Classiky Wooden Boxes + Washi Tape

This is one of the most exciting lines to come into our shop, and I have been writhing in pain waiting for the boxes to arrive for months. Classiky is a line of stationery + household goods made in Japan. All of their items are functional but beautiful, and stay true to a clean and simple aesthetic. They make everyday items like linen napkins and cups, but also a lot of stationery and craft items. A few months back, we received these gorgeous magazine catalogues full of Classiky's stationery and everyday items beautifully photographed being used and in different settings - they were like art magazines. I must have spent hours with Jon's iPad and google translate to read all the Japanese descriptions and stories to go along with the items. And the fact that they have no English catalogue also speaks to one of the reasons why we're so excited to bring this line in: Classiky is not very widely available outside of Japan, especially in brick + mortar shops in Canada. These hard to find, beautiful, hand-crafted and quality goods are exactly why we opened up shop - to source and offer tools and products that will be used for life and hopefully provide some inspiration on your desktop. We've brought in a few of their wooden boxes, including their more well-known desk stationery tools box, along with a few storage boxes of other sizes. Their desk tools box is longer and flatter, designed to hold items you might use on your desktop, like writing instruments, office supplies, art supplies, small papers or tickets. The lid closes with a secure metal snap mechanism, and also has a top metal handle, so you can carry the whole box from here to there. Inside the lid is a clip so you can attach papers or photos. I'm not sure if the back compartment was actually designed to hold washi tape, since Classiky also makes washi tape, but it's the perfect size for it.   We also received their tabletop drawer set - however, I only ordered a few of these, including one for myself, and they're already sold out! We will be ordering more.   I've done some reorganizing, and I may have to do another blog post on how my desk space is set up, especially with the new desk and cabinet and drawers and everything else. I love having this extra storage on my desk so I can just reach over and pull out what I need. My desk only has large drawers, and sometimes you need some smaller ones to house the little stuff and keep it all organized. Of course you can use the drawers however you'd like, but I thought I'd mention that the middle drawer is the perfect depth for washi tape. The largest box we received is the Medium First-Aid Box, which is a larger chest type of box. There's still a removable, sliding tray, and also a wooden bar which I think is to hold mini forceps, scissors, tweezers, since this is a first-aid box. Originally I thought this would be perfect to house correspondence + snail mail, journals + notebooks, even inks! It fits even larger notebooks and notepads, and is tall enough to fit Iroshizuku bottles on the side without the tray, and shorter bottles under the side with the tray. However, I read about an interesting idea for everyone to have a "emergency self-care box," and I think this medium sized box would be perfect for that, too. The idea is to have a few items that are luxuries for you to spend an afternoon or an evening just relaxing when you need it - like a favourite book of poetry, your favourite DVDs, bubble bath or a scented candle, a video game or some favourite photos to go through. You can fill it right up with treats and little things that feel like a splurge for yourself. When you think about it, a lot of people regularly say to themselves, "eating all of these Nanaimo bars is unhealthy, maybe I should stop doing this," or "I need to start taking better of myself, I'm going to start going to the gym," but not a lot of people think to themselves, "this is what I could to take better care of my mental health, for example, maybe scrolling through so much social media is becoming a bit intense, or maybe I need to take a break from stressing out about work and e-mails." And having a box filled with things that help you unplug and recharge (is that an oxymoron??) is good for your mental health and your physical health. It might be nice to have a box with your favourite stationery and your favourite chocolate bar to just take an afternoon to unwind. Just imagine unpacking a box that you've taken the time to put together with some of your favourite things. (And of course that'd definitely not to say you need this box to do it! I think it might be nice to have some sort of special box, but in a pinch, even a cardboard box would do.) And we also got this mini box! How adorable! For a few washi tapes (I'm sure there are people out there who only have 3-4 washi tapes, right??), or nibs and converters and fountain pen accessories like silicone grease. You can see the metal handle, and also the metal clasp to close the lid. It's super secure, so you can lift the box without any worry that the latch will break. You can also see the craftsmanship in the dovetail joining and the smooth corners. On top of the lid you can see the detailing that goes into finishing these boxes. These are really pieces that will serve you for a lifetime and those after you as well. And, last but not least, we're also carrying a few Classiky washi tapes! While I wouldn't go so far as to say receiving these boxes of washi tapes was the happiest day of my life, I can't deny that there was some joy. You know I don't like to play favourites with my stationery, but if I was held at gunpoint and had to pick, it would be this one here. I didn't think I was a gold person, but I think I am. Pen pals, get ready.

I hope you like this new line as much as we do! Every customer who's come in and commented on them to me has gotten an earful on all of the details and how excited I am to have them in the shop. More and more to come!

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In other news, the new cat is making himself at home, and not by peeing everywhere (at least most of the time). It might be a combination of getting older, but he's definitely getting bolder, while still being pretty affection for a cat, or least how I always thought cats were. Here's a behind-the-scenes of how things really are every time I try to take photos for the blog. One day I'm going to do a time-lapse video of me taking photos for a blog post, and it's going to 85% pulling Caleb away or nudging the cat off. This is the one area where Super excels above all others - lying on the floor, half-snoozing. That, and being alarmed at strange noises. And staying warm in the winter. I've always been an animal lover, although I've considered myself more of a dog person than a cat person. We really primarily got the cat because we think there might be mice, and Super's no good at actually catching anything that isn't already on a plate ready to be eaten. I think getting this little chicken has brought my inner-cat-person out. It could be because this cat is so small and cute, but I think it might also be the constant rescuing the cat needs from Caleb's advances. Caleb has never been a tail puller, either with Super or the cat, but since Caleb has noticed me lifting the cat's tail to do some extra cleaning (trust me when I say this cat needs a bit of help in this department), Caleb has also developed a curiosity for what's going on under the tail. He hasn't yet made the connection to look under Super's tail, so I guess we can all be thankful for that. There's something about a furry animal crawling on top of your desk, and making himself comfortable perched on top of literally two boxes of ink that lets you know you've picked the right one to bring home to a pen shop.