!nkspiration: Jillian Tamaki

While looking for inspiration for a project I'm working on, I came across these exquisitely beautiful images on pinterest. I covet Penguin Classics' covers and these are just perfect; I love the details, the colours and the choice of titles (Emma and Black Beauty are on my list of favourites). They were hand-embroidered for Penguin Books by the talented Jillian Tamaki, an award-winning illustrator and comics artist. The covers took her almost two months to complete; below are a few pictures of her work-in-progress.

Jillian is a woman of many talents; she illustrates for magazines, newspapers and books and also teaches at the School of Visual Arts in NY. 

I have been in search of a vintage over-sized Penguin Classics cover to frame in Z's room, however wouldn't these embroidered covers look beautiful too?

photos: Jillian Tamaki (with permission)

How to be an Explorer of the World...

Z started attending Montessori five full days each week, when I started work last April; it was a transition of sorts, emotional and physical. Her constant bout of illness eventually led to my resignation and I'm back to being a stay-at-home mom/freelancer (and loving it!). This April, she will only spend three days at school and two days at home. I'd like her to stay in school because Z is an introvert and the constant exposure to and interaction with children her age has allowed her to develop her social skills tremendously and she loves her time at school. But at the same time, I think we're both super excited about the days we get to spend together.

It's always been an effort to find activities that stimulate Z; she's super-curious, gets bored easily and tends to drift towards art-related activities. On our recent travels to Austin, and in my constant search of new resources; I came across a beautiful book, written and illustrated by the talented Keri Smith. "How to be an Explorer of the World - Portable Art Life Museum" is a guide to exploring your own environment with new eyes. What I particularly like about it is that it encourages activities that allow you to stretch your imagination and explore something familiar in a new way. It's certainly not a traditional parenting book and nor was it meant to be, but it is certainly perfect and exactly what I had in mind to inspire both Z and I on our days together.

What resources do you use to inspire your parent-ego?

!nkspiration #3: Matteo Pericoli

In his book of drawings "The City Out My WIndow: 63 Views on New York", Matteo Pericoli asks well-known New Yorkers to describe what they see from their windows. I just LOVE the black and white sketches!

via (The New York Times)

Tree Bookshelf

I remember

That I folded narrow and long paper

And stuck it between the branches of a tree

That memory

Led me to embrace a tree
The tree with books forever chatters
Before I knew it, the books became the tree
In full blossom, with sprouting leaves

A tree becomes a book and a book becomes a tree

~ Shawn Soh

I would love to have a tree like that for Z's room.
It can be bought here

!nkspiration: Two

AMI SIOUX

I came across her work via one of my favourite blogs A Cup of Jo. Her latest book is inspirational-y brilliant, Sioux asked 50 people to draw an area of Paris that they love. She then sketched maps of those areas and photographed each destination. It makes me want to re-visit Paris and use the book as a tour guide. Wouldn't you want to?