Saturday Package Fun

Early this afternoon, my door bell rang. I wasn't expecting anyone.

Turns out, it was my friendly US Postal Service carrier and she needed my signature for this package.

A package for me from Hong Kong.

A few weeks back, I ordered some washi tape from a seller on Etsy located in Hong Kong. I love washi tape and I use it to embellish my Anything Books. I wanted to expand my selection, and I needed to replish my stock.

For those of you who don't already love washi tape, let me tell you a little bit about it. You can think of it as patterned masking tape. It comes from Japan where it's made from washi paper. The adhesive is more like our post-it notes, so it can be removable. I love the wide range of patterns available. But it's often hard to find in local stores.

I hadn't expected this package to arrive for another 2 weeks!  So I grabbed my camera and a pair of scissors and slowly openned my package.

I love postage forms, so this one really excited me.

I spent time looking over the package before openning it. It got a little smushed in transit, but the package was beautiful. I loved the row of stamps across the top and the customs declaration form is beautiful.

I love this about my life. Little things like this excite me. I see beauty everywhere around me.

I opened the package in reverse of how they wrapped it.

I quickly figured out that the package contained a box inside that was wrapped with this manilla paper held together with tape (of course). So I started to disassemble the package working in the reverse direction that it has been wrapped for shipping. First I openned the ends. I love that I found this end first.

After openning the ends, I sliced the tape open along one side. From there, I could remove the paper wrapping and reveal the box inside.

I carefully removed the paper wrapping to reveal the box inside.

I was surprised to see so much English on this box, especially after seeing the bottom. It made me wonder if I might find this exact product on the shelves of my local asian grocery stores. Then, I wondered if this box had been used to make brownies for the person who wrapped my package!

The use of recycled and upcycled materials to send me supplies that I will use to make my own recycled and upcycled journals thrilled me! I'm definitely saving this box in my stash to reuse in a future Anything Book project.

My new tapes were tucked inside a cellophane envelope and placed into the brownie box.

I opened the end of the brownie box and carefully slid out a cellophane bag that contained my rolls of washi tape. They were gorgeous! I loved seeing the care and thought that went into preparing my package for shipment around the world to me.

My new rolls of washi tape on top of the beautiful packaging.

At last, I could spread out the rolls before me and look at each one carefully. Next up, they will go into the glass jar where I store my tapes. The paper wrapper will go into my stash, and so will the brownie box. In fact, you can look for pieces of them to show up in future Anything Books!

Newman's Own Organics Persica Anything Book

If you care about the planet, you will really love Persica. Not only is the lovely Anything Book (art journal) made from upcycled and recycled materials, but the cover comes from an organic product!

Persica is an Anything Book made from a Newman's Own Organics K-CUPs box.

Persica comes with ring binding and a ring charm with a real gemstone. The centerpiece of the charm is a tiger eye carved heart, along with turtle (mother Earth) and starfish charms. The charms dangle from a Chinese coin for extra good luck.

Persica includes a shipping tag painted and collaged from my studio.

The Persica Anything book provides a wonderful backdrop to inspire your writing, even on the days with where your muse is nowhere to be found. The wide mixture of materials, patterns, and colors will make you smile even before you add your own insights, bits of wisdom, and precious memories.

A vintate matchbox cover embellishes an overlay of patterned paper.

Persica is the pefect size for a journal you carry with you throughout the day. At approximately 5 1/2 inches wide and 5 1/2 inches tall, you can slip it into your purse, your bookbag, or even your glove box. That way, Persica is always handy for jotting down your inspiration, daily events, and adding bits of your life experience.

Inside Persica are photographs, paint chips, and file folders just waiting to capture your treasured memories.

The beauty of Persica's ring binding is that it adjusts as you glue items to the pages and insert pages of your own. All you need is a standard hole punch to add your own bits, using an existing page as a template. Persica comes with 50 items inside, giving you 100 pages (or sides) to fill up.

Every page is a canvas designed to inspire you and hold your thoughts and memories.

Persica contains full size pages made from upcycled and recycled materials like patterned paper, cardstock, book pages, greeting cards, marketing materials, and vellum. Many of these pages have overlays made from product packaging, business reply cards, file folders, luggage tags, and shipping tags.

The combination of patterns and colors in each two-page spread will make you smile.

Persica's pages include 4 special journaling sections with plain paper where you can write your longer thoughts. Persica comes with an ultra-fine point permanent marker so you can write on any of the found materials inside. Add your thoughts, bits of wisdom, quotes, or just doodle. Persica is yours to record your daily living any way you want.

Tabs make it easy to locate specific sections and label pages of special content.

 In addition to the found items, Persica's pages are also embellished with items like washi tape, tabs, postage stamps, baker's twine, business cards, and a vintage matchbox label. Let these items inspire you to add your own items. What about the tag from that cuppa tea? Or the wrapper from your favorite candy? The small details of life matter!

