AliExpress Stationery Haul

As a stationery designer it’s always such a treat to be able to order some cute stationery for my own ever-growing collection. I love to shop on AliExpress as there’s always a great variety of products at a great price, usually with free shipping to Australia. In recent years I bought lots of different items from this popular site that offers everything from technology to clothing, homewares to beauty and everything in between!

Just the other day an order arrived from the “house of novelty Official Store” in China and got me all excited for the totally adorable stickers I received. Let’s take a look:

These are probably my favourite stickers of all time and I just adore them! I’ll definitely use these to decorate my letters and envelopes as well as sending a bunch to snail mail friends.

These travel-themed stickers are giving me major wanderlust! Their small size makes them ideal for inclusion in my outgoing letters and their quality is simply great.

Cute animal stickers anyone? I can’t wait to send some of these to my friends with young children who are going to love them!

So there you have it. You can click on the images of these products to be taken to the ordering page on AliExpress. Happy shopping!

Disclaimer: I was not paid to post about these products. All opinions are my own.

Christmas Events

Sorry for the lack of updates on here, dear friends. Somehow time just got the better of me.

I’m excited to share that this month, the very last in 2017, we’ll be at two Christmas events in Melbourne where you can buy our products. The first is happening this Sunday December 10th, at Sir William Fry Reserve in Highett. The event is called Carols by Kingston and for the first time we’ll be selling from inside a marquee!

We’ve been super busy getting everything ready for what promises to be a very exciting night filled with handmade goodies, gourmet food, cheerful carols and celebrity appearances. Please come along if you can! We’ll be there from 6.30pm until 10pm.

These are just a handful of products that you could expect to find when you shop at our stall. Your support means the world to us and we always get such a kick from interactive directly with our customers.

The second event this month is happening at Clarinda Community Centre on Friday 15th of December from 5pm – 9pm as a twilight Christmas market. We’re just as excited to be part of this smaller event.

Hope to see you at one of these great events soon! Have a lovely weekend!

Naira

For the love of Snail Mail

I have a confession to make. Apart from owning my own stationery label I’m also a massive stationery fan with a stash of postcards, cute stickers, patterned washi tapes, greeting cards and funky envelopes all waiting to be used up when an opportunity presents itself. Luckily for me I absolutely love the art of writing letters and usually end up using store-bought items as well as my own creations in my outgoing snail mail to friends.

We live in a technological age where it has become the norm to send instant text messages, emails and social media posts out into the world. This simplifies our fast-paced lives and ensures we’re always connected. Everything happens in the blink of an eye. For me there’s something so special about sending out a message in the old form of a letter. I love spending my spare time just sitting down with a cup of tea in the garden, pen in hand, filling the page with all the events of life that occurred in the time since our last correspondence and describing everything there is to look forward to in the future. There’s a great deal of therapeutic value in the art of handwriting your thoughts on paper to a friend half way across the globe. Have you tried it yet? It’s truly so much fun!

Thankfully there’s still plenty of love for this tangible form of communication. On Instagram there are great hashtags such as #snailmailrevolution and #sendmoremail going around. Indeed many of my penpals and I still rely on the instant messaging service within Instagram to communicate to each other when we send or receive a letter. I don’t think I could’ve ever had the patience to write letters in the good old days.

In many ways we are fortunate to live in the 21st century but I just hate the thought of imagining email replacing handwritten correspondence the way the keyboard I’m currently typing on replaced the classic typewriter and the way in which e-cards are slowly replacing actual greeting cards in the mailbox. We can’t let this happen.

I encourage you (yes YOU!) to help us revive the snail mail movement. I can’t vouch for the online post-crossing websites many people use because I managed to find all my penpals via Instagram, but if you’re passionate about putting pen to paper, send someone a letter today and you’ll know just how good it feels to send as well as receive one back. It can be a simple thank you card, a declaration of love for your better half or a creative masterpiece to a friend. Have fun with it!

Oh and if you’re so inclined to buy your stationery from me and support my small business, I’ll be eternally grateful. Visit our brand new Online Shop here.

Happy mailing!

ZenPop Stationery Review

There are so many things to love about Japan. Today I’d like to introduce you to ZenPop, a Japanese company that sends the coolest products from the heart of Osaka to anywhere in the world. While it sounds like a subscription-style service, it isn’t. You can purchase individual packs each month without knowing exactly what’s included (because it’s a surprise!) but ZenPop do showcase a few products on social media and hint about the contents on their website.

There are 6 packs to choose from and all prices are in US Dollars and include shipping:

• Japanese Ramen + Sweets Mix ($24.50)
• Japanese Sweets Pack ($19.50 – $29.50)
• Japanese Ramen Pack ($29.50)
• Japanese Stationery Pack ($29.50)
• Japanese Beauty Pack ($29.50)

I bought the Japanese Stationery Pack for the month of April with a “Kawaii” or cute theme, which promised 12 or more items.

The box in which the products arrived was so cute and featured the ZenPop bunny mascot jumping for joy! Inside the box the first thing seen was a little note which said “You got a lucky box with a pair of lucky socks” and of course a smile instantly came to my face.

What a sweet gesture!

