Art show benefit tomorrow (Thursday) in Santa Monica

The editorial company Radium/ReelFX in Santa Monica is hosting their second annual A Canvas for a Cause event, benefiting the American Red Cross. They get a whole bunch of people to each do a 12" square painting, and sell them at a very affordable $50. Last year they sold 98% of the art, which is amazing.

My friend Linda who works there asked me to do one. I've been messing around with some sketches based on constellations lately, so I decided to test the idea out a little bit:

Not that it's super-deep or anything, but I just liked the thought of what the Universe might say if it could answer all the people who ask it The Big Question – and how people tend to draw their own conclusions from things that could be interpreted in any way. Anyway, Linda and I had fun painting our canvases together on Saturday, and I'm excited to see what else is hanging at the show. Come by if you can – it's for a great cause! (7pm; 2115 Colorado Ave. 90404; $10 donation admission)

Random acts of craftiness

I joined my brother and neice Monroe at the park today. A woman sitting nearby came up and offered Monroe this necklace she had made from the little white flowers covering the grassy hill we were on. Of course, Monroe felt like a princess as the woman layed it over her head!

Why "Eleventy"?

A couple of people have asked me why I chose to name my blog and Etsy shop "Eleventy." So, in case you're curious (and I apologize for the somewhat self-indulgent post here):

First off, sometimes my brainstorming process happens kind of backwards. I'll get an idea that seems like it's out of nowhere, but I just intuitively feel like it's on the mark. Then, when I go back and analyze it more, I start to build a case for why it's right. This is one of those cases. I only mention all this because it can feel like the explanation is a contrived ex post facto justification. (And it very may well be!) But with that caveat, here's what I've got...

1. I like math and numbers.
2. I love to think about things that don't exist, but seem like they should. If four tens is forty, six tens is sixty, and nine tens is ninety ... why don't we have a number for eleven tens called "eleventy"?
3. When I do think of something that doesn't exist but should, I always have the urge to make it myself. This is where a lot of the handmade design in my shop and on this blog comes from.
4. I have always liked the word "eleventy" when I have heard it here and there. People say "eleventy-billion" when they mean a whole lot, and in The Lord of the Rings, Bilbo Baggins has an "eleventy-first" birthday party.
5. Since eleventy is (or would be) a big number, it makes me feel like there's an endless amount of cool stuff out there for me to make or feature.
6. The word has a whimsical feel.
7. I like the sound of it.
8. Since it's not too craft-related, I'm free to evolve what I do with this blog over time.
9. Also sometimes the really "clever" crafty names I see are kinda cheesy. I tend to like the ones like oatmealandcinnamon, or Hello Lucky!, that just evoke a feeling.
10. I'm not sure why I decided to number this list...
11. But now that I've started, it seems like I should make it go to eleven!

So that's why "Eleventy"! (I think...)

Typography Tuesdays: High Heel Typeface

Ran across this recently on an image search:

Love the illustration style. The image has a URL credit to here.

Artist Matthew Rangel

My husband and I went on a short trip to Sequoia National Park this week, while it was still covered in snow. We stopped for a bite at the Wuksachi Lodge, and the lobby was hosting an exhibition of work by local artist Matthew Rangel. His lithographs combine drawings, and cartography in a beautiful way:

Typography Tuesdays: From Old Books

So this was a fun little site to stumble onto in Google image search – I love it when a gem like this is thrown my way. It's called fromoldbooks.org, and it's just what it sounds like it would be: some guy scans cool-looking stuff from old books, and puts it up on a website. I'm quite glad that that's his passion...it fits very nicely with my passion for finding cool-looking stuff from old books out on the internet without having to get up off the couch and find a bunch of old books to look through! (Actually spending time looking through a stack of dusty old volumes does sound like a nice afternoon, but usually when I need a good image it's not when I would have that kind of time.) Here's some more examples:

(That one's from Alice in Wonderland...very timely with the new movie and everything!)

So let me tell you what a gold mine this is: the guy Liam who runs the site, is very meticulous about indexing each image with keywords and information on what book it comes from, and the entire site is searchable. All the scans are very hi-res. And he just asks that you let him know if you find his images interesting or useful!

Like the first picture in this post, the site has many specimens of typography to explore. Of course there are the wonderful typefaces and ornaments in the old books on any subject, but the site includes a sizeable collection of old books that are about typography and printing.

One other thing I enjoyed: in all his thoroughness, Liam has included the text accompanying most of the images. I found the caption to this image pretty amusing:

"Hark! the sea is crying to me in pain!"

And, I'll leave you on that melodramatic note.

Advertisement for Belgian Natural Gas

Check out this fun spot for natural gas from an agency in Brussels. I wish we did cool ads here like they do in Europe. :-)

(I've tried to embed it above but if it doesn't work for you, you can try this link.)

