Yasmine just put up the newest issue of Parasol Magazine. I liked #1 but with #2… I am really in love. Honestly. THERE ARE CUPCAKES ON THE COVER (see picture below).
Consider this. It is 5:30 am and I am writing a post on this even though I have a combination of a headache & insomnia & the magazine was issued less than two hours ago.
It’s up in both an online Issuu version and a downloadable pdf. Download the pdf, yo. Above are some of the highlights, a little taster-sample so you will think, my god!!!!!!!, I need one of these myself! You WILL need one — it will inspire you to be creative, eat cupcakes, wear vintage jewelry, cute shoes, and paint pictures with rainbows. Bestest of all, it’s so ridiculously free there is no reason not to get it!
(1) Get a free sample of a swatchbook (a paper sample book from a paper company). The crazier the swatchbook, the more creative you need to be with your photos. I got my swatchbook free from Mohawk papers (paper -> order samples).
(2) Order your pictures. I use winkflash. Pictures are only 12 cents a piece, and usually there is a coupon code on the front page for 6 cent photos. That’s a lot of photos!
(4) Gather other supplies. Besides pictures you might want to use scraps like programs, tickets, labels of favorite foods, the weirdest thing you drew in Pictionary that night, etc. You’ll also want to see what scrap-ish supplies you have, ie: pens, markers, stickers, tape or glue (I do use scrapbooking glue), colored or printed paper, scissors, rulers, etc.
(3) GET CREATIVE!!! Since my sample book had tabs, I split my photos into piles that could work in each tab (so, some pre-planning is beneficial). Your final product will be a bit bulky & flimsy, but pretty much the coolest, cheapest scrapbook ever. I like the cascading pages the best (see a sample of my scrapbook below using my new favorite magazine-making source, Issuu).
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As you might remember, I love Thomas Allen, the super-unique, crafty, and creative photographer whose work seems to be everywhere nowadays from art galleries to magazine racks (from Oprah to Men’s Health, as a matter of fact). I loved him even more after he was very kind to a very new Stickers & Donuts, and let me show some wonderful images that hadn’t been used in his Oprah magazine spreads. (Still one of the most fantastically exciting things to happen to me on S&D!)
The above image, though in the style of Thomas Allen (and featuring his name…), is actually by David Copeland of Ogilvy New York used to promote Allen’s show at Ogilvy New York (World Wide Plaza, 7th Floor).
The two images above are from Harper’s magazine (there’s even more in there, the March 2009 issue). (Goddd! Isn’t that arrow so cool?!)
The image above is from Men’s Health, for an article about the release of an update Joy of Sex. Thomas Allen used images from the old book and the new book (ooh, color!) to create the photo above.
Check out Thomas Allen’s blog for more updates on his work, higher quality copies of the above images, or just go buy his photography book, Thomas Allen: Uncovered
I’m on a pattern kick and have been for a while now. So while wandering around D.C. during my trip a couple weeks back, I couldn’t help but notice all of the cool patterns around the city. Here are just a few of the many that caught my eye:
I’m not sure yet how these will influence my work, but at the very least I’d like them to influence my fashion sense. Maria’s post on Ugly/Pretty got me thinking that most of these could make for some pretty cool tights or maybe a skirt…
Tricia doesn’t like Halloween, but I like it to the point where others get annoyed. I have been known to play Elvira’s Haunted Hits on repeat for HOURS, force friends to carve pumpkins, hand-out Halloween stickers with great cheer, eat chocolate to the point of exhaustion, and even make Halloween gingerbread houses (toasted coconut makes for excellent fall leaves).
For Halloween I have been costumed as: The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, a piece of a graffiti wall (with friends), cowgirl, witch, The Green Goblin (yes, the pumpkin-throwing villain from Spiderman), a zebra, a blind mouse (one of three), a Trick-or-Treat bag. ALL HOMEMADE (mostly by my excellent-sewing mother).
Highlights of this week include a dynamite interview with Dyna Moe (yay Mad Men!) and an exclusive Stickers & Donuts contest (click here to go directly to the entry form!)
Usually I don’t re-post directly from SwissMiss, since that means pretty much the whole interweb has seen it already, but my favorite-favorite thing from the blogs this week is the Poladroid. Download it, and turn your photos into greeny-yellow, polaroid-edged photos. The program is super-fun, and, believe it or not, I’ve been waiting, waiting, waiting for something exactly like it!
Remember when I went to the New York’s World’s Fair Grounds? Well, I knew those pictures would be perfect in Polaroid. Don’t you think?
I’ll be back in full-force soon! In the meantime…
The photos in the “Dreams of Flying” series by Jan von Holleben are creative & fun. (They remind me of Yeondoo Jung’s work.)
The kids all look like they are doing super-cool things (like flying in outerspace) but they’re actually laying on the floor with common household items!
Go to the web-site to see all of the photos (there’s a lot more, and they’re fun to flip through).
Note from Maria: This is another post (with an interview!) from Tricia, who recently (yesterday!) did her ultra-successful first S&D post about pencil cases. I *love* question five!
FACT! I am obsessed with critters, which is probably one of the reasons why I absolutely adore L. Bates Jaffe’s photography!
Her animal mask photos remind me of my favorite scene in Breakfast at Tiffany’s when Holly and Fred steal animal masks from the five and dime store. The above photo is from her “animal masks” collection.
I love how she plays on proportions in her “one pill makes you smaller” and “animal crackers” collections. The naked woman is literally on the brink of being consumed by a mysterious black hole!
…and her other non-critter photographs are utterly beautiful as well. The top is a sample of her “decades” project, which features a series of 18 epoch (which sounds like EPIC..har har…) inspired photos. The bottom is a portrait of a little weeee.
And now for a special Stickers and Donuts sprinkley treat: a little Mad Libish interview with L. Bates Jaffe. (JUMP TO IT!) (more…)
To continue my obsession with photographer Thomas Allen, I’d like to point out two things:
1. Thomas Allen put all his pictures from Oprah magazine on his web-page, including some more photos that didn’t make the cut (I spilled the beans on some of these a few weeks ago with this post, but he put up even more on his blog, so I recommend stopping over and taking a look).
2. I was recently informed that TA did a photo exclusively for the Aperture Foundation. The photo (as seen below) is on sale now in limited edition quantities, and apparently they’re going like hotcakes (contact Kellie McLaughlin Kmclaughlin@aperture.org, Manger of Limited-Edition Photographs if you’re thinking about making a purchase!).
“Inspired by a love of the pop-up books of his childhood, Allen revels in creating his scenarios from vintage pulp fiction novels” (Aperture Foundation).
If fine art is out of your price range, you can at least admire the photo and read Allen’s comments about the photo and artistic inspirations on the bottom of the page.
From Thomas Allen’s Uncovered (signed, as you can see!), which made it on amazon.com’s Best Books of 2007.
The baby-board-book style collection contains dozens of photos of books cut, twisted, and coming to life (and includes my two of my favorite pictures, Bookend and Red).
I continue to think this is all so incredibly cool and am showing off my new book to everyone today! Click here to see my other posts about Thomas Allen.
