Upon a Fold

images i love... July 10, 2010

Homeless (below), Knitting Girl (above)

Big Bra

These beautiful works are by Yoshikazu Yamagata.

carl kleiner - 20 favourites... July 8, 2010

I’ve been meaning to blog about these for some time now, but Tokyo kind of took over my life and blog! I still have so much of Tokyo to share, but a little ‘Tokyo break’ is in order me thinks ; ) So I hope you enjoy my little ‘break’ post, showcasing 20 of my favourite Carl Kleiner images. Above: The Bærtling Wannabe No.1

The Bærtling wannabe No.2

Everyday Geometry No.1 Series

Everyday Geometry No.2 Series

Everyday Geometry No.2 Series

Everyday Geometry No.2 Series

Everyday Geometry No.1 Series

Emotional Papers

Skanska Series

Skanska Series

Skanska Series

Untitled

Gustav Hammarsten – Café

Imaginary Drizzle

Odeur S/S 09

Skanska Series

Dagmar S/S 10 No.2

Ceremony (part 1)

Ceremony (part 2)

Enjoy looking through Carl Kleiner’s Diary here.

paper & tokyo - naoki terada... July 6, 2010

With World Cup footy fever in the air, I think it’s perfect timing to show you this amazing model stadium I saw, when visiting the InteriorLifestyle show last month in Tokyo. It’s the brilliant creation of architect and designer Naoki Terada and every little detail you see has been carefully considered and constructed by Naoki himself. What a champion!

Naoki Terada from Terada Design has a pretty impressive portfolio that includes designs for buildings, interiors, furniture, products, paper people and more. Yep, he is one of those super creative, talented people who somehow does it all!

The stadium is filled with little paper people. They are part of the 1/100 Architectural Model Accessories Series designed by Naoki Terada and this particular set is titled No.7 Football. The set includes 11 players plus reserves, a team manager, doctor, two referees, a goal and corner flag, whistle, yellow card, red card, ball, bench, drinking bottle, stretcher, first aid kit, scarf, ball bag and even a lost dog. Geez, Naoki has really thought of everything here!

I spent ages just staring at it all. In each and every corner was a little scene to be seen. Naoki even filled the outer stadium with little paper vending machines and people making their way into the stadium. There was activity wherever you looked, from a player being carried out on a stretcher to a monkey escaping onto the field. But it’s as if someone had pressed the pause button on lots of little separate scenes all happening at the same time.

Other settings in the Architectural Model Accessories series include a New York street, a Tokyo street, an office, a home and my very favourite, Inokashira Park Zoo which includes elephants, squirrels, swans, ducks, deers, monkeys and more.

Set No.1 Home/Family is available in the Upon a Fold shop and soon we will be adding more from the series.

Oh and also, coming soon will be some of Naoki’s brand new greeting cards. They are really brilliant! Check out this one below. I can’t wait to show you more. They really are unique little works of art.

The best part of show day for me was actually meeting Naoki Terada. I was a bit star struck I must admit, but managed to communicate in a cool and calm manner, how much I love his work. I felt really lucky and inspired. It’s not everyday you get to meet such talent, I mean look, even his business card is something special. And btw that stadium is for sale, so anyone interested should get in touch (with Naoki, not me)!

NEW shipping rates... July 6, 2010

When it comes to international shipping, we really wish Australia was not so far away! But we are so happy to report that Upon a Fold now offers more affordable shipping rates for our international friends, YAY! We think it’s important you guys have access to all our paper goodies too (without paying crazy prices) so we have done our best to keep them as low as we can. We’ll continue to look into different ways we can offer the best shipping options out there (driving Oz Post crazy with our 101 questions) but in the meantime, please spread the word and thanks for all your support so far. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us here.

paper & tokyo - TAKEO paper... June 30, 2010

Around 6 years ago I discovered the Takeo Paper Show (via the internet) and have been following it ever since. It is held once a year and each year brings with it a new theme. Designers are invited to create paper products based on that years theme, using an extensive range of papers from the Takeo paper collection, which happens to be quite extensive btw, with more than 9400 papers on offer. Wow! The show provides a great opportunity for designers to experiment and explore the many possibilities paper has to offer. The results are always impressive.

Just quickly, Takeo is a paper trading company that represents around 370 brands of paper. It has been around for a very long time, since 1899 in fact and its contribution to the development of paper over these years, has not only been considerable but recognised and rewarded too. It’s a leader in utilising the latest paper-making technologies with a strong commitment to reducing impact on the environment, via their own range of Green Aid (GA), environmentally friendly paper products.

