Showing posts with label news. Show all posts
Showing posts with label news. Show all posts

Fukuoka Bound


Exciting news on the travel front! We're off to Japan in about 10 days for a couple of months!

While our Japanese hometown is about 2 hours south of Tokyo (as the Shinkansen flies) in Nagoya, this time we're headed even further south to the new-to-us city of Fukuoka.


Fukuoka is located in Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan's four main islands.

Have you been? Any tips on what to see, eat or do while we're there?

On an Omiyage note - The shop will be closing up next Wednesday, so why not drop by and grab a deal with code THANKS25 before we go!

Image sources - city / map

Slowing Down For Summer


Hello again!

Here we are on the other side of summer (well, yes, technically, there are still a couple more weeks... but there's something about Labour Day and that first day of school that feel far more final than a number circled on a calendar).

How was your summer?
Did you soak up all that hot weather goodness?
Eat armloads of peaches and melon and tomatoes, dip in the lake, roast marshmallows over a friendly fire, leisurely read a good book (or one of those oh-so-good-because they're oh-so-bad ones) under a tree?




Over here we've been soaking up the sweetest slowest summer on record. Well, after being busy as... you know whats.

After moving at the end of July (big thanks to whoever scheduled that delightful heatwave to hit just as we were packing!), I spent much of August finishing up two book projects. But we'll talk more about those at another time! Then we hit the road for a leisurely road trip around Ontario... during which I took not a single picture - can you believe it? But we wound our way (or should I say, ate our way) through Prince Edward County to Kingston to Ottawa through Algonquin Park and Muskoka and back. Ontario is full of some mighty fine trees and lakes and sunsets (and chip trucks) you guys!




But in between it all, we've been spending plenty of time hanging out in the garden with the flowers, the birds and the bees...


And the chipmunks! They're my favourite!


It's been a summer of finding quiet moments. Pausing to take it all in. The sound of wings fluttering past. How the spider spins his web, the chipmunk dives head first into his hole, the blue jay squawks if you haven't provided him with the perfect peanut and the bumblebee collects pollen with unbridled enthusiasm.




And, of course, daily admiration of the morning glories who climb all over each other (and whatever else might get in their way) in an unofficial contest to see who blooms the brightest each morning. They all do.


This summer has been equal parts chilly and downright tropical. But temperature ups and downs are no match for zucchini-filled summer baking to warm up and tromping through icy streams to cool down.


I'll be sad to see Summer and all her bright colours and heat-heavy slow days go, but, at the same time, we're excited for the crisp breezes, cozy smells and fresh beginnings of Fall.

How about you? How was your summer?

Surprise Packs - Fifth Edition!!

This July marks Omiyage's birthday... our fifth birthday! Which is pretty amazing... and a bit astounding. Time really does fly when you're having fun!

Of course, July also means birthday treats... and the best treat of the year is always our Surprise Packs!


While I'm sheepish to admit that the first edition of these back in 2011 were the result of a careless ordering mistake, they were so popular that I've been mindfully making them every year since. Carefully curating an assortment of cute and colourful things, placing special orders, adding handcrafted details and wrapping it all up with lots of handcrafted love.

No promises or grand proclamations, but a quiet warning that this might be the last year I do them... Five x Joy seems like a good stopping point and while they are well worth the happiness they bring, they take a whole lot of time and energy to assemble. So, this year, to avoid disappointments, I made twice as many as usual. Grab yours while they last.


This year's edition features a trio of tags and a twine tassel. Pretty cute, right?! The Omiyage version of a classic brown paper package, if you will.

Choose your favourite colour for a customized surprise - and don't worry, not everything inside the yellow pack is yellow, colour coding just helps to keep things organized during the packing process and to avoid duplicate items when ordering more than one pack!

Want a peek at a few of the goodies inside? Here we go...


The best tag & twine sets I've ever put together... a great mix of shapes, sizes and materials plus a pair of handcrafted tags in each pack - a little useful inspiration, if you will! And don't forget - the tassel tag on the outside of the package can be reused too.


My new favourite pens direct from Japan - twin tipped and perfect for addressing envelopes and writing colourful letters. The memo pads are pretty sweet too!


I sorted through over 1000 vintage stamps to find the prettiest and most interesting ones to include, then packaged them up with love.

There are also three rolls of washi tape in each pack, cute illustrated stationery items and more... each pack includes 14 (yes, fourteen!) items and is valued at up to $50.

You'll even find clever Snail Mail Forever postcards from Q&A Letterbox... don't forget to look on the back for a special message. One lucky person will win a letterbox from Q&A featuring a curated selection of cards.


I've been offering lots of sneak peeks over on Instagram throughout the process. Pop over there if you'd like to see more.

So far, blue has been by far the most popular colour - which colour would you choose?

Insta-Update


I just realized I haven't done an update in 2015 so forgive me if this is a little photo-heavy but I just couldn't narrow it down any more! Here's what's been happening around here through the eyes of Instagram:

A handful of really good great mail days...
Q & A Letterbox launches in May and I was lucky enough to get a preview edition. Fantastic selection of greeting cards (and Canadian too!)
More fab cards! These ones from Think & Ink Studio in Vancouver.
It's a croissant pouch! This arrived in the mail and many many croissant cravings arrived with it. Don't look directly at it or you might suffer the same delicious fate.
A really thoughtful gift from friends in Japan. That's a paper craft sumo game - so fun! Who wants to play?



Always looking for the best way to wrangle tape. For now the regular tapes are in containers - well, most of the time - while the skinny and wide rolls are on embroidery hoops.

How do you organize your collection?


A little book love!