Agency: TBWA\Brussels
CD: Jan Macken
Creation: Michael Mikiels – Eric Maerschalck
Director: Olivier Babinet

I've said it before, I want the job of whoever makes all the stuff for a film like that...

Thanks, Linda, for the link!

Tamara Shopsin's Five Year Diary

This past Christmas my friend's mom got her a ten year diary. The basic idea is that there is one page for each date, but the page is broken up into ten sections, one for each year in the decade. So, you go through the diary page by page, only writing in the top section. (Incidentally, the limited space makes it less intimidating to keep up with.) At the end of the year you start over again, and write in the next section down, repeating until you've filled it up. The fun of it is that along the way, you're looking back at what you were doing exactly a year ago, two years ago, three years ago, etc. As soon as my friend showed it to me, I suddenly felt like my life was slipping away from me, and I needed to get one for myself right away before I "lost" any more time.

But, as you can see if you follow that link, that ten-year journal is now unavailable, so I had to do some looking around, and I fell upon this five year one that I like way more anyway (from a design perspective anyway).

I found it while browsing my favorite local bookshop Hennessey + Ingalls, which is just a paradise of books and magazines about graphic design and art. The designer of the book is Tamara Shopsin, apparently related to a family in NYC who runs a restaurant with an odd distribution arm for "novelties", including this book and many of Tamara's other designs. (Still not quite sure what that's all about – there appears to be some other entity involved called crazy1eye too. I'll have to investigate next time I'm in New York... Let me know if you've got the scoop on these people!)

I love the illustration on the cover. And I really love the fabric – itty bitty pinstripes. (They kind of remind me of a prison mattress...but not in a bad way?)

One interesting thing about this diary is that you write in the years yourself, so you can start it at any time. There is also a book log in the back where you can record what you've read...I guess so you don't forget?

And, a travelogue with an awesome world map. It actually spills over onto the next spread from the page you see above. The map is credited to "Eric Gaba based on Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion Sky-Ocean World Map." Any design based on Bucky F is good by me!

One last thing about the book that these pictures don't show: the diary's proportions, and the feel of it in your hands, are very charming. It's pretty small and narrow, so it fits nicely in your palm. And, the book board is really thin (but still stiff – it's definitely hardcover). I can't really explain the quality that lends... like it's someone's homemade book project or something. Anyway, check out your local art book store and just hold one. (And, if they don't carry it, ask them to!)

And I think I'll close this post with some of Tamara's other items that I found amusing, in case you don't have time to check out the links up top...

"Count the Triangles" post card set

"The Pining Porcupine" and "The Bawling Berry" note card sets

The Bacon Scarf

Art in the form of a video game: The Unfinished Swan

This is not exactly "handmade design", but it is so stunningly beautiful I had to share. My brother Eben is a video game artist (his company just won Game of the Year! – proud sister moment...) and he sent me a link to this incredible game by independent developer Giant Sparrow.

It's a surprisingly elegant take on the "first person shooter", but instead of walking around some war zone with a semi-automatic, you are exploring an unknown landscape with a paintball gun.

Here's some footage from the game:

The Unfinished Swan - Tech Demo 9/2008 from Ian Dallas on Vimeo.

The all-white world, so monochromatic that it's actually invisible, is only revealed to you as you "paint" it. From what I've seen, the space appears to be deserted, and combined with the eerie ambient soundtrack, the effect is somehow both serene and creepy. Honestly, if this hadn't been presented to me as a video game, I would have referred to it as an "interactive art experience".

Just look at these gorgeous screen shots:

Goosebumps!!

Typography Tuesdays: The Initial Post

NE of my ideas for this blog when I started it over a year ago (hey, I forgot to do an anniversary post!) was to do weekly posts specifically devoted to things typographical. I'm now implementing this practice, beginning this week, with our very first Typography Tuesday. And what better for my "initial" post than to report on a blog all about drop caps? (Drop caps of course being decorative initials, used as the first letter of the first word of a chapter or paragraph, so named because they usually drop below the baseline of the first line of text – as in the example of this paragraph here!)

I am giddy over finding this project by typographer and illustrator Jessica Hische called the Daily Drop Cap. In September she decided that she would illustrate and post a decorative initial every day ("or at least every work day"). That is quite a commitment! From Jessica's site: "The project will continue for approximately twelve alphabets and are available for non-commercial use as drop caps on your personal blog." Wow. I'm so glad I caught onto this when I did! (If I calculate correctly, we're about half-way through the fourth, with seven and a half to go.)

If you have time, also check out her portfolio site – I'm loving her book covers, and she has some great original typefaces on there too.

What the world is up to these days

I've been buried this week in updating my professional web site (not finished yet...I'll post a link again so you can see the "after"!), and playing catch-up on some wedding program orders that I'd fallen behind on because of said web site update.

