Hello Sandwich Earrings!

Oh my goodness is this not the sweetest surprise ever! The lovely Victoria from Victoria Mason sent me this divine package in the mail the other day! I could not believe that she has designed a pair of (Hello) Sandwich Earrings! Isn't she super clever! and super sweet for sending them to me!

A note from Victoria:

I am a Melbourne based jeweller and hand make pieces that are often miniatures of happy things that are a bit of a surprise, like tiny teacup earrings or a necklace with a silver chair. I also take inspiration from beautiful childhood memories - having the time to sharpen lots of different coloured pencils or looking at your upside-down reflection in a spoon.



How super sweet are these necklaces! Pop on over to Victoria's online shop to pick yourself up a little treat today!

Victoria also has a blog called Earl and Cookie! Be sure to check it out!

Thank you lovely Victoria! You are so special!

Love Love
Hello Sandwich
xxx

Japanese Certificate III, JLPT & Japanese Electronic Dictionaries

Hello Sandwich's new bento and bento case (thanks Mr Y) during Japanese class lunch break.

Recently I made the decision to enroll in Japanese Certificate lll at TAFE. Although I had just finished Certificate II a few weeks ago, somehow Certificate III feels so much harder and like I missed an entire years of classes in between! My new teacher has decided that 'at our level', most of the class will be in Japanese! Eek! For example, if you want to ask what a particular word is in Japanese, or if you need to leave the classroom for a moment, you have to ask in Japanese.



Also my kanji is really not up to scratch for this level! Sigh! Well this can only mean one thing! The return to the good old flash cards! I'll be making some new ones this week. A LOT of them!


And the other thing I am looking into to help me out with my characters is a Japanese Electronic Dictionary. Have you got one? If you have any tips for ones most suitable for gaijin I would love to hear!


I have been looking here, here and here for some advice on Japanese Electronic Dictionaries and Nintendo DS. This site seems to be quite good for ordering from outside Japan.


I am also going to challenge myself this year by taking the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. For those of you living outside of Japan, and also interested in taking the exam, here is the list of the exam dates. The Sydney test takes place on December 6. Eek! Not long to go! If you are interested, the Meguro Language Centre has some excellent JLPT preparation material that you can download which is also very useful for all Japanese language students, not just those preparing for the JLPT.

There are some great sample exam question books to help you prepare too. You can flick through some at Sydney's Japan Foundation library, or, if you are anything like me, and believe that owning more Nihon-go books instantly makes you better at Nihon-go, then head straight over to Kinokuniya to pick up your copy!



Think the JLPT isn't challenging enough? Why don't you give the Japanese language speech contest a go! Now if that doesn't give you sweaty palms!

Some other useful Japanese language sites are Nohongo-Juku and Yookoso. And for more info, check out my Nihon-go post.

Love Love
Hello Sandwich
xxx

I Love Vintage

I love vintage. Vintage clothing and Vintage Homewares. So I was delighted yesterday when my dear friend Eloise took me to L'ermitage vintage clothing shop in Glebe. A lovely collection of cheap and cheerful finds jam packed into a teeny weeny store on Glebe Point Road. (It turns out Clipper Cafe is not the only good thing about Glebe). I especially love the little retro kitchenette on show in the hidden away back room.

Eloise bought this delightful swing coat for a sunny 45AUD. Don't you love the tag! I also spied a tag of the name of 'Honky Tonk'! Cute!



And just down the road at The Salvation Army I picked up a flirty floral frock complete with lace peter pan collar (see top) for 10AUD. Minus the shoulder pads and about 30cm off the hem and I will have myself my new favourite dress! Yay! Tanoshiminishiteimasu!


L'ermitage is at 243 Glebe Point Road, Glebe. Fancy a chat? Call on +612 9660 5958
Do pop on over - and be sure to stop in to Clipper Cafe on your way for a coffee too!
And if you need some vintage inspiration look no further than the lovely Fashion Forestry or young little Tavi.

Well, I'm off now to alter my frock. Happy Sunday sweet peas.

Love Love
Hello Sandwich
xxx

Minna Link

Mr Y is back from Tokyo! Yay! And so I have been lucky enough to spend these last few days reading some new Japanese magazines.

