It's a lovely time to have picnics here in Tokyo at the moment. In order to celebrate this lovely weather we thought it might be nice to have some Spring themed workshops!
Let's use Martha Stewart Stencils to decorate a furoshiki obento wrap!
19th May
14:00 - 16:00
¥2000
RSVP to aoyama@entrex.co.jp and leave your name, number and which workshop you would like to reserve your spot.
Obento Decoration Workshop
Let's decorate a picnic obento set using Martha Stewart Crafts punches and Martha Stewart Crafts clay pieces!
20th May
14:00 - 15:30
¥1500
RSVP to aoyama@entrex.co.jp and leave your name, number and which workshop you would like to reserve your spot.
A little while ago a Japanese magazine came to my apartment to shoot a story on small spaces. We live in a 38 square metre apartment in Shimokitazawa. It's tiny!
(Oops I've bought a lot of extra junk since these apartment shots were taken. And look over here to see how it looked before we moved in! I can't believe it's been almost three years since I moved to Tokyo!)
It's getting warmer in Tokyo these days which, for me, is a shame as I love winter in Japan. Although all of the colourful spring flowers and potted gardens around each corner make up for the humid days on approach.
My friend Ros made an amazing 'Omedetou-five-year-Japan-visa' Panda onigiri lunch for me the other day. It was made using a panda onigiri mould and nori punch.
Keeping with the panda theme, Ros decorated her apartment wall especially for our lunch. You're the sweetest, Ros! Thank you!
After lunch we spent the afternoon exchanging craft techniques.
Recently I also visited my friend Kasuga-san's beautiful new atelier. Her styling is impeccable.
I was delighted to see Kasuga-san had my zine in her display book shelf.
Kasuga-san had made some delicious rice portions wrapped in foil and presented in a beautiful woven bamboo basket.
We sat around drinking sake, beer and wine and chatting about craft and other creative projects.
The Hello Sandwich x Martha Stewart Crafts Japan x PLAZA workshop in Futako-Tamagawa.
On the topic of great Japanese packaging, I love the design of these オーバンドカラーバック rubber bands.
Using the Martha Stewart Crafts Clay I made each staff member from my new Japanese company these little brooches to pin to our name tags.
If you're in Tokyo, please come along to the Hello Sandwich handmade notebook workshop on 28th May at Tokyo's best craft shop, Wrapple! For details, and to reserve your spot, please check here.
(P.S. If you're in Tokyo and looking for craft shops, you might like to check out my new Tokyo Guide Zine which includes all of the cute shops I've found since living here in Tokyo. There are only a limited amount left (1/4 zines left) so please don't miss out if you are thinking of coming to Tokyo this year).
I have just finished another year at the Japan Hobby Show in Tokyo promoting Martha Stewart Crafts Japan with my new Japanese company. Thank you so much to everyone who came along and attended the workshops! I hope you had fun! We hosted lots of workshops (three a day!) and many informal demonstrations showing how to use the cute new punches.
Boys can enjoy Martha Stewart Crafts punches and Hello Sandwich craft, too!
Hello Sandwich Obento Furoshiki workshop using Martha Stewart Crafts Adhesive Stencils.
Hello Sandwich Hanging Ornament workshop using Martha Stewart Crafts Circle punch.
I just made a little video for anyone who wasn't able to make it to the event. I hope you will enjoy.
One of the many amazing things that make it so enjoyable to live in Japan is the incredible courier service offered by most companies here.
When I first arrived in Japan I received a 'Unable to deliver' slip for an international package while I was out. Embarrassingly, I did what I used to do in Australia, and took the slip up to my local post office to collect the package. There was a lot of confusion and I walked away empty handed. The poor people who work there were so sweet and even offered to call for re-delivery for me. Now, though, I'm finally savvy with the technique and it's amazing! You just call the number on the back of the slip, type in your tracking number, and select from a range of times for redelivery.
I always thought that was such a bad service in Australia because usually the post office is only opened when you are at work so it's almost impossible to get your package.
The redelivery times in Japan are all throughout the day, with the last time slot often being in between 7 and 9pm, making it amazingly easy to get your package. And many courier companies work seven days, too, such as Sagawa (seen in the video above).
It's quite common, too, to have 'pay on delivery' here in Japan. I'm sure that exists in Australia, too, but I rarely used it. Now, when I order my zines, or stationery, or even alcohol, I usually use a courier. For instance, we just ordered some alcohol from Kakuyasu this afternoon at 3pm and it arrived via courier bike at 4pm. If you follow my instagram, you'll see that those are the same guys who delivered a free ohanami leisure sheet around ohanami time. Seriously Japan - I love you.
Another incredible service is offered by Japan Post. If you have one EMS package in your outgoing post stash, they will come and collect your post. You simply call the toll free number and select the time you would like them to come to your apartment to collect your post. I must say, this service came in handy when I was posting out hundreds of Tokyo Guide Zines!
Working from home, on certain days the couriers are the only people I see. So it's kind of a highlight when I get to say 'ご苦労様です！' at the door. They work so hard. When the poor Sagawa courier had to carry 1000 zines to my thrid floor apartment I felt so awful that I prepared a token of thanks - a can drink with a 'ありがとうSAGAWAさん’ note on it.
Often when I'm walking around Shimokitazawa I'll see one of the couriers who come to my house and we exchange a friendly 'こんにちは'. I like that sense of community.
By the way, that SAGAWA 急便 TVC at the top of this post almost makes me teary. The words roughly translate as "Even on a rainy day, even on a windy day, West or East, we will go...' and so on. Nawww Love you SAGAWA. Love you Japan.
It's a really cute book featuring some of my favourite craft artists such as Wool, Cube, Wool! and Sophie et Chocolat. And I was lucky to be one of the five craft artists asked to make some craft items using the collection!
Below are some of the projects I made.
The book is really sweet and has pages of polka dot stickers in the back section. And the Dot Mania collection has some lovely products, too. My favourite is the Dot Mania stamp set! If you like polka dots, you might like to check this out.
Hello. I am Hello Sandwich. I am an Australian artist and graphic designer living in Shimokitazawa, Tokyo. I love Japan, bento boxes, pantone 107.3 and metallic hologram foil, polka dots and plaid, Holbein gouache and fluoro pencils and I have a huge crush on Japanese artist Hiroshi Sugito. I would like to share with you some of the things that inspire me. I hope you will enjoy.
