The ever clever Michelle Romo of Crowded Teeth fame has a brilliant new book filled with some of the cutest paper toys I’ve ever seen.  Each Paper Wonderland project is beautifully colored and meant to be cut out and assembled - majority can be constructed by kids with a little adult help.  Check out the book’s website here and some adorable free downloads (including ‘Owlito’ below!)  And keep up with Michelle on her blog.

Oh friends, hello! My ’summer vacation’ from the clubhouse is coming to an end and I’ll start back in full swing next week. Lots of varied projects have been keeping me busy, not the least of which is the The 3rd Annual Renegade Craft Fair in San Francisco this weekend, July 31st and August 1st, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day at the Fort Mason Center Festival Pavilion!

After a long hiatus from craft fairs (more than a year!) I’m excited to be sharing a booth with my good pal Cathy of California - and bringing a new selection of goods from the Mahar Drygoods Party Department (some of which Cathy and I created together!)  I’ve been working around the clock creating a lot of the items myself and a new display set-up (which is freakin’ adorable if I do say so myself!)

This particular show is among my very favorite craft, art, design and DIY shows and features more than 225 talented indie-craft colleagues from all over the nation. The spectacular setting over the San Francisco Bay is reason enough to attend, but there will also be great food, workshop and all manner of incredible handmade goods at the Fair! If you’re in the Bay Area, please come by and say hello!

Details, directions and any other question you may have about the event can be found on the Renegade Craft Fair Frequently Asked Questions page.

A few highlights of note!:

Discover the power of ‘craftivism’ at the Scarving Artists Knit-In, coordinated by the St. Anthony Foundation. Get a crash course in knitting and crochet and contribute a handmade-scarf to benefit the Bay Area homeless population!

San Francisco’s marvelous Museum of Craft and Folk Art will be leading several hands-on demonstrations inspired by their popular Etsy Craft-Bar nights.

The fantastic folks from Etsy will also be there to guid you through a whole host of quick and simple, make and take projects: stamping, sewing, printing and more.

Visit the Renegade Info Booth to custom-make your very own Renegade button and to pick up a free issue of 7×7 Magazine or Juxtapoz Magazine while supplies last.

Sign up for free-to-enter raffles for your chance to win a year-long subscription to Uppercase Journal or prizes provided by Chronicle Books, Beautiful/Decay, BurdaStyle.com and Jenny Hart’s Sublime Stitching.

And finally don’t forget to get your photo snapped in a free-to-use photobooth provided by The Magnolia Photobooth Co.!

It’s day four of our bloggy love-fest, celebrating some of the small businesses that are members of the Handmade Toy Alliance. The aim is to bring attention to the current efforts of the HTA to amend the the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) in a positive way - protecting children’s safety while allowing crafters, manufacturers and importers of small batch children’s products to remain in business. Please see the paragraph at the bottom of this post for more information and helpful links!

From her home base in Suquamish, Washington, Laurie Sharp needle felts arks full of Wool Pets. She only discovered the craft 4 years ago but now it’s one of her greatest passions and she has two books and a brilliant line of craft kits to prove it! She even shears, washes, cards and dyes the wool from her own small flock of sheep. Visit the Wool Pet’s website to see more of her work, or visit her Etsy shop to purchase a kit!

“Since I was very young, I have admired the natural world. The trees have often offered comfort, the mountains brought strength, and the sea tranquility. As I grew older, I developed an appreciation and empathy for animals, which profoundly influenced my artwork.”

Wool Pets is a member of the Handmade Toy Alliance, a non-profit organization made up of crafters, manufacturers and importers of small batch children’s products. In 2008, Congress passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) to regulate the children’s product industry - a well meaning but over reaching law with unintended consequence including the requirement that all children’s products to be tested at a third party testing lab. The testing costs are so prohibitively expensive that they will result in many small businesses having to close their doors. The HTA is urging Congress to amend the CPSIA in a way that keeps safe products in the market place and maintains safety standards that protect our children while keeping innovative and industrious ‘mom and pop’ shops in operation. Learn more about the HTA and what you can do to effect positive change by visiting www.handmadetoyalliance.com.

Welcome to day three of our bloggy love-fest, celebrating some of the small businesses that are members of the Handmade Toy Alliance. The aim is to bring attention to the current efforts of the HTA to amend the the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) in a positive way - protecting children’s safety while allowing crafters, manufacturers and importers of small batch children’s products to remain in business. Please see the paragraph at the bottom of this post for more information and helpful links!

Jennifer Murphy has been making bears since she was eleven. Her repertoire includes many other animals now, but it started with bears. It makes perfect sense, considering she is the daughter of an incredibly talented toymaker.  As her skills developed, Jennifer’s aesthetic became increasingly influenced by turn of the Century toys made in Germany and those made in the 40s and 50s in the US and Japan - resulting in the love-worn cast of characters you see below.  Visit her site to see more of her work and visit her blog to learn more about her process and current projects.

As you might imagine, Jen’s collectible art animals are in constant demand. Her next batch of goodies will be available on Tuesday June 29th at 12noon (10am Pacific, 11am Mountain, 1pm Eastern).

Jennifer Murphy is a member of the Handmade Toy Alliance, a non-profit organization made up of crafters, manufacturers and importers of small batch children’s products. In 2008, Congress passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) to regulate the children’s product industry - a well meaning but over reaching law with unintended consequence including the requirement that all children’s products to be tested at a third party testing lab. The testing costs are so prohibitively expensive that they will result in many small businesses having to close their doors. The HTA is urging Congress to amend the CPSIA in a way that keeps safe products in the market place and maintains safety standards that protect our children while keeping innovative and industrious ‘mom and pop’ shops in operation. Learn more about the HTA and what you can do to effect positive change by visiting www.handmadetoyalliance.com.