I sent poor My Y off to Tokyo with a list of Japanese Magazines long enough to waste his entire 7 kilograms of carry on luggage (apparently my magazines alone weighed in at 12 kilograms! eek!)  but much to my surprise he arrived home not only with everything on my list but also this launch issue of Minnk catalogue of Felissimo products which I thought you would love! Felissimo is a select online shop that showcases products that 'bring out the best of being a girl'! So cute!

For me, this magazine / catalogue has it all...content I love, products I love, and a vibrant page layout that makes me smile with warmth and happiness every time I turn a page... A hand drawn balloon, scalloped edges on a picture box, super cute fonts, energetic change of pace and scale all combined in a bubbly and fresh overall layout style! Sigh! So cute!

A little bit of bento love! 

How super cute is this girl! I love her hair cut! 

Oh, they had me sold at the stationery section! The above tape looks like mt tape! 

I love this pouch so much! 

If you are in Japan, check out their super cute website to purchase these kawaii products. But, if you are elsewhere in the world, without spending even 1 yen you can download your own cute screen saver.  At least this slightly eases the pain of not being able to get these products delivered to us! 

And if you still want more, they have a blog too!

Enjoy lovelies! Hope you are having a gorgeous week so far!
Will post more from the 12 kilograms of magazines soon!
Love Love
Hello Sandwich
xxx

Japanese Magazines

I love magazines! I spend all day working on one, spend all my money buying them, and lots of my free time reading them. And there is only one thing I love more than magazines, and that's Japanese magazines! On my last trip to Tokyo my friend Joel introduce me to Ku:nel magazine which is now one of my favourites (ありがとうJoel！) Ku:nel is a Japanese lifestyle magazine that focuses on the quiet pleasures of life - crafts, cooking and healthy eco living. You can read more about Ku:nel here.

This is the cover of the current Ku:nel! So pretty!


Some other favourite Japanese magazines with a similar content are Come Home, Lingkaran and Arne. Peek inside one here.

These gorgeous magazines are available in Sydney at Kinokuniya, or in Melbourne from Kanga Kanga. For more information on how / where to order these magazines take a peek at Bree's lovely post.

And now you can order them online from Jollygoo's new online shop!

Mr Y is currently in Tokyo with his family so I have put in an order for some of theses magazines! He gets home on Wednesday and I can't wait! One of the magazines I ordered was Saisai lunch (special thanks to Bree from Ii-ne-kore for the heads up). You can see a review of Saisai Lunch here on Just Bento Blog.



I will post some more pictures when the magazines arrive!
Hope you had a lovely weekend!
Love Love
Hello Sandwich
xxx

A Handwritten Letter to Everyone

You may have already seen this but I couldn't help but post about Mysterious Letters! 



Mysterious Letters is a collaboration between artists Lenka Clayton and Michael Crowe who sent a personal, handwritten letter to each of the 467 households in the small Irish seaside town of Cushendall. The letters were positive in spirit, and differed greatly in form and content. The artists hoped that these beautiful unsolicited letters will prompt neighbourly discussion that would spread across the town, promoting community curiosity. When compared between neighbours, no two would be the same.

The art work consists solely of the discussion between the recipients about what on Earth these letters are, who sent them and why, etc. On the day the letters were sent it was announced in the national press.

This was the first chapter in an ongoing project. The artists eventual aim is to write a personal, hand-written letter to every household in the world! How gorgeous! I can't wait to receive mine!

You can read all of the letters here.





Isn't there just something so lovely about a hand written letter!

Hope this puts a smile on your face! Have a lovely Wednesday lovelies!

Love Love
Hello Sandwich
xxx

Studio Choo

If you like delightful flower arrangements and floral installations, you'll LOVE Studio Choo, a floral design duo based in the USA. Aren't they just gorgeous! Oh my goodness every image on their website makes me smile! I really love country style cottage floral arrangements - especially mixes of garden roses and wild flowers arranged in multiple little vessels scattered on a table. 

Our lovely Sub Editor lives on a farm in NSW and grows her own special flowers. This week she gave our Editorial team a mix not too dissimilar to these images for our office! The scent was just amazing and so uplifting! Don't you think there is nothing sweeter than a little flower or two on your desk at work! 

For more eye candy please visit the Studio Choo blog!







Thank you Simple Song for letting me know about beautiful Studio Choo!