Sunday, December 26, 2010

年賀状 (Nengajō - New Year Cards)

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Hello Sandwiches!

I hope you had a gorgeous Christmas. My first Tokyo Christmas was lots of fun and we even had a little Christmas party at Hello Sandwich HQ. Lots of food, mulled wine, Christmas carols, and no Tokyo Christmas would be complete without a tacky Christmas Cake. (Okay I caved in after last minute Christmas shopping in Shinjuku on Christmas eve listening to 'クリースマスケーキいかがでしょうか？’at every corner!). But now it's on to the next big exciting day - New Years Day.

Japan has so many lovely New Year traditions. I'm a little late (they are meant to be in the post before 25th December to arrive by 01/01) but I've just finished designing my (year of the rabbit) 年賀状 (New Year Cards). This year I used a super cute MdN mook to design the cards.

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The mook came complete with a CD-rom of all the cute elements any Japanese-wanna-be girl (Hello Sandwich) would ever need to create a card that looks like it just stepped out of a puri kura print club machine! Think tapes, ribbons, bows and cute handwriting style fonts. This mook is worth every cent.

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For the time poor, or those who are not as comfortable using the computer, the mook also comes complete with a large range of pre-made cards to simply print out.

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There are lots of free printables online (for example here and here) that you could crop and play around with to make your card. Or you could stock up on a collection of BNN pattern books. Either way, I'm sure you will have a lot of fun making your own 年賀状.

Love Love
Hello Sandwich
xoxo
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33 comments:

  1. Lily XDecember 26, 2010 at 8:20 PM

    These are so adorable! You will definitely have a blast on for the New year again!
    Happy new year to you miss sandwich!

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  2. Marta MartiniDecember 26, 2010 at 9:38 PM

    Thank you for your great ideas!!! Happy New Year!!

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  3. TanaDecember 26, 2010 at 11:25 PM

    Happy New Year!!!!!!

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  4. bitofeyeDecember 26, 2010 at 11:26 PM

    the cards are so cute and adorable.
    Merry Christmas ( the late one ) :)
    and
    Happy New Year Hello Sandwich

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  5. UpGeminiDecember 27, 2010 at 2:17 AM

    Wonderful and colorful idea!
    Now I want to make my own cards > KAWAII FUN! :D
    Happy holidays to you!

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  6. LauraDecember 27, 2010 at 2:54 AM

    I love the look of these cards! Thanks for posting - now I'm all inspired to start collaging for the New Year! Glad you had a great Tokyo Christmas... Happy Almost-2011!

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  7. shellieDecember 27, 2010 at 5:06 AM

    i like you with pink rabbit ears the most....very cute!

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  8. Lavender PlaygroundDecember 27, 2010 at 7:00 AM

    Your cards are very cute..I'm waiting to share my own in a few days when 2011 finally comes, can't believe a year has already passed! The links that you provided are so helpful, thanks =)

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  9. poupeepoupeeDecember 27, 2010 at 12:20 PM

    They are super cute :D

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  10. Make it EasyDecember 27, 2010 at 1:09 PM

    i hope next year will be great... its my year!!! year of the rabbit! i love your cards!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  11. SunDecember 27, 2010 at 2:06 PM

    clover for the next lucky rabbit year! It's good to know they're still sending cards not only by e-cards. Handmade cards are more precious ne~ :-)

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  12. yixiaoooDecember 27, 2010 at 2:28 PM

    can't wait for the bunny year too!

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  13. ReneeDecember 27, 2010 at 7:37 PM

    Hey! These cards are so cute! We are also spending new years in Tokyo! We are going on a trip to find an assortment of delish foods for our new years Osechi bento boxes! I also wanted to thankyou for making such a great guide book! We have been using it the whole time (2month) we have been living in Tokyo! I LOVE shimakita- you are so lucky to live there!

    Thanks and happy new year!

