i just signed up for the sketchbook project : and you should too

Here’s how The Sketchbook Project works:

Anyone can sign up (until October 31st) and for $25, you receive a blank moleskin sketchbook with a bar code and a particular assigned theme. You have until January 15th to fill it with doodles, drawings, paintings, collages, whatever you want. Then you send it back and all the sketchbooks go on tour across the country in galleries and museums!

You can track where your book is at all times and even view it on display at one of the above scheduled tour locations. At the end of the tour, the books will all be cataloged as a permanent collection at The Brooklyn Art Library. For an extra twenty bucks, they will scan and digitize your book so that you can have an electronic record of all your hard work.

This is the first I’m hearing about it, thanks to The Donut Project, but Art House Co-op has been running this for five years now.

I am excited to get started! Join my sketchbook on tour and sign up here.

aakash nihalani : at play with tape in nyc

On a Monday morning I want to share something that’s energizing and fun and helps to kickstart your week. For today, it is Aakash Nihalani and his geometric artwork with tape. In each of these images, Aakash has applied actual tape to the object pictured, such as the wheels of this ice cream truck above or the building front pictured below.

From his statement online:

I selectively place these graphics around New York to highlight the unexpected contours and elegant geometry of the city itself. All execution of a piece is done on site with little to no planning…We all need the opportunity to see the city more playfully…I try to create a new space within the existing space of our everyday world for people to enter freely, and unexpectedly ‘disconnect’ from their reality…I work instinctively, trying to follow my gut about the sensation of color and space, and have fun doing it…I’m just connecting the dots differently to make my own picture. Others need to see that they can create too, connecting their own dots, in their own places.

(*via Hard Feelings; All images via aakashnihalani.com)

build your own : the naked table project

ShackletonThomas (established crafters of handmade furniture and ceramics) runs The Naked Table Project. The project consists of several weekend programs a year at their workshop in Vermont where 15 participants work with the ShackletonThomas team to build their very own dining table made from locally harvested, sustainably grown, Vermont maple wood.

In addition to the woodworking lesson, the program also includes a woods visit with a professional forester who explains the system for sustainable lumber sourcing. At the end of the weekend, when all the tables are finished, they join the tables together (75′ long) for a final celebratory meal.

www.nakedtable.com

(*via Re-Nest)

monsieur cabinet : 1000 awesome things

#640 Whipping down the hill really fast

David Thompson of Monsieur Cabinet is an illustrator and designer working in Leeds, England. His series of drawings “1000 Awesome Things” is so much fun. Here are a few favorites.

#780 Squeezing through a door as it’s shutting without touching it

#700 Making someone laugh when they have a really full mouth

#635 When the hiccups stop

#702 Sucking your stomach in just before the picture is taken

#796 The sound of rain from inside a tent

#990 Picking up a Q and a U at the same time in Scrabble

(All images from Monsieur Cabinet)

wedding gift guide : five wooden finds on etsy

Bent Walnut Picnic Wine Tote : a classy take on a traditional picnic basket. A wool blanket is included and each tote is handmade to order. [$415]

Oak Cutting Board : a collection of various organic shapes, handmade. [$95]

Banksia Pod Knife : hand-forged from 1095 high carbon steel and banksia pod (an Australian pine cone). [$150]

Handmade Fruit Bowl : made from reclaimed black walnut. [$90]

Bamboo Bird Feeder : a modern design, weather-proofed for longevity and great for anyone with some outdoor space. [$95]

oyster theme table : paperfinger collaboration with poppies & posies

As promised, I have some better photos to show you from the Illegal Wedding Fair. These are focused on the tablescape that Sierra and Juliet of Poppies & Posies developed on an oyster theme. It was beautifully done! I was so happy to walk in that morning and see the table.

We’d talked by phone before the event and they described their vision, so I went on that to create an illustrated table sign (“Fire Island” but of course), a tall oyster bar menu, individual dinner menus and place cards. Take a look and see the perfectly handcrafted oyster card holders, set in a small nest of green seaweed with fresh water pearls, which Sierra and Juliet made for the event. They are a super talented team — be sure to check out their site for more about their floral and event design services: www.poppiesandposiesevents.com.

These pics are from the awesome Kelly Prizel of the wedding blog,  So You’re EnGAYged, who I had the pleasure of meeting and chatting with. The site is excellent and I’m looking forward to getting Paperfinger on their list of LGBT-Friendly Vendors. She also posted a thoughtful piece about the fair — check it out here. Thanks Kelly for the great shots, including some of the Paperfinger table!

(All images courtesy of So You’re EnGAYged)

chloe fleury : san francisco neighborhoods

Chloe Fleury created sculptural paper posters representing each of her favorite neighborhoods in San Francisco. Aren’t they edible and charming with their bright colors and regional weather references?

(*via @eqx1979 via Design For Mankind)

schubladen : furniture & shelving

Schubladen translates to “drawers” in German. This Berlin-based company and shop takes pretty, diverse and lonely drawers and creates a new home inside shelves, dressers, nightstands, etc. It’s a dang pretty furniture foster family.

schubLaden
Boeckhstraße 46
D – 10967 Berlin Kreuzberg

(*via The Best Part)

alphabet : by dalton m. ghetti

My mom, Mexican chef extraordinaire and overall wonderful woman, is a budding guest blogger. Last weekend, she visited the New Britain Museum of American Art in Connecticut and reported back to me about this alphabet piece in the current collection, “Meticulous Masterpieces: Contemporary Art by Dalton Ghetti, Les Lourigan and Jennifer Maestre.”

Dalton Ghetti has been carving sculptures from No. 2 pencils for almost thirty years. I’m most drawn to the alphabet series but his other pieces are awe-inspiring as well. Below, the carved chain link that he created from the body of a pencil (yes, that’s lead!) and a close-up of the tiny boot carving.

(*Images via Cardboard Monocle and City Paper)

beekman 1802 : wild poppy seed after-the-garden bar

I love everything Beekman 1802. This is a new product from those friendly folks upstate that’s perfect for you and your green thumbs. As per their usual, the bars of soap are handmade and sourced direct from the farm, made with goats milk. The poppy seeds help with exfoliation and the combination of essential oils help to remove the green stains from a day of gardening. $10/bar from Beekman’s online shop.

http://shop.beekman1802.com/