Book Business Tuesday: Peter in Flight

Peter in Flight by Paul Michael Peters, now available! I had the pleasure of working with the Ann Arbor-based author on the cover of this new release. A quick and delightful read that starts with a handshake...

The Curatorial: Art Print Love

The Curatorial's new shop, Art Print Love, opens today and runs through May 24. I'm honored to be a part of this inaugural run hosted by the Indie Craft Experience in Atlanta. A unique selection of art prints curated by lovely hosts Christy and Shannon … you will love it!

Yellow Door Artist of the Week

Pssst … you have a chance to win a print of Turtle Flight this week. I have the pleasure of being the "Artist of the Week" over on the Yellow Door blog and this is part of the deal. You can also check out some of the artists that inspire me and read a little bit more about me here.

New pot & box web site

The beautiful new pot & box web site is live and features many little drawings by me. I adore owner Lisa Waud's aesthetic and could not have been happier working with her on this project. The site is launching just in time for the grand opening this Thursday of the pot & box pop-up shop at D:hive on Woodward in Detroit. This will be a preview leading up to the opening of a new location in Corktown. Hooray!

Crafty Supermarket is Saturday!

I'm headed to Cincinnati this weekend to see some of my favorite people and join in the Crafty Supermarket. The aisles are open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, April 27, at the Clifton Cultural Arts Center, 3711 Clifton Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45220. Be prepared to fill you cart with plenty of handmade goodness!

Book Business Tuesday: New Sedaris

It's been a few weeks since I posted a Book Business Tuesday column and now I have more than worthy news for it: Today marks the release of David Sedaris' newest book of essays, Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls. What more need I say?

Photo by Daniel Brenner via AnnArbor.com

Well, maybe just one thing: If you live in Ann Arbor, you should buy it at the fantastic new Literati Bookstore on the corner of Washington and Fourth. It's amazing and wonderful. Go there. Buy books!

Handmade Toledo presents The Maker's Mart

This Saturday, April 20, Handmade Toledo sets up The Maker's Mart alongside Artomatic 419!

One of the region's largest multimedia arts event featuring more than 500 visual, literary, and performing artists will be held in a 50,000 square foot former warehouse space at 911 North Summit Street, Toledo, OH 43604  830 N. Summit Street, Toledo, OH 43604. (Please note the venue change to across the street.) The event runs from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. and usually draws a huge crowd.

I'll be there with my Sloe Gin Fizz wares ready for the fun. We'll be in the The Maker's Mart area in a warehouse behind the main building. Come out and explore Toledo, people!

Book Business Tuesday: Philip and Erin Stead

I feel as though I've been living under a rock. How did I not know until today about author/illustrator husband and wife team Philip and Erin Stead? They live right here in Ann Arbor and responsible for the Caldecott Medal-winning A Sick Day for Amos McGee. The pair are appearing as part of the Lamstein Children's Literature Lecture series this Thursday, April 11 at 5:10 p.m. in the Helmut Stern Auditorium at the University of Michigan Museum of Art. The event is presented by the Department of English Language and Literature at the University of Michigan. You can bet I will be there!

Ann Arbor Mini Maker Faire poster

The poster I designed for this spring's Ann Arbor Mini Maker Faire. Te he he. Can you tell I had fun?

Rock & Shop in Durham, NC

 

Hi all! I'm down in North Carolina for a visit with family in Wilmington and then will be heading up to Durham on Friday for Saturday's Rock & Shop Market at the Durham Amory.

The Rock & Shop Market runs from 11 a.m.to 7 p.m.and is a shopping event featuring over 75 juried emerging artisans & makers from the Southeast and beyond (that's me!). We'll be selling our wares alongside bands, DJs and just around the corner from the Food Truck Rodeo. Hooray! Can't wait to see what this area has to offer in terms of crafty goodness!

Michigan-made wool blankets

It may well be March 25, but it is a windy, bitingly cold day here in Michigan. I'd say we're still in the lion portion of the month—anxiously awaiting the lamb! So it seems more than appropriate to be thinking about blankets, doesn't it? I just found out about these yummy ones made of 100% pure Michigan virgin wool from the Lake Superior Woolen Company based in the Upper Peninsula. 

I had been hemming and hawing over a new blanket all winter, considering one of the Pendleton National Park blankets or one of their windowpane blankets for Lands End, but when I found the web site for this Michigan company over the weekend, my search was over. Now I just need to decide on a color …

Design: The Provo Orem Word

I had the pleasure of working with a friend of mine on the design of the latest issue of the arts magazine she publishes in Utah, The Provo Orem Word. While much of the content is arts listings and events in the Provo area, there are plenty of articles, fiction and poems to appeal to a wider audience. If you have a chance, you can have a look through here. In the meantime, here's a look at a few of the spreads.

New prints and originals available now

Cozy armchair by the window print

I wanted to let you know that I've posted a couple of new prints — and some originals — in my Etsy shop. Come on down and have a look, why don't ya?

Fox in Sox original painting

Bubbling Seahorse original painting

Wild Spring Ride original painting

Ship in a bottle print

DIY Perpetual calendar/journal

Back toward the beginning of the year I posted about the shelf I made from a book. I hinted at a little project that you could see in the photos. I'm finally back with a better look at that project: A market basket perpetual calendar/journal.

I first saw the project on design*sponge and loved it. I second saw the project on Sarah Marguerite and loved it. I third received a ceramic market basket as a gift and loved it.

 

I cut down the pages from a beautiful letterpress calendar from 2012 to use as my dividers. After much stamping and cutting (you could easily write in the dates instead but the stamp was fun and fairly inexpensive), I now I have my very own ongoing journal that requires little more than a sentence or two here and there. You can see the full, detailed instructions over on design*sponge.

