October 2025 Printable

Spooky autumn month of October is upon us!

Download here: PDF

For ibon/netprint information, please see our instagram post.

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Review: Hancoco Deco Stamp

  

It’s another stamp review! 

The Hancoco deco stamp comes in a set of 2, each stamp is 50mm x 12mm and the design can be layered or used on it’s own. 

Obviously I have to pick the cat design. 

                          

The stamps are self inking, each comes with it’s own cover that doubles up as a stamping guide. 

The cover has a notch that you can use to line up each stamps so it layers nicely. 

This part is a little unclear to me. 

The stamps/cover combo also has a built in masking tape cutter. 

It looked like one could place masking tape on the cover, stamp it and then cut it to size. 

The problem I had was that I could not successfully stamp any of the washi tape that I used. 

I’m wondering if I’m maybe using the wrong washi tape? Let me know if you’ve successfully stamped any washi tape. 

Overall, the system, works well on most materisl. 

The ink was pigmented and crips and the designs are really cute. 

I did find the design a bit small and it was difficult to write anything other than numbers on it. 

If you have small handwriting, I saw go for it. 

But I don’t think I will be purchasing any more stamps from this series. 

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Review: HiLINE HB Test taking Pencils

In Japan, its common to purchase pencils specifically for test taking. This is because not only do they need to be HB [for the OCR machines to be able to read the answers], some schools also require the pencils to have no words or diagrams printed on them. 

Here are some test taking pencils I purchased recently.

Product name	HiLINE Orenpitsu HB Pencils, Test Pencil Set of 3
Part Number	PA002-540
size	Pencil - H160mm, 4g / Cap H45×D12mm, 2g
specification	Three HB pencils with erasers and hexagonal shafts, plain body, exam-prepared design, with three break-resistant, connectable caps
Manufacturer	Kutsuwa Co., Ltd.

Features:

Break-resistant pencil

Long-lasting lead 

Less likely to stain paper

Smooth writing

Eraser at one end

Break-resistant & connectable caps

In addition to the "usable" features, these pencils also come in lucky colors like gold, silver and metallic red. They are also have 5 sides [pentagon] making them less easy to roll away. In Japanese this is 五角 [Gokkaku]. This also sounds like 合格[Gokaku] which means to pass(exams) in Japanese. 

Is this something common where you are from?

Would you try them?

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