Hello Sandwich interview on Design for Mankind













Oh my goodness! I am so excited it's here! The absolutely divine Erin from Design for Mankind's latest issue of Design for Mankind Magazine is here.
Have I mentioned before just how gorgeous Erin is? If you don't believe me just watch this video and you can see for yourself.
I am not quite sure just how Erin fits it all in. In addition to her amazing blog which has over 8,000 hits a day, she also runs The Bakery, makes weekly videos for her blog, and yet responds to any email I send within minutes! Talk about super powers!

I was lucky enough to come into contact with Erin when she saw my work on The Design Files (thanks lovely Lucy!) and she kindly asked me to be in her magazine. I have been in 'e-love' as Erin would say, with her ever since! Attached are some spreads from my interview (click on them to magnify so you can read the text) and you can download the entire PDF magazine here. The issue is amazing! I promise you will love!

P.S. Here is some more info about Erin.
And be sure to bookmark Erin's blog!

Pecha Kucha



Pecha Kucha is Japanese for chit-chat and is a forum where young artists, designers and other creative types to meet, network and show their work in public. Each presenter is allowed 20 images, each shown for 20 seconds - giving 6 minutes 40 seconds of fame before the next presenter is up. This keeps presentations concise, the interest level up, and gives more people the chance to show.

Chalk Horse Gallery in Sydney's Surry Hills will host a Pecha Kucha event tonight. Click here for tonight's line up and more details.

I will be talking at the next Sydney Pecha Kucha night which takes place later in the year. Stay posted.

I hope to see you there tonight!

Kotatsu







This rainy Sydney weather of late makes me wish I was in Tokyo sitting under a kotatsu eating mikan and drinking Chu-Hi's from metallic hologram cans. Oh bliss!

Have you ever sat under a kotatsu? It's a little coffee table which has an electric heater attached to its underside and is covered by a special blanket. Relaxing under a kotatsu is one of my most favourite things about trips to Japan in winter. I wish I could bring a kotatsu home from Tokyo one day. Or perhaps I could make my own kotatsu!

Wherever you are I hope you are staying warm and dry!

Love love
Hello Sandwich.
xxx

Nihongo











Every Saturday I study Nihongo (Japanese language) for five hours at TAFE. Eek! Five hours seems like a very long time but it is actually extremely rewarding and word is that my Japanese is improving. Yay! It's an amazing class. It goes for 6 months and costs only $250. My sweet teacher Tomi Sensei makes up little songs to help us to remember things like how to transform verbs.

If you can't dedicate five hours every Saturday to Japanese study but still want to learn Japanese, I think the next best thing is signing up to Japanese Pod 101. Here you can download podcasts, translation notes, kanji worksheets and cultural notes. Or sign up for daily Japanese emails on Yookoso.

Another good tip is to make yourself some good flash cards. The above pics are some verb cards I made when I first started learning Japanese in 2004. The girl in the cards is meant to be me! Oh dear my hiragana was so terrible in those days - Gomen! (Sorry!)

Ganbatte ne! (Good luck)

Japanese Books



















Isn't this book 'Zakka ka-do no tsukurikata' just divine! I love Japanese books! If you like Japanese craft books, you'll love Crafting Japanese.

Prefer to flick through a range of Japanese books in person? You might like to pop on over to Kinokuniya or if you are in Melbourne try Kangakanga. Better still, take the QF21 flight to Tokyo and visit Book 1st, Book 246, or for an oldie but a goodie try the 7th floor of Shibuya's Tower Records.

Want to visit these Tokyo stores but don't read or speak Nihongo? Don't fret! Just visit Superfuture and print yourself off some maps. Enjoy!

For more information about Tokyo's bookstores please click here and if Japanese Art and Design books are more your thing please click here.

Oh and I'm still finishing off my Tokyo Guide, but when it is finished I will be sure to post the link here and you can download for more Tokyo tips!

Love love
Hello Sandwich.
xxx

Little Rubber Stamps









Okay so it's pretty obvious now that I have become obsessed with stamps over the weekend! But aren't these stamps by Hola just so sweet!

It's tempting to get a custom monogram stamp or a 'Handmade by...' stamp online from Etsy.

It's also rather tempting to carve your own rubber stamp or to start out by carving a stamp from an eraser. But please people...be sure to carve away from yourself! eek!

Happy stamping!
And P.S. I promise not to post about stamps again tomorrow! (>_<)
Love love
Hello Sandwich
xxx