Takeo has two showrooms in Tokyo, and the one I’m sharing with you was designed by Masaaki Hiromura from Hiromura Design in Tokyo. Have you worked out where all the paper is kept yet? Yes that’s right, in the walls! These walls are actually hundreds of drawers filled with paper. Simply write down the codes of the papers you’d like, hand it over to the staff and they will go and pick the papers for you. I would be in heaven working here! There is such an amazing variety of papers in different colours, textures and weights. I’ve never seen such a selection before!

As I buy my papers I notice a steady stream of designers coming in and out, picking up samples to show their clients. I wondered if they realised how lucky they were to have such an invaluable resource like this? With a huge selection of papers made especially for printing on offer, this truly is a designers ‘one stop shop’ for sourcing the perfect paper stock for that next important project.

I brought these samples home with me because I love their texture and design. I think next time I go back, I might stock up on some of my favourites. They are not at all expensive and come in A4 size for easy packing. Even the paper pocket they came in is really nice!

Masaaki Hiromura has an amazing portfolio of work btw. You should take a look. Here is another paper space he has designed that’s just as impressive as Takeo’s!

Takeo is open Mon-Fri from 10am – 7pm. Click here for a location map.

images © upon a fold

paper & tokyo - papier labo... June 25, 2010

Papier Labo (Paper Lab) is a small artisan run shop in Tokyo. It’s full of amazing paper creations and beautiful handcrafted objects for your desk, such as sharpeners in the shape of little houses and stamps that resemble miniature tree trunks.

In 2007 three like-minded creatives, Kimiaki Eto, Yui Takada and Jitsuko Takei came up with the idea to start a paper shop that would specialise in letterpress, typography and graphic design. They opened the Papier Labo shop where they began selling their own range of stationery, as well as offering a ‘made to order’ service for people wanting custom made goods, such as cards and invitations.

I visited Papier Labo on my second last day in Tokyo. I thought I had seen it all, as far as paper goods were concerned. But on display was a beautiful collection of works by Papier Labo and other local artists, I had not seen before. So I felt really excited to be there and wasted no time in picking out a few of my favourite things, like this beautiful wooden envelope template (below). I made my first envelope from it today using this lovely patterned paper from another shop in Tokyo, that I’ll tell you about later. Oh my goodness, there is still so much to tell!

I stamped a little thank you on some card, now all I have to do is write a message to my friend and send it! It’s so nice to make things like this. Especially when you have nice papers to play with. I brought back some amazing patterned papers that I will photograph and show you, a little later on as well.

I was lucky enough to meet Kimiaki Eto that day and exchange shop cards. He was busy preparing a custom order with a client, but was kind enough to let me take these shots of the shop and also to show me some of Papier Labo’s creations, including this sweet house card and envelope set below. Cute huh?

Like all the ‘very cool’ paper shops in Tokyo, this one is a little bit tucked away, so make sure you have a map handy. Oh, and the address is on the shop card below!

Don’t you just love their card? The textured paper stock is divine and the deckled edges give it a handcrafted look. These guys really know their paper btw and as suggested in their shop name Papier Labo, there is a lot of lab style experimenting with paper going on behind the scenes.

This store is definitely all about quality not quantity. Everything here in my opinion is ‘must have’ material, so be warned, choosing what to take home with you will be downright difficult. As usual I wanted it all!

12 NEW goodies in the shop today!... June 23, 2010

To see the newest arrivals to the Upon a Fold shop, including these pretty paper flowers click here. Btw, what do you think of my flower arranging? xx

tokyo by tokyo - CLASKA... June 20, 2010

As I mentioned in my previous post, I have CLASKA to thank for many of the good times had in Tokyo and this is why. This book titled Tokyo By Tokyo was our little companion along the way. It is published by CLASKA and written entirely by savvy Tokyoites sharing their insider tips on the best places to visit when in Tokyo.

From street strolling, delicious food finds, arts and crafts, shopping, site-seeing and more, Tokyo By Tokyo is a unique local guide to the streets of this amazing city. It includes suggestions from some of Tokyo’s most talented ‘creatives’ so it’s perfect for other creative minds looking for an alternative to the usual touristy hotspots.

CLASKA made sure they covered everything in this book. It includes GPS coordinates on Google maps making it easier to find each location, and the handy fold-out area map at the back of the book makes a great page marker too!

And there are website references and 31 beautiful colour photographs as well!