    Renee x

    My blog is: www.renosslah.blogspot.com

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  14. 『 T H E・L A Z Y・ H O U S E 』December 27, 2010 at 7:48 PM

    Miss Ebony I'm falling in love with your sweet blog☆ wish I had found it earlier!!! I'm really really enjoying every little thing you posted, you seem such a vibrant and lovely person and a great artist☆
    Super useful the url MsNdesign for a girl like me who plays with art and photoshop :)
    I'm moving in Tokyo just a couple of days after new year so no nengajyou and no japanese new year celebration for me :( but hope I'll be lucky enough to find a beautiful art course where to create lovely things as the ones i see in your blog☆☆☆
    Wish you a great new year miss Ebony! :*

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  15. BiscuitDecember 28, 2010 at 2:54 AM

    So lovely! I adore the cards you made
    :-)
    Happy New Year to you!

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  16. **EYE-SNACKS**December 28, 2010 at 9:57 PM

    Wow, love this post!! Happy New Year to you also!

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  17. Rosa NavasDecember 28, 2010 at 10:03 PM

    The cards are awesome. Congratulations on your work and Happy new year!!! :)

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  18. tinajoDecember 29, 2010 at 11:41 PM

    Hi there - I´m a first time visitor and definately a new follower, LOVE this mix of things!

    Happy New Year from Sweden! :-)

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  19. Silvia LGD (Little Green Doll)December 30, 2010 at 1:32 AM

    Beautiful cards!! :) I hope you're having a wonderful Christmas!! I wish you a Happy New Year 2011!! :) Hugs, Silvia

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  20. joshylolaDecember 31, 2010 at 6:06 AM

    Cute cards! happy New Year 2011!!! (today japanese dinner, nigiri sushi and katsudon) :)

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  21. CarmenDecember 31, 2010 at 10:33 AM

    Són uns tarjetons preciosos. Gràcies per la mostra. Feliç any nou !!

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  22. AnonymousDecember 31, 2010 at 7:22 PM

    oh i love the ready made cards and those cute ribbons!!! Have a great new start to the year!

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  23. IkukoShirakumaJanuary 1, 2011 at 11:42 PM

    hello!Evony!
    Do you remember me?
    I'm IkukoShirakuma!
    we met surutokoro.
    I'm surutokoro's writer.

    A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

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  24. AnonymousJanuary 2, 2011 at 4:01 AM

    あけましたおめでとう～！
    thanks for the excellent resources!

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  25. coelhoJanuary 2, 2011 at 6:34 AM

    cool cards - love that 2011 is year of the rabbit - my surname - coelho - translated from Portuguese into English means rabbit! x

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  26. lili scratchyJanuary 2, 2011 at 9:30 AM

    I wish you a great and funny happy new year!!!
    The year of the rabbit !!! so cool :) !!

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  27. UnknownJanuary 2, 2011 at 7:40 PM

    Oh Ebony! These are so beautiful! The happiest of New Year's to you. Can't wait to read more of your beautiful posts this year!
    Sophie x

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  28. VermillionJanuary 2, 2011 at 9:59 PM

    Happy New Year! Wow, what an awesome mook +_+ I'ld love to get one of those for the images and the fonts.

    Thank you for sharing some scans ^^

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  29. AnonymousJanuary 3, 2011 at 7:28 AM

    Wonderful idea!
    I post it in my tumblr: http://tintenkiller.tumblr.com/

    Happy new year to everyone!

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  30. Tiffany AtkinJanuary 4, 2011 at 3:43 PM

    Wow ebony these are magnificent ~ thanks for sharing MdN, what a great site! I just bought a few of the mooks ~ the paper & linen one is wonderful check it out! http://tiffatron.blogspot.com/2011/01/good-things-come-in-efficiently.html
    xx

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  31. angelicaJanuary 13, 2011 at 6:06 AM

    hello ebony! i adore your blog! do you have the isbn for the mdn mook cause its hard for me to look for in on the mdn website? thank u!

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  32. AnonymousJanuary 14, 2011 at 9:57 AM

    i second the request for an isbn number!

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  33. Play angry BirdsJanuary 4, 2013 at 7:44 PM

    Wish you happy new year to you and your family ..Nice post .Keep posting more article..

    ReplyDelete

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