Here are two brand-new books that I look forward to reading this weekend! I've just added them to the shop. (click on the covers to get directly to their pages.) Hey, fresh ACAD VC and illustration grads: these two books have got you covered.

When I see a great forthcoming book in the publisher catalogues, I usually preorder it, often months in advance. That way, I get copies for my shop often before the big guys! This is hot off the press: Apartment Therapy's new book profiling 50 interiors by real (ie not professional interior designers) people. Lots of inspiration! It's in the shop now and we're selling it the US cover price of $27.50.

One of my favourite bloggers, Victoria of SFgirlbybay, is featured. Check out her pages here. 

Lotta Jansdotter is here! Well, her new book anyway.

With beautiful photographs by Lotta's childhood friend, Jenny Hallengren (you can see many of the book's photos on her site), Lotta Prints is an guide on how to print with "anything from potatoes to linoleum". Rubber stamping, iron-on transfer, leaves, stencils, and Lotta's forte: silkscreening, are all covered. Lotta's writing is conversational and to the point. The projects are easy in process, but it is her ability to create elegant organic lines and simple shapes that truly inspires. The book includes a number of tear-away stencils so that you can reproduce her patterns and there's a handy back pocket to keep the used stencils and even perhaps your rough drawings or printed experiments.

Click here to purchase the book in the UPPERCASE shop ($19.95 - we're selling it at the US cover price). We've also restocked her sticky labels, Seedlings journal, Simple Sewing book and other goodies. All this can be found in the Lotta Jansdotter category on the site.

p.s. We're having a spring sale on the website – just enter the code "spring" on checkout to save $10 on purchases over $30. Valid until the Tuesday after Easter.

This is a project I have designed for many years. It is a wonderful nonprofit, independent publication full of great visuals and interesting text. Issue 16 (the best one yet!) has cover art by Marc Johns and illustrations/art by as Katie Radke, Byron Eggenschwiler, Gordon Wiebe, Stefan Thompson and James Mejia plus photographs from 3191: a year of mornings by Stephanie Congdon Barnes and Maria (Mav) Vettese. There are articles on film, music, coffee, libraries, books and all things small. The article on “The Small Art Revolution” covers artists and projects such as Thumbtack Press, The Small Object, Little Otsu, Etsy and many more. You can see more images from the magazine here and purchase or subscribe to Beyond here.

This book covers absolutely everything you need to know if you've ever toyed with the idea of turning a profit with your creative pursuits. Craft Inc. guides you step-by-step through the very basics of tapping into your creative interests, coming up with a name for yourself, pricing your wares, sourcing the materials you'll need, eventually leading you to the point where you could be booming with business and getting up for work every day to do something you genuinely enjoy.

Also, interviews with artists-made-business owners like Lotta Jansdotter, Jill Bliss and Jonathan Adler  provide practical insight and inspiration.

I couldn't put this book down because like most creative individuals, the idea of making money from what I do for fun seems like a total dream, and after reading Craft Inc. I have a pretty good idea of how to get started.

Written by designer/illustrator/business owner Meg Mateo Ilasco. 

Here are some places I'd like to visit: mmmg (millimetre milligram) stores, cafes and workspaces in Korea. These images are from the press section of their website. But you don't have to travel to Korea just yet — mmmg products are available in the store! Especially useful are their dayplanners with the whimical yet practical "Draw your tomorrow", the pocket-size metallic "Past Present Future" or journal-size "Past Present Future" in silver. These dayplanners are not year-specific, so you can start them any time that you like. Katie has done some clever and complementary customization by filling in the 2008 dates with inexpensive rubber stamps.

My UPPERCASE line of Christmas wrap, cards and tags are now available in the store and online!

Our UPPERCASE initial book bags have been quite popular. They're fun to make with iron-on transfer paper that can be run through an inkjet. You can select your made-to-order initials via the online shop or by emailing us. These would make a nice eco-friendly way of wrapping presents! If you need your bag shipped to the USA, please order before November 26 to ensure delivery before Christmas.

Thanks to Julie and Kathryn over at Perfectbound for placing an order and mentioning the bags in their new (very pretty) blog. 

Rex Ray is a San Francisco artist and designer who makes beautiful paper collages. The images above are from his website, except for the second from the top which is a shot of his newly-published book.

The process used in these works began by cutting up magazines for my own pleasure. (see paper collages). It's as simple as scissors, paper, and glue. As these works became more popular I began drawing, painting, and block printing various archival papers for source material.These papers are then cut up, collaged and assembled on plywood panels. The panels are then coated with a high gloss epoxy resin.

The new monograph on his work is really inspirational – it makes me want to start cutting and pasting all the eclecto scraps that I have. The book and a Rex Ray notebook are available in our store. You can enter to win an original artwork on the publisher's website and visit his work at Gallery 16 in San Francisco.

Kyuuto = Cute! These brand-new books aren't even available for sale on the publisher's website, but we've got 'em!

Savvy crafters know that today’s hippest designs hail from Japan. But it’s near to impossible to find translated patterns. Not anymore! The Kyuuto line of books translate everything into easy instructions. This book enjoyed huge success on its home shores. The pages burst with quirky color photographs, step-by-step directions, and helpful technical illustrations. At last, the appeal of authentic Japanese content with the ease of English instruction.

Available here and here for just $16.95 apiece.

Also back in stock is Meg Mateo Ilasco's Craft Inc at a new lower price. I've read this one cover to cover and it is full of invaluable information and inspiration.