Happy things
What up, LJ?! I'm way overdue with a post, so here we go!
I recently finished a new embroidery for my Etsy shop. I think it turned out super cute! It's Mako from Kill la Kill:
It's up for sale now here! :3
Recently I've gotten into something called Pocket Letters....vanima actually introduced them to me, and I'm kinda hooked?? XD Well, not as hooked as some people seem to be. So basically, you take one of your standard trading card pages, and make cards/designs/whatever to go into each pocket, and fill it with small things & a letter to send to whoever you're making it for! They fold up nicely and fit in a standard large business-size envelope, which makes them easy to mail, too. (More detailed info here) Here's some examples of ones I've made so far:
This is a monkey-themed one I made for my penpal Liz, who requested Monkeys. ^^
This one was for Yukari, who I met on Instagram. She said she liked cats, the color purple, and antiques, so I tried to include a little of everything in there.
And I made a video of the Dio (from Jojo's Bizarre Adventures) themed one I made for another gal I met on Instagram. I was amazed to find a woman in Japan who liked Pocket Letters AND Jojo's Bizarre Adventures! What are the odds?! XD
It seems to be super popular on Instagram, but I seem to have problems finding many geeky/nerd-made ones that have similar interests as I do. Most people into Pocket Letters seem to be stay-at-home moms who just like making generic ones with random inspirational quotes or slogans like "don't let anyone dull your sparkle!!!" and stuff like that...which is fine, of course, I can kinda see why...the stay-at-home/retired ladies who're into this love it because it's basically small-scale scrapbooking (which is already huge with those types, anyway). But I'm surprised more creative nerdy types haven't jumped on this! Sometimes I run into geeky/fandom related pocket letters, but a lot of them are lacking the creative eye for design that you see in non-geeky ones, so they can look kinda weird. (Again, not to knock em...my first few pocket letters didn't look impressive, either! It's something you have to practice, I think, like with any sort of creative work.) I wish I had more time and money to work on more to swap with people...another advantage the stay-at-home mom crowd has is that they usually have way more time and money for high-quality supplies for stuff like this. (Ironically, these are the same people who swoop in like vultures whenever new stuff arrives at the Dollar store or the Target dollar spot, buy ALL the good stuff buy the arm load, and leave nothing for the people who are broke and would love to buy a few nice $1 scrapbooking/stationery items. :P Though there are "resellers" who do this, too, which is also not very cool...I don't want to have to pay $5+shipping for a $1 item on eBay, you jerks!!) But yeah, I've never been super great at regular scrap-booking, but on this small of a scale I seem to have picked it up a little more easily, so I've been enjoying it...now I find myself idly browsing the PL tags on instagram and saving pics for inspiration.The Japanese PL posters on instagram are especially cute...I wish I still had access to a Daiso. Cheap & ultra-cute craft supplies are something I miss a lot! *sniffle*
Speaking of which, I was floored by the package one of my Japanese instagram pals sent me when we traded pocket letters...she didn't just send me an envelope, she sent me an entire PACKAGE of things!! I felt so guilty, since I just sent her a straight-up regular pocket letter. She sent me a HUGE stack of flyers she grabbed from various shopping areas, mostly things like upcoming video games (SO MANY SPLATOON ONES! X3) but also anime (like one for the new Naruto movie, lmao...) and some general "Japanese" stuff like idols and Hello Kitty. But she also bought me an Urusei Yatsura pouch and packet of bath fizzies, too! ;A; Along with the pocket letter itself, which she made in a Sailor Moon Crystal theme. I'm hoping I can scrounge up some money to send her a nice package later in return...I'm not sure what to send her since she's not a fan of anime/manga like I am, so I was thinking general fun "American" stuff, like maybe some Texas postcards/keychains, maybe some cute stickers/stationary items? I'm not sure. I'll think of something, hopefully.
Working on scrapbooking style stuff with pocket letters also got me in the mood to start a new art journal, which is something I haven't tried doing since....geez, the early 00s? XD;; I'm doing it with a self-esteem/self-care theme in mind, so I don't know if I'll share photos of it...maybe I will here, since barely anyone reads LJ anymore, so I won't feel so embarassed about it, lol. It's kind of a personal project, so I don't know if I feel comfortable sharing it with everyone.
Also while still on the subject of mail....I won a contest that a Sailor Moon Facebook group I'm a part of was having a month or two ago. The organizer was delayed in sending me my prize (2 coasters from the Sailor Moon cafe in Japan), so to make it up to me she said she'd throw in a few flyers as well....Well, the package got to me yesterday, and HOLY CRAP, she sent a TON!
She included a literal STACK of flyers (promos for new Sailor Moon collaborations, the menu items at the Sailor Moon cafe(s), pics of the new toys coming out, promos for the dvds/blu-rays/CDs, promos for the new musicals, and even a flyer for what looks to be a fan-gathering!). She also included a flyer that had a list of all the Sailor Moon songs at the karaoke chain that was doing the Sailor Moon cafe promotion, a booklet on all the new Bandai merch coming out, a furoku poster for Sailor Moon Crystal, and a promotional SMC clear file! ;A; To top it off, she packaged it up using some of the new Sailor Moon-themed Anna Sui designer deco tape:
Which looks super cool but is VERY expensive (like $20 a roll! ;A; Stupid pricy designer things!!). I carefully peeled it off the cardboard and I'm gonna use it in one of my aforementioned art journal pages in the future, heh. >;D
Whoo! Well, that was kind of a long post, even tho it wasn't about really anything super important? XD;; heh. More later!
