Book Feature - I Heart Stationery

Hello there, I’ve a piece of news to share and I’m pretty thrilled about it! Cookie Cutter is featured in a book! It’s a new book, “I Heart Stationery” by the lovely Charlotte Rivers. 

Despite the dominance of digital technology, the old-school way of communicating via handwritten letter/card is still adored by many (raise your hands!). In her book, Charlotte showcases the works of designers around the world who employ different artisan processes in their making of stationery. Yours truly is humbled with an entry, featuring these notecards I made by hand stitching on paper.

My sweet friend, Sarah, spotted the book in the store last week and tweeted me a picture. That got me all excited and I nabbed myself a copy over the weekend. If you, like me, have a weakness for paper goods and beautiful designs, you will LOVE this book! Think an indoor Saturday afternoon, a cup of tea, the couch, and this book! It is so inspiring to see all the great work that is being done (eye candy!) and to learn about the many methods and materials people employ in making stationery. 

Thank you, Charlotte for letting me be a part of your wonderful book!

You can purchase a copy of the book online here. Alternatively, I bought mine from Kinokuniya.

Handmade Festive Cards

I used to make Christmas cards when I was a kid. That stopped when I thought it was much easier and faster to buy them. Then when I moved to Japan, I learnt that many of my Japanese friends had a practice of making their own nengajo (new year cards). They often made a little collage with their family photos and printed it on cardstock. I loved that there was a personal touch to these cards. So I began making my own festive cards again. 

This year, my cards spoke of my love affair with MT tapes. I used simple materials and had a fun time coming up with varied designs. Here are a few. 

Do you make your own cards too?

Cute Muji Handicraft Kit

I bought this SUPER CUTE handicraft kit from Muji and am currently loving it to bits! You can have fun decorating the empty faces/objects in the pages. Give them funny expressions, a head of hair etc. There are also sheets of adhesives at the end with various facial features for your use. Imagine the fun and creativity! I'll say it's for both kids and the kid in all of us!

Isn't it awesome?! Confession: I've never stepped into Muji and walked out empty handed before :p

Origami Galore

I used to play with origami paper when I was kid. Back then, they were simple-- coloured on one side, no prints whatsoever and they came in assorted colours in a pack. I loved the brighter colours and hated the dark ones. This meant that my pack would always be left with lots of dark colours and I had to bug my parents for a new pack. If my fingers were wet and I touched the papers, my fingers would get stained by the dye used. But of course, that didn’t stop me from spending lots of delightful hours with them!

I haven’t played with origami for quite a while but am thrilled by this cute website that I discovered, Origami Club! It’s origami galore! I love all the creative designs and what’s great is they have instructions for all of them!

[images: Origami Club]

Handmade library Cards & Pockets

I love all things old school and so made these library cards and pockets which remind me of my weekly sojourns to the community library when I was kid. Use them as birthday cards, invites, gift tags etc. Personalise them! Available here in my little Etsy shop.

Handmade Valentine's Day

Valentine’s Day may be over-rated and way too commercialized but we continue to mark the day because it’s an extra excuse to celebrate and to shower our significant other with gifts. I recall in my schooling days, Valentine’s Day was not exclusive to lovers or couples. We celebrated love between friends and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly as well. Why not, right?

Happy Valentine’s Day, lovelies! I hope you have a wonderful day, however you are spending the day. Here are some beautiful handmade Valentine’s Day gifts and ideas from the online world. Simple but so genuine! (Click to enlarge)

[images clockwise from top left: Misako Mimoko, Gloria Garcia, Kristena Derrick, Creature Comforts, knotsandbow]

Custom Notecards

How was your weekend, lovelies? I completed a set of custom notecards for a bride-to-be and packed it over the weekend. Each notecard had the name of her friend embroidered on it, accompanied with a photo of them and a sweet message from the bride. The card is framed by a stitched border.

I hope she and her friends will like it!

[Tokyo Trip] - Loading my Luggage with...

Happy mid-week, lovelies! I’ve been going on and on about all the wonderful shops in Tokyo. Were you wondering what I got myself? I must say, going to Japan always stretches my wallet abit. I made sure I went there with a pretty empty luggage this time. Some of stuff I couldn’t resist were:

1. MT tapes. If you share this love of mine, you'll know that one can never have enough of them! Agree?

2. Stamps. I added to my growing collection on this trip!

Really love this cute one! Makes me want to jump into a tub too!

3. Handkerchiefs. There were all so beautiful, loads of designs to choose from! I kept seeing them in different shops! I exercised some restraint by allowing myself just 2.

4. Fabric. From where else but Tomato! It was a "must go" for me! (Too much of a chore to photograph them :p).

Lovely Papermash

Ahh, stationery love... a love that began since I was a little girl. I may not always know what I want to use them for when I buy them, but it makes me happy just seeing them sitting pretty on my desk! Besides, one never knows when one will need them, right?

