Stationery Sunday – Cat stationery shops in Seoul

Happy Sunday! I hope you’re all doing well. I’ve decided to start a weekly series, Stationery Sunday, where I introduce cool and cute stationery shops in Seoul and some of my favorite creators, brands, or items. I thought I’d start the inaugural post with not one, but two cat-themed stationery shops.

Cat Frame Shop (고양이가 있는 액자가게)

(In Korean, literally, The Frame Shop with Cats) This darling hole-in-the-wall store is chock full of cute and quirky cat items; everything from your conventional postcards, prints, stickers, memos and washi tapes, to more household items like ceramic figures, socks, magnets, keychains… basically anything you could stick a cat on (that would fit in this shop).

From what I could tell, everything in the shop was made by Korean artists. I love shopping at these type of independent stores because I feel like I can better support local art and business.

The Cat Frame Shop is located near Hongik University (Hongdae station).

Address: 45 Yeonhui-ro 1-gil, Yeonnam-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul (Google map link)

Instagram: @yeonnam_cat_popart (Hours: closed days announced on Instagram)

Star Cats (별냥이제작소)

I discovered this shop on my way to the ALL WRITE Shop. It’s on the same street as you walk over from Sinchon station, and everything in the shop is designed by the owner. The shop opened about two months ago and the alley itself has another indie bookstore and some other handicrafts stores. Coincidentally, this artist painted one of the postcards I had bought from the Cat Frame shop (the one of the girl at a desk with cat).

I liked this artist’s simple and sweet style. I especially liked how she balanced the painted parts with negative space to complete the shapes of cats (for example leaving the ears blank).

I adore the print on the left of the cat set in the Joseon dynasty: wearing a traditional hat, rice paper screen in the back, and painting with a calligraphy brush and ink stick.

Ssdam means to pet in Korean. And Jeju is an island south of the mainland in Korea, the “Hawaii of Korea.” The yoga cat prints are also adorable.

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The store also had a case of cute stickers which aren’t pictured here. I probably would have bought more to support this new business (and fulfill my own desires), but this visit came at the tail end of a bit of a stationery binge. It was hard, but I kept my promise to reign in my stationery spending for the month.

The Star Cat store is a short walk from Sinchon station.

Address: 18 Seogang-ro 11-gil, Changjeon-dong (Google map link)

Instagram: @byeolnyang_e

The Haul

If you’re interested in other stationery shops in Seoul, here are some I’ve already covered:

Mangwon-dong: Stationery Mecca in Seoul (my first tour of Mangwon-dong, which has a ton of little shops)

Stamp Mama: for all your stamping needs (a shop near Hongdae with everything related to stamp supplies)

ALL WRITE Shop (super clean aesthetic stationery shop, one of my favorites)

Are you a cat or stationery person? Do you have any favorite pieces or illustrations from this post? Let me know in the comments! And have a… purrrfect day. (Sorry, I had just had to.)