Origami Time!

I've been focusing so intensely on philately lately that sometimes the other sections of my crafty world tend to get neglected.  Yesterday I decided to put my stamps aside for a few hours to fold some new origami inventory for my Asian Inspiration kits.  I try to make the kits as bright and colorful as possible. 

I've been doing origami since I was 7 or 8 years old.  I have the folds for over 100 different patterns memorized so when working on a project like yesterday, it's a soothing, repetitive process for me, similar to washing dishes or chopping vegetables. 

On the contrary, I also like folding really complex creations that consist of 100-300 folds and assembling multiple folded pieces like this 6 sided Sputnik kusadama folded with double pieces of paper.  A piece of this nature may take a few hours from start to finish but it's really satisfying once it's done. 

Below are a few photos of my "folding station" - desk area.

If you're feeling stressed out and your mind needs a little excersize, why not try some origami?

For the love of NORGE

Happy New Year!  Welcome to 2013!  Sorry I haven't updated more frequently.  I've been overwhelmed with work and life in general.  This is a craft blog and not a personal blog but one very personal thing that I am going to speak about is directly related to what I am posting about today. 

Just before Christmas-time, my bestfriend from childhood passed away.  He was 34 years old (same age as me).  We grew up down the street from one another.  We influenced each other in so many ways.  We made a game out of everything.  We perpetually challenged and inspired one another.  We just had an awesome friendship.  We played together almost everyday until our mid-teens when his family moved out of state.  But even after that our families still spent all of our holidays together.  We went on so many amazing trips and had so many good times.  This is the closest person to me who has ever passed during my lifetime.  Needless to say, I've had a lot of trouble dealing with it.  My emotions are so out of control.  Weeks, nearly a month later, I still just don't feel like myself.  I have an incredible base of friends who have been supporting me through this crazy period and I am so thankful for that, but there is only so much they can do for me.  I know the rest of this on me and I just need to get through it in my own way, on my own time. 

Mainly, I've just been trying to focus on the one thing I know I am absolutely positively good at - WORK.  However, when I woke up this morning, I was honestly wondering why I even bother.  Why do I do this?  Why do I care so much about philately?  Why or who even cares about postage stamps in 2013...and so on?  And then I checked my e-mail and received this most extraordinary message from one of my etsy customers.

It went as follows, "My daughter's name is E.... W... C..., and ever since she was in utero we've called her the Norge. so when I saw these stamps, I was delighted. I made this collage for my husband last spring and gave it to him for his birthday. He was stunned and immediately tweaked a rule our house: in case of a fire, I'll grab the children and he'll grab the collage. Little bit amazing.

The stamps are stuck with double-sided tape to a piece of accounting paper from Goodwill.  Very simple, though I was sweating bullets when assembling it.  It hangs above our bed. 

So glad you had these stamps.  Your shop is wonderful."

 Below are images of the framed collage made by my customer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And now I know exactly why I do what I do and I won't stop.

 

 

Washi Tape Craft Ideas

For those of you who don't already know Korean or Japanese Washi Tape is all the rage in arts & crafts, mail art and scrapbooking circles these days.  For years it was very difficult and expensive to acquire.  The colors and styles were very limited.  Finally I've secured a direct resource for the tape and it is now available to purchase in my etsy shop!  Starting today I'm selling a variety of fabric based washi tape rolls.  This tape is made of fabric and looks and feels like cotton ribbon.  Today I just listed a rainbow of polka dotted shades and over the weekend I will list a variety of fun and fresh floral patterns.  I still have nearly 30 different patterns to list so please keep checking back for new items.  I hope to have everything up by Monday.

Washi tape is an extremely versatile adhesive.  It's very similar to masking tape but lighter and more flexible [forgiving].  If at first you apply it incorrectly, it's easy to correct and reapply without damaging whatever surface you're working on.  It's especially fun to work with because it looks so cute!

Here are a few ideas of what you can do with washi tape:

Don't just wrap your presents with it.  Wrap it all around your presents!  Criss-cross it and cut it with pendant edges.  Embellish your own handmade paper ribbons and bows with it.  Add a colorful splash to your gift tags.  Use it to seal envelopes and embellish your own stationery.  The possibilities are endless! 

