Vintage Covers for eReaders

Somehow in my internet travels this evening I came across these wonderful covers for Kindles, Kobos, Sony Readers (do they have a name?) and iPads.  I know that when I got my Kindle last Christmas I spent forever trying to find a unique, stylish and affordable cover.  Randy Belyk from Victoria had the same dilemma, only he got crafty and made his own.  An IBM technician by day, he quickly got enough orders from friends and family to fill up his evenings and weekends!  I love this idea, since choosing the cover can be such a personal choice.  He uses traditional bookbinding techniques with all new materials (except for the covers of course) to create custom-made covers for any sized reader.  The options are endless!  Here are some of my favourites...

One of the boys' current favourite books... which also was my brother's favourite (he had the entire thing memorized)... I love the inside:

This one would get you some looks... check out the back:

I read every single Nancy Drew book - and most of the Hardy Boys too...

For the more "sophisticated" person on your list...

Such a great idea Randy!

cool font, eh?

This awesome font, created by 10four design group in honour (with a 'u' - thank you very much) of Canada Day, is an amazing tribute to Canadian stereotypes and references.  What other font can teach you that a Canadian invented insulin, alkaline batteries, the goalie mask, the paint roller, and the jolly jumper?  It was only recently that an American colleague explained that he didn't know what a toque was... who knew?  The font has upper case, lower case and numbers too, and if that weren't great enough - it is FREE.  Geez, Bob and Doug would be some proud, eh?

 Seen on The English Muffin Blog.

Zurich Chamber Orchestra

The zurich chamber orchestra has some amazing advertising - thanks for Michael and David for passing it along!  Although, I am not sure what an orchestra would play for babies...Mozart?...or what musicians would really want to play for a hall of squealing, squirming, and not-very-attentive babies and parents...  But the poster sure is cute and clever.

Having already posted about their advertising here, I had to do a search for what other interesting concepts they had come up with.  Looks like they excel at non-traditional orchestra advertising - or their agency Euro RSCG World does.

Flash Messiah

This is so awesome.   Chorus Niagara, with the help of director Robert Coopera, shocked the diners* at the Seaway Mall foodcourt in Welland Ontario with a stealth performance of Handel's Halleluja Chorus.  It could be the remnants of the food poisoning I suffered today, but it gave me chills!  Thank you John Terauds for posting this.  I wonder if it is too late to organize this for our upcoming TSO Messiah?


*Does one "dine" at a food court?

The mighty pine cone

Canadian decor maven Cobi Ladner has a great blog, and just posted a super round-up of great, modern ideas for festive pine cone decor.  Pine cones are an obvious and economical way to decorate, and I love the idea of hanging them from festive ribbon as above and below instead of a wreath!  You could do it on colourful ribbons and add a few brightly-coloured christmas balls - or do it on natural linen ribbon and add some twigs and rustic linen decorations (a la pi'lo) for a softer look.

Sarah also did a lovely grouping of pine cones in her modern holiday decorating 

(love how she used the ornaments too):

And here are a few more ideas I found that I like:

here

here

here

Love this one - so Swedish...here

Um...it's happening guys...I'm getting in the Christmas mood!  Look out!

Music I like: Ramona Falls

I love the sound of the band (sorry - "indie rock project") Ramona Falls - named after a waterfall in Oregon and not a clumsy girl named Ramona.  However, I think I might like their videos even more!  The first one below is especially cool.  They have such a nifty vibe - check out their site to hear their streamed album.  

The Kitchen - my dad's cabinet

One of my favourite things about the kitchen is the cabinet my Dad made.  I emailed him the measurements, he made it in New Brunswick and drove it up.  I had no idea he was going to do such an intricate design, and I love how the inlaid panels reference the original french door to the living room and the new one we put to the basement.  He drove it up here and painted it in our driveway...twice.  He was painting, the wind came up and it got covered in dirt, dust and leaves.  SO he spent the next couple of days sanding, and then repainted it in our (very crowded) garage.  But the cabinet is more than worth the crankiness that resulted...

You can see that it had to be a custom cabinet, due to the weird way that the wall came in.  He built around the post and made custom-shaped shelves to maximize out space.  We still aren't using it because it needs a few more coats of paint and some of the holes need to be re-drilled.  But just look at all that room!

I love the mahogany piece at the top too.  Thank you Dad - it is AWESOME and totally makes our kitchen.  I am so very lucky to have such a handy dad!

Johnny Miller Photography

I love coloured glass, and these photos by Johnny Miller are so so pretty.  I am so impressed by the glow of the light, the choice of shapes and hues of the bottles, and the styling for the photos.  The amber, gold and green one is my fav, although I also love the mix below and that amazing blue bottle.  Wouldn't this be amazing on the window sill in my kitchen?  Maybe I should start thrifting for coloured glass...

The Reveal!! (sort of)

OK, so I kind of feel this is a bit anti-climactic... the kitchen really isn't fully finished, nor is any of the decor.  But the bones are there, and thanks to my dad's last visit, the backsplash is in!  We are using it regularly and I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE it so much.  I mean, the first one was kind of the pits, so the only way to go was up, but man, did we hit UP!  

I finally got to take some photos in the daylight this weekend*, although it was raining so they aren't that great.  And I didn't really look back at my 'before' shots to line them up.  And the place is a mess... and... and... well, i've run out of excuses, you might as well just look.  Just be kind.

 Don't mind the plywood leaning against the peninsula... we have yet to figure out what to do back here and didn't want kiddie fingers in the back of the stove. 

 See above re plywood and duct tape... funny how you stop noticing things until you see a photo of them!

So I will do a couple of more posts on the whole thing, and the various decisions we made along the way (if you are interested).  The big things were of course the wall and the back door, but everything turned into a big decision!  Anyway, I am wiped out tonight so this will all have to wait.

So.... what do you think?


*damn you daylight savings...and the day job... (although thanks day job for helping pay for the kitchen...)

Gifted

I am a bit behind on my Google reader, so you may all already be all over this new online mag, but I just discovered Gifted this evening and I love it!  It is published by Ez, the creative genius behind Creature Comforts blog.  There are so many awesome ideas, free printables, and fabulous gift ideas for just about everybody.  But the DIY's are of course my fav, and I grabbed a few screen captures.  Not that I had to - seems Ez is also a marketing genius.  She recruited A-list bloggers to contribute, which of course means mentions and buy-ins from the most read blogs out there.  And I mean this in the most admiring way possible - the stuff from these gals is great, and makes the mag worth reading as well, and the idea is genius.  She also has several cute buttons you can put on your blog to help spread the love, and a whole bunch of blog-ready images on the Gifted flickr page - where you can of course also upload your own take on any of the ideas in the magazine!  I love all of this almost as much as the magazine itself!  Bravo Ez!