So, If you are a Facebook friend of mine, you've likely seen my recent confession about obsessing over craft books and mags in different languages. I've been subscribed to Marie Claire Idees for a few years now (published in French, of which I know none) - renewing the subscription is itself an adventure (though my hyperlink just taught me I could have ordered it through amazon!)... but the ideas there are way more creative and geared into my personal aesthetic (a little sweeter and lighter than some of the craft mags around that try to navigate craftiness without cheese - I think they sometimes end up a little jaded)
So, I pore over the magazine, carrying it with me everywhere for a few weeks, saving the issues and pulling them out a few seasons or years later. I just love them.
Well - last week, I stumbled into a Japanese bookstore that had a whole crafter's section. Wow. Talk about a whole new realm. I'm not super into the polished/perfect/plastic side of the Japanese aesthetic - but there is another school of Japanese design called Wabi Sabi that I studied a little in my Milliken days - one that loves vintage, the hand of the designer, and appreciates wear on designed items. This is probably what is feeding the sweet books that I picked up at this store. It took a while, but I settled on three. (None of which I can read the titles). They are simply delicious. Fresh, pale, clean, sweet - with an affinity for American craft, but with a definite Japanese hand.
I'm in love.