A little while back, I had the opportunity to do a swap with Dawbis (aka Dawn). She was looking for some paper for her collection, and in exchange for a paper pack, she offered to do a custom artwork. I jumped at the chance, and I'm so glad I did! I received this beautiful artwork from her that incorporates many of the papers I sent her.
The piece is called "Her Thinking Cup." I love the small ink details, and also the quilled paper - gorgeous!
And, as a special bonus, Dawn included one of her works called "Look at Me." It's a cut paper artwork mounted on a polaroid - so cool! Can't wait to get these framed and have them hanging in my home. Thanks so much Dawn - I absolutely love these!
Whenever I wear my rubber boots, the chorus of this song runs through my head. Brings back memories of the great trip to Newfoundland that we had a few years back, and listening to this song at a pub. Although I'm not fishing on the "wild labrador", I can always dream. And, our porch is beginning to look like a weathered wharf, so that helps.
The very talented Austen of Stripey Pebble has just started a craft blog over on the Canadian Living website. It's called Make + Do, and it looks great. As well as sharing projects, Austen is going to feature crafters from across Canada, start a crafty Q & A, and even have a feature that celebrates craft failures. And - there will be giveaways! Right now, there is a great book up for grabs. So, head over to Make + Do to get inspired, I know I plan to. (:
I'm itching to get back into making sewn books. For the last few years, I've been focusing on adhesive type book structures, but the "zen" of sewing a book block together just seems right to me, right now. On that note, I introduce a new product that's going up in my Etsy shop. It's simply called a Little Notebook. It's small, but I think it has a lot of nice details - a punched motif backed with Chiyogami paper, a little pocket on the front cover that's just the right size for a business card, bus tickets, etc., an elastic closure held in place with an eyelet and it's all sewn together with waxed linen twine in a coordinating colour. And, I'm giving my customers the option to customize the books with all those little details - you can pick the cover paper, the elastic, the twine - and I'll surprise you with some matching Chiyogami and the endpapers. Check it out in the shop.
Over Christmas, I made some paper pendants and sold them at the markets. They are made of scraps of bookboard covered in Chiyogami and then coated with a shiny varnish. They went well - I only have a few left. I finally took a photo of one today. I like the way this photo turned out, with the little prop and all. I took some more photos today of other new things, and I'll show them tomorrow. But now, it's time for bed - I did yoga tonight for the first time in a long time, and I'm already feeling it! But, before I go, I'll leave you with this awesome blog - fresh 365 - a new vegetarian recipe for every day of the year.
Heard about an amazing art show in LA called Papershapers via NOTCOT. I didn't want to take any photos from the site, but you should click through and check it out - all of the creations are really amazing - and all made from my favorite medium, paper.
I am very pleased to announce that I will be teaching another accordion book class at Love, Me. It's taking place on Saturday, April 25th at 10am and the cost is $14. We are holding the class just in time for mother's day, so you can make your mum a lovely book. You could fill it with family photos and make it a "brag book", make it a card that everyone in the family can sign for her...the possibilities are endless! If you'd like to sign up, visit the Love, Me website - hope to see you there!
Wow. This really takes me back to the 8os. In the words of Sasha Frere Jones of the New Yorker - "You may dream of this video, but the dream won’t be as good because it won’t be this video." Enjoy.
Looking forward to watching the new HBO series No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency tonight. I read the first six books in this series by Alexander McCall Smith, and really enjoyed them. The books are about a woman - Precious Ramotswe - who decides to take money that her father has left her and open a detective agency in Botswana. At first, she seems the most unlikely detective, but her mix of charm, innocence and intuition always wins out in the end. And, it's nice to see a "traditionally built" woman - as Precious calls herself - in a main romantic lead type role.
It's been a long time since I posted, don't know where all that time went! Here's what I've been up to -
- "Frenchy's" tour of the Annapolis Valley and Clare region of Nova Scotia. Lots of fun! Pretty much everything I'm wearing today is a result of that trip... -Visited my nana... -worked... -got a new nephew... -heard that I am getting another new niece or nephew... -lots of custom orders... -took Milo on his first trip to holistic vet for yearly wellness check up. It went well, but he was terrified... -picking out new tiles and fixtures for our bathroom reno. Fun, yet stressful... -checking out Shona's gorgeous house on designsponge... -looking forward to spring. Feel like it's never going to come...
