books I read + books I make

2011-01-31T20:44:00.001-08:00

here

and here

are more likely places to find me!

2010-05-19T19:14:00.001-07:00

Bjork at Marina Abramovic’s “The Artist is Present” on Day 58.

2010-04-30T10:01:00.000-07:00

eyjafjallajökull

(images via)

or, why am I not in Iceland right now?

2010-04-30T09:53:00.000-07:00

favourite new tumblr = dreamcats, by dreamy anabela (of fieldguided)

(photo by singal)

xo
amy

2010-04-07T19:33:00.000-07:00

(city of reubens; christy langer)

new Top Picks over at Toronto Craft Alert. I contributed 10 picks to this list of 30 must-see artists, crafters, blogs, and more! enjoy!

xo
amy

2010-03-08T16:42:00.000-08:00

I'm totally late on this, but I'm really in love with Katy Horan's new work right now. I saw it a few months ago, but lately all I've been thinking about are these mysterious lace illustrations & especially that little cloaked, legged creature. Oh!

(ps happy international women's day!)

xo
amy

2010-03-07T18:24:00.000-08:00

between periods of intense busyness, I've been looking at pictures of galaxy clusters:

(smithsonian institution : chandra xray observatory photos)

xo
amy

2010-01-27T21:27:00.000-08:00

View Larger Map

I've been looking at maps, planning some trips. this image is absolute perfection.

xo
amy

2010-01-26T07:07:00.001-08:00

dearest readers,

I was just nominated for Favourite Handmade Papergoods over at Poppytalk.

Please vote for me!

xo amy

2010-01-21T20:42:00.000-08:00

I was just introduced to Alice Aycock, who makes architectural sculptures--lots of sod houses & underground-dwellings. Love.

2010-01-14T22:35:00.001-08:00

I don't think I've ever mentioned that I contribute a bi-weekly column called Intern Top Picks to the amazing TCA. me & two other (wonderful) interns pull together some of the most amazing craft-design-art that we find & link it up for you!

(this picture is from the latest top picks via come darkness)

xo
amy

2010-01-14T22:11:00.000-08:00

(iceland series by caroline devries : displacement series by darren rigo)

I just found these two really amazing photographers tonight. plus, darren rigo is from toronto - I only realized after I'd looked at his displacement series forever & ever. it's so exciting to discover huge talent and then find that we live in the same city.

xo amy

2010-01-10T20:38:00.000-08:00

(septembear just posted a picture of icy niagara falls. so perfect.)

2010-01-04T12:15:00.000-08:00

Cosmic Latte is the creative collab between Caitlyn Murphy & Rosalyn Faustino, and it is perfection. Gold-screened totes & shirts; Roz's textile necklaces; Caitlyn's drawings & notebooks. I love the linen/dove-grey/gold colour combos going on. Whoa.

2009-12-31T14:49:00.000-08:00

2009 = spectacled bear, iceland, rachel maddow (perfect picture of her critical-thinking-face).

2010 = tiny animal blog, ecuador, rachel maddow (she is 2009-2090).

xoxo
amy

2009-12-11T17:04:00.000-08:00

this is happening!!! this weekend!! it is very important that you check it out.

ps there will be amazing swag bags for the first 100 people. it would be a pretty good idea to be one of those hundred. (pps some bags include Skibber-bee-bye, one of the best books ever ever. and you could get it for free!! wow.)

xo
amy

2009-12-04T22:06:00.000-08:00

oh wow, so busy! I'll be posting some new book-pictures soon, until then...

(via blogs that I forget, sorry)

xo
amy

2009-11-27T15:22:00.000-08:00

I'm going to have some art in this Tara Bursey-curated group show, you should come out & see! I didn't make a mobile, but I made two nice things in wooden frames instead.

details here.

xo
amy

2009-11-15T10:44:00.000-08:00

pictures via septembear

Currently working on some things for a group show that will be at the Theatre Centre for two weeks before/during City of Craft. Hopefully an Iceland theme, still trying to draw & make. I think something like several very-small mobiles? I will keep you updated!

xo
amy

2009-11-01T19:08:00.000-08:00

yesterday Shannon taught me some letterpress basics, and I made the cover for my new zine:
(which I finished at 3am last night, and had for sale in the City of Craft room at Canzine today).

We used wooden type and it was the most fun possible. Ever.

xo
amy

2009-10-27T10:21:00.000-07:00

I'm finishing up a zine right now for this.

These pictures almost sum up what I want the zine to be.

xo
amy

2009-09-24T19:39:00.000-07:00

Just turned 26 & I'm feeling really good about it. Went on a small adventure & took birthday pictures, here:

(no, I'm not making books right now. instead I'm at school & learning about working with abused women & feminist counselling. I will start on books again soon - have some exciting ideas!!)

2009-09-16T17:10:00.000-07:00

lack of posting again, but this time it's because I've been working at the new city of craft poster - look, proof:
+ school is already intense, and I am working on zine-things, and collage-things. oh!

also I have this thing right now where I will try every (non-meat) 3/$1 bun in east chinatown and that is taking lots of spare time. ps have I mentioned that east chinatown is my new favourite place in the world? tis.

xo
amy

2009-09-04T12:23:00.000-07:00

I've been so absent, but it's because I just finished moving into my beautiful new house on the east side (degrassi st, for real!). I thought I would miss my old neighbourhood (bloordale) so much, but I am totally in love with my new hood.

Also, my new house is huge and wonderful, and I have a bookbinding studio for the first time ever. So excited.