Each two-page spread is designed to flow together to give you a perfect canvas for your life experience.

The edges of Persica are messy with things poking out. But life is messy. Don't be afraid to add oversized items. You life doesn't fit nicely into a box, and so it doesn't need to fit nicely into Persica. Persica can adapt and adjust to whatever life throws at you.

Persica is a one-of-a-kind creation signed by me with a unique identifier bar code label.

You can be sure that no one else will ever have the same journal as Persica. I make each journal by hand by pulling together items I've collected for recycling as an Anything Book. That also includes items and scraps left over from my multimedia studio. Persica starts off unique and gathers more personality as you add your treasured thoughts and memories inside.

Check out Persica in my Etsy shop along with my other Anything Books. 

Mango Anything Book

Like the fruit, the Mango Anything book is sweet and just a little exotic. (See in my Esty shop.)

The Mango Anything Book features a book charm with a mermaid.

Mango comes from a recycled box of Green Mountain Coffee K-CUPs. In keeping with the seaside theme, Mango has a book charm featuring a mermaid. This wonderful journal is the perfect size to tuck away in your purse or bookbag to carry with you throughout the day. It will even fit in the glovebox!

The variety of patterns provides visual inspiration for your treasured memories and thoughts.

Mango is designed to hold your written treasurers throughout, with 4 special journaling sections. You can also attach the bits and bops of daily living, things like movie ticket stubs, shopping lists, and photographs. Mango has 50 items inside which means that you have 100 pages (or sides) to hold whatever you want to add.

Tabs along the outside edge can be labelled to help you find pages of special memories.

As you flip through Mango, you find a different look on each page. Many pages have smaller items that overlay the full-size pages, things like flash cards, product tags, luggage tags and playing cards. You can insert your own items, things that you encounter in your own life. In fact, you can insert whole items by using a standard hole punch and an existing page as a template.

Each two-page spread is color coordinated and designed to inspire your creativity.

The main pages are mostly recycled and upcycled materials including patterned papers, art paper, card stock and book pages. You will also find marketing materials, product packaging, envelopes and even paint chips inserted for splashes of color.

You can write on any page using the ultra-fine tip permanent marker that comes with Mango.

Are you a doodler? Are you just dipping your toe into the world of art journals? An Anything Book is a perfect launching pad for your efforts. The items that come with Mango provide a backdrop to inspire you to add your own touches to your journal.

One of my favorite pages, this metallic textured paper adds a touch of elegance and the unexpected to Mango.

Today's art journals can be filled with words or you can add items more like a scrapbook. Mango comes with an archival quality glue stick so you can begin adding your own items right out of the package. If Mango starts to get bulky, you can upgrade the book rings to a larger size book rings (either 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 inches) available at most office supply stores. Mango can grow with you!

Many of Mango's page include embellishments like postage stamps, washi tape, and labels.

Mango is the perfect canvas for you to capture your life dreams. It's also a great place to record the things that make you feel grateful for your life as it is today. You can use Mango as a daily or weekly journal, or you can dedicate it to a special project in your life, like a diet or workout journal, a travel journal, or a record of your new job or relationship. Your imagination is the only limit!

Like all Anything Books, I've signed Mango and added a unique identifier from my studio.

Mango is a unique journal and you have the only copy! It's truly a work of art waiting for your life to tumble into it. Won't you adopt Mango (or one of my other Anything Books) and start recording your life in a new, artful way?

See Mango in my Etsy shop along with other Anything Books.

Rejoice Anything Book

Rejoice is an inspiring art-style journal just waiting for your memories and treasures (my Etsy shop).

Rejoice is made from a recycled Nestle Mini Marshmallows box.

Rejoice measures 7 1/4 inches wide by 4 1/4 inchdes tall and contains 50 items. That gives you 100 pages (sides) to hold your words, memories, and daily treasures. The ring binding allows you to add in items because the binding is flexible. If your Anything Book gets too bulky, you can upsize the rings to 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 rings available in most office supply stores or the office supply section of your favorite discount store.

Rejoice comes with colorful ring fringe which includes ribbon and recycled silk yarn from Nepal.

Rejoice comes with ring fringe that invites you to pick up the journal. It consists of various ribbons and recycled silk yarn from Nepal.

A Russian postage stamp decorates one of the pages.

The decorated Rejoice pages act as a canvas for you to record your thoughts, stories and events from your life. There's room to attach photographs, ticket stubs, tags from new items you purchase, and even your shopping list. You can record the precious and the mundane inside the pages of Rejoice.

Rejoice contains upcycled and recycled materials that add personality.

Inside Rejoice, you will find a wide variety of upcycled and recycled materials along with scraps from my mixed-media art studio. In addition to patterned paper, you will find greeting cards, marketing materials, product packaging, paint chips, envelopes, photographs, file folders, calendar pages and luggage tags.

