My Life As A Magazine: Books

Books

Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts

A huge part of my craft making has been dedicated to the art and love of snail mail. I even wrote and designed a zine about it last year called Happy Mail Days.

Given my love for handmade correspondence, I was thrilled to see the love for snail mail being further spread around the globe with the new book release, Snail Mail by Michelle Mackintosh, published by Hardie Grant.

I'm also very excited to say and extremely honoured to have been included in this amazing publication profiled on the 'Pen Pal' pages and also having some of my mail featured on a few pages throughout the book - talk about a dream come true!

Introducing my new publication - Happy Mail Day zine!!

As you know from my many posts I LOVE mail art and posting snail mail to pen pals and friends across the globe. So it was only natural that I dedicate a whole publication to 'Happy mail days'!

Inside you will find ideas about decorating your mail, creating themed kits, handmade stationery and papercraft Diys and more!

I am thrilled to say that I will be launching my 'Happy Mail Day' zine this Sunday (May 25th) at the MCA zine fair! An event that is part of the Annual Sydney Writers Festival. As a fellow zine maker and reader I have attended the MCA Zine fair event for the past few years. But for the first time this year I decided to apply for a stall and I was so delighted when I was accepted and given a place in this years fair.

So please do come and say hi if you do decide to come and check it out - would love to see and meet you.

Admission to the MCA Zine Fair is free and is open from 11am-4pm.

As well as launching my 'Happy Mail Day' zine I will also be selling my 'Pop Goes your Mail' letter art kits, 'Japan in A Collection' zine, mini hard copies of 'Little Book of Mt Masking tape' and 'My Life in Biscuits' zines.

Off course there will be a few more other paper-themed surprises exclusive to the days event!!

Eeep!I was so excited to find out that French artist Isabelle Boinot is a featured artist in her very own Japanese Paumes book!

Naturally I quickly snapped up a copy. Again this latest book from Japanese publishers Paumes is a visual feast. Isabelle gives us a glimpse into her home studio sharing with us cute ways to organise paper items - souvenirs and mementos, DIY's for picnic Furoshiki's, gift wrapping and more. Wouldn't it be a dream to have your very own Paumes book?

Robin is a beautiful independent crafty Dutch magazine. Each of their issues revolves around a sweet theme - Issue #No.2 is all about picnics! I just love their retro inspired layouts - so fun, bright and sunny!

So excited I could be part of their latest issue with a notebook DIY, Yay! You can pick up Robin Magazine HERE.

Eeeep! I turned 29 on Saturday. On the same day that I get a little older, the Aussies are also celebrating Australia Day! It becomes a long weekend here - score! So it makes it a perfect time to catch up with friends, have a lil chill out time, watch movies, read books and craft. I enjoy baking so I made this vanilla tea cake - with sprinkles off course and crafted a tissue paper tassel garland topper. Hope you are all enjoying your weekend and have a fab week ahead.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year lovelies!

I hope you all have an amazing fun and festive time! A great opportunity to get together with family and have a crafternoon with good friends.

I'm super excited as I will be having a white Christmas this year in New York! My bags are packed, house-sitter, - check! - and I have a huge list of places to visit thanks to my Japanese travel books and some NY friends.

October/November has been exciting months for new book releases. I have been taking it easy this weekend with some couch time reading my latest book buys from some of my fave creatives.

Here are some sneaky snaps of the titles on my coffee table; Supermarket Sarah: Wonder Walls by Sarah Bagner.

I love getting a glimpse of peoples creative studios, rooms and workshops. This week I thought I would share some snaps of my studio shelves filled with books, magazines and a few other nooks.

One of the first things I do when I buy new washi tape is stick some in this washi tape journal - a little collection in a form of a book to inspire crafty projects...and remind me which ones I have. A collage of pattern and colour swatches in the form of pretty tapes - obsessed much? Oh my yes!

Here is a peek of some of its pages.

