Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts

World Book Week: Folksy and Etsy picks


It's World Book Week, did you know?  I only caught up with this yesterday.  Wanted to put a link here, but couldn't find one that worked.  Apparently, the big event is focused on encouraging young readers, but there an additional Book Night on Saturday for the grown ups.

So here's a selection of Folksy and Etsy treasures which support reading.  Click on any of the pictures to go directly to the shops.


Love this Eqyptian inspired portfolio by ValSainsbury on Etsy - ideal for ideas and jewellery sketches, I think.  I have a Kindle for reading novels now, but there's no substitute for drawing my designs on paper, and this one is full of recycled, handmade paper so kind to the environment too.



An ideal present for a female reading friend, this brooch from Bookity on Folksy is just too cute!  And I'm sure I'm addled by now...


Not, as I initially thought, an instruction book, but a squared paper journal for you, perhaps to record the progress of your shop?! By Champignons on Etsy



A very short story, for when you're very short on time.  Comes with a free song.  What more could you ask?  By H.Ireland on Folksy.



Carry this notebook when you want to discreetly meet with other Mills and Boon fans... By InterAlia on Etsy.

And encourage the little ones to love books with this A3 poster print from Strawberrykitten on Folksy.  Bears need books too.

There are more book related UK items in this Etsy treasury.  Why not pop along and comment?

World Book Week: Folksy and Etsy picks


It's World Book Week, did you know?  I only caught up with this yesterday.  Wanted to put a link here, but couldn't find one that worked.  Apparently, the big event is focused on encouraging young readers, but there an additional Book Night on Saturday for the grown ups.

So here's a selection of Folksy and Etsy treasures which support reading.  Click on any of the pictures to go directly to the shops.


Love this Eqyptian inspired portfolio by ValSainsbury on Etsy - ideal for ideas and jewellery sketches, I think.  I have a Kindle for reading novels now, but there's no substitute for drawing my designs on paper, and this one is full of recycled, handmade paper so kind to the environment too.



An ideal present for a female reading friend, this brooch from Bookity on Folksy is just too cute!  And I'm sure I'm addled by now...


Not, as I initially thought, an instruction book, but a squared paper journal for you, perhaps to record the progress of your shop?! By Champignons on Etsy



A very short story, for when you're very short on time.  Comes with a free song.  What more could you ask?  By H.Ireland on Folksy.



Carry this notebook when you want to discreetly meet with other Mills and Boon fans... By InterAlia on Etsy.

And encourage the little ones to love books with this A3 poster print from Strawberrykitten on Folksy.  Bears need books too.

There are more book related UK items in this Etsy treasury.  Why not pop along and comment?

2010 Reading List

Here's what I read this year (a bit late, I know!):

My Antonia - Willa Cather
The Big Snow - David Park
The White King - Gyorgy Dragoman
Achilles - Elizabeth Book
*The Little Stranger - Sarah Walters
The House of Mirth - Edith Wharton
The Lacuna - Barbara Kingsolver
*The Glass Room - Simon Mower
The Good Man Jesus... - Philip Pullman
Trespass - Rose Tremain
One Day - David Nicolls
The Unnamed - Joshua Ferris
The Madonnas of Leningrad - Debra Dean
The 19th Wife - David Ebershoff
Cutting for Stone - Abraham Verghese
An Imaginary Life - David Malouf
*Brooklyn - Colm Toibin
Child 44 - Tom Rob Smith
*Await Your Reply - Dan Chaon
Tony and Susan - Austin Wright
*The Terrible Privacy of Maxwell Sim - Jonathon Coe
The Perfect Murder - Peter James
Not Untrue and Not Unkind - Ed O'Loughlin

and the stars (*) are the ones I really recommend!

What are your great reads of 2010?

2010 Reading List

Here's what I read this year (a bit late, I know!):

My Antonia - Willa Cather
The Big Snow - David Park
The White King - Gyorgy Dragoman
Achilles - Elizabeth Book
*The Little Stranger - Sarah Walters
The House of Mirth - Edith Wharton
The Lacuna - Barbara Kingsolver
*The Glass Room - Simon Mower
The Good Man Jesus... - Philip Pullman
Trespass - Rose Tremain
One Day - David Nicolls
The Unnamed - Joshua Ferris
The Madonnas of Leningrad - Debra Dean
The 19th Wife - David Ebershoff
Cutting for Stone - Abraham Verghese
An Imaginary Life - David Malouf
*Brooklyn - Colm Toibin
Child 44 - Tom Rob Smith
*Await Your Reply - Dan Chaon
Tony and Susan - Austin Wright
*The Terrible Privacy of Maxwell Sim - Jonathon Coe
The Perfect Murder - Peter James
Not Untrue and Not Unkind - Ed O'Loughlin

and the stars (*) are the ones I really recommend!

What are your great reads of 2010?

It's all about the book - BESTeam weekly feature on ConduitPress

This week I'm featuring a real classy shop - ConduitPress, aka Talia, sells beautifully handcrafted notebooks, journals, baby books, albums, photographs and cards, all with a unique edge to them. There's a real vintage feel from the items, perfect if you want something that's pre-loved and kind to the planet!