(put my art wall up last night: caroline gaedechens, chris simonen, lizzy stewart, my uncle, hanna konola, iceland, katie dutton, shannon gerard + growing)

xo
amy

2009-08-20T18:17:00.000-07:00

two overly amazing videos by toronto-based musicians and artists.

(I've been all-videos lately)

2009-08-15T14:52:00.000-07:00

okay, I am almost-almost finished a Coptic binding tutorial I've been editing for ever. here is an extra-beautiful video in the meantime. look for the tutorial to be posted by the end of the weekend!

(thanks to jessica)

2009-08-10T20:17:00.000-07:00

so busy! I am moving house at the end of the month (to my first alone-apartment, in the east end, very incredible) then immediately starting school (so things will just get more + more busy). but in the meantime, I have a couple great shows coming up!

telephone city! at the ford plant in Brantford.

next day: Kids Trunk Show, August 23rd, at the workroom (queen + brock, Toronto)

also: some new older-design books will be in the shop this week! screenprint + kraft.

xo
Amy

2009-07-28T11:21:00.000-07:00

for you:

ps vote for me!

2009-07-23T09:27:00.000-07:00

a few new books in the shop, including an older design (middle image).

ps - is anyone reading Kim Echlin's new book, The Disappeared? It's really good, but too much for me to handle! So tragic. And I just finished The God of Small Things right before, so I think I may need something at least slightly uplifting after this. Recommendations?

xo
Amy

2009-07-18T11:52:00.000-07:00

hi summertime

2009-07-17T13:23:00.000-07:00

new linen books in the shop-

+ lots more coming! I'm finally back to work.

xo
Amy

2009-07-13T14:23:00.000-07:00

hi all,

Two quick things:

One, I will actually start updating with new books this week. I got some new bookcloth and new ideas, now just have to make myself get down to work.

Two, to everyone who I promised a Coptic binding tutorial by Monday: Sorry! I'm not able to do the editing on my own + have to get some help, so it won't be done as quick as I'd hoped! But it will be posted soon, for real.

And here is a picture of everyone crafting at the TCA party in the park (Trinity-Bellwoods, Toronto) last Sunday! Perfect day.

xoxo
Amy

2009-06-27T20:05:00.001-07:00

I'm home! A few last pictures,

and a quick story of my trip:

After farming for a few weeks, I hitchhiked the entire island with a wonderful Montrealer, getting picked up along the way by an Icelandic film star and a man who cooked me supper at his turf-roofed farm. Ferried to Heimaey, camped and hitched to a small town to hike a couple days in the hot spring mountains (bathed in 40 degree river after 5 hour hike!) then spent some time with friends in Reykjavik before hitching again to the tiniest, most isolated camping spot in the south. Then hitched back to Reykjavik just in time for my plane ride. Sad goodbyes.

now: If you're in the Toronto area, I'll be teaching a Coptic bookbinding workshop at Wise Daughters on July 8th! It will be really wonderful, and it's in one of my favourite neighbourhoods in Toronto - the Junction. All info here.

xo
Amy

2009-05-31T08:42:00.000-07:00

special post: all types of moss!! so obsessed with moss now, going on moss exploration walks.

Amy

2009-05-28T15:31:00.001-07:00

two extra things:

example of building art in reykjavik - there are lots of paintings on the sides of buildings, and they also have this genius art where they nail individual large sequins (I think??) to buildings and when the wind blows (which is always, always does) it looks as if it's moving. I will make a video of this and try to post it!!

The tiny lamb, Rosa, who is about 1/3 the size of a regular lamb. Stefi, from the first farm, is a wonder with lambs and saved her and warmed her and fed her and now she is so happy (as evidenced in picture below). I woke nightly and fed her and she is the most beautiful lamb I've ever seen.

xo Amy

2009-05-28T15:23:00.000-07:00

first farm; abandoned fishing buildings found during bike trip around reykjavik; my favourite dog Ronja and me exploring the river near the new farm; the farm house (it is there, it is tiny!)

2009-05-23T14:26:00.000-07:00

Currently farming on the south coast next to Hekla, the most recently erupted volcano in Iceland!! Very very beautiful here. Lots of animals and rhubarb. Leaving again tomorrow for Reykjavik - meeting with the woman who runs the Reykjavik Stitch N Bitch to learn about the craft community in the city. Then hitchhiking the rest of the way around the island! Last week hitchhiked to Snaefellsnes, a penisula in the northwest, camping along the way. The campsites here are far too beautiful - beside mountains and glaciers and ocean and craters and you can sleep on thick moss.

Amy

2009-05-14T13:18:00.000-07:00

I´m in Iceland!

I´ve been hiking to waterfalls, geothermal-pooling, will soon hitchhike to the east before going to my sheep farm! The landscape is overwhelming. More pictures soon!

xo
Amy

2009-04-29T16:33:00.000-07:00

and the winner is...

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

Timestamp: 2009-04-29 23:33:24 UTC

Congrats to Anabela!!

xo Amy

2009-04-26T06:58:00.000-07:00

GIVEAWAY!!!
Next week I leave for Iceland, so here is a going-away present for you: this book, plus I'll include some tags and mini-presents. Just leave a comment and I'll choose a winner on Wednesday!!

xo
Amy

2009-04-16T20:05:00.000-07:00

current absolute favourite.

2009-04-05T17:01:00.000-07:00

I just picked up the most amazing book yesterday and its already completely changed my thinking on issues around women's rights and justice. 13 Women: Parables from Prison (ed. Karlene Faith) is seriously the best ever - women's experiences in prison, their lives leading up to incarceration, all written in their own words.

