Shinjuku Gyoen Picnic

What a lovely day it was today!

A spot of embroidery with my morning coffee. A winter morning run along my local nature walk where I spotted these blossoms starting to bloom. I've been riding my mamachari to the nature walk and running 5 to 7 kms through Sangengaya and along to Kannana Dori and back. I've been tracking my runs on RunKeeper. It's an incredible app if you like running outdoors.



After lunch I rode my mamachari to Commune gallery to see the beautiful accessory exhibition and chat with some super cute new friends. If you have time, be sure to pop in to see the accessories before the exhibition comes down on Wednesday.

I then headed off to Shinjuku where I was invited to a lovely picnic in Shinjuku Gyoen by Yuko-san. The lovely Yuko-san was a participant at two of my workshops and she has the most lovely sense. Yuko-san and her husband wore matching Comme des Garcons cardigans (and matching Tupera Tupera badges!) and prepared beautiful scones and hot chocolate to share in the park. They hand decorated paper cups with mt masking tape and presented everything on a mini table that looked like it could have been taken directly from a cute cafe! We all sat down and going around the circle introduced ourselves and spoke a little about what we love / do. I remember when I first moved to Japan how daunting this Japanese introduction system was!

By 4:30 when the sun went down and the 'we're-closing-the-park-now-so-please-leave-onegaishimasu' song came over the loud speakers we brushed the grass off our clothes and headed back to the station. By this time my feet were frozen numb and I was reaching for my bag to see if I had any hidden kairo packs. I did a sneaky detour via Tokyu Hands and Kinokuniya - some of my favourite past times - and took the Odakyu-sen back to Shimokitazawa. A quick trip to my local supermarket Ozeki to stock up on nabe ingredients, and before you knew it I was relaxing at home with a glass of red wine and some delicious nabe.

A perfect winters day.



I hope you had a nice Saturday Sandwiches!

Love Love
Hello Sandwich
xoxo

Oz Magazine (Zakka Special)

The new issue of Oz magazine is a zakka special! It's filled with cute zakka shops to visit in Tokyo and some DIY craft ideas. You can have a sneak peek of the issue here.

And I'm so excited because Hello Sandwich Craft Workshops at Shibaura House are mentioned in the issue too!

I hope you can come to some Tokyo workshops this year. The first Hello Sandwich workshop for 2012 is February 11th at Kusakanmuri and other upcoming workshop dates for both locations are:

26th Feb
5th March
10th March
24th March

If you're in Tokyo I hope you might be able to come along! Details to follow.

Love Love
Hello Sandwich
xoxo

Winged Wheel

Hello Sandwiches!

If you like beautiful stationery and letterpress items you won't want to miss popping into Winged Wheel in Omotesando. They have so many beautiful letterpress items for every occasion and my favourite product is their beautiful lined envelopes.

If you're in New York you can also catch them at the New York Gift Fair at booth #1770. Be sure to say hello to Rumi-chan, she is just lovely!

Winged Wheel also hosts invitation only industry workshops. At a recent workshop we made some vintage book files using brown envelopes and collage materials. You could try making one yourself from a vintage hardcover book and your favourite envelopes. They are perfect for filing receipts!





















Love Love
Hello Sandwich
xoxo

Tokyo Winter Morning Sun

Goodmorning Sandwiches!

Tokyo Winter! Washing teeth with hot water, wearing hokkairo packs, not sitting too close to windows, hot water bottles, heated train seats, hot green tea, warming hands over the stove top cooking, wearing pompom gloves, cooking nabe, seeing icy snow piles on the side of the road and on rooftops, and, sleeping with a thousand blankets and waking up to beautiful morning sun.

I hope you are having a happy morning.

Love Love
Hello Sandwich
xoxo

2012 Nengajo

Hello Sandwiches,

I hope you are having a great start to the year!

Nengajo (New Year Cards) are one of my favourite parts of starting the new year. In Japan, if you place a new year card mark near the postage stamp the post man will hold the cards and deliver them on January 1st and not before. For stationery and snail mail lovers there is nothing more fun than running down to check your post box on New Years Day! Here are a few colourful nengajo from this year.

Love Love
Hello Sandwich
xoxo

New Visa!

Hello Sandwiches!

I just heard some great news from my Lawyer - I got my new visa for another year in Japan! Yay!








I am so happy that I am able to spend another year in this incredible city making craft, making craft books, exploring back streets, bike riding, taking photos, visiting exhibitions, shopping in my favourite craft shops, buying strange vegetables from my local supermarket, learning Japanese, hanging out with my Tokyo friends and having an inspiring time!

I hope you'll come and visit and join in some workshops!

Love Love
Hello Sandwich
xoxo

Martha Stewart Gift Wrap Challenge Winner!

Hello Sandwiches!

Thank you all so much for voting for Hello Sandwich! Thanks to you I won the Martha Stewart Gift Wrap Challenge! What a great way to start the year. Happy New Year Sandwiches!

Love Love
Hello Sandwich
xoxo