Here are a few of my favourite items - click on the picture for more details:


notebook by ConduitPress rustic journal by ConduitPress
1939 Europe map by ConduitPress maroon journal by ConduitPress
letter journal by ConduitPress mini photo albums by ConduitPress


1. This journal upcycled from a vintage novel has pages from the book interspersed with plain sheets!
2. This journal is in beautiful upcycled upholstery leather with a lotus motif

3. The vintage map is of Europe in 1939 and the Far East on the reverse. Perfect for history buffs!
4. Maroon leather journal with a beautiful green decoration.

5. A lovely fresh feel to this pocket sized journal
6. Mini albums with a die cut cover for your own picture - a perfect gift at $5!

If you're an arty or crafty person, you probably keep an ideas journal or a creative diary, collect photos for albums or scrapbooking and enjoy the feel of a beautifully made item. ConduitPress is bound to have something to interest you.

You can follow ConduitPress on her blog, on Facebook and on Twitter

It's all about the book - BESTeam weekly feature on ConduitPress

This week I'm featuring a real classy shop - ConduitPress, aka Talia, sells beautifully handcrafted notebooks, journals, baby books, albums, photographs and cards, all with a unique edge to them. There's a real vintage feel from the items, perfect if you want something that's pre-loved and kind to the planet!

Here are a few of my favourite items - click on the picture for more details:


notebook by ConduitPress rustic journal by ConduitPress
1939 Europe map by ConduitPress maroon journal by ConduitPress
letter journal by ConduitPress mini photo albums by ConduitPress


1. This journal upcycled from a vintage novel has pages from the book interspersed with plain sheets!
2. This journal is in beautiful upcycled upholstery leather with a lotus motif

3. The vintage map is of Europe in 1939 and the Far East on the reverse. Perfect for history buffs!
4. Maroon leather journal with a beautiful green decoration.

5. A lovely fresh feel to this pocket sized journal
6. Mini albums with a die cut cover for your own picture - a perfect gift at $5!

If you're an arty or crafty person, you probably keep an ideas journal or a creative diary, collect photos for albums or scrapbooking and enjoy the feel of a beautifully made item. ConduitPress is bound to have something to interest you.

You can follow ConduitPress on her blog, on Facebook and on Twitter

2009 Reading List

Hubbie always keeps a note of what I've read. This year, the modern novels are:

Norwegian Wood - Haruki Murakami
The Archivists Story - Travis Holland
The Birthday Present - Barbara Vine
Talking to Strange Men - Ruth Rendell
Sashenko - Simon Montefiori
The Killing Doll - Ruth Rendell
Gods Own Country - Ross Raisin
Company of Liars - Karen Maitland
Blackmoor - Edward Hogan
Girl with a Dragon Tattoo - Steig Larsson
Oracle Night - Paul Auster
The Northern Clemency - Philip Hensher
Tales from the Scriptorum - Paul Auster
Live Flesh - Ruth Rendell
A Most Wanted Man - John Le Carre
Portobello - Ruth Rendell
Kafka on the Shore - Haruki Murakami
Brazzaville Beach - William Boyd
A Wedding in December - Anita Shreeve

I've got eclectic taste, as you can probably see! I like a page turner, and I have to read everything by Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine (but not the Wexford novels) because you can't put them down and she writes so well. And a colleague at work introduced me to Paul Auster this year.

If I had to pick one to recommend, I'd be hard pushed, but would probably say 'The Northern Clemency' - it's a great read and especially if like me, you grew up in Sheffield and then moved, it will fill you with nostalgia. Blackmoor and Gods Own Country are also excellent 'Norh of England' novels.

What do you think of the list? What are your picks of 2009?

2009 Reading List

Hubbie always keeps a note of what I've read. This year, the modern novels are:

Norwegian Wood - Haruki Murakami
The Archivists Story - Travis Holland
The Birthday Present - Barbara Vine
Talking to Strange Men - Ruth Rendell
Sashenko - Simon Montefiori
The Killing Doll - Ruth Rendell
Gods Own Country - Ross Raisin
Company of Liars - Karen Maitland
Blackmoor - Edward Hogan
Girl with a Dragon Tattoo - Steig Larsson
Oracle Night - Paul Auster
The Northern Clemency - Philip Hensher
Tales from the Scriptorum - Paul Auster
Live Flesh - Ruth Rendell
A Most Wanted Man - John Le Carre
Portobello - Ruth Rendell
Kafka on the Shore - Haruki Murakami
Brazzaville Beach - William Boyd
A Wedding in December - Anita Shreeve

I've got eclectic taste, as you can probably see! I like a page turner, and I have to read everything by Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine (but not the Wexford novels) because you can't put them down and she writes so well. And a colleague at work introduced me to Paul Auster this year.

