The Magic Mailbox: Japanese Goodness

 About two weeks ago, I was reading Kelly Kilmer's blog and she posted about her Washi tape. I've been collecting it for awhile now, after Teesha got me hooked. (Behold the power of the internet!) Keeley posted a link to her favourite source, Washimatta, so I went to have a look....and as you can see, Veni Vidi Emi-I went, I saw, I bought!

 There are some really cool postage stamps on the package.

 Waves, such a part of Japanese culture...kinda of sad given the current state of things.

 I'm going to save then all and they will find a their way into one of my ROD journals.

 Even these little stickers for the postal carrier are adorable. Smart to put this one on as spring in BC equals a fair bit of rain and believe me, I've had parcels arrive that have been dropped in puddles. (My passport in fact, which is when I learned that the leather covers which are dark blue are NOT colourfast. It was destroyed.)

 The crying, broken coffee cup! Love it!

 Karen, the proprietress of Washimatta wrapped everything so nicely, it was a treat to open it.

 When I looked at the back of the tag, she's written this little note, which is why I am posting this. If you go to Washimatta, and order tape, she is donating the proceeds to the Japanese relief effort. Karen lives in Tokyo, and even though she and her family are okay, she is reaching out and helping others.

If you're thinking you'd like some tapes for your very own, why not order now and make that money count? It's a win-win-you get some cool tapes for your art making adventures, a very cool little package like I got AND excellent customer service from Karen (it took a week and a half to get here!) and Japan gets some much needed help. (Which means you also get to have a warm glow in your heart!)

Here are the links to Karen's relief effort:

Washimatta on Etsy

Washmatta Online

And Karen's blog, if you'd like to follow her:

Washimatta Blog

 These were the tapes I bought. Gorgeous!! I am so pleased and I've assured her I will be back for more.

 Penn gave me this pencil case for Xmas-it's one of our favourite collage artists, Colin Johnson, who is now designing for Blue Q. I've been keeping my tapes in it.

 See? I think I can only fit one or two more rolls in it before I'm going to need another bag. (Good problem to have, I must say!)

 So here are the reds in my collection, so far...

 ...the pinks...

 ...the blues and a green...

 ...the browns...

 ...the blacks...which, incidentally as Penn pointed out, you can write on with a white Sakura pen.

 And lastly, a couple rolls of tissue tape, which is crazily overpriced. (It's sold by scrapbooking companies.) The Washi tape is by far the better deal. I can get three rolls of washi, with likely double the amount of tape for the same price I paid for these two rolls. Just sayin'.

Penn gave me some laminated sheets awhile back and I realized they would work to send some washi tape to a friend. The beauty of washi tape is that it's extremely forgiving. You can peel the tape up off things and reuse it. I have rescued every bit of it that's been used as packaging on parcels sent to me. Waste not, want not! It just felt wrong to throw it away. It's too pretty. If by chance it loses it's tackiness, you can just add a dab of glue stick and it's like new!

Penn sent me a link to the charming little story about how these tapes came to be. You really should read it. Here's the link.