Daisy Day
With its pink storefront and a crystal chandelier glittering in the window, Daisy Day resembles a jewel box. Instead of baubles, however, it is filled with patterned paper, glittery paint, stamps, ribbons and other supplies for paper crafters.
The interior of the store near Beitou MRT Station (北投捷運站) reflects Daisy Day’s feminine and carefree aesthetic. Shelves are stocked with a rainbow of supplies, including Tim Holtz Distress Ink pads, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist and Maya Road chipboard embellishments. Cards, scrapbook pages and home decor items created by Daisy Day’s owners and customers line the shelves for inspiration.
Photo: Catherine Shu, Taipei Times
Opened in September 2010 by a husband-and-wife team, Daisy Day’s mission is to inspire creativity in customers. While American crafters often use scrapbooking as a way to journal and reflect on their experiences, co-owner Kirin Lee (李志剛) says it is a challenge to encourage creativity among Taiwanese consumers, most of whom were educated in a school system that emphasizes rote learning instead of experimentation. Daisy Day offers one-on-one classes in the store — customers just need to call ahead to make sure there is space available.
“We don’t create projects where we tell people that they must glue this here or otherwise instruct them to make exact copies of what we do,” says Lee. “We show them a technique and then help them to use it in their own way.”
Over the last two years, Daisy Day has built up an international following and often hosts crafters from Hong Kong, who come to the store to take classes and look for supplies that they would have a hard time finding back home.
Photo: Catherine Shu, Taipei Times
Other customers have included expats from US, Canada and South Africa. Most of the store’s clientele are professional women in their twenties to fifties, though Daisy Day also has a few male customers, as well as couples who take classes together.
Kirin and his wife Vianne first discovered scrapbooking when they stumbled upon a store while vacationing in Brunei. They were so smitten that they returned to the country for a month to take classes with its owner.
“My wife had been an art editor for more than 10 years, so she loved it,” says Lee. “We started researching scrapbooking online and saw that it is very popular abroad and that the focus is on acid-free, non-toxic papers and materials.”
Photo: Catherine Shu, Taipei Times
Items carried by Daisy Day include non-toxic paints, pigments and inks, supplies for binding mini-albums and shadowboxes for making mixed media art. The store’s large assortment of 12-inch by 12-inch patterned cardstock includes selections from popular American brands like Prima, Jilibean Soup, October Afternoon and Authentique.
In addition to scrapbooking, the store also offers courses and supplies for making notebook covers, gift albums, cards and home decor items.
While many Taiwanese paper crafters now look to American or Japanese artists for inspiration, Lee hopes that Daisy Day will help encourage enthusiasts throughout the Chinese-speaking world to develop their own style trademark.
Photo: Catherine Shu, Taipei Times
“We talk with each customer to get to know their personality and then we encourage them to express themselves,” says Lee. “It’s about making what you want to make and expressing yourself.”
Address: 69 Zhongzheng St, Taipei City (台北市中正街69號)
Hours: Monday to Friday 11am to 9pm, Saturday to Sunday 1pm to 9pm
Photo: Catherine Shu, Taipei Times
Telephone: (02) 2897-0017
On the Net: www.facebook.com/DaisyDay.tw
DIY Arts
Photo: Catherine Shu, Taipei Times
DIY Arts (牧莎記事) operates three stores in Taipei, including locations in Eslite Xinyi (誠品信義) and Eslite Dunnan (誠品敦南), that sell materials for a bevy of paper crafts, ranging from stamping and scrapbooking to paper quilling and parchment craft. The company imports a variety of different brands, ranging from the simple, modern patterns of Studio Calico to Graphic 45, which mixes vintage graphics and bright colors in its flamboyant patterns. DIY Arts also offers classes in all three of its locations.
Address: 3F, 30 Nanjing W Rd, Taipei City (台北市南京西路30號3F)
Hours: Monday to Saturday 10:30pm to 8:30pm, Sunday 11pm to 6pm
Photo: Catherine Shu, Taipei Times
Telephone: (02) 2558-7136
On the Net: For more locations, visit www.diyart.com.tw
Created With Love
Photo courtesy of Micia
Located a few blocks away from Shandao MRT Station (善導寺捷運站), Created With Love (好心藝) has a large classroom for cardmaking and scrapbooking courses, as well as an impressive array of supplies imported from Europe and the US. Harder-to-find items include stamps from US companies Lawn Fawn and Technique Tuesday, die-cutting machines like the Silhouette Cameo, Sizzix Big Shot and Cuttlebug, and magazines such as Scrapbook Trends.
Address: 22, Ln 6, Hangzhou S Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市杭州南路一段6巷22號)
Hours: Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 6pm. Closed Mondays, Sundays and national holidays.
Photo courtesy of Micia
Telephone: (02) 2351-1566
On the Net: www.pcstore.com.tw/cwlinc
Chang Chuen Cotton Paper
Photo courtesy of Hellen Soderberg
Chang Chuen Cotton Paper’s (長春綿紙) store on Chang’an East Road is filled with a breathtaking selection of papers handmade from all-natural materials. Cotton art paper (藝術棉紙) in soft shades can be torn into strips and arranged to make an ombre affect on your project, while Japanese yuzen paper made using a paste-resist dyeing method, features colorful, delicately detailed designs. Want some inspiration? Chang Chuen Cotton Paper is located two doors away from Suho Memorial Paper Museum (樹火紀念紙博物館).
Address: 74 Chang’an E Rd Sec 2, Taipei City (台北市長安東路二段74號)
Hours: Monday 1pm to 6pm, Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 6pm, closed Sundays and national holidays
Photo courtesy of Hellen Soderberg
Telephone: (02) 2506-4918
On the Net: www.papermaster.com.tw
Micia
Photo courtesy of Hellen Soderberg
Want stamps with a distinctively Taiwanese flavor? Micia’s wide range of designs includes cute, chubby versions of religious figures and deities, including a smiling Confucius (孔子) and bubble-headed God of Fortune (財神). Looking for more traditional imagery? Other collections include stamps based on Chinese ink painting, calligraphy and paper cutting.
Address: Micia’s QSquare store is at B1, 1 Chengde Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市承德路一段1號B1) near the underground connection to Taipei Main Station
Telephone: 0925-402-208
Hours: 11am to 10pm
On the Net: For a catalog and list of other locations, visit www.micia.com.tw
Scrap Moment
Swedish expat Hellen Soderberg first became interested in scrapbooking after moving to Taiwan in 2005, when she decided to create an album for her toddler daughter to help her remember the year their family planned to stay in the country. One year turned into seven and half years — and Soderberg is still in Taiwan, and still passionate about scrapbooking. Soderberg has led classes at the Community Services Center and is “always happy and willing to help any fellow scrapper with ideas, inspiration or where to find supplies and equipment,” she says.
>> For more information, email scrapmoment@gmail.com
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