This gorgeous Studio Ghibli mail art is a product of someone I met on Instagram this past year wanting to do a stationery swap with me. Of course, I jumped on the opportunity because I am in love with all things Studio Ghibli!
So scroll through and take a look at this gorgeous Studio Ghibli mail art to get some inspiration for your own pen paling or journal!
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What is a Stationery Swap?
A stationery swap is when you swap a specified amount of stationery with someone through the mail. It’s a great way to give away some of your growing pile of stationery and gain new stationery!
You can do a stationery swap with one of your pen pals or someone completely new. I’ve done many stationery swaps with people over the years, some themed, some not. I even did a candy swap once with someone from a different country which was fantastic.
You can see the guide I made on Instagram of the stationery swaps I have done.
Studio Ghibli Mail Art Stationery Swap
Stationery swaps can come in all shapes and sizes, but this one my friend and I agreed on making flipbooks. Mine may have turned into more a junk journal since it is almost 20 pages long, but it came out so beautiful.
Pages 1-2
After opening the flipbook, you’ll see these first two pages. I focused on Princess Mononoke. In a little vellum band are a couple of extra Studio Ghibli themed stickers I had.
Pages 3-4
The next set pages above have a few things going on. I did a collage of my favorite characters. Of course calcifer, the little soot sprites and kodama had to be featured on here!
The pocket in the middle is for washi tape samples. On the other side is a quote from Calcifer which you can see in the Stationery Swap guide on Instagram.
After that strip pocket is a large pocket on the page and it’s filled with paper scraps. I put a picture from Ponyo.
Pages 5-6
Next up is Totoro! Totoro got a big feature in here because it’s one of my friend’s favorite Studio Ghibli films. There’s a pocket with a photo.
Then you can flip up the photo to reveal even more, which you can see in the video below. You can also see pictures on the Stationery Swap guide.
Pages 7-8
This is kind of a transitional section. The left page is a Totoro quote and the right is the bath house from Spirited Away. Can you guess what will be on the next page?
Where can I find stationery?
The basics can be found pretty much anywhere from a CVS to Target. Of course if you want the good stuff and more variety, go to a craft store! You can always purchase online as well. Here is a post on my favorite online stationery shops: Best Shops for Stationery Addicts.
Here are a few of the crafts I used from Amazon, if you want to order some stuff asap.
One of my favorite online stationery stores is Paperwrld.com. Get 15% off with my coupon code WITHLOVE15.
Pages 9-10
You guessed it! Here’s my Spirited Away section.
I write a little blurb about it because it is the first ever Studio Ghibli I got the privelege of watching. I was obviously hooked instantly and have been watching them ever since.
Pages 11-12
The next set of pages have some stationery goodies for my friend to take out. Kiki is a pocket with some Studio Ghibli ephemera. Then I have a vellum envelope filled with stickers and more ephemera.
Pages 13-14
After Kiki is the back side of the envelope which I just made it look pretty because I was running out of Studio Ghibli themed ephemera. We also have a pocket with a watercolor painting of Totoro that I did for my friend. Watch the video below to see it or check out the Stationery guide on Instagram.
How do I do a themed stationery swap?
Great question! I’m sure I’m not the only one when I say I usually don’t have a lot of themed stationery on hand when I agree to do these swaps with friends.
Instead of buying anything online or at the craft store, I usually use whatever I have on hand. For this I happened to have a few ghibli stickers people have sent me in other letters.
But then I will also find a bunch of fan art and images on Pinterest that I print out and use. I will say here, that I know I do not own any of these images and I consider it as personal use under copyright law since I am not getting any monteray gain from it.
The only original artwork in this swap by me is the Totoro watercolor painting.
Pages 15-16
Next up is some lists! I made a playlist of my favorite Studio Ghibli soundtracks and a list of all the movies I want to see. Then on the right we ahve a little page of the movies I have seen. There are three on the front and three on the back.
Pages 17-18
I saved my favorite film for last and devoted a page to Howl’s Moving Castle. Sophie and Howl are just the cutest ever!! On the left you can see the other movies I’ve seen.
The end of my Studio Ghibli Mail Art
Here’e the end! On the left page you’ll see it’s covered by a little pocket which has tea in it. I also wrote a little note at the end.
The last page is a quote from Sophie.
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The video below is a flipthrough of my flipbook and the stationery I received in return for my Studio Ghibli Mail Art Stationery Swap! You can see all the details here because the pictures couldn’t cover everything.
Studio Ghibli Mail Art
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