Sunday 31 March 2013

Picnic parade


The coming of spring allows us to finally recharge our energies, after the long, tiring and grueling winter. Spring is able to meet the need of our bodies of sun and of warm air... and, what's better than a picnic en plein-air to take profit of good days and of the nature?

 
 

The picnic is probably derived from the French "pique-nique", which means to pick (pique) something of little importance (nique), this last refers to finger food or easy-to-cook food. Yes, because a meal eaten outdoor has to be easy, jovial and also fun. For that it fun to prepare fun bentos with little wieners cut with the shape of octopus, broccolis, boiled eggs, nice peas, fresh tomatos and shrimps tempura!

 
 

Waiting for a warm spring able to push over the cold winter, which still persists here in Paris, I have already prepared plenty of delicious finger foods, reshaped in cute kawaii style. I hope these hand carved rubber stamps and these fimo magnets could help the spring to come, starting the seasons of delicious picnics en plein air! You can find them on my etsy shop!!!




Tuesday 19 March 2013

Cute panda mania


Perhaps, pandas are the only creatures able to provoke an universal feeling of tenderness. Who does not love pandas, indeed?! Maybe, this is due to their lovely and defenseless appearance, which makes them similar to living teddy bears; maybe this is because we imagine them all the time eating calmly bamboos... the reality is that it is impossible to escape from their irresistible and innocent charm! And, it doesn't matter if they are not peaceful at all, as in the advertising here below...


Actually, they belong to the family of bears... and it should not be pleasant to find up in front of a angry panda of a hundred or more of kilos! This genial advertising exploit indeed this apparent contrast between the believed cuteness of the panda and the actual behavior of this panda, a overbearing and menacing bully! And, as I just cannot say no to panda...

 
 

...few days ago, I decided to go along my wishes and I purchased some cooking tools essential for panda lovers from casabento, an on-line retailer of cute stuffs for kitchen in japanese style based in France... they are just arrived and I have spent last time in preparing cute and delicious onigiri with the shape of little pandas...

 
 

And, being at the mercy of this panda fever, I have also created a series a gift ideas, all dedicated to this soft lazy friend with black spots around their eyes like eye sockets.... Check out all my panda creations on my etsy, I hope you like them!!!

 
 



Tuesday 12 March 2013

How to use and to take care of hand carved rubber stamps


Stamps allow to print images onto a huge number of materials: from paper to plastic, from wood to fabric, from glass to ceramic, the list is so long! Out of any doubt, this is probably the easiest technique for printing because it is so immediate. It is sufficient to find the right ink for your purpose to start the adventure. Many of you have asked for advises or tips about how to use hand carved rubber stamps or about how to take care of them after using... For that, I take decision to write a post to summarize all my instructions and tips that I was able to gather during my personal experience....

 

We start with inks. Actually, one of key knowledge about the use of stamps, is to choose the right ink pad for your purposes. Fortunately, you can find a huge range of varieties of ink pads on the market place. For instance, I experienced the use the Versacraft's and ColoBox's, because they are good quality and very versatile inkpads, which are optimal both on paper and on fabric. In this last case, you need to iron on high heat for few minutes onto the print in order to make your image permanent to washing (in any case, it is preferable to wash your fabric up to 30° C not to damage your printing).


I have recently discovered an inkpad called Versafine, which is able to capture fine details like no other. Thus, it is very useful for industrial stamps that, differently to the hand carved ones, are harder and absorb with much difficulty the ink issuing an inexact print. This ink pad is very useful in these cases, in order to make a very exact print of your image!


About stamping onto other materials, I find out that ArchivalInk is very useful for projects that need a waterproof and permanent ink. For instance, I use this ink to stamp onto very smooth surfaces, such as  the shrink plastic. The StazOn is appropriate for all surfaces, but it is especially designed for the use on plastic, metal, glass, ceramic, laminated or coated papers, and leather. Differently to the Versacraft, StazOn is not suitable for fabric. For these special inkpads, I suggest to read carefully the instructions on the box in order to have best results.


And now, some insights about how to clean your hand carved rubber stamps. They need to be careful because they are more fragile and delicate than industrial ones. Pay attention to avoid to twist or scrub them. Press the stamp several times on the work surface or on some paper to remove the excess ink. If you would like to obtain a cleaner stamp, you can also use a kneaded eraser on which to dab your stamp. You can also rinse it with some fresh water and allow it to air dry completely. But in all cases, be really careful to never scrub or scrape it, even a little hurt with your nails can damage your stamp! My recommendation is just not to want to bring the rubber to the "white" because a) it is not needed for using your correctly the stamp and b) it could damage it.


Some last words about storage stamps. It is important not to stack stamps in top of each other because they could stick to each other. Store your stamps with their carved face up in a plastic or wooden cases, so you will keep them free from dust. It is also preferable to avoid to expose them to excessive heat or light, this will damage your stamps. I hope that all these tips and instructions could be useful, but do not hesitate to write your special tips or experiences in the comments. Bye!



Thursday 7 March 2013

Packaging signs stamps


Sometimes, I meditate on the huge travel that parcels make after sending. Actually, a lot of parcels I  send makes an incredible travel across the world. Parcels can traverse thousands of miles before arriving to the their recipient, passing from hands to hands and stopping over dozens of post offices, ports, airpots and so forth... up to their arrival either to an overcrowding big town or to an isolated place in the middle of nowhere... Being aware of that, I always put a lot of care in wrapping my items and in making my packaging because I want to assure the maximum care to my sendings, in order to shields items from accidental damages, weather conditions and other perils of the travel!

 
 

These feelings are so common in all senders. By-the-by, sendings are often posted with special packaging labels upon them, which aim to keep the other people informed about how to handle the pack that they have in their hands. Yet, I find these instructions rather cold, too much "bureaucratic" to be really considered or noticed. For that, I wanted to create a set of cute labels, which aim to inform  with kindness all the postmen, custom officers and other people that will take charge to manage our sendings, in order to push them to behave their utmost with pleasure when they handle packs! And I hope this could really work!!! You can find my special post labels, both stamps and stickers, on my etsy shop - I hope you like them!!!






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