#14 Love Hurts...

Love Hurts via Neither Snow

 There are some people out there that think Valentine's Day is a farce of a holiday invented for greeting card companies, jewelers, and flower shops.  You know what I think about that...well it probably wouldn't be nice to say so I will keep my opinions on other people's opinions to myself.

Valentine's Day is really about CRAFTS!!!  Making something that shows your appreciation for friends and lovers.  Growing up, I often made cookies for my classmates and put them into origami baskets I would make with my mom.  Last year I made the same heart-shaped sugar cookies for my fellow ski trip friends.  I will say, a LOT of effort went into finding sprinkles for those cookies.  I visited many a grocery with no luck in finding red or pink sprinkles and ended up going here.  That's how much I love my friends... and cookies with sprinkles.

I also like handing out valentines and writing everyone's names on them.  I may have done this even through college when it probably wasn't cool anymore...but it made me happy to see people smile at the surprise.

These valentines by Mara Zepeda of Neither Snow are very beautiful, and I would absolutely die if I got one of these in the mail!!!! Like I would burst into tears of joy and love the person forever (but this directly relates to my obsession with paper)

vintage stamps + calligraphy + white ink + heartfelt note =  
best valentine ever

images via Mara Zepeda of Neither Snow's Etsy shop

#13 Paper Addiction

I'll admit it.  I have an addiction to paper- the smell of it, the feel of it.  Some people know wine and all its delicacies of taste-- hint of oak with notes of cherries, anyone?  This is how I know paper.  Cold-pressed v. hot-pressed, rag content, the different ways they absorb inks & paints (This is probably getting too heavy for everyone but me, sorry).  Don't even get me started on all the pencils, pens, markers, & paints.  I will, however, get to the point of this post: letterpress.  It makes digital printing look like a kindergartner's scrawl.  You can feel the words on the paper & immediately tell there is a high level of craft and care that goes into making these prints.

The only thing I knew up until last week about letterpress was the finished product and bits & pieces about how it's made.  Time for a field trip.  I met McDavid of Brown Parcel Press at the 3rd Ward Craft Show and called on him at his studio in Brooklyn last week to learn more about the process.

The beast that is the printer. 

Letterpress technology hasn't been improved upon much since the mid-20th century (unlike digital printing which is constantly becoming more sophisticated in hopes that it can compete).  This printing press is a finely tuned machine, waiting silently to devour stacks of paper.  As soon as McDavid pulled the lever to start the motor, I immediately conjured up images of Lucille Ball and paper flying everywhere.  I'm positive that if I had been at the helm, this would have been the case because I would have accidentally flipped the switch to make it go super fast.  The roar of the machine and it's clacking and whooshing are exhilirating, kind of like driving a fast car.  If you have a chance to see such printing in action, I highly recommend it.  And if you have the means to get some letterpress made for yourself, I'm jealous.

the design goes here on the plate to be inked & pressed onto the paper

the finished product

Be sure to check out Brown Parcel Press's work & support letterpressers everywhere!

Anyways, I have accumulated enough stationary, drawing paper, wallpaper, scrapbook paper, & wrapping paper to kill at least one forest.  New Year's Resolution: Use it.

I plan on writing letters, getting back into drawing and sketching for my own pleasure, giving lots of presents, making origami... anything to use it!  My friends, expect to get something in the mail...

flipping pages

#12 On Personal Style

Things I would never be drawn to other people love. Other people love other people, and they love other people. Each of us knows other people's style and ideas and how someone works some of the time. We all surprise each other, even our best friends. Everyone's thoughts enter into a sphere above us. I begin to think we all understand in total and come to the same conclusion, but we don't. We take what we want to hear and sleep when we need...
...gelato...gelato...gelato...

pink grapefruit and champagne sorbet via style at home january 2010, photography by william meppem, styling by steve pearce via {this is glamorous}

#11 DIY Chandelier

Are you as excited as me to find out that this really cool chandelier is in your future?!

And that you are going to make it yourself?!

Lindsey Adelman's instructions for a do-it-yourself, industrial-ish, modern chandelier look very organized and easy to follow, don't you think?

we shall see...

#10 Magic - Example 2: MAPS

More magic in the most ordinary of things...

Masterfully simple topographys made of paper:

Want one? Visit Crafterall's etsy shop

Free shipping! Woot woot!

Also, check out these sweet maps of the Mississippi River @ Radical Cartography:

One more magic map from Famille Summerbelle of Manhattan: