36 hours in…
A great indulgence of mine is getting the Sunday New York Times delivered to my door here in Canada. Granted, it normally comes on Monday morning, so I can’t loaf around in my fuzzy slippers on Sunday devouring its pages like those south of the border do, but the paper is still an absolute pleasure to read through the week. One of the go-to bits of my precious New York Times newspaper is the 36 Hours… column in the Travel section, and was I ever excited to find out that a book of the collected columns has been put out by Taschen. The book looks like it’s dotted with lovely pictures and there are beautiful map illustrations by Italian illustrator Olimpia Zagnoli. Never waste a weekend, indeed - unless you live in Canada in which case this is the best form of armchair travel ever!
Posted by Vikki on November 29th at 9:00am
Rebecca Kraatz’s Snaps
Another reason things have been a little slow lately is that I recently took a road trip across Canada. Yup, Edmonton to Quebec City, all 4,261km of it. It wasn’t my first drive across the country but probably my last for a while! I did get to spend some time with my dear old dad, who bought a nifty little camping trailer as a retirement adventure plan.
Anyways, I got dropped off in Montreal, where I spent a few glorious early-fall days wandering about before flying home. One of my favourite stops in Montreal (aside from all the bakeries) is the Drawn+Quarterly bookstore in Mile End. I can never leave without an armload of books, and this time part of my haul included Rebecca Kraatz‘s graphic novel Snaps. What attracted me to the book was the brushstrokes (and hairstyles!) in her panels, but beyond that, reading it is pure imaginative joy. Kraatz found a WWII era photo album at a flea market and made up of loosely intertwined stories for all the album’s inhabitants - what follows are some of the most imaginitive, sad, and touchingly beautiful moments these people may have never had. Pick it up for the tiny sum of $15 at Conundrum Press and see for yourself.
Posted by Vikki on October 12th at 12:23pm
Wrap magazine
Have you heard of London-based Wrap magazine? It’s brilliant - use and reuse in one design and illustration magazine package! You get a gorgeous large format magazine in the mail, and once you’re done looking at all the tasties inside, you get to rip it up and use it as wrapping paper. Or just frame it, or wallpaper your wall with it. Or whatever floats your boat. As if that’s not enough, the rest of the pages double as postcards. Oh, and they’ve got a submission deadline for their next issue for August 31st. I’m sharpening my pencil!
Posted by Vikki on August 24th at 1:09pm
Crafting a Meaningful Home
You probably know Meg Mateo Ilasco because you’ve seen her crafter’s bible, Craft, Inc, or her recent Creative, Inc collaboration with Joy Cho, but now you get to know her as a bona-fide supporter of non-indie non-ironic non-beard toque home crafts. Not that there’s anything wrong with hilarious indie crafts, but I couldn’t be happier to see a more eloquent thread show up underneath the fads. What I see steadily weaving itself through the recent years of crafting becoming a bona fide movement again is an updated view on old traditions, and it’s really exciting to see makers and consumers pick it up in caring, thoughtful earnest. You can pick up Crafting a Meaningful Home here.
Speaking of, I’m planning on showcasing more handmade items in the next year. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), I want to see what you’re up to!
Posted by Vikki on December 14th at 10:10am
