More Japanese book inspiration

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.

Momma's thinking...

"Good thinking, momma!"
If I do say so myself... The kids are starting to get into one of my avorite activities as a little kid, sewing cards with laces. After spending some money about a year ago on some lacing cards, I realized I'd wasted my money... So I have been making my own from postcards and cereal boxes and the kids love them...Today, Z even tried doing them...

All in a day's work

Todays inspiration

I didn't mind traffic that much today, with beachy sleeping kiddos in the back, quiet music playing (my music!) and an ice blended... I liked having time to think...

Packing tape transfers (tutorial)

Today the kids and I did one of my favorite art projects... Transfers... Which is essentially transferring ink from a printed page to plastic.
It sounds complicated, but it is so fun and easy that even Z hung in there long enough to have fun.
This photo is strange, but it shows how we clipped magazine pictures we liked, (princess coupons, Thomas the train ads and for me, a photo essay about a trip to India...)... Anyway, they are super easy... Normally, people like to use acrylic medium to create the transfer,
but waiting for the drying time gets boring with a 2 year old and a 3 year old. So we used an old art school trick... Take clear packing tape (I have tons around here for shipping!) and cover the area that you want to transfer. (glossy magazine pages work best) You can combine layers of tape to get larger area. Rub the tape to the paper, burnishing it for a good bond. ( I sometimes don't rub it, to get a more aged appearance, as demonstrated in this photo).
Submerge the entire tape/magazine page in warm or hot water (we use baking dishes) and let it sit for 1-3 minutes. Then rub the paper side of the transfer until the paper rubs off in flakes. Continue until the tape is left with a clean image.

Transfers are amazing for using in collages and finished art. They layer beautifully for gluing, drawing and even sewing.. This batch is going into my journal and the kids will use theirs for future art projects, but for now, they are working as unsophisticated window clings... The kids are mystified by them and it was a fun, colorful, clean, and tactile activity for all of us... One that left me inspired to pull out my sketchbooks to paint and draw tonight to make places
for these transfers to live...

Appliqué jungle

I took this photo a while ago at anthropologie (of course)... I would
love to wake up in this jungle....

More beanbag doorstops

I love making these... They are the perfect thing to do while watching the Olympics... Except for when I spill dried beans all over the floor because I'm not paying attention... Go USA!

Andy Goldsworthy

So this book is on my list to buy. After perusing through it, I'm thinking this artist is the closest I have seen to those French magazine clippings from a few years ago that I posted about last month. I am blown away by the sensitivity to nature and color and texture that this artist portrays... He will structure a natural type of form in the middle of nature.... Sometimes leave it and photograph it's deterioration... And sometimes take it down immediately... Like a
sandcastle on the shore... Talk about art, for the joy of doing it.... This book is so unbelievably inspirational and that whole idea of art as the journey feeds my soul in ways that all the productivity in the world cannot touch. Hooray for artists. Hooray for art!

Red

Yup. That pretty much sums it up

LA from the east

I have never had this view of LA before, I always drive in from the west or south and if I'm returning from the east it's usually on the 10 - or south on the 110, but this view actually looks like a proper downtown... Like something a lot further east, like a Midwest or east coast city. (I always miss Chicago) I know it seems weird to blog about a different view of a city...Pardon me, for being such a newly converted LA urbanite.... I did grow up in the south suburbs (aka South Bay) and the Westside.... But it just strikes me as so odd to live here for 28 of my 32 years
and to have never seen this view before.... I love the old bridge and lanterns, and I always get a little thrill when I see the art deco and early 20th century aspects of the city which I rarely consider beautiful. Which is one reason why we love our own historic neighborhood...
(and yes, that is a bug on my windshield)