So this morning I decided to catch up on what the blog world is up to these days. I forgot how much I enjoy sitting with my coffee and Google Reader and just running down my feeds of inspiration. So, I thought I'd share "blog roll" with you guys, and in return, ask you to post your favs in the comments so we can all freshen up our lists.

I'll keep this list short – just the ones that I follow most faithfully, and the ones that I have stumbled upon most recently – so I can write a little bit about each one, and share a pic from this morning of something that inspired me today.

So, here they are, in alphabetical order (because that's how my reader presents them...):

But Does It Float:

This blog is pretty much all pictures (with very strange post titles), and these guys never fail to present you with something you've never seen the likes of before. A lot of it is contemporary art, but often, they manage to dig up something from art history that has a striking relevance to today's aesthetic, which is always a treat. This photograph is by Emmet Gowin, posted here.

Death by Kerning:

I just picked up on this blog recently. I ran across the name in some other blog roll and it just cracked me up, so I had to check it out. I have a feeling it will become part of my regular rotation. This hand-lettering is by Alison Carmichael of oh joy!, posted here.

Design*Sponge:

The stand-by of all stand-bys for any designer, it seems, is Design*Sponge. Grace and her blogging team is so prolific that at times I get overwhelmed... Then, I have to remind myself that it's okay not to ready every post! They cover pretty much all types of design, but if I were to pick I'd say their focus is on domestic interiors. Their before-and-afters and DIY tutorials are particularly easy to love. These numbered stairs from Lois Keenan are from this week's wrap-up post.

Happy Mundane:
I think this might be my favorite blog. The name says it all – Jon has a talent for pulling out the beautiful in the everyday, with just a touch of whimsy. Plus he posts about once a day or two, so there's always a treat but I never feel behind! This masking tape made from old books can be found on Nothing Elegant's Etsy shop, and this post here.

oatmealandcinnamon:
Sarah at oatmealandcinnamon took a break from her blog a little bit ago, and I'm so glad she came back. Her blog focuses on hand-lettering, and I absolutely love every post. Like this one, which shares a fun print from Esther Aarts.

Oh My Golly!:
This is the blog of one of my really good friends Nicole. She's passionate about fashion, and also shares bits of her life. Since she loves reading, cooking, and art, so you can often pick up a good book recommend or a new recipe, in between the beautiful pictures of what's on the runway these days. Like this craziness from Sasha Pivovarova, photographed by Craig McDean, and posted here.

poppytalk:
I may be a little off here, but I sort of think of poppytalk as the Design*Sponge of Canada... Their coverage overlaps some, but there's certainly plenty of different stuff on there to enjoy.

This blog is another one that I sometimes end up with 73 unread articles, and I just have to click the "mark all as read" button, with the niggling feeling I'm missing out on something really good that I'll now never know about... I am glad I tuned in today for this feature on Color Me Katie.

Roe's World:
I feel kinda funny including this one in my list, because it's totally just a family blog that my sister-in-law/BFF keeps up about my little niece Monroe, but it is one of my very favorite reads! And, I like it when I get a little window into the life of a blogger, so, there you have one on me. Plus, this particular post about their latest construction paper crafting is actually very on-topic! (Monroe got a little scissor-happy with the C3P0 so her mom had to make a backpack for Chewbacca to carry his parts in...)

Thrivacious:

My friend Gina just recently started this blog. One of my favorite things about blogging is that everyone has something worth saying, something to bring to the global table. Gina's personal interest is in health of mind and body, and her blog is full of great tips that are relevant to anyone with either of those things... Today's post was on the lighter side of the more informational and practical things she usually shares: a "video break" in celebration of today being Friday!

We Can Cook That:

This blog is a brand new undertaking of my friends Amanda and Romeo, and let me tell you it's got some real potential. The concept is that every week they visit an LA restaurant, and then go home and try to recreate something that they ordered. They take you through the whole process, starting with a mini restaurant review, then an account of their cooking experience, the recipe, and a rating of how they think they did. They've already gotten a write-up in Modern Luxury. The above "theirs/ours" comparison from their post about Bottega Louie. Keep this blog on your radar!

Hope you've found something new on this list that you want to check out. Feel free to share your latest blog discoveries!

I don't remember Art History Survey being so much fun...

Two vids in a row!

Why does it seem like the awesome stuff always gets posted on Vimeo instead of YouTube? I guess that's where all the cool kids and the hipsters hang out or something.

70 Million by Hold Your Horses ! from L'Ogre on Vimeo.

I love how they toy with the 3D/2D space and the textures and everything. It seems like they really took into consideration each artist's point of view and the context of the various "-isms" they represent. Plus they obviously had a blast making this.