These images have made the rounds online more than once, but I couldn’t resist sharing them with you. In 2004/05 Korean artist Yeondoo Jung created a series of photographic interpretations of children’s drawings. The series was entitled Wonderland and I think they’re humorous and sweet and inventive. See more of Yeondoo June’s work on her website.

In a somewhat similar vein is the Pageant of the Masters, a ‘living picture show’ that’s been held in Laguna Beach, CA since the early nineteen hundreds. Famous works of art are recreated with actual people and presented to a live audience. It could easily be a hokey production but honestly it’s pretty amazing. The event warrants a future post of its own, but here’s a taste:

Our brilliant pals over at Tiny Showcase have paired up with the incomparable Jen Corace to publish a lovely new print to benefit the Gulf Restoration Network.

“The Gulf Restoration Network is committed to uniting and empowering people to protect and restore the natural resources of the Gulf Region for future generations. The GRN’s vision is that the Gulf of Mexico will continue to be a natural, economic, and recreational resource that is central to the culture and heritage of five states and three nations. The people of the region will be stewards of this vital but imperiled treasure, and they will assume the responsibility of returning the Gulf to its previous splendor.”

Jen’s print entitled Down, Down, Down is an unsigned edition and will only be available June 8th through June 18th, 2010. It will no longer be available for purchase after that date - so go buy one now! Each print sold raises $15 dollars for the Gulf Restoration Network.

Down, Down, Down
Jen Corace
archival inks printed on a 290gsm natural white printmaking paper
7″ x 10″ (plus border for framing)
$30.00

It’s amazing what a little encouragement can do for developing self esteem. B+ on that spelling test? Great job! Shared with a sibling? You rock! Portland based artist Ryan Berkley illustrates the power of positive reinforcement in his series of prints and original drawings called Champion Festival.  Visit Ryan’s blog Let’s Share or shop Berkley Illustration.

Consider handing out a few award ribbons to well deserving friends and family!
Top to bottom:
My Imaginary Boyfriend
Felt Farm
(Or create your own using this tutorial!)

Stan Munro began “toothpicking”, as he calls it, in 2003 during a period of unemployment after working as a morning radio personality in Rochester, NY. His hobby became a full time obsession resulting in Toothpick City I, a landscape depicting miniature versions (1:164 scale) of more than 50 famous structures from around the world that is now on display in Mallorca, Spain.

He’s now hard at work on Toothpick City II: Temples & Towers a collection of more than 50 famous religious buildings and tall towers standing side by side on a 24′x28′ oval platform. All major religions will be represented in the exhibit with scale re-creations of famous cathedrals, temples, and mosques including the Grand Mosque in Mecca (which alone contains more than a quarter-million toothpicks), the Vatican, the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, Wat Arun in Bangkok and Notre Dame in Paris.

Junior Society members in Syracuse, NY can visit Stan at the Most Museum where he’s aiming to complete the city by July of this year.  Those of us living further afield can get a sneak peek in this segment from Discovery Channel Canada or watch the promo video below.  You can also check out Stan’s tips, tutorial, contest and project ideas for kids here.  [via NotCot]

I’m completely taken with the animal portraits of London born photographer Tim Flach and the manner in which his website describes his work:

Tim Flach’s bestiary evokes pathos, humour and an unmistakably intimate human empathy. Not only do we begin to find supposedly repellent creatures charming, but discover a sympathetic vulnerability, an unexpected lightness and humour in their gestures and attitudes, as if putting on a performance for our benefit in a readily accessible comedy of manners all their own.

Browse his portfolio, interviews and articles on TimFlach.com. [via NOTCOT]

We’ve been doing a lot of celebrating around the clubhouse recently (which may explain the sparse postings as of late). This past Tuesday the 20th, my favorite (and only!) sister and family welcomed a new Junior Society member into the world! William Erikson Carter arrived at arrived at 8:09PST, weighing in at 8 pounds 5 ounces and measuring 19″ long. We’ll be traveling to meet him in just a few short weeks where he’ll be making a cameo appearance at my brother’s wedding! A newborn and nuptials all in the span of a month! I promise that photos of both will be forthcoming.

High on many people’s list of happy activities is jumping (especially among the romper room set and new uncles). So I thought it would be fun to share a few images from Latvian photographer Philippe Halsman’s series Jumpology currently on view at the Laurence Miller Gallery in New York.  Halsman moved to the US in 1940 where he quickly grew to fame, capturing images of famous and prominent people for such clients as LIFE, LOOK and the Saturday Evening Post magazines. After each of his formal, commissioned photo shoots were finished he asked his subjects if they would humor him and jump! The results were often silly and surprising.

Laurence Miller Gallery is pleased to present JUMP, a quirky and fun-filled series of fifty vintage photographs taken by Philippe Halsman five decades ago of movie stars, politicians, royalty, entertainers, artists, and authors, all jumping before Mr. Halsman’s camera. He called the series “Jumpology.” The extended series has never before been exhibited in New York.

Philippe Halsman image above:
J Fred Muggs

Philippe Halsman images below:
Marilyn Monroe
Richard Nixon
Sophia Lauren
Duke and Duchess of Windsor
Lena Horn
Audrey Hepburn
Dick Clark