Now let’s explore the actual products inside the Stationery Pack. The April kit included:

• 1x Decorese Pen (1 of 10 pastel colours)
• 1x Kuretake – Mangaka Pen (1 of 4 colours)
• 1x Uni Jetstream Pen – Black ink
• 1x Kuratake Brush Tip Highlighter (1 of 5 fluorescent colours)
• Washi Tape (1 of 5 designs)
• Sanrio Memo Pad (1 of 6 designs)
• Rilakkuma Folder (1 of 4 designs)
• Schedule Stickers (1 of 3 designs)
• Nico Sticky Notes (1 of 4 designs)
• Bento Flake Stickers
• Tombow MONO 2 Way (1 of 5 colours)
• Flip Out Message Cards

The items included were all so cute and useful too. I’ll certainly be using the pages of the Sanrio notepad to write letters to penpals and the sushi stickers to decorate the envelopes! All the pens were great and wrote ever-so-beautifully on paper. The washi tape was certainly a highlight as was the gorgeous Rilakkuma folder. Can’t wait to also use the MONO correction tape on one side and eraser on the other!

Overall, I loved the ZenPop Stationery Pack. All the products were of very high quality and with a large variety of inclusions from stickers to sticky notes, paper, washi tape and pens. No two boxes are the same as there are endless colour and design combinations ZenPop sends you. It took just under 4 weeks to arrive to Australia from Japan but it was so worth the wait. For all the info on ZenPop’s other packs please visit their website here and try something new from Japan for yourself.

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Disclaimer: All opinions expressed in this review are 100% honest. This box was purchased by me and I genuinely loved all the products and wanted to publish a review here.

Desk Calendar!

This year we’ve designed a special calendar featuring a combination of illustrations and words to inspire you to live your best life in 2017! Our Mishka Desk Calendar is now only $16 AUD, including worldwide shipping!

Here are some snapshots:

To purchase, just go to http://mishkamail.com.au then click “Other Products” from the top menu! Cheers!

Joy in Disneyland, Tokyo

Earlier this year, during a 12-day holiday in Japan, I was lucky enough to visit both Disney themeparks in Tokyo – Disneyland and DisneySea. Thinking back on those days brings me such joy as the “Happiest place on earth” certainly exceeded all my expectations. Both adults and children alike had smiles on their faces as they ran to queue up for certain attractions, eat at themed restaurants and shop at some of the cutest boutiques in the world. From the moment I stepped foot inside Tokyo’s wonderland of Disney magic, I knew I would have the time of my life.

One of the first sights I saw was this cute Disney Resort Line monorail taking visitors from Disneyland to DisneySea and all around. Inside the carriages it’s really cute too, with Mickey Mouse shaped views and handles to hold on to!

This is the very beautiful Disneyland Hotel for those lucky enough to stay overnight at Disneyland! Even their rooms have been designed with certain Disney characters in mind and the hotel is lavish from top to bottom.

There were many shops selling everything from plush toys to confectionery, and stationery to cosmetics. Everything had the irresistible Disney feel to it and it certainly was hard to resist the urge to buy most of the things on sale! Bring a bigger suitcase with you if you can!

I absolutely loved the different areas of the Park. There’s Adventureland, Westernland, Critter Country, Fantasyland, Toontown and Tomorrowland. Each in its own is an unforgettable experience!

The Mark Twain Riverboat cruise was one of my favourite experiences because it transported me back to my memories of summer in the US last year in the charming city of Wilmington, NC.

Seeing the majestic Disney castle with your very eyes is absolutely incredible. So much planning and designing went into each and every element of both Disney Parks, and the attention to detail is just phenomenal.

When I was there it was all setup for Easter and checking their website today it looks like they’ve decorated for Halloween!

Honestly the whole experience was amazing and I highly recommend visiting magical Disneyland Tokyo for yourself. In a future post, I’ll make sure to cover the equally impressive DisneySea Park!

September’s Mishka Mail Revealed

*SPOILER ALERT* September’s Mishka Mail Kit is Revealed Below *SPOILER ALERT*

Time is flying by and we’ve already sent out our second monthly stationery kit for Mishka Mail. For September’s shipment the theme was “Bringing Snail-Mail Back” and there were lots of paper goodies included that you could send out to friends and penpals telling them how special they are to you.

 

Included in September’s kit were:

• 4 x “Mishka Collection” Greeting Cards
• 2 x Postcards
• 2 x Stickers
• 2 x Gift Tags
• 2 x “Mini Collection” Cards

October sign-ups are now OPEN until the 16th of this month. The theme will be “Slow down, Take it easy” and for the first time we’ll include a wall print in our kit! You don’t want to miss out on this one!

Visit the link below to join our Mishka Mail club today!

http://www.gracefulavenue.com.au

Revealing August’s “Mishka Mail”

* SPOILER ALERT * AUGUST’S KIT IS REVEALED BELOW * SPOILER ALERT ********************************************************************

We’ve been so delighted with how everyone’s received our new subscription service – Mishka Mail. Thank you to everyone who has shared, liked and commented on our posts and tweets so far. For those of you who are reading about this only now, August was the first month our kits were sent out. Each month we send out a surprise selection of cute stationery and paper goods right to your door, worldwide. All our products have been lovingly illustrated in our Melbourne studio and have a distinct style to them.

So without further ado, August’s kit included everything you’d need to celebrate someone’s birthday and fittingly the theme for the month was Paper Party!

Included in August’s shipment were:

• 4 x “Mishka Collection” Greeting Cards
• 1 x Postcard
• 2 x Stickers
• 2 x Gift Tags
• 2 x “Mini Collection” Cards

Did you like what you’ve seen? September sign-ups are now open and will be closing on the 18th of this month. Visit the link below to join our Mishka Mail club today!

http://www.gracefulavenue.com.au

Meet Mishka!

We are so excited to present to you our Mishka as a 3D model! What started out as a drawing on a piece of paper then became our greeting card and gift tag products, and now we have our very own business card holding Mishka model, perfect for trade shows, events and markets! We simply can’t wait to showcase him somewhere in Melbourne soon!

You can purchase greeting cards with our Mishka on them from our Online Etsy Shop here.