(That title sounds like a mystery novel!)

A week or two ago, the awesome F. of Sister Valentine left me a beautiful tin box at my workspace in the studio. She found it at a thrift store, & said she couldn’t pass it up. It’s possible that I squealed a little, when I saw it:

I just had to take photos to share — isn’t it perfect? Look at those painted ships on the lid! The sides of the tin even come in S&B colours! I can’t wait to fill it with crafty goodies or take it with me to a craft fair. A huge thank you to F. for picking this up for me! <3

The Paper Place in Toronto is one of those shops that is constantly raved about at my school. Though I’m studying Textiles & fabrics, we work with paper very often (it’s a lot cheaper to sample your designs on paper, of course!). Art stores often carry small samples of beautiful Japanese silkscreened paper, but I’ve never seen any collection like that of The Paper Place.

one, two, three, four

This month, the store is holding a fantastic giveaway: 700 sheets of Chiyogami paper. Seven hundred! From the Paper Place:

Three years ago we began our annual tradition of a holiday giveaway with The Great Chiyogami Giveaway.  When trying to decide what to offer this year we thought – what can really top hundreds of sheets of Chiyogami?  Our answer was…. nothing!  So we are proud to announce The 2nd Great Chiyogami Giveaway!!

I’m a bit late as far as Black Friday excitement goes (I’m Canadian, you can’t blame me, haha), but if you’re interested …

Enter the coupon code “FRIDAY2011″ ALL WEEKEND to receive 15% off your order! Happy shopping!

xx

I managed to get my hands on a few copies of Frankie magazine, an Australian publication that is right up my alley. Beautiful fashion shoots, showcases of wonderfully talented craftspeople & makers, & just generally lovely photographs & inspiration. I can’t bear to cut anything out of it for collage, so I’ve been getting colour copies printed. I would probably copy entire magazines if I could.

This afternoon, I was struck by an article in their Nov/Dec 2010 issue featuring a woman named Georgia Smith. She makes intricate, delightfully kitschy dollhouses!

Anyone who’s been reading my blogs for awhile knows that I have a bit of a thing for dollhouses. My grandmother had one of those build-your-own kits, so I’ve seen first-hand the kind of detail that can go into these houses. I can’t believe all the pieces that Georgia has included — check out the writing utensils on the desk! That sewing machine! The birdcage wallpaper inside the closet!

Amazing work!

I’ve very quickly become a Tumblr addict. I can easily scroll through 50 pages in a single sitting. It’s awful, & amazing. All those beautiful images, great opinions, silly fandom jokes, & more — all within the same browser tab. What’s not to like?! So, I thought I would post some recent photos & images that have inspired me through my Tumbling. I’ll post all sources I can find; please comment if you know a source that I haven’t linked to!

I’m sure these posts will become a regular thing, so I hope you liked this one!

xx