The story of Angelique - who grew up in the 50s and was incarcerated for varying periods of time through the 60s, 70s, and 80s - made me want to make a movie of her life. Honestly, it's just astounding - she's born during an electrical storm with appendages that make her look like the devil (enlarged bones look like horns on her forehead; the skin at the end of her spine is long like a tail) and her father disowns her entire family out of fear; by the time she's 13 she leaves home and is counterfeiting cheques to pay her bills and making friends with older outlaws. She gets married and has two kids before she is 16 and leaves them with their father, steals a motorcycle and drives across America. She commits a massive robbery - of one of those armoured trucks - by dressing up like a man and demanding all the money, then speeding away on her bike. She then squats in a house in northern California, gets married again, starts a pottery business which is a cover for Mexican-border drug-runs, is in and out of prison - and she's not even 21 yet. Seriously. It's intense. By the time she tells her story, she's 37 and has 6 children, 7 exhusbands, and is in jail pretty indefinitely - she never makes it on the outside for more than a few months at a time.

Her story is especially interesting because it is generally the story that a man would tell: running from the law, getting women pregnant then leaving them, committing huge robberies and speeding across America on their stolen motorcycle- having an open, terrifying, lawless life. But Angelique turns that masculine storytelling on its head, and I'm not saying it's good or trying to romanticize it, but it is intriguing and powerful.

The other stories are equally honest, brutal, eye-opening, sometimes hopeful. Please read it!!

Also: I got into school for feminist social work! And now I want to work in a women's prison.

PS: promise I will update with new books soon! Currently working on new designs!!

xo
Amy

2009-03-18T12:41:00.001-07:00

Just thought I'd mention this giveaway over at Design for Mankind!

Amy

2009-03-04T19:21:00.000-08:00

Finally working on new books!
(linen with sewn-woodgrain design in teal and ink)

xo
Amy

PS - I just started this vintage shop with my roommate/favourite person. Take a look!

2009-03-01T20:28:00.001-08:00

(okay, this is not books + books related, but it's so good)
I was just reading an article on trans kids which was really amazing, but this radio show has two kids who speak for themselves, and it's perfect. The best part is when the two girls are discussing how they don't want the whole world to know they're trans because then they'll get people knocking on their door and yelling "Why are you transgender?" and (hilariously) "I like your new haircut!", "What is your favourite jewel?". Really wonderful.

Download the show here - the segment is at about 29:00.

xo
Amy

2009-02-28T22:17:00.000-08:00

a couple new favourite artists,
overly gorgeous prints by Katie M Kulper.
Black Spot Books is an old favourite, but I hadn't seen her amazing illustration-work before.

xo
Amy

2009-02-28T21:57:00.000-08:00

hi all,

I apparently haven't been making books lately, but here are pictures instead:
(credits: somewhat creepy blog; photos from the first antarctic expedition; I think a street-style blog?)

xo
Amy

2009-02-11T12:21:00.001-08:00

tiny animals + books,
here.

Also, my trip to Iceland is in practically two months. Yes, seriously.

xo
Amy

2009-02-10T18:27:00.001-08:00

A (stolen) picture from Love + Rummage,

and my new fave artist, Sarah McNeil (who also took all these pics),she just moved to Toronto from Melbourne and her work is incredible. Do check it out.

xo
Amy

2009-02-02T16:15:00.000-08:00

coming up this sunday,

I'll have new linen books, surprise recession packs, and some nice paper + textile rummage.

Amy

2009-01-19T07:23:00.000-08:00

from Jessica Williams blog.

2009-01-12T23:26:00.000-08:00

{ Flannery O'Connor, old sod house, Ansel Adams photo }

xo
Amy

2009-01-12T22:33:00.001-08:00

A few books,

xo
Amy

2009-01-12T22:23:00.001-08:00

New York was the best ever, ever. I was so overwhelmed by how beautiful it is. Harlem and Brooklyn most especially.
I even saw The Dinner Party (at the Brooklyn Museum, which also had Kara Walker's work, and an amazing video-photography project called The Black List).

xo
Amy

2008-12-30T17:31:00.000-08:00

books I really want from the Kinokuniya Bookstore (which the wonderful grandmaindustries suggested to me) in Manhattan:

This book is gorgeous (and super expensive) - the paper is a thin vellum, so you can see all the images overlapping, and the illustration style is perfect - thin lines with incredible detail.

And then this:

Book By Its Cover featured this book awhile back, but I guess I had to see it in person to realize how incredible Keiko Minami's etchings are.

from Brooklyn,

Amy

2008-12-11T06:51:00.001-08:00

new books,
Only available at City of Craft, this Saturday!

xo
Amy

2008-12-02T16:51:00.000-08:00

Wow, Canadian politics is suddenly very exciting.

The Gov General, who I honestly had kind of forgot about since she was appointed, gets to make pretty much the biggest decisions affecting Canada. Ever.

Here is what I just learned about Michaelle Jean: she has a Masters in Comparative Lit, she volunteered at women's shelters for 8 years while in school, she speaks five languages, and she has worked with and written about the experiences of immigrant women. So, she pretty much sounds like the greatest person ever. Michaelle Jean for PM!

UPDATE: My love of Jean is kind of over. Ugh! Why is Harper being allowed to prorogue?? To non-Canadians: our Gov General has just allowed our terrible current PM to suspend parliament, because he realized that he wasn't actually voted in by the majority of Canadians, and everyone hates him, and the other major political parties decided to stage a coup to oust him from the govt. Luckily, his terrible proroguing won't allow any of that. At least not for a little while...