I recently finished a new embroidery for my Etsy shop. I think it turned out super cute! It's Mako from Kill la Kill:
It's up for sale now here! :3
Recently I've gotten into something called Pocket Letters....vanima actually introduced them to me, and I'm kinda hooked?? XD Well, not as hooked as some people seem to be. So basically, you take one of your standard trading card pages, and make cards/designs/whatever to go into each pocket, and fill it with small things & a letter to send to whoever you're making it for! They fold up nicely and fit in a standard large business-size envelope, which makes them easy to mail, too. (More detailed info here) Here's some examples of ones I've made so far:
This is a monkey-themed one I made for my penpal Liz, who requested Monkeys. ^^
This one was for Yukari, who I met on Instagram. She said she liked cats, the color purple, and antiques, so I tried to include a little of everything in there.
And I made a video of the Dio (from Jojo's Bizarre Adventures) themed one I made for another gal I met on Instagram. I was amazed to find a woman in Japan who liked Pocket Letters AND Jojo's Bizarre Adventures! What are the odds?! XD
It seems to be super popular on Instagram, but I seem to have problems finding many geeky/nerd-made ones that have similar interests as I do. Most people into Pocket Letters seem to be stay-at-home moms who just like making generic ones with random inspirational quotes or slogans like "don't let anyone dull your sparkle!!!" and stuff like that...which is fine, of course, I can kinda see why...the stay-at-home/retired ladies who're into this love it because it's basically small-scale scrapbooking (which is already huge with those types, anyway). But I'm surprised more creative nerdy types haven't jumped on this! Sometimes I run into geeky/fandom related pocket letters, but a lot of them are lacking the creative eye for design that you see in non-geeky ones, so they can look kinda weird. (Again, not to knock em...my first few pocket letters didn't look impressive, either! It's something you have to practice, I think, like with any sort of creative work.) I wish I had more time and money to work on more to swap with people...another advantage the stay-at-home mom crowd has is that they usually have way more time and money for high-quality supplies for stuff like this. (Ironically, these are the same people who swoop in like vultures whenever new stuff arrives at the Dollar store or the Target dollar spot, buy ALL the good stuff buy the arm load, and leave nothing for the people who are broke and would love to buy a few nice $1 scrapbooking/stationery items. :P Though there are "resellers" who do this, too, which is also not very cool...I don't want to have to pay $5+shipping for a $1 item on eBay, you jerks!!) But yeah, I've never been super great at regular scrap-booking, but on this small of a scale I seem to have picked it up a little more easily, so I've been enjoying it...now I find myself idly browsing the PL tags on instagram and saving pics for inspiration.The Japanese PL posters on instagram are especially cute...I wish I still had access to a Daiso. Cheap & ultra-cute craft supplies are something I miss a lot! *sniffle*
Speaking of which, I was floored by the package one of my Japanese instagram pals sent me when we traded pocket letters...she didn't just send me an envelope, she sent me an entire PACKAGE of things!! I felt so guilty, since I just sent her a straight-up regular pocket letter. She sent me a HUGE stack of flyers she grabbed from various shopping areas, mostly things like upcoming video games (SO MANY SPLATOON ONES! X3) but also anime (like one for the new Naruto movie, lmao...) and some general "Japanese" stuff like idols and Hello Kitty. But she also bought me an Urusei Yatsura pouch and packet of bath fizzies, too! ;A; Along with the pocket letter itself, which she made in a Sailor Moon Crystal theme. I'm hoping I can scrounge up some money to send her a nice package later in return...I'm not sure what to send her since she's not a fan of anime/manga like I am, so I was thinking general fun "American" stuff, like maybe some Texas postcards/keychains, maybe some cute stickers/stationary items? I'm not sure. I'll think of something, hopefully.
Working on scrapbooking style stuff with pocket letters also got me in the mood to start a new art journal, which is something I haven't tried doing since....geez, the early 00s? XD;; I'm doing it with a self-esteem/self-care theme in mind, so I don't know if I'll share photos of it...maybe I will here, since barely anyone reads LJ anymore, so I won't feel so embarassed about it, lol. It's kind of a personal project, so I don't know if I feel comfortable sharing it with everyone.
Also while still on the subject of mail....I won a contest that a Sailor Moon Facebook group I'm a part of was having a month or two ago. The organizer was delayed in sending me my prize (2 coasters from the Sailor Moon cafe in Japan), so to make it up to me she said she'd throw in a few flyers as well....Well, the package got to me yesterday, and HOLY CRAP, she sent a TON!
She included a literal STACK of flyers (promos for new Sailor Moon collaborations, the menu items at the Sailor Moon cafe(s), pics of the new toys coming out, promos for the dvds/blu-rays/CDs, promos for the new musicals, and even a flyer for what looks to be a fan-gathering!). She also included a flyer that had a list of all the Sailor Moon songs at the karaoke chain that was doing the Sailor Moon cafe promotion, a booklet on all the new Bandai merch coming out, a furoku poster for Sailor Moon Crystal, and a promotional SMC clear file! ;A; To top it off, she packaged it up using some of the new Sailor Moon-themed Anna Sui designer deco tape:
Which looks super cool but is VERY expensive (like $20 a roll! ;A; Stupid pricy designer things!!). I carefully peeled it off the cardboard and I'm gonna use it in one of my aforementioned art journal pages in the future, heh. >;D
Whoo! Well, that was kind of a long post, even tho it wasn't about really anything super important? XD;; heh. More later!