Vienna Notebook

I’m starting to fall in love with the Vienna Lomo Notebook by Lomography. Could it give my Moleskine a run for it’s money? Not sure yet but it looks pretty damn cool. It costs $16.50 (USD) and you can purchase a bundle that includes the Vienna Notebook and the Vienna City Guide for just $33. 0

The Rookery

Who ever is behind The Rookery … YOU ARE AWESOME! (And yes, I can use all caps there.) The Rookery is a binding and letterpress studio in Salt Lake City, Utah. From stitching and screenprinting, to bookmaking and letterpress – I want to live in their Flickr page! The above listing is what attracted me to The Rookery on Etsy, thanks to the listing popping up on the front page of the site. But after some digging, I found their website and lovely Flickr photostream filled with goodies. See the awesomeness below. 0

Spencerian

If you are a follower of my Twitter page, you probably already know that I found a copy of the Spencerian Key to Practical Penmanship printed in 1867 in a local antique shop. I am 39 pages into the book and some of the writing is certainly hard to read – I’m so used to modern-style writing. But the most wonderful part of the book was not what was written on the pages, but samples of someone’s practice left in the book. I found a few scraps with script and wanted to share them here. Not the best photos thanks to the lighting in my office, but I’m working on a remedy for that! And…

Herobear

Today at the library, my son and I were looking around for some new books to take home. He’s into Bionicle’s and Bakugan’s but I found something even more interesting on our search. I discovered the work of Mike Kunkel. I saw a book called Herobear and The Kid which looks super cute and the drawings are amazing! He has many other series and characters that I must share! 0

Books

Almost every year mom asks what I want for Christmas, and I always tell her “Books from my wishlist on Amazon.com“. These are the books she chose to get me this year. Thanks Mom! Embroidered Effects by Jenny Hart The Guerilla Art Kit by Keri Smith home, paper, scissors by Patricia Zapata Interaction of Color by Josef Albers 0

Wizard of Oz Notebook

Wow. This Wizard of Oz notebook immediately caught my eye on the NothingElegant shop over on Etsy. The book is a vintage-style sketchbook with blank pages and is available in four colors. 0

Grit City Inc.

I just magically stumbled upon Grit City Inc., an independent publisher releasing books that they would buy. Based in Philadelphia here’s a great quote from their site – “Our books are a tangible, beautiful expression of people and their stories. GritCityInc. is all about community love – must be our Philly roots coming through.” I’m really interested in the soon-to-be-released Tatted. Cited as revealing the emotion associated with the permanent art of the tattoo. The book has 160 pages filled with essays, interviews and photographs by Marianne Bernstein. I like this Tattoo Script T available to purchase on their site too! 0

Lettering and Type

“Lettering & Type is a smart-but-not-dense guide to creating and bending letters to one’s will. More than just another pretty survey, it is a powerful how-to book full of relevant theory, history, explanatory diagrams, and exercises. While other type design books often get hung up on the technical and technological issues of type design and lettering, Lettering & Type features the context and creativity that shape letters and make them interesting.” I just found this book thanks to @houseindustries on Twitter. Twitter is great for these little kernels of design treasures, as long as you follow the right people. 0

Creative Spaces

This book just caught my eye over at Laurence King Publishing, Ltd. and is officially on my wish list. Am I the only nerd who bookmarks publishers and browses them for good books? Creative Space: Urban Homes of Artists and Innovators is a book about the creative folks who are generally DIY who’s interiors strongly reflect pop culture. Written by Francesca Gavin, Visual Arts Editor at ‘Dazed & Confused’ magazine. 0

Placemats

My son loves, let me reemphasize, LOVES to draw on placemats. It’s extremely disappointing when we go to a restaurant and he has nothing to draw on. Lately I’ve been buying him sketchbook and notebooks but he goes through them so quickly! But when I received my new Paper Source catalog, a light went off when I saw this new product, Doodles for Dinner AND Doodles for Lunch from illustrator Deborah Zemke. Bound like an art pad, this book includes a series of placements with step by step doodles. I can’t wait to get this one! And while we eat more at home than out – although we love going to the diner for breakfast…