Here are two pictures:
xo
Amy

2008-11-29T09:01:00.000-08:00

I've been researching different papercutting techniques for the Brick launch (see post below) + look at all the incredible work I've found,
1. This papercutter is from Toronto!
2. Elsita
3. Wow. Text + papercutting.

xo
Amy

2008-11-28T15:48:00.000-08:00

I've been making about 5000 books and yesterday was the fundraiser I've been planning for the last few weeks for a local peace-activist group I work with, Artists Against War (it went quite well), and this coming week is the most exciting event, the launch of Brick 82.

I haven't really mentioned Brick in this blog, but I'm an intern there, and it is the most wonderful literary magazine. Ever.

If you're in the Toronto area, come out and see the gorgeous new issue.

Dec 3rd, Mitzi's Sister (1554 Queen St W), 7:30pm sharp.

xo
Amy

2008-11-21T15:19:00.000-08:00

I made thousands of books the past few days. Here is the one I like most, which includes the end of my inherited birch-cloth. Sad.
Two shows coming up, if you're in the Toronto area:

Sassy: Saturday December 6th at the Victory Cafe (Brunswick + Bloor, upstairs) from 7pm-midnight
City of Craft: Saturday December 13th at the Theatre Centre (1087 Queen West) from noon-8pm.

xo
Amy

2008-11-13T19:28:00.000-08:00

here are two pictures,
(the top illustration is Katherine Guillen, and the bottom is the Hanna Paivikki's sketchbook, which is perfect.)

Okay, most important - I am going to New York for the holidays! Specifically, I am staying in Brooklyn from Dec 24th-Jan 5th, and I need some people to tell me what I should see + do. Besides this + this.

xo
Amy

2008-11-12T07:21:00.000-08:00

New books,available here.

+ yesterday was my talk at OCAD, which was huge fun. We all made miniature coptic books + talked about Etsy.

xo
Amy

2008-11-04T15:55:00.000-08:00

I'm soon heading out to some election parties, and I am so incredibly excited I can hardly stand it. Here are the books I made today:
all available here.

I can't wait for Obama to win tonight, after so many months + months of waiting. This is incredible.

xo
Amy

2008-11-03T18:20:00.000-08:00

Just got back from Pittsburgh. It was absolutely amazing seeing pre-election US, and Pittsburgh was perfect. The excitement of the people supporting Obama was actually palpable in the city - signs everywhere, including huge hand-made banners + hand-drawn portraits + Pittsburgh-specific posters (and in every neighbourhood, even the ones my Pittsburghian friend thought would be McCain-filled) and people talked to us in the streets about how they'd voted early. It was incredible.
We also went to an installation-specific gallery:
(this specific piece is amazing - hundreds of lengths of thread attached to pins + stuck into the wall + floor to create a rainbow effect in the room. next to the piece were two handmade music boxes, which we played over and over)
We also stopped in the woods on the way home (after we realized that we all had that urge, when driving the highway, to explore the bordering woods).

Tomorrow!
xo
Amy

2008-10-29T19:20:00.000-07:00

My friend and fellow bookbinder is moving to Berlin, so yesterday amazing Shannon Gerard + I got to divvy up some Japanese papers, bookcloth + more. This one bookcloth I got looks like birch bark:

and, here, some more books I made last night:

yes, holiday prep!

xo
amy

2008-10-18T08:02:00.000-07:00

I love these jars by Nesting Emily,

and this is what they look like inside.

xo
Amy

2008-10-16T12:10:00.000-07:00

Working,
and pretending I'm not just thinking about how McCain said that "women's health" is used by pro-abortion extremists to further their politics. Possibly the worst thing ever said? By anyone? But I live in Canada, so I'll focus on bookmaking, zine-making, this interview, and trying to not be uspet about another Conservative minority.

xo
Amy

2008-10-14T13:32:00.000-07:00

Really beautiful light-filled icy things. Scandinavia! Soon!

More is happening in my life than just thinking about Iceland. Like: being confused about elections, voting, finishing an interview with this amazing (and beautiful) man. Biking and making collages and putting together a zine of short short stories (for a zine fair in Kitchener-Waterloo). And being like, please, please stop Sarah Palin, you are ruining it for everyone! Please just stop!

xo
Amy

2008-10-09T07:14:00.001-07:00

Favourite things:

Very fall-like. Also: always busy! Right now my roommate and I have two french boys living with us, we are taking them to a book-art show in about 10 min with bikes that don't have proper brakes.

xo
Amy

2008-09-29T15:58:00.001-07:00

I've had this book for ages and just looked through it again recently -

entirely gorgeous book.

xo
Amy

2008-09-29T15:53:00.001-07:00

new books,

but I think something's about to happen and they are all going to change! A lot. I'm not sure yet, but soon.

xo
Amy

2008-09-23T13:03:00.000-07:00

Too long since last update!

I have been so busy with: finishing a huge order (for Indigo!) and having a birthday.

Okay, I must show my birthday presents because they're so amazing:

one: bear-face (by yelrog)

two: another Mike Perry book (hand-drawn type)

Now I'm getting too obsessed with fonts. I'm thinking of a book with hand-embroidered title?

Also, my new roommate and I are making a zine called Short Short Shorts. I once made this zine of short short stories, maybe I'll take some pics of it and post it here - it was an interesting project. Yes, I'll post it! Soon!

And I ended up hiking in Ontario, not Scandinavia. It was almost overly gorgeous - we hiked the cliffs around Rattlesnake Point, and the views were immense and I forgot my camera.