I especially love all the quirky headings like,
• Uncool places in cool Japan
• Visiting real restaurants that appear in manga
• The best way to blow all your cash on drink, and my favourite…
• The three most splendidly lavish toilets in Tokyo!

On our last night in Tokyo we wanted to go somewhere nice for a chilled out, ‘real’ Tokyo dinner. So we tried one of Morihito Kumano’s restaurant suggestions from the book and it was amazing! It was down a back lane somewhere in Ebisu, a spot we would have never discovered ourselves. It was the best way to spend our last few hours in Tokyo, soaking up the atmosphere and relishing the good food.

And now for the exciting bit! You’ll be happy to know that Tokyo By Tokyo is now available to purchase in the Upon a Fold shop. Thank you Yoko, for your help in making this possible. Travel guides are not something we would normally carry but after raving about this one so much we thought we better bring back a few for you guys to enjoy too. And if you are in Tokyo already, just pop into Shop “Do” at CLASKA and get yourself a copy there.

images © upon a fold

paper & tokyo - CLASKA gallery & shop "Do"... June 17, 2010

I hope you’re enjoying this series of posts about Tokyo. Next up, I thought I would show you the gorgeous CLASKA Gallery & Shop “Do”. CLASKA is a very cool boutique hotel, tucked away in a lovely Tokyo suburb and just a short train ride away from the city centre. The name CLASKA comes from dou kurasuka, simply meaning how best to live, in Japanese. And the concept behind the hotel is to offer people who live around the area and also traveling guests, a place to come and play, relax and enjoy themselves. There are many good reasons to visit this hotel when you’re in Tokyo and I’m going to share at least one of them with you now.

I’m always keen to see (even if from afar) what exhibitions and events are going on inside the CLASKA Gallery. I blogged about one of their exhibitions here back in February and since then there have been numerous others, including one that was taking place at the same time I was visiting called D♥Y at CLASKA (images here).

Sharing the same space as the gallery, is the CLASKA shop “Do”, and I’ll confidently say that every single item on display is absolutely beautiful. Here you will find a carefully selected and curated range of products that all have two things in common, good design and quality craftsmanship. And even though I was in a shop, it actually felt more like a gallery, with unique pieces I’d never seen before that looked too good to touch. So I walked around and admired each and every product and took these photographs (thanks to the staff for allowing me to take a few for this post) as a nice reminder of a place where art and retail meld into one.

I did of course spend extra time looking at all the paper goods. And even though this is not a paper shop, it has quite a good selection of beautiful folded paper products from talented local designers. I brought back a couple with me to photograph, when I got home. Above is a beautiful envelope that unfolds to a single sheet of paper and below is a flying letter set that comes scored in all the right places, so all you have to do is write your message, fold and send! How cool would it be to receive this in the post? I’m not sure I could part with mine. It’s too nice and anyway I’m embracing my newly developed inner hoarder! (You’ll understand if you read on).

Everything CLASKA does, it does with style. I mean take a look at their shopping bag for example. I just couldn’t bring myself to dispose of it. It’s too nice! And I’m so not the hoarder type. I’m normally an expert at keeping what I own to an absolute minimum, but after this recent trip to Tokyo I think I may have changed. I’m starting to see a lot more clutter in my apartment, lots of little bits and pieces I’ve collected along the way. To me, they are little memories of places I have visited and people I have met and I’d be crazy not to hold onto them.

Something I haven’t mentioned yet, is that I have CLASKA to thank for many of the great places I visited in Tokyo. Why? Well, you’ll find out next! I’ve a little bit of exciting news about a new product for the Upon a Fold shop, that I think you’re going to love. So stay tuned!

CLASKA shop “Do”
1-3-18, Chuo-cho, Meguro-ku, Tokyo
Opening hours 11:00-19:00
Email: do@claska.com Phone: 03-3719-8121
Online shop: www.claskashop.com

If you can’t make it out to the suburbs, you will find a smaller CLASKA “Do” shop at their new, more central location in Shibuya. It’s really worth a visit as the basement level of Parco is full of wonderful stationery products and craft books too.
Parco, Part 1 B1 15-1 Udagawacho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Open 7 days 10:00-21:00

images © upon a fold

paper & tokyo - the mighty envelope... June 16, 2010

I know what you’re thinking! Sooooo nice, yeah? I agree. I love these envelopes so much. I found them in several stationery shops around town.

Expect to find an amazing display of envelopes in most paper shops in Tokyo. These are a few of my absolute favourites.

I love their colours and they feel so nice too. There are just so many beautiful papers in Japan. Paper is serious business over there and you can certainly tell!

images © upon a fold