Japanese Inspiration

   On my birthday James and I took the mega long bus ride out to the suburbs and visited the giant mega Asian store. This was the first time we bussed it out there, and it was actually pretty easy. This may be dangerous because now I might be tempted to visit more than usual!
   I bought two books, one called Heartful Style and another called Stockholm's Apartments. I spent way too long in the bookstore and hastily decided on these two after almost two hours in the crafty/home/cooking section.
   The photo above is from Heartful Style. It basically features photos from hug o war creator Masaki's home and store. The photos are sweet and simple, you can see more here and here.  I am not sure why a crisp photo of bonne maman jam makes me happy, but it does and I am not going to deny it.
   The other book features photos of Swedish artists and designers' apartments. I love it most because there are so many photo of Swedish tile stoves. How can you not want one?

      See more here, here, here and here .

     Afterward, we ate sushi and browsed around the grocery part of the store. We had to bring this home because it was just too funny:

Comments

[Kuky]

Happy 25th birthday!

And I'm so jealous you got to browse for 2 hours in the book store! I was at a Japanese book store this weekend but only hurriedly looked through one little section and didn't even know if it was the crafty section or just a little side area set up. I am happy to say I did grab two books though.

Oh and I love the teacup display.

[Jonah]

Are you going to try the squid? Beware it will turn your teeth black...lol. It's really not that bad but then again I grew up eating it. I'm Filipino so I'm used to Ligo. Let me know if you do try it.

[gwen]

Hey, cool! I assume you mean Uwajimaya, which is super -- we just discovered another, less suburby market - An Dong, painted orange, at 5441 SE Powell. They had everything we needed, and were very helpful!

--have been in Portland just over 6 mo., found your blog from crafty threads, and admire your stamping --oooh it is HAILing now.

[momo]

i love the books and website of Masaki too!! she has a daughter too, right? what a wonderful crafty life!!

[Emma -emmas designblogg-]

I love the Stockholm Apartments book! I found it at a bookstore this tuesday, and I just couldn't stop looking in it until I'd flipped through all the pages! It's amazing, even if I actually live in Stockholm, because it kind of captures the essence of the style everyone is going after here.

[connie]

oh yay, squid IN ink... yum!

[Blair]

there is something about that top photo that makes me want to run to the sewing machine and stitch up "house slippers" for the entire family. And I love all the white I see in those swedish homes, seems we've been in everything but white decor mode around here for too long.

If they would let me bring my bubble tea in with me, I could stay in a Japanese bookstore all. day. long.

xo

[martha]

happy 1/4 century:)

[linda]

hey, your article is quiet interesting and providing valuable information with regard to inspiration

.Many design concepts and product ideas have been borne out of the inspiration offered by the Japanese market. Japanese packaging is one of the leading forces of innovation, applied technology.even i do have a similar kind of website which is giving valuable information on inspiration

.

[Veronica TM]

it sounds like a beautiful outing, i would also spend so many hours at the japanese bookstore if there was one here.
happy birthday again!

[cruststation]

I think if we had a Japanese bookstore close by, I would try to buy the entire book store for my shelf! I recently hosted 'Japan week' on my blog, and you have to love these images. You had sushi too? what a perfect birthday!

[gracia]

Sending some belated b'day cheer your way, Abby!!
see you, g xo

[Myam]

Hey, a product from the Philippines [where i am right now]. Haha. Is it good? I love your blog and I admit that I've never tried Ligo products. I didn't realize that they were exporting their stuff...