There are a million events coming up:

Word on the Street - stop by Brick magazine and say hi! And Mariko Tamaki is reading, along with many other wonderful writers.

Stitch N Kitsch - if you're in the KW region, come by William and King for a full day of crafts, art, wonder on Saturday October 4th.

KW Zine Fair - again, KW! October 25th is the 2nd annual zine fair! I will probably have zines there, as well as my books. All day at the Starlight!

xo
Amy

2008-09-05T15:37:00.000-07:00

I finally gocco'd myself some business cards!

I'd been drawing them by hand for awhile now and at a recent craft show, a man said they were "artsy but illegible"! So now I will gocco forever.

I'm currently working on the biggest order ever (really, everrr) which I'll explain in more detail later, but it pretty much consists of me making many of this book:

And many more books, forever. So busy!

Also: my birthday's coming up. I'll be 25. I should probably do something wonderful. Vote!!

1) hike in Southern Ontario?
2) ignore?
3) go swimming (cold!)?
4) go to Scandinavia (this is the preferred choice).

Speaking of voting, the Canadian election has just been confirmed for Oct 14th. Dear Canada (and US), please, please vote correctly! The very idea of a Harper/McCain North America makes me want to pack my bags. For Scandinavia.

xo
Amy

2008-08-27T14:28:00.001-07:00

New books!

All available here!

Also, I love Lauren Nassaf. Her drawing-a-day posts are just incredible.

xo
Amy

2008-08-23T12:02:00.000-07:00

One that I love right now (and forever):

Jillian Tamaki, who illustrated Skim, is a drawing genius.

xo
Amy

2008-08-21T15:08:00.000-07:00

Oh no! All I can think about is Iceland!

A new book (Linen Bookcloth with 100+ pages, separated by dividers):

Both sales this past weekend were incredible. Look for my books at the amazing screenprinting studio/handmade goods shop Kid Icarus in the next couple weeks. Also, I'm going to be a visiting artist at OCAD (Ontario College of Art and Design) this fall in the Intro to Bookbinding course (thanks to the wonderful Shannon Gerard), which I am incredibly excited for! I'll be doing a demo on Coptic binding, and talking about bookbinding, which is pretty excellent.

Etsy faves!

This is so ancient-looking/gorgeous:

By Love All Around. And this is a bit late, but I don't think I mentioned how perfect my friend Emily's line of ceramic jars are:

BTW, she also takes some gorgeous pics.

And, please, Iceland!! I've decided on a island-wide hike. With camping.

xo
Amy

2008-08-14T06:19:00.000-07:00

I really love this picture-collage that Karyn (of the workroom) made for a blog post:

Look at the feature here. This Sunday is a double-craft-sale at the workroom and Good Catch, if you're in the area. Make sure to check out both!

xoxo
Amy

2008-08-12T05:19:00.000-07:00

I'm making small sewn-paper collages (which I don't know what I'll do with, exactly) and lots of small books for my two sales this weekend.

Oh, this!:

I'm really loving Nigel Peake's work: architecture, houses, towns. This one, called the Icelandic Sewing Club:

xoxo Amy

2008-08-06T05:10:00.000-07:00

Another friend returned from being far away. For over a year, studying in Amsterdam, then travelling through Spain and living in Belgium and working for an anti-aluminum movement in Iceland. I'm more excited now about Icelandic travelling: I am looking into all the ways I can volunteer in Iceland, somehow get to the eastern side (my returning friend said that she drove with the other workers from the eastern side, where they came by boat from Scotland, and the entire time she was overwhelmed by everything they passed: icebergs, hot springs, geysers, fjords).

More books!

Both are available here!

Show + Sale season seems to be approaching! Two shows in August, one each in October and Novemeber, two in December. And I'm thinking about applying to one for September.

If you're in the area:

August 16th, noon-six, at Heart on Your Sleeve (Kensignton Market, 61A Bellevue Ave)
August 17th, noon-four, at Good Catch (1556 Queen West)

xoxo
Amy

2008-07-31T15:33:00.000-07:00

A couple new books:

And what to do when you only have two days with a dear friend from LA, you ask? You must go to Dance Cave, Kensington Street Park, and Casa Loma! Our strange version of Toronto tourism.

Speaking of tourism, I'm so incredibly interested in tourists. These Hippo buses (half bus, half boat) pass my workplace every half-hour, filled with camera-toting tourists. I've never really lived somewhere before that people from all over the world felt the desire to visit. I love watching what tourists take pictures of: government buildings, the ROM, etc. Wonderful.

PS: New coloured bookcloth journals soon! Plum, chartreuse, pool blue.

xoxo
Amy

2008-07-26T15:00:00.000-07:00

I am overly excited. I've started planning a trip to Nova Scotia, (hopefully) Newfoundland, and Iceland (where I've been wanting to travel to for, um, 10 years?).

I've been excitedly/obsessively looking through WWOOFing farms near Halifax and in Iceland (for anyone who doesn't know about WWOOFing, it's "World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms", which lets you help out with the daily operations of an organic farm in exchange for a place to stay/food to eat - I've done it before in Portugal, Spain, France, etc and it is extremely wonderful - especially if you're travelling alone (you meet people with similar interests, form a community) and if you want to get into the countryside (which is almost impossible if you're travelling alone and don't have a car or other means to get around...) - and it's my preferred way of travelling).

I've already found an amazing number of farms around Nova Scotia, less in Iceland (3 for the entire country). Interestingly - WWOOFing farm listings are usually very to-the-point and blunt, but Canadian listings seem to be incredibly cheerful and thankful. Canadians are so polite. Lots of them end with "You are very welcome!" and "Happy WWOOFing!" and say "thank you" about 15 times.