Many of the items create layers so you can see more than one page or color at a time.

You can actually add in your own pages to Rejoice. Simply remove a page to use as a template, use a standard hole punch, and your materials are ready to insert. You can truly customize Rejoice to be anything you want to record your life in your own way.

Inspired by the holiday season, Rejoice includes two pages made from holiday sheet music.

While Rejoice's pages are designed to inspire you, you can cover them up with items you glue into its pages. Start noticing the small items of your life, the things that you normally throw away. Many of these items, like the tag on tea bags or fruit labels, are beautiful on their own. By adding them to your Anything Book, you record the small details that truly make up your life.

The mix of materials makes Rejoice a visually stimulating journal for your life.

Did you receive something special in the mail? What about tickets to a special event? Or a menu from your favorite restaurant? All of these things can become part of your Anything Book. Let Rejoice inspire you to start recording your life in one special place.

The back cover of Rejoice holds its unique bar code identifier and my signature.

On the back, you can see Rejoice's name and unique bar code identifier. It's signed by me. And you have my guarantee that Rejoice is truly a one-of-a-kind journal made just for you.

Stop by my Etsy shop to purchase Rejoice or one of my other Anything Books.

Everyday Items of Beauty

Tea Tags Assortment, originally uploaded by sarcoptiform.

For a couple of years now, I've been collecting the small pieces of life that normally get thrown away.

What I've noticed is that there are many beautiful things that pass through our lives that normally don't get a second look. These things were created by designers as part of products. They serve their purpose, but they don't ever get the spotlight.

Here's a great collection of tea bag tags, one of the many items I've been collecting and using in my Anything Books. They are beautiful, colorful, and they are all different. While you might stare at your tea bag tag while you are waiting for the water to boil, it's something that slips into the background of your day.

What mundane items inspire you with their beauty?

Take a second look at the things around you.

Caraway Anything Book

Meet Caraway, a one-of-a-kind journal perfect for recording your thoughts, your stories, and your daily life. (see Caraway in my Etsy shop)

Caraway is made from a recycled Capri Sun box.

Caraway is 9 1/2 inches wide by 5 1/4 inches tall and is filled with 50 items, which means you have 100 layered pages to fill. The pages provide an inspiring background for you to record you treasures.

Caraway comes with a ring charm that includes a tiger eye donut made from a semi-precious stone.

The top binding ring contains a ring charm made up of beads and a donut made from tiger eye, a semi-precious stone. The ring binding on Caraway allows you to add in your own items. Simply remove a page as a template, and use a standard hole punch to insert your own items such as menus, letters, envelopes, product packaging, or photographs.

A receipt from the USPS adds color to this quirky journal page.

Each two-page spread contains several items to inspire you. Many of the items are narrower than the pages, adding layers of interest that show you a different background each time you turn an item. The mix of items and colors is a visual treat throughout Caraway.

Smaller items like postage stamp and a restaurant order form add visual interest.

Caraway contains an intriquing mix of recycled and upcycled materials including patterned paper, cardstock, menus, greeting cards, marketing materials, product packaging, paint chips, evelopes, postal receipt, guest check, and a door hanger. These items have been saved from the landfill and add beauty to each page of the journal.

Tabs line the journal edge so you can label pages for easy access.

The edges of Caraway are lined with paper and ribbon tags to help you find your way through the book. You can write on the tabs so you can quickly find the page containing your specific memories. Some of the pages extend beyond the book covers to add another layer of interest to this journal.

A library pocket with a decorated shipping tag.

Caraway contains a library pocket where you can stash smaller items that you don't want to glue to the pages. The pocket comes with a shipping tag that is painted and collaged--waiting for you to add your photos, ticket stubs, or other memorabilia.

Scraps of reclaimed paper from my studio add interest to the Caraway pages.

The colors inside Caraway range from greens to pinks to blues to orange to purple to red. In fact, every color of the rainbow appears inside this journal. Just turning the pages is a visual inspiration.

A Russian postage stamp coordinates with the patterned paper on inside of the cover.

Many types of small items appear to embellish the Caraway pages including washi tape, tabs, clips, postage stamps, rubber stamps, baker's twine and business cards. These small treasures inspire you to add your personal touches to Caraway.

Recycled envelopes and business reply cards are layered on patterned paper.

Envelopes like this business reply mail (above) envelope wait to hold your small trinkets and treasures. You can safely tuck things inside, or clip them to the outside, or glue them in place. It's all up to you!

The back cover shows the Anything Book name, bar code identifier, and my signature.

Like all Anything Books, Caraway takes its name from a word on an found item insider the journal. The name appears on the back above the unqiue bar code identifier, along with my signature. Caraway is a one-of-a-kind journal waiting to hold your special memories.

Visit my Etsy shop to see Caraway and my other Anything Books.