I was searching for a recipe on the Martha Stewart site today, and came across a new blog that is written by the crafters on her staff. Called "The Crafts Dept.", the blog talks about the behind the scenes goings on at the magazine, inspirations, and profiles those crafters who have a job that many dream about! I love the photo of their old craft room above - believe it or not, they were in the process of moving to an even more beautiful space! Did I mention that this was a dream job...
Just a note for those who read the blog on an rss feed, I've updated my sidebar with some new blogs I'm enjoying very much, music I'm listening to, and other tantalizing tidbits such as my address on twitter. Next project, updating my website - how do these thing age so quickly!
I am really liking Canadian Home and Country these days. I normally buy it from time to time, but last month it caught my eye with it's redesign (including the groovy new typeface, above) and the stories were great as well - the homes felt real and inspirational. This month is great too - I love every single home featured, and there is a shopping story on the Brooklyn Flea - which looks amazing. I see a subscription in my future...
I stumbled on the wonderful blog ish and chi, and fell in love with the Catherine Martin wallpaper she posted about. All the patterns are beautiful, but I especially adore the sparrow print. A bit of background (just realized that's a pun - background, wallpaper...) - Catherine Martin is a production and costume designer, who often collaborates with her husband, director Baz Luhrmann. She creates such amazing worlds in film, it's not surprising that her wallpaper designs are so dramatic and lovely. Not sure if they're available in North America, but I'm going to find out!
I recently read an article on Etsy about changes in how items appear on the "recently listed" section of the front page, and on the category pages. Basically, the article says that Etsy has changed the way that listing works, and renewing items may not be as helpful as it has been in the past. I'm a bit confused - I don't know if I should continue to renew my items as a promotional tool, or if this is a waste of 20 cents? I do know that I haven't been relisting and my shop has been fairly quiet - but is this just a post-christmas lull? Does anyone have any thoughts on this, and what have you done in your shop?
By the way, this is another album that I recently listed in my Etsy shop.
But, the best thing about it is you unscrew the handle, and you have 4 little screwdrivers inside (I didn't photograph the 4th one, but it's there). This is perfect for creating my postbound albums, and it's so nice to use something so beautiful. Acutally, it was William Morris who said, "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful" - and this little hammer is both.
As a special present for my recent birthday (thanks Denise!) I went to Jenn Grant's CD release show on Sunday night. It was really great - I love Jenn's music, and her stage banter is pretty kooky and endearing. Also, there were home baked cookies at intermission - how nice is that?!!? All really like all the songs from her new album, but I think that Dreamer (above) from her last release is still my favorite. Enjoy!
I discovered the work of German artist and animator Lotte Reiniger while reading the Guardian newspaper this morning. She worked using paper cutouts with stop motion animation. In 1926, she created the first full length animated feature film "Prince Achmed", which was based on the Arabian Nights stories. I love the intricacy of her paper cutting in the scene from the film above.
After fleeing Nazi Germany, she settled in London where she continued to make films, including public service announcements like "Mary's Birthday" which promotes basic hygiene -
This film uses lots of colour, but I think I like the simplicity of her black silouettes the best. This video is 10 minutes long, but worth a look - my favorite bits happen about 6 minutes in when Mary thwarts the evil bluebottle flies and sends her auntie packing from her birthday party because she sneezes into a hanky! Hygiene is all well and good, but I think Mary may have been taking things a bit far...
I am so glad I discovered this work - which combines my love of children's stories and papercutting - and plan to watch more of her films. Many have been uploaded to You Tube, and can also be purchased from Amazon or the British Film Institute.
A little while back, I had the opportunity to do a swap with Dawbis (aka Dawn). She was looking for some paper for her collection, and in exchange for a paper pack, she offered to do a custom artwork. I jumped at the chance, and I'm so glad I did! I received this beautiful artwork from her that incorporates many of the papers I sent her. 
The piece is called "Her Thinking Cup." I love the small ink details, and also the quilled paper - gorgeous!
And, as a special bonus, Dawn included one of her works called "Look at Me." It's a cut paper artwork mounted on a polaroid - so cool! Can't wait to get these framed and have them hanging in my home. Thanks so much Dawn - I absolutely love these!