The one reason for going to Nova Scotia, and specifically Halifax, is to decide if I want to live there, which has been my future-plan thus far. I haven't been in years and years.

Now: beautiful things I've found on Etsy lately!

(I love Essimar, too too much).

(Scandinavian design, please be mine! Hanna Konola.)

xoxo
Amy

2008-07-23T07:53:00.000-07:00

1. I am pretty much only reading Jane Jacobs. Maybe for the rest of my life? And, ps, finally read Skim (incredible story, gorgeous illustration, but you already know that).

2. I went to the Royal Botanical Gardens on Monday - completely different than I had imagined it. It is made up of five mini-gardens, connected by the bumpiest shuttle bus. Ever.

3. Look at my new book:

xoxo
Amy

everything I made today.

2008-07-15T13:25:00.001-07:00

everything I made today., originally uploaded by Nightjar Books.

2008-07-09T05:44:00.000-07:00

Now: books I read!

I just spent the last two months reading only Zadie Smith. I couldn't not read Zadie Smith. Or at least Zadie-Smith-edited collections. On Beauty is one of the best books I've ever read - and I normally steer clear of comedy-of-manners type books, but somehow Zadie Smith makes this genre pretty perfect. I just finished the last paragrah of The Autograph Man and was like, wait, can't she just make more books? Is she making more books soon? Do I have to buy every issue of the Believer and hope that she has an article in it? So now I'm reading Pasha Malla's (kind of ridiculously titled) The Withdrawal Method, because I live in Toronto and I'm pretty sure that's what I'm supposed to read. I got confused by mid-first-story. (edit: it's really really good once you get past first-story-confusion!!)

Now: New loves!!!

Shannon Gerard, she kind of lives the life I hope to live. She teaches the Nano Publishing course at OCAD, and makes the most incredibly gorgeous books. I've known about her for awhile but have just realized the extent to which she is amazing.

Yesterday I visited the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition (for about 10 hours) with my favourite gallery-hero/ceramicist ever. And there were some overly-good artists. Proof:

Marney McDiarmid's obscenely gorgeous ceramic-ness. And I bought a beautiful silkscreened print from beautiful Amber Albrecht:

Too much perfection! Also, they were serving roasted yams and lemonade, which is pretty much the best combination everrrr.

xo Amy.

concrete craftification!

2008-07-04T06:37:00.001-07:00

On July 1st, the bf and I bused to Mississauga for Concrete Craftification (put on by the wonderful Leah Buckareff of Church of Craft), which was mostly tiny children sewing pennants to hang, and learning to knit.

Walking around afterwards, Ben noticed a bunch of kids gathered around what we thought was a ice-cream cart or something, and when we got closer it was just snakes!! Just a big trailer full of snakes! Due to Ben's incredibly huge fear of snakes, this was kind of like a nightmare. But then we spent the rest of our time staring at the snakes - one of which was a python (Ben's most scared-of-snake) and there was one of those tree-falling-snakes (you know, they're super poisonous and fall out of trees and kill you while you're walking through forests? yah, those are my most scared-of snakes).

So much chalk-art! I'm pretty sure this is Mississauga Town Square, framed by hopscotch.

Also, this.

xo
Amy

2008-06-23T08:49:00.000-07:00

Bloor Street - from Christie Pits to Lansdowne - was closed down last Saturday for a huge, amazing, arts-and-community-focused festival, which was much fun. I'm at just east of Lansdowne, and walked to Christie, looking through tables of local arts magazines (cmagazine, fuse), Toronto Free Library, tons of artisans/crafters, and Toronto Craft Alert! I did a small bookbinding workshop with the TCA and had some amazing hummus and falafel from Cleopatra restaurant.

PS Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition is July 11-13, and I looked through EVERY artist in their catalogue yesterday, and am so so excited. I'm mostly excited for the fibre art - Lee Meszaros! And Arounna Khunnoraj. Oh!

PPS this!

Amy

2008-06-21T05:56:00.000-07:00

It's official: I will actually update this blog consistently, from now on!

I've been making books, writing some articles and interviews (for Toronto Craft Alert, the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition, and Mondo Magazine), which I'll post here as well. Today I'm teaching a bookbinding workshop (long-stitch!) at a Bloor-Street festival in Toronto (with Toronto Craft Alert)! I'll post some pictures afterwards!!

Books I'm working at:

I just started working with colours again! Fuschia, Maya-blue, and Avocado-green linen-textured covers!

Books with tabs! Cahiers, notebooks! I'm also starting to work on a case-bound-Coptic book (this means: closed spine, but still opens flat/is stitched in Coptic style!). And more bookcloth! I also have a sewn-diamond-pattern idea...

Soon - article posts! Sooner - more pictures!

xo
Amy

2008-04-27T07:35:00.001-07:00

I seem to have gotten a full-time job, which is making the bookmaking (and everything else) quite difficult! Oh, money. But I'm still making books like this:

And I'm actually purchasing a gocco tomorrow, instead of continuously borrowing from my dear friend, so there is the chance I will have more designs! I've been working on designs when not working at work, and I'm excited to actually start on them this week. Dearest internet, what if all I want are fake-fantasy-map-designs?

Here is the best news: one cat moves in with me tomorrow! His name is Munji and he is Bosnian. Then another cat - a kitttten! - moves in with me in 5 weeks (once she's said goodbye to her mother, since she was just born LAST WEEK! Because she is a tiny, mini-kitten).

