Fun Finds

As my books rival fabric for affection (and, frankly, the books frequently win out), I was pleased to see this blog entry, Gifts for Bookworms, over at the Sew, Mama, Sew blog. Now if only someone can offer a non-gelatinous marshmallow recipe...

Over at Linda & Harriett, paperie of sorts, there's another beautiful letter-pressed calendar.

And, to indulge in a little self-promotion, I added these coasters to my etsy shop:



And for those of you looking for fabric arts, I'll be posting a new baby quilt soon. As soon as I get it in the mail and shipped off to its recipient.

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A House Full of Calendars

I might be living in a house full of calendars come January 2009 as I keep finding ones I really like. We'll see what the "aesthetics budget" has to say about this. Today's featured calendar is from five dot design (all images courtesy five dot design).

The intricate yet clean design of each page stands out to me in this calendar. In addition, when the month's image relates to a holiday (see February, March, October, and December below), the page is festive while remaining light and even whimsical.


I particularly like March's cascade of clovers (as well as October's pumpkin).

The distinctiveness of each page (and the calendar as a whole) comes, I think, from being unafraid to play with layout and scale. In addition, keeping the calendar part of the image in the lower right quadrant provides ample options for different combinations of off-centered pictures that actually center the individual page. Does that make sense to anyone but me? I'm not sure, but I like it. In other words, the calendar is cohesive without each successive month conforming to a template. And as my birthday is in July, I always have to check out the July page; these daisies are lovely.


Finally, as a bonus, you can buy the calendar as either a desk calendar or a wall calendar. Or, if you're looking for just the image, there are single cards made from several of the month's images available as well. It's nice to have options. To find out more about five dot design, check out its blog.

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Another Awesome Calendar

Another etsy find:


What can I say, I'm a sucker for all things letter-pressed and paper-cut. As a result, October may be my favorite month in this calendar:


Drool over it some more here.

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Already?

Apparently it's already time to buy your 2009 wall calendars.


I'm a devoted Nikki McClure fan, so her calendar is on the "to buy" list. You can find it here. If you live in Madison, WI, A Room of One's Own has stocked them in the past. I imagine other independent bookstores carry them as well. To see more of McClure's work, check out her website or go to BuyOlympia.

Perusing etsy today, I saw this sweet calendar:

You can admire its colorful and crisp design here.

I know this post is a little different than usual, but I can only blame/credit friends who introduced me to Nikki McClure and have made me want to share the love. In fact, last year when I moved into my former (awesome) apartment, I brought 6 framed McClure prints with me. They had previously hung in the dining room, and I liked them in public spaces. My new roommate was out of town Labor Day weekend and I decided to hang them anyways. I left a note for Joel, indicating that I had hung these prints I really like but, if he hated them, I would take them down and make my bedroom a gallery. As it turned out, Joel had just seen a Nikki McClure exhibit that weekend and had wanted to buy some prints but couldn't figure out how to take them back on the plane without harming them. Some would call it luck or karma that 2 people who barely knew one another were in full agreement about the merits of the prints; I would suggest that it's a testament to how awesome the prints are.

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