Lost Art

Robert Sabuda's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

I know it's been years since I've updated, but what the hey, I'm back! Heeee.

Even if this blog has been ignored for the longest time, I gotta say that every time I see exquisite, interesting and provocative handmade things, I tend to make mental notes of them, and given the opportunity,  take photos to accompany the (imagined) blogpost.  So, I think it's time to unload those mental notes, get my ass in gear and start posting!

First things first - my brother-in-law recently gave me a wonderful gift, Robert Sabuda's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland pop-up book.  Unopened, it looks like any other children's popup book, but when you open it, it's breathtaking.

photo from Amazon.com

There are huge popup pages representing significant scenes from the novel.  The text is thoughtfully printed at the side of each page, with mini surprises containing little delights that accompany the text.   

I was especially astounded by the page where Mr. Sabuda represented Alice being chased by the Queen of Hearts' army. The page crackled and popped when I opened it - I was afraid I would tear it apart - so verrry carefully, I completely opened the page. A jagged rainbow of playing cards unfolded and Alice, with a look of anger and terror, appears beneath the Queen of Hearts' pack of playing cards.  Needless to say, I was breathless when this paper engineering wonder greeted my eyes.

I have to admit that I haven't finished reading the book.  Yes, I have seen all the main pop-up pages, but I have yet to explore the little treasures on the side of each page.  Somehow, I get so overwhelmed by the beauty and genius of how the big pieces were engineered that I need time to absorb everything and quiet my overly stimulated senses.  

Someday, I'll be able to finish this jewel of a book.

Books

I came across this article about arranging bookshelves. This got me thinking on how I arrange my own books so I trooped over to the reading area and this is what I saw:

Old magazines I find interesting together with Terry, Harry, Sir David, A.S. and a snapshot from a friend's wedding...

my precious Make and Craft zines, my precious Bob Ross, Bill, Haunted (best gross-out book EVER), old organizer notebooks, button making machine, excavation toy...

Relic from a Spanish class I took, boy books, girl books, etc...


Lovely rocking zebra, colorful cocoa tin I got in a Bangkok grocery, Jules Verne and other mindprickling books...

children's books, a Wedgwood, polaroid from a friend's wedding...


my favorite Gocco print, art and science, a college class picture...

hardbound and heavier books, a wooden box from Thailand...

my Neil Gaiman shrine smooshed with project notebooks and journals -- sorry, Neil; and the box of a murano glass pen I dropped (sob)...

graphic novels, wedding candles and soon to be posted posters...

craft receptacles...

Egypt books and other what have yous...

my good friend, Sherlock and other interesting friends.

Hmm. I'm trying to be more organized, but I love how haphazard my bookshelf arrangement is; with the first couple of shelves arranged by genre and slowly getting unhinged as you go down. How about you, how do you arrange your books?

*Poladroid is love

Crafting Away

High school for me was a a total blur -- I don't even know how I survived since what I remember the most is looking out the wooden jalousie windows into the rolling hills beside my school building and daydreaming. Until Home Ec time. Every year, Home Ec has a certain theme or craft that we have to study. I hated most sewing topics and I would even fake an illness to go to the clinic just to avoid cross-stitching for 40 minutes. My mom, a talented all-around homemaker, would do all the cross-stitching and dressmaking for me. But what I totally loved about Home Ec were crocheting and knitting. I used to sit at home and crochet useless stuff like doilies and coasters which we didn't use. My knitting project was a 2-color zippered pouch bag with heart designs and I totally loved making it. I knitted sporadically after college, making projects like my brother's hockey leg warmers that I never finished. I've had big and small crochet hooks; metal and wooden knitting needles; skeins of multi-colored yarns and threads but I never really did get around to making a major project.

Early this year, my office allowed me to work at home and this presented a great opportunity for me to take up hobbies again. As always, I gravitated to crocheting and knitting. Unfortunately, years of working in an office do nothing to hone your crafty skills so I had to look for a way to re-learn how to cast-on, do cute stitches and even to properly hold a hook or a pair of needles. A great book found its way to my hands (thanks to Booksale, my favorite 2nd-hand bookstore} and it's the Reader's Digest Complete Guide To Needlework. Surprisingly, I have learned to appreciate sewing thanks to this book, but I still do hate cross-stitching. Needless to say that this book single-handedly sparked my own internal crafts revolution and is fueled by all the wonderful art and craft projects I see on the web.