Okay: all I want to do is lake-camp, and go spelunking, and swimming! I wonder if I could make my life into one where instead of working full-time I can just swim? Swim in caves? Climb mountains, but only smallish mountains?

And: I'm planning a trip (farming in Wales!) which is based solely on my need to go here:

Julian of Norwich! Forever!

2008-03-31T12:25:00.000-07:00

Etsy!
Two incredible pieces from Lizzy Stewart (also here). I'm pretty much taken by anything ship or architecture related, especially done with thin lines and perfect colours and general amazingness. So, these kind of own me.

Love! Amy

2008-03-18T08:15:00.000-07:00

I'm doing some research for an article on craftivism, and I'm getting all these articles about craft and feminism that just aren't quite getting at what I hope and think craftivism is. Mostly: it's bigger than just a small-scale resurgance of craft, it's really big, it's important. I mean, it's huge. It's about:

-reclamation of women's work, questioning of art vs. craft, of women's roles in the art world, etc;
-actually hand-making goods in a society moving further and further away from knowing where our entire lives - our clothes, our household goods, our food, everything - actually come from;
- most importantly, I think, it's about the fact that we live in a world that isn't operating properly: goods are underpriced to the point that we hardly pay for the materials to make them - what about the person sewing the jeans, what about the overhead costs of the factory, the shipping costs, everything? What about the fact that our minimum wage (in Canada, worse in the US) doesn't support a family, is below the poverty line? If we can't afford to actually buy things - I mean in a real way, paying an amount that reflects the work of making it, that allows for a fair, honest wage to the person making it - then there is something incredibly wrong with our economic system.
-if you forget who makes your clothing, your household goods, your life, then you are forgetting about the people involved in the process of making, the people who are being paid miserable, unlivable wages, working in poor, unhealthy environments. And we are forgetting ourselves - we are underpaying and shortchanging ourselves, and we become uninvolved in our own lives.

What I am saying is: when we don't make enough money to actually buy goods - I mean realistically priced and fairly made goods - then our society no longer works. When we challenge the production of goods - by making things by hand and saying that they are worth the cost of production, that they have intrinsic worth - then we are challenging the way that our society has grown to forget about the process and about the importance of people in the production of our lives. If we don't value handmade then we allow people to be treated inhumanely, we allow our wages to reflect a culture that is harmful, and we forget how to make the world work.

I think when handmade first became popular, and has now grown even more popular than ever, I was nervous that it was a passing trend, and that I was starting a business that wouldn't survive once the trendiness of craft and handmade passed. But I think people are starting to realize, even if only subconsciously for the time being, that there is something wrong with the way we forget the people who make our goods, and the way that we undervalue our own work because of it, and that our current system doesn't work. So what I'm calling for is a return to a time where people made things, realized how difficult it is to make things, and that goods shouldn't be so cheap, so disgustingly cheap, and that we need to reflect the true costs of real goods into our wages.

I promise the next post will be about reading, and maybe have some pictures of whales.

Love Amy.

2008-03-09T13:24:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow morning (Monday Feb 10th) begins the Poppytalk Handmade Eco-Market, which I'm excited to be part of. I'm trying to get everything together, work on some new screens and designs, and I'm hopefully introducing a small Spring line this week (hope hope).

Owl Wall update: we received a watercolour/gouache/birch bark owl from an illustrator friend which is almost too beautiful/perfect.

Over-impressed,
Amy.

PS I hope everyone had the best Women's Day. I saw a potentially Wiccan, Montreal-based rapper at the Drake last night, alongside a pretty 100% male lineup. The snow ruined any strictly feminist plans.

2008-03-06T06:59:00.000-08:00

Dog vs. No Dog,

I really want/need a dog. Here are pros and cons of this:

Pros
-Wolf (the dog) would be amazing.
-He would protect me all the time.
-He would lay on the floor while I make books and when I look over he would have his head leaning on his paw and I would say, Walk? And he'd jump up all excited (because we'd understand each other like that).
-He would be huge, because I only want a huge dog, and that would be perfect.
-My life would be 100% better, and it's already really good.

Cons
-I only want a huge dog, as in bigger than most ponies, which may cost a lot.
-Oh, money. Lots of money.
-So, so much money.
-Maybe he'd be upset at me and rip up my paper with his teeth. I don't know, do dogs do that? I feel like my dog would probably do that.
-I only have a small apartment, but I only want a big dog.
-1000000 other reasons, mostly monetary.

I wish I could just have one huge dog!

In other news, I'm making books like this:

And trying to come up with some sort of spring/summer version of them, with linen, or paper, or the love and devotion of a huge dog.

Love Amy.

2008-02-26T21:15:00.000-08:00

I just got featured on Poppytalk! I'm going to be one of their vendors for their March eco-market, which I'm very excited for.

Must sleep, goodnight!
Amy.

2008-02-24T16:29:00.000-08:00

My roommate and I have a project going on called Owl Wall, in which we require friends to bring us handmade/found owl portraits upon entering our house.

The first Owl Wall contestant:

I also made new books from off-white woodgrain paper, handscreened wool, lots of work. They look like this:

or more specifically like this:

And I'm reading a new book by Marilynne Robinson, Gilead, which is wonderful thus far. I'm also reading/rereading/hoping to start immediately:

Talking in the Dark: Stories by Laura Glen Louis,
The Electrical Field by Kerri Sakamoto,
How to Breathe Underwater: Stories by Julie Orringer (this is honestly the best book, at least read the last story - "Stations of the Cross", which is haunting/troubling/perfectly written),
Science and Poetry by Mary Midgley.

The end!
Amy.