I think it will be fun to cycle through each year and see what I was getting up to in years past.

Book Business Tuesday: From Childhood

When I visited with my family back in January, my mom brought me a large box of my childhood books. It included some of my all-time favorites that she had been keeping safe for me while I moved from one small apartment to the next. There is plenty of Robert McCloskey, Eric Carle, Richard Scarry, Dr. Suess and Babar.

I have especially fond memories of this version of Mother Goose with illustrations by Gyo Fujikawa. And I can remember devouring several Mary Poppins books cover-to-cover, while sick in bed as a youngster. 

Isn't it fun what memories books can hold?!

Blackout Cake

Happy Monday, people! Guess what? I baked you a cake. Yes, that's right — a cake. A luscious, layered chocolate cake.

At the beginning of each year I have a tendency to make big promises here on the blog … and then proceed to immediately forget and/or ignore them. In 2010, I declared it the year of cake. I had never made what I termed a "grown-up" cake and stated that I would do so in 2010. I did not.

This year, I promised I would post a recipe a week. I did kinda okay in January: Paris Mushroom Soup, Chicken Tinga Tacos, Challah Bread. I even made it into the first week of February: Butter Chicken. Then, boom: Nada. Nothing. *sigh.*

You'd think I would learn. I wanted to make it up to you with a cake. A real, tried-and-true grown-up cake. My first tried-and-true grown-up cake. This is a rich, dense chocolate cake—not for the faint of heart, which I know you are not.

Chocolate Blackout Cake
via Food & Wine

CAKE
1 stick unsalted butter, softened, plus more for the pan
2 1/4 cups cake flour, plus more for dusting
1/4 cup solid vegetable shortening
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder (See Note)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk

FILLING
3 cups water
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1 1/2 cups unsweetened natural cocoa powder (See Note)
2/3 cup cornstarch
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

1. MAKE THE CAKE Preheat the oven to 375°. Butter two 9-inch round cake pans and coat lightly with flour. Line the bottoms with parchment paper. In a standing electric mixer fitted with the whisk, beat the 1 stick of butter with the shortening until creamy. Add the sugar and beat at medium speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well between additions. Add the vanilla. At very low speed, beat in the cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the 2 1/4 cups of cake flour and the milk in 3 separate alternating batches, scraping down the side and bottom of the bowl occasionally.

2. Divide the cake batter between the prepared pans and smooth the tops. Bake in the center of the oven for about 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out with a few moist crumbs attached. Let the cakes cool for 15 minutes, then invert them onto a rack and let cool completely.

3. MEANWHILE, MAKE THE FILLING In a large saucepan, combine 2 1/2 cups of the water with the sugar, corn syrup and cocoa powder and bring to a boil, whisking constantly. In a bowl, whisk the cornstarch with the remaining 1/2 cup of water until smooth; whisk into the cocoa mixture. Cook over moderately high heat, whisking constantly, until very thick, 3 minutes. Off the heat, whisk in the butter, vanilla and salt. Scrape the filling into a bowl and press a sheet of plastic wrap onto the surface of the filling. Let cool, then refrigerate until firm, 45 minutes.

4. Using a serrated knife, halve each cake layer horizontally. Break up the less attractive top cake layer and transfer to a food processor; pulse into crumbs. Reserve the two cake bottoms and one smoother top.

5. Set one of the cake bottoms on a cake plate and spread with 1 1/2 cups of the filling. Top with the second bottom layer and another 1 1/2 cups of filling. Cover with the cake top and spread the remaining filling all over the top and side. Pat the crumbs all over the cake. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.

VW Bus Food Truck

I was recently asked to draw a VW bus as food truck by a sweet gentleman to give to his girlfriend for her birthday. She runs The Sweet Life by Rachel catering and dreams of owning a food truck much like this one to spread her baked sweetness into the world. Fingers crossed that she does it as I'd like to see this riding around town!

J & P General in Savannah

I'm super excited to be a part of the launch festivities for J&P General's new web site that kicks off tomorrow, February 28. J&P is based in Savannah, Georgia and run by Katie Culler who is working to provide an outlet for emerging artists and crafters to showcase their work and find an audience. To celebrate the launch of the new site, Katie has organized a gathering of work that will be on view through the weekend.

Platypusfile

Claw & Bone Artworks

Christi Reiterman

Judging from the previews on the J&P General Facebook page, the offerings are going to be amazing. I've sent along some goodies and there is original work from Janae Easton of Platypusfile, screenprinted pillows from Kelley Hagemes of Claw & Bone Artworks, jewelry from Christi Reiterman, terrariums from Greenworks and much more. If you're in the area—or know someone who is—be sure to check out this unique and limited collection.

Book Business Tuesday: Covers

I am as much a fan of book cover design as I am of books themselves. From the legendary larger-than-life Chip Kidd (whom I heard speak at a design conference once and think of as the David Sedaris of the book design world) to Barbara deWilde and Carol Devine Carson, from Gabriele Wilson to my favorite designer of all, Roberto de Vicq Cumptich, I love to flip to the inside of the back cover flap and see who is responsible. I thought for this week's Book Business, I'd show you some of the covers I've been pinning. At the bottom of the post are a few links to interesting book-related sites, blogs and articles. Enjoy! 

• The Book Cover Archive

• The New York Times Favorite Book Covers of 2012

• The Casual Optimist: A blog about books, book design, book culture and publishing.

• Judging Books by their Covers 2013: U.S. vs. UK