Japanese vinyl toys mania

Thanks to Miki and to her amazing on-line shop, I was recently able to hoard a couple of really kawaii vinyl toys... and now I feel and irresistible need to collect them all! The first about which I am talking about is the Takochu, which is a cute, little, and colorful octopus! They exists in many, many colors dans they could be also collected into a pile. Maybe, their name takes inspiration from the Takoyaki, which are a typical Japanese ball shaped snack made with minced octopus. Or perhaps, it could simple mean "octopus" (Tako) "smack" (Chu)... I honestly do not know...

 

The second one is the Manju Kun, which remembers a typical Japanese sweet (the Manju) made with rice flour and filled with anko, a cream made with boiled azuki beans and sugar. According to wikipedia, the Manju are derived from a similar steamed sweet, the Mantou - Mochi in Japanses, that existed in Chine since ages. As in the case of the Takochu, thanks to their great variety, Manju Kun take many colorful and original aspects and, for that, are really cute to be collected!

I love this way to turn traditional food into contemporary, cute characters. I have discovered only recently these amazing vinyl toys, but searching on the the net I have found out that they are "cult" characters since many years, when a real invasion of these cute and colorful mascots has started. Also some groups of fans exist, which gather pictures of entire collections that can be admired on the web. My idea was to tribute to these amazing vinyl toys, making two rubber stamps: one for the Takochu and another for the Manju Kun... by this way, I can have fun to create numberless colorful friends, with which to decorate diaries, letters, and everything I'd like with a super-kawaii touch!! I hope you like them, check them out on my etsy!!!

Hot air balloons hand carved rubber stamps

By now, the Summer flew away, leaving behind an inescapable trail of melancholia, which prepares us  to face the cold and long Winter. Thus, I considered that in this period we need a touch of color and funny  to bring some happiness in these grey and rainy first days of Autumn... 

  

...for that, I have made some sets of cute and colorful hot-air balloons! Round, hearth-shaped and animal shaped hot-air balloons, these sets will be able to provide a touch of color on all your papers, letters, notebook and fabrics... I hope you like them, check them out on my etsy!

And the lucky winner is...

I am very happy to announce that Randomizer has choosen the lucky winner for my special ice cream giveaway... that's the number 4, Holly Nelson, who loves the "mint choc chip" as flavour of ice cream! My congratulations Holly, please take contact with me for the delivery of your stamp set! My congratulations again and thanks to all the partipants!!

Ice cream stamps set summer giveaway

I will never get tired to repeat it: nothing is better than a delicious ice creams to quench the hot weather during summer... also Fifi seems to agree with me, as seen the passion she puts in licking her special strawberry sorbet!

And I dedicated to this great classic, summer food, which is able to bridge the adults' tastes with the desires of the little ones, this new set of hand carved rubber stamps. This set contains various types of ice creams, the pop, the cone, the cup and so forth. Furthermore, I added to this set a small stamp having the shape of a smiling face, in order to give even more fun to ice creams!

Likewise all other hand carved rubber stamps, it is very funny to create colorful patterns with which to decorate cloths and fabrics: in this case, I used the small ice cream pop to print out a summer patter on my t-shirt! Now I can really feel the freshness even during these last days of the hot summer!!

Would you like to have this stamps set? You can winn it participating to my new ice cream giveaway! To participate to this giveaway is easy: subscribe as a follower to my blog (if you are not yet a follower) and write a comment from now to September, the 1st at 13h00 (Rome, Paris etc. hour) in which you  write which is your best favourite flavour of ice cream or, in alternative, the strangest flavour you ever tried. Then, to each comment I will assign an ascending number (1,2,3, and so forth) and randomizer will find out the lucky winner of my ice creams... good luck to everybody!!!

Summer giveaway: and the winner is

I am glad to announce that, accoring to randomiser, the lucky winner of my special summer giveaway is: the number 1, Matemo, who likes to go to seaside and that this year will spend the holidays in Croatia! My congratulations! Please take contact with me to provide your shipping address! Again, I wish a happy and sunny summer to everybody!

Summer giveaway!

After a rather long silence, during while I moved back with Fifi in Italy for the summer, I am glad to write a new post to announce my special summer giveaway! I have hand-carved 3 new stamps with the shape of cute summer characters: a penguin on a sailboat, a bear with a watermelon, and a bunny with a lifebuoy! I hope that you like them... and the good news is that you can try to win these three cute stamps participating to my new giveaway!

To participate to this giveaway is easy: write a comment from now to August, the 11th at 13h00 (Rome, Paris etc. hour) in which you have to indicate where you actually come for holidays or, in alternative, where you have came and/or where you would like to come. If you'd like to add other details (the reason why you chose this place, when you have been there, etc), they are very welcome. Then, to each comment I will assign an ascending number (1,2,3, and so forth) and randomizer will find out the lucky winner...

I wish a nice summer and a good luck to everybody!!

Stamp it!

I am very glad to announce a cute publication about handmade stamps, edited by Jenny Doh, in which I actively participated! Jenny gathered projects from some compulsive stamps makers (amongst which are included Ishtar Olivera, Kerri Winterstein, Josephine Ho, Riyo Kihara, Noelle Griskey, Gertie Jaquet, Cynthia Shaffer, Sarah Patro, and me!!) and displays many ideas about ho to use a stamp. This book included also a lot of motifs to do your own stamps... the fun is guaranteed! The book is now for sale and it is available here and here. Jenny is also the author of many other books about crafts and arts and she created a delicious website, crescendoh.com. Thanks you very much Jenny for this amazing book about stamps!!!

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!!!

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!!!