Manners in Tokyo

Many people say that Japanese people are among the most polite in the world. This unfortunately, isn’t the case in Tokyo, especially when travelling, so Tokyo Metro created a series of fantastic ads to promote good manners on the trains.

I know some readers might feel shocked about it, but I just want to clarify that I have never met a rude Japanese person, until I moved to downtown Tokyo.

The ads are pretty much based on facts and I will try to match some photos of real people doing exactly what the posters show.

This is my best example:

Here are three of the Tokyo Metro Ads followed by a picture of two people pretty much doing all three things. Not only is the man sleeping and taking up space, and the girl putting on makeup, but they are both sitting in the “priority seats” (sign behind them on the window) which is reserved for older people, pregnant and those with special needs.

Stay tuned for more ads coming soon!

Dinosaur Game for Children

I teach and play with preschool children part-time and try to make fun and interactive games for every class. Keeping two year olds focused can be tough at times, especially when they don’t understand english at all!

Here’s a game I made up to help the children develop their gross motor skills using a ball and large dinosaur head. Basically, I would hold the head in front me while standing with my legs apart. The children will then “feed” the dinosaur by rolling the ball into the mouth.

Here’s the dinosaur:

Another game that I tried last year for Halloween (and was a great success) was “feed the monster”, where the children would throw balls or small balloons into the mouth.

Monster Box:

As you might be able to see, the picture was taken after the children played with it……hence the torn and bent edges…missing ears and so on. It was a lot of fun for the kids, so I hope the dinosaur will be a big hit as well. Will let you know the outcome later!

Photography to Personalize Cards and Gifts

I love photography. I know many people say they love photography, and they are truly passionate about every aspect of the art, but I just love to take snaps of things I find pretty or interesting, without worrying so much about the type of camera I have or the different setting that I should use.

I always call myself “a point and click kind of girl” which, most of the time I am. If something presents itself to me, I get that urge to take a picure of it, and most of the time, they turn out great (at least in my eyes).

I used to sell my prints but wanted to create something a little more useful, so I decided to print small images and place them on cards. For the ones I would give as a gift, I would personalize them by either decorating with a specific name or special message, kirigami cut out around the image, or use chiyogami/washi to frame the image with complimenting colours.

Here’s an example of one I made with Fuji San:

and another with a lovely flowering tree:

For more examples of Japanese photography cards please check out the shop!

Butterfly Kirigami Envelope

As I showed you a new kirigami envelope project yesterday, here’s another version with butterflies:

First step, the drawing:

I chose a butterfly that says “Hey you…” as an introduction to the letter/card/gift inside (in this case, I sent pictures)

Now my tools and though I didn’t have a cutting mat narrow enough, I used very thick cardboard.

and on to the cutting (as always, make sure to keep the lines broken at certain points to make sure the entire image stays on the envelope):

finally, the colourful paper inside the envelope to show a contrast and protect the pictures inside:

Kirigami to Decorate Plain Envelopes

Here’s a new kirigami project for you to try: Kirigami to decorate plain kraft envelopes!

I love plain kraft envelopes, but they seem too plain to get anyone excited about receiving mail. Also, if I happen to make a big card or book as a gift, those envelopes are usually the perfect size for them.

The last gift I made was a chiyogami wrapped book (with a fully illustrated story) and this kraft envelope I had was exactly the size I needed, so I decided to dress it up to show how special the gift was.

Here’s the plain envelope:

Here’s the book:

As you can see, the envelope was a little off from the presentation of the book.

If you would like to try this one day, here are brief steps to help you along.

First, draw out what you would like to cut out, whether it’s an image or words. Since I was giving this to Jeff, I simply found a pretty font I liked, and drew out “For Jeff” lightly in pencil.

Next, I got a small cutting board that fit inside the envelope and my scalpel knife. If you do not have a small cutting board to fit inside your envelope, use thick, hard cardboard or even a piece of wood -basically anything you can cut on and can fit in the envelope.

Now, as always with kirigami, make sure the lines have breaks in them so that you leave the outline of the image or words and not cut out everything (like the entire “o” or else that will just leave a big hole).

Once you’ve cut it out, you’ll notice it’s quite see through and perhaps won’t protect the item you would like to put inside….

so the next step is to place a colourful or patterned paper behind it. Another nice option is to use translucent paper, or even parchment for a “clouded” effect.

Here’s a contrasting black background:

and here’s what I did with gold:

Who needs paper to gift wrap?

I just use furoshiki to wrap my gifts.

I’m not an expert, but I try my best to make clean folds. Luckilly, the fabric hides or makes folding mistakes pretty. I wrapped a gift like this for a friend overseas. I think it’s a pretty surprise once they open the boring shipping box, don’t you think so?