For my intern project, I decided to make a hand-carved stamp. I thought it would be fun to have a stamp to allow guests to stamp their stamp books or to stamp the bags for our shop. I created 3 stamp designs and decided to make all of them by getting 2 printed at a stationery store that been operating since 1951 in Uji called Kitamura Stationery Store. There’s this machine called Osmo (https://osmo-park.jp) where you can design your own stamp and get it printed. Initially I wasn’t sure if I was going to have time and the right materials to hand-carve a stamp, so I got all 3 printed. It was a little chaotic because I went during lunch and my Japanese isn’t very good, so communicating was a little difficult. Unfortunately, one of the designs didn’t quite work with the machine because it had very little details, so I ended up with 2 final stamps. I went with my co-intern, Mariah, and we had to rush back to make the wagashi workshop. We ended up being a little late, but it ended up being okay in the end!
The past few days I finally got the materials I needed and carved the larger stamp. I only have wood carving materials, but I bought some soft stamp rubber and transferred the design by freehand and then carved it out. It was actually quite fun. I felt nervous about how it was going to turn out cause there’s very small details, but once I transferred the design onto the bags it turned out really cute! I really like the rustic and woodblock print energy that you get with it on the brown paper bags, and I hope people enjoy stamping!
I think when coming up with a project initially it can be quite difficult because you don’t really know what would be helpful or how your skillset could benefit Obubu. Though, as time goes on, it’s easier to learn and lean into ideas that could help make a big or small impact on the staff and company as a whole. Organizing in general is something I really enjoy doing, and I think people don’t always realize the benefits of having proper organization. It can save so much time and alleviate stress on staff. Even though the tea in the office is more of a fun area for us to enjoy during morning meetings, I feel that organizing this small space created a little bit of joy and peace for everyone.
Another aspect of organization that I did was move the tea in the office kitchen to a larger area in a cabinet. It’s another small organizational aspect that I think will make tea tours run slightly smoother. I think if I had more time I would’ve loved to have picked an area, like the office kitchen, one of the tea rooms, or the cafe area to reorganize and sort so finding and placing items can be more convenient for everyone.
I ended up doing also one more side project! Which was crafting small tea seed key charms! I went to the Shizuoka tea festival with some of the assistant managers and staff and ended up finding these super adorable tea seed jewelry and charms. I thought it could be really fun and a nice addition to the shop, so I thought I’d try to make some. I bought small screw eyelets, charm bands, super glue, and a sealant and to create these very cute tea seeds charms. Initially I wanted to hand-paint them as well, but I ran out of time. But I think the plain ones are really cute. If you happen to be an intern now, you can make your own with some of my leftover pieces that I left in the hojicha house donation area! You can use Hiro-san‘s multipurpose knife and use the larger tong-tweezer part to screw the eyelet into the seed. Sometimes the seed breaks unfortunately hahaha but if you keep trying you will get it! Then I add super glue on the top to enhance the seal and then lastly spray it with the adhesive. It’s a really cute addition to any bag or pair of keys or even as a small decoration on your wall. I hope you try to make one during your time at Obubu!
I’m grateful for this time at Obubu where I challenged myself and learned a lot, and I’m hoping to continue to be inspired to do my own small projects in the future.
by Shannon (#210)