In the future I will be carrying many more patterns, colors and styles of washi tape so stay tuned and thanks for looking!

Upcycled Crochet Votive Candle Holders

 

I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit that I even though I started and finished this project months ago, I've been so busy that only now have I forced myself to blog about it.  Inspired by Creative Carmelina, I wanted to try my hand at creating my own upcycled crochet holders.  As there's never any shortage of glass jars in our house from all of the pickled food that we eat, I thought it would be a great idea to crochet some votive candle holders with them.

 



 

You can really use any sort of container you might otherwise recycle or dispose of.

 

 

You can also use any sort of yarn although I used vintage doily yarn since I have so much of it sitting around crying out to be used.  I also really like the effect of the doily yarn.  When the candle is glowing, it looks like lace.

 

 

Here's a shot of the holders nearly finished with some zucchini bread I baked.  This is our living room where a lot of crocheting is commenced.

 

 

 

I thought I might be going a little overboard crocheting the tops of the holders but in the end, that extra little bit of detail really brings the whole set together.

 

 

Of course, you can use the holders to hold more than just candles.  They're quite portable and stackable too.

 

 

So next time you're about to toss that empty glass jar into the recycling bin, just think of something more than you can create with it!

 



Villa Parker Wedding Inspiration

My stamps have just been featured in Style Me Pretty's Little Back Book Villa Parker Wedding Inspiration photo shoot.  Unfortunately, you can't really see the stamps in any of the stills featured on the site but you can catch a closer glimpse of them in this video.  The theme of the shoot was Tuscan, slightly rustic with some painted props.  The main color themes were gold and royal blue.  Another inspiration for the shoot was the movie "A Good Year", starring Russell Crowe.  At the request of the event planner, I provided them with a collection of vintage Italian postage stamps to match the wedding theme.  They made a collage of the stamps and framed them (look for a white frame with 3 openings in the video).  The framed collage was then nestled amongst the other rustic props in the reception area.  While normally my wedding customers use vintage stamps as decorations on their invitations and place settings, the idea of framing and displaying stamps that represent a place and/or time that is very special to them is a great idea!  This adds a great personal touch to any occasion and doubles as a fantastic gift!

Here's an example of some beautiful vintage Italian stamps I just added to my shop today.

A Treasured Past

Yet another one of my delightful etsy customers has been hard at work creating some beautiful stamp pendants.  Tamara lives in a 1920s bungalow in a small country town in NSW, Australia.  Similar to me, she is collector and coveter of antique and vintage treasures.  She loves thrifting and crafting with her unique finds.  You can read more about her lovely adventures on her blog .  Here are some large round pendant rings that Tamara designed:

 

And here are some gorgeous "Scrabble tile"-sized square pendants created with Japanese stamps (& 1 set of Australian stamps).  The Japanese stamps are from the 1940s - 1960s and they are some of my favorite philatelic specimens.  I recently purchased a large Japanese stamp collection from a local collector who was stationed on "Slave Island" in Japan during WW2.  Since I acquired this collection, Japan has been my main philatelic focus.

 

 

Tamara hasn't started selling on etsy yet so if you're interested in her pendants, I suggest contacting her directly.  If you're down in Oz, it looks like she's an active vendor around the local craft show circuit.

Akino Sato on Iichi

I love handmade goods from all around world.  Maybe it's because I'm Korean that I have some sort of natural affinity with Japan but when I see crafts handmade from Japan, I love them even that much more. 

Stamp pendants seem to be all the rage these days.  You can wear a whole bunch of them as charms or make one simple personal statement with one representing the country you are from or special memories from a place you have visited.  A lot of my customers make pendants but these particular ones are made by one of my favorite etsy customers.  She was one of my first customers from when I first opened my shop and I've really enjoyed doing business with her through the years.

At the moment she is only doing business in Japan.  You can view her Iichi shop HERE .

I really like how Akino incorporated stamps into the gift wrap tags for her items.  You can easily create your own stamp gift tags with a punch, some stamps, card stock, a whole puncher and some twine.

Best of luck to Akino and her shop!