2008-02-18T20:16:00.000-08:00

I'm now moved and mostly settled in. Toronto is my new favourite place. Here is a list of what I've accomplished:

subway is now manageable (though streetcar remains terrifying);
Chinatown, Queen West, Kensington, Little Italy, Trinity-Bellwoods have been (semi) explored;
rooms have been painted (all roughly the same colour of green);
I have made more and more books , etc, etc.

Now for current Etsy wants:

I've been saving up to buy this for months. Achiozza.

More Nuit Blanche. Book art!

And!

This entire shop is astounding: Huldra Press.

Also, please note that I have the kind of boyfriend who buys me this,

which is to say I have the greatest boyfriend in the world.

Love Amy.

2008-02-01T07:47:00.000-08:00

New books!

I'm terribly excited that the new books are finally coming together! I'm working on new screens, and thinking about new cover papers... Here are some pictures!

Also, I'm moving tomorrow! I am taking the day off work to start (!) packing. Packing mostly means books and clothes in boxes, and then realizing that's all I really own.

Also: new reading strategy! One non-fiction + one fiction + (on the same general theme/topic) = so much learning, better overall understanding of everything.

Just finished: Bear and Arctic book.
Current: The Convict Lover and Dark Age Ahead.
Soon: Fugitive Pieces and The Map That Changed the World.

Must pack!
Amy

2008-01-21T18:45:00.000-08:00

Dear Internet,

I recently finished this book: Housekeeping, by Marilynne Robinson. It was so wondrous that it became an instant top ten in my life of books. A gorgeously told story of two sisters trying to survive their childhood and the different women who come to watch over them, ending with their transient, unstable aunt, Sylvie. The writing is beautiful but eerie, and the setting is an absolute wonder, cold and isolated and over-small, a perfectly captured small town on a glacial lake. It is an incredibly quiet book, and usually I'm a quick-ish reader, but this book took a month of absolute absorption. So so perfect!

Alright, here is what is being difficult: screenprinting! Why so hard! I have so many books done - kraft paper covers, gorgeous heavy-stock innards, a grey woolen wrap, but without the prints (antique frames, birch trees, silhouettes of women's faces) they are semi-boring! At least to take pictures of. Which means that I still am not posting pictures, and I haven't given pictures to be posted on the site of a sale I'm doing in a couple weeks, Craft Cabaret, run by a couple wonderful friends and to be held at the Starlight in Waterloo. Come and marvel at the artists and crafters!!

Love Amy.

2008-01-12T23:03:00.001-08:00

I'm moving to Toronto, soon. As in very soon, February 1st.

This gives me an excuse to obsess over what's going on in Toronto arts+crafts-wise, such as Hillary Webb's gorgeous art, or these porcelain pinecones by Coe and Waito. Mostly I am just reading every word on Toronto Craft Alert, and looking at City of Craft pictures, and being in love with moving. And even more in love with Soft City! My hope is that I can do more shows, thousands of shows, and make books forever. And maybe volunteer at Descant whilst joining CBBAG.

PS: My Waterloo-based craft collective Stitch n Kitsch okayed my new books tonight - as soon as possible I will post pictures!

Soon!
Amy.

2008-01-09T07:17:00.001-08:00

I am overly happy with Clinton winning hugely despite her "emotional issues" and the anti-feminist media!

Now: new books!

I've been working at the idea of new books for ages now, after overdoing the chiyogami/recycled books, and always focusing on the same two bindings (Coptic, Japanese stab binding). So my new project is: learn every binding ever, use a smaller/more gorgeous colour palette (grey industrial felt, kraft paper, white woodgrain-embossed papers, etc), work hard at screens so that I can print my own paper/fabric, and continue this forever. Also, I'm now all about one-offs, individual books, books as art. I'm starting two excitingly huge book-art projects, which will be posted later (hopefully soonish?). But for now: ideas toward a new aesthetic, books that I'm proud of, books that make art. I'm terribly excited over the possibilities of new books, though nervous about phasing out the old books. I've been anxious over the new books, but my dear most trustworthy friend Anatomy of a Skirt okayed them, and we are also planning to work on a new collaborative project (which will be amazing, and I will post pictures soon!)

Happily,
Amy

2008-01-05T22:11:00.000-08:00

Despite the fact that I'm Canadian, I got completely obsessed with the presidential debates tonight. I get especially obsessed with Hillary Clinton, and using my women's studies degree to read misogynism into everything that is said to her/about her/against her. So, she yells at Obama about how amazing she is, and then everyone says she went out of control? No, she is just amazing. Even though I don't 100% like her, she is pretty incredible to watch.

Now, Canadianism! Here are books that are decidedly non-American, and which I happen to be currently reading:

Enduring Dreams: An Exploration of Arctic Landscape by John Moss.

Okay, I have a thing against poetic-adventuring-men, but I'm also currently really into the Arctic, and this book came in at the used bookstore I work at, and so I'm reading it. And it's good, and frustratingly cryptic. It's a hugely informed literary study of the Arctic, and the idea of "geography as metafiction" is kind of ridiculous, though interesting/innovative.

Bear by Marian Engel.

I finally started reading this book after picking it up years ago and promising myself that I'd read it, and soon. I'm only a 1/3 in, but it is wonderful, and full of perfect descriptions of the Canadian north, of wilderness, and absolutely gorgeous passages about the bear. More details once I'm further in!

And! I'm working on some wonderful bookbinding projects featuring medieval bindings, felt and lace, found papers, accordian books, make-your-own-book-art, etc. All of which I'll post semi-soon!

Dearly,
Amy.