One of my favourite Washi Style projects hanging out on our kitchen wall.
Flow Magazine - a Dutch magazine for paper lovers (in English). So beautiful. The Book For Paper Lovers is by far the best thing I've purchased in 2015.
Signed copies of my book will be in the shop next week. Exciting!
Also exciting? I discovered that Pinterest Perfect was published in German. Clearly had to get a copy.
And my non-craft reading list. Ones on the left to-be-read. Ones on the right recently-read. I love books!


Some recent customer palettes that caught my eye. My pink love is holding strong!
Plus my favourite section of the washi gallery wall. I have a soft spot for soft serve ice cream and adorable postcards - this is the perfect combo.


Carina's Mini Embellishment embroidery club started this week. I'm enjoying learning new stitches - I mastered the french knot on my first try. So proud!
I've been thinking (and talking) a lot about markers this week. Blame the doodles! Just ordered some new ones from DeSerres to try.
Trying to translate a sketch into something more 3-dimensional.
Speaking of 3D, these flowers are another favourite Washi Style project.
While it's nice to get fancy with tape, sometimes the tape is fancy enough that you only need a strip.
I've been sending out lots of orders dressed like this - grid bags and a touch of neon pink.


Wool felt in 63 colours arrived - hoping to get it listed soon!
Washi tape mini stickers have been listed - 24 designs and colours.
Loving these new tapes. See how they were designed here.
Our favourite envelope templates are back in stock.

Until next time, see you over on Instagram!

Insta-Update


A look at what's happening around here... through the eyes of Instagram!

Advance copies of my new book arrived - both the UK & US edition. So exciting!
A big box of tape came back from the photographer all organized by colour.
Playing with our new MT tapes - so much fun!
Our tapes are a stocking stuffer pick in The Dance Current.
Spotted this cute wreath idea in Style At Home - washi tape + clothespins.
Rearranged my office space and now I get to look at this all day long! 


Washi tape cups make cute cards.
October saw a mail swap with OMHG pals - all this sweet stuff came to me from Alison.
And here's a peek at how I wrapped my swap package. Love white doodles on kraft!
These just-add-tape cards are a great way to show off your favourite designs.
These just might be my favourite of the new tapes. Or maybe this one.
Experimenting with washi tape mosaics.

Hope to see you over on Instagram! @omiyage_ca

What have you been up to lately? Happy weekend!

New MT Designs!



If there's one thing I've learnt over the past 4+ years in washi tape world, it's that mt lovers really love mt! So we just had to bring in the new line of mt basics - their biggest roll out of patterns in years - stripes, dots, checks, more stripes!





Find all these designs (and more) over in the shopAnd don't forget to check our sale section where we've listed sets of unwrapped tapes for a reduced price.

Holiday Treat - Letterpress Tags



We have the loveliest treat for Omiyage customers this holiday!



Stags & holiday wishes. These pretty letterpressed gift tag sets are printed on cream and chipboard in our favourite bold pink.



Plus some sparkly gold Divine Twine - because what's a tag without a little twine?!



Designed by Geri Jewett of The Languid Lion and printed by Survival Letterpress, we know you're going to love them us much as we do!



The details on these cards is really incredible. Those fine lines, the scrollwork, the spots on the deer's back are all made extra-special by the texture of the letterpress printing. And the pink is a fantastic shade which reads almost red on the chipboard tags but pink-a-licious on the cream.



Of course, there's a bit of a pay-it-forward story behind these tags. You see, Joey & Amanda, the husband and wife team behind Kansas City's Survival Letterpress celebrated an Instagram milestone with a giveaway. Geri won that giveaway and decided to pay-it-forward by offering her design services (and the cards) to me. Well, since I go through business cards like water over at Omiyage, I wanted to make sure those letterpressed cards were put to really good use. So we put our heads together... and voila! Holiday tags for you!

We'll be slipping in a set of tags with every order of $25 or more for as long as they last.

Insta-Update

 A look at what's happening around here... through the eyes of Instagram!

Adorable new things have been arriving from Japan - loving the stationery
Snapping photos of customer orders is my favourite
Always making stickers out of tape
Colourful bags + paper doilies + tape = awesome
Greeting card grab bags are ALSO my favourite
This order totally tugged on my heart strings - more colour, more fun!







Another fantastic order - cameras, cosmos, plants & Scandi crosses
Big box of new tape filled with illustrations galore
Loving Uppercase. Treated myself to a couple of back issues in a recent sale
More new tape (and one little guy who didn't survive the voyage)
Pink, purple grey & white - yet another fab #omiyagepalette
Textile goodness from Avril Loreti & Miss Matatabi. Do you remember when we sold fabric? My dream shop/studio combo definitely has a big wall of fabric. 

Hope to see you over on Instagram! @omiyage_ca

Have a fantastic weekend and a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Washi Tape Grab Bags

Late last week we added some of our popular washi tape grab bags to the shop. Filled with lonely last rolls, photo samples and specialty tapes which never made it to the shop, each grab bag is filled with colour, pattern and crafty potential!

Plus, this round of bags ships with a friend - a second grab bag of twine, tags and stickers. Put them both together and you'll be wrapping some fine-looking gifts!

Grab a grab bag here!

Insta-Update


A look at what's been happening around here - through the eyes of Instagram.

Packing orders, unpacking new products.
Admiring colour combos, playing with a bit of collage.
Trying out new ideas.

Follow @omiyage_ca on Instagram for more studio sneak peeks.

Fresh Tape Arrivals

 

 
 

Fresh new mt tapes are always fun to photograph. 12 new designs in the shop.

Happy Friday!