T A O things Newsletter

#02 March 2023

Happy early spring, dear friends.

TAOthings Newsletter Issue #02 highlights what’s new in my stationery destash, and what’s coming soon.

First, I’ll share a few quick updates. I spent all February writing an article (coming soon) on abstract collage. It explores the appeal of collage journaling and discusses five design elements in collage-themed stationery.

Meanwhile, my comic strip has been on hiatus. I’ve begun redesigning its main character to resemble my new cat, Mordechai (“Mork” for short). He has the funniest facial expressions, which I’m hoping to capture in my sketchpad this month.

Also, I’ve been obsessing over bottled inks as a painting medium. Organizing materials into charts and databases (one of my favorite activities) has absorbed a lot of my attention. I’m a “newbie” when it comes to ink, so I welcome your ideas and thoughts for being wise and thrifty.

Below are fun new materials I’m currently playing with in my journal pages: Samples of all of these are available through my TAOthings site’s “What’s New” page (updated regularly).

New Arrivals

I thrilled to be able to offer samples of exciting new February releases from Japan by Tutty Design, one of my favorite creators. These special items arrived to celebrate Tutty’s third anniversary. They feature her bird and pier motif, as seen in her popular rubber stamps, with very fine details. The writing is petite and utterly charming. Her marvelously mellow color palette and design aesthetic are subdued yet uplifting.

From minimalist Korean designer p.palette, I’ve gotten ahold of one roll each of their brand new wide washi tapes, released in late February. This matching set, in vintage parchment and matte white, contains six lines of sprightly cursive script narrating the artist’s story, or design philosophy. Very unique!

Also from p.palette, a set of four stunning Vietnam photography memo papers, released in 2022, joins my collection of paper ephemera from this wonderful designer. And I’ve added a four-piece set of their removeable matte photo stickers (which can be used on a phone or laptop computer case, or in a journal).

From Japan’s Keibunsha Printing, I’ve selected seven cute “Places in Japan” washi tapes, plus six mini memo papers. I aim to order a few more later this month.

Yohaku, the prolific abstract Japanese designer, has so many intriguing washi tapes that I’ve not been very thorough in assembling a collection. I’ve acquired eleven more, including some “oldies” (but new to me) and a handful of brand new releases. I offer samples either individually or in “sampler” sets.

Perhaps the most surprising and exciting recent acquisition, for me, is a small haul direct from Taiwan’s Urtapeprint, with new February releases by tomorrow’s party.

“Reading Scenery” and “Road Movie” by tomorrow’s party are two of the most impressive collage tapes I’ve seen so far! I’m completely in their thrall. My listings for these show pictures of my recent collage journal experiments, as examples.

“Fruit of the Spirit” PET tape by Leila was also brand new in February. It’s about virtues, and refers to the Bible, so it can be used for faith journaling. But with pretty shadow-photo word art, it’s also very well suited for non-religious journaling.

“Inspiration Lab B” by Jiujiu is a 2022 release that kept selling out last year. I’m glad to have a roll at last. It doesn’t disappoint. I like it more than I expected, as a gentle neutral tape for use as backgrounds or adding small details in collage.

Dan Wei Industry’s “Recycled Paper” colorful pair of washi tapes from 2022 has finally come into my possession, too. I’ll use the hell out of these babies (I’m a bona-fide Dan Wei addict). But I am happy to set aside some of each roll for samples if you’re interested.

Below: Recently on Instagram, I watched a video demo by stationery-designer Siyun using metallic mini dot stickers. (Here’s the video, and here’s another photo post.) I found 6mm and 12mm sizes on Amazon. Since no one needs a box of 1000, I’m offering small samplers, for anyone who’d like to try these. I also grabbed kraft label stickers, great for mail art.

New Bande masking sticker rolls from Japan have arrived… sort of. US Customs tore open my package and didn’t reseal it, so half my order disappeared traveling across the country, $40 down the drain. I’ve repurchased the missing items, which included Somesortoffern’s “Days with Greens” restock and three other fabulous Bande sticker rolls. Those Bande goodies arrive soon: dancing cherry blossoms, girls with bouquets, and neutral writable grey-grid shapes.

Speaking of sticker rolls, jb0xtchi’s Australia-based design studio in January released the most delightfully quirky kiss-cut washi stickers~~quite special and fun to use.

A few miscellaneous additions include my first PET tape by No Matter (from China), Pion’s “Bird Island” 2022 PET tape (took forever to arrive but worth the wait), and Yolanda mini paper ephemera that, to me, seems inspired by Tutty Design.

From Q-LiA, I have a single spare sampler of each sticker set below. I prefer to split sticker flake packs, since I often don’t need more than one of each piece.

Lastly, I have updated my site’s Featured Items page to highlight Spring-themed materials available in my destash shop. I hope browsing these helps inspire ideas for your Springtime spreads.

Coming soon

The following items are on their way soon:

• Black Milk Project’s “Melancholy” vellum tape (from Malaysia)

• Suuzando’s “Year of the Rabbit” limited 2023 washi tape (from Japan)

• YStudio’s foiled wide washi tapes collection (“Water-blue”/“Wood-green”/“Fire-red”/“Gold-gold”) released in early March (from Taiwan). Gorgeous!! Loops are 200 cm (one-fifth roll), so please note I’ll have only a couple available.

I wish you all a wonderful month, filled with inspiration, good health, and happiness. Thank you for sharing your love of stationery.