Stationery Christmas Gifts

Naoto hit it out of the ballpark for me this Christmas. He went with the always popular stationery theme. He did a lot of shopping at Greer, THE best stationery store in Chicago. He found a couple of enamel pins, a travel eraser, and a tiny matchbook notebook. He also got a calendar, but I’ll talk about that in my annual calendar post. He gave me a post box enamel pin (which I may have directed him toward.) And this very sweet Japan post rubber stamp of a girl mailing a letter. Niconeco Zakkaya is one of my favorite online places for Japanese stationery. They offer so many unique things from indie designers and small makers. He also gave me some letter socks from Constellation & Co. This makes my third pair of mail-themed socks so maybe a sock post is overdue. And he gave me a cherry blossom stamp and a gorgeous Superior Labor pouch from Baum-Kuchen. I’ve been trying to use my Travelers Notebook more for the past couple of years…there’s still work to be done to get into a good habit, but I’ve found that using nice things is a great incentive. I bought a matching pouch by Superior Labor when we were at the Traveler’s store in Japan, so I’m very excited to get everything set up for 2019. I’ll share more about Travelers and my notebook soon!

Now, I’m working on getting my desk organized so I can get back into the habit of making things again. A fresh desk for a fresh start in 2019…that’s the goal.

We are going to a New Year’s Eve party at our friends’ house tonight–same as last year. And tomorrow, hopefully I’ll have the energy to take down some Christmas decorations…I LOVE the lights during the season and I’m always sad to see them go, but I also love how fresh and bare our house looks with all of the extra stuff put away. But, even still…it’s one of the more depressing chores of the new year.

Wishing you and yours a Happy New Year!

2018 Holiday Cards

Happy Christmas Eve! We both worked today so we decided to stay in tonight, wrap up some last gifts, eat tamales, and watch the yule log on the Hallmark Channel. Naoto is currently napping in the chair.

I wanted to send my holiday cards out by December 10th and I MADE IT! It’s pretty much the only thing I accomplished in time this season.  Karen and I got together to write cards one night and then I worked through the alphabet over the next two days to get them done. Naoto even did a few this year which was a nice help. (He refused to participate in the envelope decorating though…)

We sent a few different cards out again this year (pictured at the top:) Cocktail Santa by Kate Spade, Season’s Greetings stamps by Snow & Graham, ’tis the season by Paper Source, and Sending Christmas Wishes and Candy Cane Bird, both by Papyrus. I filled out the list with some of the pretty letterpress birds leftover from last year.

I bought a bunch of Christmas washi tapes in Japan, so I used those to adorn the envelopes. Nothing fancy, just a strip on the bottom or up by the stamp.

I always try to shop for our cards after Christmas or during the Paper Source warehouse sale, but that often means having several designs to choose from. (Because it’s hard to find enough of the same design for our list of 50+ people.) It gets complicated keeping track year-to-year if I don’t use up a box. (I wouldn’t want to send the same card twice.) Next year, the plan is to get back into making our own…I should start now. #goals Everyone always asks why I don’t sent my own Galaxie Safari cards out. Because the vintage stamps are sometimes hard to find and come in limited quantities, I’d rather save them to sell rather than sending them out. Plus, since I pay for the cards, envelopes, and stamps as a business expense, I’d have to “buy” them from myself and work out the taxes, which just seems silly at this point. And really, I just love shopping for stationery. I’m not sure I’ll be able to stop myself if I’m out and about during the holiday sales this week.

Did you get all of your cards out in time? We bought some New Years postcards in Japan so we’ll need to start on those soon! Nothing like ending the year with a lot of mail…just the way I like it!

Hasegawa Hobonichi Hour

 

Traveling to Japan in the fall meant it was “planner season.” All of the 2019 planners and calendars were out and huge planner displays were featured at all of the big stationery stores. Naoto was in the market for a Hobonichi this year. He’s doing freelance translation work now and needs something a little more detailed than his tiny planner from 2018. We made a little pilgrimage to the official Hobonichi shop, Tobichi, in Omotesando one afternoon. The facade of the shop is pictured above, an amazing patchwork of weathered wood that distinguishes it from the other houses and buildings in the neighborhood. We didn’t take many pictures inside the shop because they were filming for something, but Naoto took this one of me checking out the accessories. We ended up buying our 2019 Hobonichi Techos at Loft because Loft offers tax-free shopping*, which saved us several yen on each of our planners and accessories. But I bought a little Hobonichi stamp (pictured above with two new Frixion stamps) at Tobichi and it was fun to see all of the Hobonichi products in a bright little shop. When we got home, Naoto was excited to open his planner up and get started. So, we held our first annual Hasegawa Hobonichi Hour on “Black Friday” and it was so much fun! We ate leftover veggies and dip from Thanksgiving and pretzels with blue cheese mustard and I made Calendar Cocktails (which were really just Cynar Manhattans.) I showed Naoto all of the bells and whistles of the Hobonichi and he started filling out December.  Naoto has seen my Hobonichi before, but he was really impressed with how flexible it is to use. Also, I have to say, the layout of the Japanese version is way better than the English version. The hourly timing is better and there’s a small area for a checklist, still leaving plenty of room for journaling or other notes on the main pages. I may have to get the Japanese version next year, or use my vast collection of washi tapes and stickers to define areas on the daily pages for myself. I’ll have to experiment and report back. Naoto refused to use washi tapes and stickers on his monthly pages…but I think I made up for it with my December. I sort of feel like recreating this party with some friends who like to decorate their planners. I like to get birthdays and other special days documented on my monthly pages at the start of the year, so I can use my old planner as a reference. I still need to set up my 2019 planner, so Hasegawa Hobonichi Hour Part 2 could still happen.

Cheers to an organized December!

*Many larger chains and even some smaller stores offer tax-free shopping to tourists in Japan. You usually have to spend a certain amount and you always have to present your passport, but it’s a great savings if you are buying a lot of stationery and other souvenirs. So, pro-tip: carry your passport with you everywhere in Japan!

Christmas: A Cocktail Story…A Tradition

For the third year in a row, Naoto and I held the Galaxie Safari Christmas Party at ch Distillery. Every December for the past few years, the distillery changes their menu to an A Christmas Story theme. I’ve written about it before here and here. We enjoyed a couple of cocktails, a grilled cheese, and some potato wedges. Naoto celebrated his status as Employee of the Year for the second year in a row……and I still regret not ordering a second cup of eggnog…there’s still time to return before the season is over! Oh, and Wednesday was the seventeenth anniversary of the night I met Naoto…isn’t that crazy?! (Here’s an old blog post about that.) We took a little family selfie to mark the moment…you can tell Presley was really happy to participate.

To Japan & Back

Argh! It’s been a lifetime since I’ve blogged and real life has taken over. In October/November, Naoto & I took a trip to Japan, our first vacation in over two years! So, getting ready to travel and then adjusting to time and jumping back into craft show prep (I had 2 shows in November) and then Thanksgiving and now Christmas preparations…well, I haven’t had time to share much. But almost everything in our apartment is decorated and cards are done, so blogging will happen again!

I have so much to share about our trip and obviously Christmas preparations…I hate to be away from the blog this long, as it really has become a nice way to connect with people and to remember what I’ve been up to in previous years…kind of my own Facebook memories.

Anyway, thanks for sticking it out with me. I’ll be back this week with a holiday season update and then we’ll see…maybe Japan fits in better in January when the Christmas glow has worn off. We’ll see what happens and how much holiday goodness I can round up around here.