If I had to pick one to recommend, I'd be hard pushed, but would probably say 'The Northern Clemency' - it's a great read and especially if like me, you grew up in Sheffield and then moved, it will fill you with nostalgia. Blackmoor and Gods Own Country are also excellent 'Norh of England' novels.

What do you think of the list? What are your picks of 2009?

Tuesday's Tips #9


We've been talking the last few weeks about inspiration. Today I want to look at one place you can find inspiration - other artists in your field.

Note of Caution: They say there is nothing new under the sun and the imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Both statements have truth to them, however, you need to be aware of copy write laws and how they affect your field of art. While being inspired and learning from other artists is fine, you don't want to steal their hard work!

Ok, on to cheerier thoughts!

I LOVE to look at the work of other jewelry artists. Often I just look and drool. After all, there are many forms of jewelry that I can never attempt. For instance, anything that involves a lot of fumes (like resin) is off limits because of my severe asthma. That doesn't mean I can't admire and be inspired by their work! Here's some places I go to look at other jewelry artists work - I think you'll find you can translate this to your particular field of art :)

Teams:
I'm on several teams and they all contain fellow jewelry artists. The one I gain the most inspiration from though is my Etsy Bead Weavers team because the team is very focused on that medium! The other teams are great - but their focus is different and so it doesn't provide as many challenges or as much inspiration for the art side of things. If your not on a team specific to your medium I'd highly encourage it!

Books:
I just got done going through the book "500 Beaded Objects: New Dimensions in Contemporary Beadwork" and I was utterly floored by the possibilities out there! Sometimes looking through the work of the masters can be humbling, but I found it both challenging and encouraging as I see how much I have left to learn! I also got some new ideas :)

Magazines:
I regularly read Bead and Button and even sometimes Jewelry Artist. Now this is an area you need to be careful. You can learn a LOT, but you don't want to recreate their patterns for sale without first getting the permission of the artist who created it. Sometimes they will be willing to let you, other times they won't. You can make the patterns for yourself (and you'll often learn a lot!) but don't ever sell them without permission.

There are many other places you can view artists work in your field, browsing the various selling venues for instance, but these are some of my favorites!

I'd love to hear from you guys. What are your favorite magazines, books, or teams in YOUR field? I'll compile a list from what you tell me and post it for next weeks Tips :D Let's help each other!

Dreaming and Scheming

This weeks Etsy Bloggers Carnival had two choices:

1. Now that spring has sprung, it's planting time. If you're into gardening, what would your dream garden look like? What flowers/bulbs/herbs would you plant? What about garden doodads or statues?
2. Your Own Space: describe your dream studio (or if you already have one, give details!). Decorating, supplies you wish you had, size, etc.


Let me just say I do NOT have a green thumb. It's more like a black thumb! Ok, I did manage to keep the plants alive at the last two places I house sat, but the fact remains that I'm not really a plant person! Besides, I've been dreaming for a long time about my crafty space. 

Now some of my awesome bloggy pals found pictures to go with their descriptions. I thought about that, but I'm not feeling well today, so you'll just have to make your own mental pictures. Deal? Good. 

I have two separate dreams for craft rooms. One is more practical and obtainable, and one is truly dreaming! You see, right now, just about anything would be better than what I have! Because my hubby is a full time student, and I have limited resources because of my health problems (not to mention the bills the health problems cause), we have to live as frugally as we can right now. So we live in a one bedroom apartment.  

We manage the space by taking the living room (which is relatively big) and splitting it in two. We have a futon that my evil twin loaned us and that splits the space giving us a small living room space, and the other half is computers and my crafty stuff. 

Because of this my very first dream is simply to move to a bigger apartment! I would love to have a two bedroom apartment with our bed and stuff in the smaller bedroom, and all our computers and crafty stuff in the master bedroom! I'd keep the computers in with the crafty stuff because my hubby spends a lot of time on the computer and this means we'd still sort of spend time together, which is pretty much what we do now in our small space! 

Now for my ultimate dream. Well, I've been dreaming of my dream house for a long time.  The one feature that is KEY is having a full library room! Can't have my dream house without that. If you know me, you know I love books! 

Now I'm thinking that the entire second floor of my dream house would need to be a studio. Oh we could have our computers in there, and a tv would be could because I like to watch things while I craft, but the majority of the space would be for crafty stuff! I'd have a big work desk that would be in a V shape in one corner. This would allow me to easily rotate between the computer and my current project. One side of the desk would extend far enough to give my hubby his own computer space so he'd still be up there with me! 

There would be a full set of shelves (or two!) for beads. I already have 21 different organizational boxes piled up on my table - give me time and I can't even begin to imagine how many I'll have in a few years! Then of course I'd have to have some storage space for the finished products and display items for when I go to craft fairs :)

Now I'm not just a beady woman, I like other crafts and have many things I want to learn! So there would a table for a sewing machine, shelves for fabric, shelves for yarn, and shelves for whatever else I want! Plus of course a book case (yes I know I have a library, shhhh!), for books and magazines to use for resources! 

No I'm not obsessed with creating things and books! What ever made you say that?