These from Papermash are simply beautiful!

Swoon...

[images: Papermash]

To the Flea!

Hey lovelies, how are you doing? The week seems to have flown by, isn’t it? I mentioned that I’ve been working hard the past week or so. I’m pretty happy with the fruits of my labour. And here’s the news I wanted to let you on:

I’ll be selling these handmade items at a flea market this Saturday (14 August)! For those of you in Singapore, it’s happening from 12 - 8pm at *SCAPE. Here’s a sneak peek at a few of the handmade items I’ll be selling:

Journals with Japanese linen cover and hand embroidery

Tote bags

There will be various designs of the above items. I’ll also be selling a few cards. Other than the handmade, I’ll be selling apparels and accessories as well at great prices! So, c’mon down on Saturday! I hope to see you there :)

Embroidered Linen Cloth Wrapped Journal

Lately, I’ve been preoccupied with sewing and embroidery. I relish the “ta-da!!” moment when I see the completed image materialise before my eyes. And it’s with the knowledge that I’ve sewn it carefully thread by thread!

I’m happy to say that I’ve listed another journal in my Etsy shop. On top of being handmade, the hand embroidery on this journal makes it extra special! The journal is wrapped in Japanese linen (I simply adore the raw look and feel of this natural fabric) and I hand bound with sweet pink thread. It’s made with lotsa love!

Click over to the Etsy link for more details and images. I’ve also re-listed a few other items in the shop, so do check them out! :) If you’ve been following me on Twitter, you’ll know that I’m also making tote bags. I’m still at it and I want to have a few before I list them. So stick around, ya?

Making my hands work

Hi Lovelies, how have you been doing? Caught up in the soccer fever lately or have husbands/boyfriends who are? I’m not crazy about it but T is such a fan. He doesn’t watch every single games but there were certainly nights when he watched at 10pm - 12am, caught a few winks, woke up again for the 2.30am game, and hit the sack from 4.30am to 7am before heading to work. I try to be supportive and at times, I would vegetate in front of the telly with him. But never for the 2.30am game. The opportunity cost is just too great! But tonight, Japan is playing at that time slot and I’ve of two minds if I should catch it. I’m supporting them for my own trivial reasons and of course because they are asians.

Other than soccer filling our lives currently, I’ve also been working my hands. I’ve just listed 2 more journals with cute Enid Blyton book covers in my Etsy. Interspersed with blank pages for your doodling/notetaking are 3 short stories/chapters from the original books.

I’ve been itching to start sewing again and just completed a little tote bag that I’m pretty happy with. Working on a second one right now. Stick around for the pictures which I’ll be posting soon!

Father's Day 2010

Hi Lovelies, I hope you had a good weekend. I spent most of mine indoors as T is currently obsessing over the World Cup. I made him some quesadillas on Saturday night. Because I don’t have a grill, they turned out looking a little like local prata. Haha!

For today’s post, I’m sharing some of the Father’s Day cards (yes, it’s just round the corner!) I’m seeing online. Letterpressed of course! :)

Have a good week!

[images: 1 Darling Press & Stationer, 2 Dutch Door Press, 3 - 5 Egg Press, 6 Kirtland House, 7 Old School Stationers, 8 Red Oak Press]

Kawaii Mono - The Small Object

How was your weekend? I participated in a run on 22 May, Saturday. It means I’m having aching legs right now but I do feel a little accomplished. But I also realised I’m getting a little muddle headed. I had it in my head that the run was on 22 May but I kept thinking that it was Sunday (don’t ask me why). T and I were whiling away the time in a cafe on Saturday afternoon when I made a call. In the midst of the call, I spoke about the coming Monday and I had said 23rd, Monday. The other party corrected me, 24 May. “Isn’t Monday 23rd?” I asked. Upon getting the reply, my mind processed the implication that I had the dates all screwed up in a split second. I put the call on hold and said to T, “s**t! I think our run’s today!”. Thankfully, it was a late afternoon run and we still had 2 hours to go. I kept whining about having no mental preparation for it but T was very sweet to just take it all in (even though I was the one who made the silly mistake). So, yep, we made it to the run and we completed it.

On to today’s post. If you, like me, are a lover of all things sweet and cute, you’re going to love what I’m about to share with you! Aptly named, The Small Object, this wonderful online shop stocks the most kawaii little things! I so smitten with the stamp sets (collecting stamp sets is so addictive by the way!).

Organisation idea cards for the crafty you

Alphabet print (I’ve seen quite a few of these and always love them)

For those of us who love our needlecraft, isn’t this needle holder the cutest?! And don’t get me started on the thread holder.

I hope these sweet little things brightened up your day. Happy Monday, lovelies!

[images: The Small Object]