick’s, too…but those are traveling through the mail. I’m happy that the kind clerk at Patrick’s gave me a bag. (In San Francisco, stores charge ten cents per bag.) Those graphics–including a floppy disk!–are going straight into my San Francisco mini book! Maido is a sweet Japanese stationery shop that seems to be the go-to spot for Japanese pens and paper items in San Francisco. I’ve been coveting those Midori Cherry Blossom paper clips for a long time…and I didn’t find them the last time I was in Japan, so I bit the bullet and turned over an arm and a leg for them. Totally worth it…they will be used in my datebook and in my future Japan mini book. I also snagged those California stickers to stick on my San Francisco postcards and in my mini book. They are made by Candyspotting and ohmygoodness, they come in every state and you can customize where you put the heart! (I may have Illinois in my Candyspotting shopping cart right now!)I’ve shared my love for my Coccoina glue stick before and I’ve had my eyes peeled for the glue pot. I finally found it at Arch, an amazing art supply store (and more!). The glue pot is a bit messier than the glue stick (you apply the glue with a teeny brush) but it smells delicious and it is so fun to use! At Ex Postal Facto, I splurged on several items in the Saturday Morning Vintage booth. I was so excited to meet Xenia and to see her selections in person. As it turns out, it’s very difficult to resist old paper in person. I bought a giant book of trading stamps, some first day of issue envelopes, an Ex Postal Facto paper pack, some awesome skiing labels, lotto cards and World’s Fair tickets. I picked up this cat print at the Paper Pastries booth. Margaret had so many cute things that I’m having regrets about not shopping more. The cat print is going to hang above the desk…as soon as I decide what else I’m doing up there…(I’ve changed a few things since that post.)And finally, I got Confessions of a Yakuza in a Japan Town bookstore. I bought it for plane reading, but I was too distracted on the flight home to read it. But, it will make excellent reading for the flight to Japan. Naoto and I are obsessed with the Yakuza (Japanese “mafia”) so I figured we would both get some mileage out of this paperback.