Hiya!I think it's fair to say I talk about and buy washi tape a lot...I even wrote a zine about it. But what I haven't done - Gasp! Which surprises even me, is that I have not shared with you my (growing) collection of washi tapes! So here it is. I have also included a snaps of some of my mt merch such as; mt wrap, shirts, brochures, packaging and books.

For the past few weeks I have been a busy bee decorating and re-organising my little home studio. I always enjoy giving it a fresh makeover (spring clean) ever so often. One of the things that has been on my 'to-do' list is to make a tissue paper tassel garland!

Here are some snaps of the finished product.

Team ladies are known for their multi-tasking talents (sorry gent readers!So while I have been watching the Olympics I have also been tucking into some new Japanese books. It appears that all the latest releases have a similar theme - Party craft!- and I couldn't be more happier. Let your eyes be entertained by these colourful creations!

Did you all have a fabulous weekend? I headed to Melbourne for a shopping mini break. Can you see a recurring theme in my purchases? Picked up some polka dot tapes, happy socks, stickers, picnic mat and a Baggu bag - such a cute little invention. Finally bought an Emily Green necklace (been wanting one for yonks) and a little notebook for jotting down ideas found at sweet Japanese stationery shop Kami in Fitzroy. Must stores to check out if your in the city also includes Yen store Tokuya, Vincent 2, Craft Victoria, Wilkins and Kent, Little Salon and Ganim's - who stock the original surprise balls by Gina Namkung!Check out some other cool stores from my little trip in the snaps below.

It was announced last week that Instagram had been released for Android phone users! Yay! I downloaded it as soon as I heard and have been addicted to it ever since. I've been snapping away around the house and recording my Easter adventures.

You can find me on Instagram at 'JennaTempleton'. I would love to know who else is on Instagram, so feel free to leave your user names in the comments.

Happy Easter and look forward to seeing your Happy Snaps!

I just adore Japanese fashion, fabrics, accessories and zakka label Curly Collection! How can I not love their kawaii polka dot designs! It will be my first place to visit when I am in Japan next, to stock up on fabric! Lots of sewing craft inspiration here; sweet tissue pockets, book covers, bags and pouches.

Now, working full time in a job and industry that I love I am still working on finding a balance between work and my other creative loves;blogging, self-publishing, crafting as well as making time for rest, play and fun adventures with friends and family. Here are a some snaps of a few 'things' from the past couple of weeks.

Now that I have a sewing machine, there is a whole new world of Japanese craft books to explore. Patchwork Style by Suzuko Koseki originally came in Japanese but can also be bought in English - it's wonderful to actually be able to read a craft book from Japan for once!I'm just itching to sew my own version of these cute tissue pockets and cup holders. The photography in this book is beautiful and bright and reminds me of my ichiban (favourite) J-mag Spoon.

Japan's cookie artist rightly called cookieboy has just released his first book titled; リアルでアートなデコクッキーレシピ　クッキーボーイのアイシングクッキー It contains some of his works from his cookie exhibits seen in Tokyo as well as a 'How to' on making your very own cookieboy creations. Here are some page snaps of my fave cookies! Food art at it's best!!

Last Thursday I turned 28! Eeep! My Birthday also falls on Australia Day, so it's a day everyone enjoys as it is a public holiday here in Oz. I had a lovely day relaxing with my hubby and family. I got so many wonderful gifts from amazon jp and Uguisu (my hubby knows me well!) and ate yummy Pavlova off my new Cath Kidston polka dot plates that came all the way from the UK.

You probably already guessed from my little regular blog mentions, that I'm a big fan of Melbourne artist/designer Beci Orpin. Like me she uses lots of bright colours and pretty patterns in her work. Published by Erm Books, 'Conpendium of Me by Beci Orpin' is a time capsule of several different aspects of Beci's life. My favourite page is her grandmas handkerchief collection. It makes me want to sew my own set of pretty handkerchiefs! Have a squiz and be inspired by Beci's use of pattern and colour.