Category Archives: GENERALLY INSPIRING

Winter Art Field Trips in New York City.

During one of this waning winter’s darkest days, a very wise friend advised me to feed my creativity by setting aside time each and every week to seek new art and design. It struck me as odd that I should have to schedule time to explore in this way, since I’m swimming in visual [...]
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Fruit and Nut Animals from a Century Ago.

The following pictures are so wonderful that I just have to hold the explanations for below. Without further ado, I bring you… A cow made of almonds:A bear made of raisins:And my personal favorite, an elephant made of English walnuts:These images come to us via the librarians at the University of Washington, who have done [...]
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Isn’t He Handsome?

Last week my mother sent me this picture of HER latest knitted work, and I have to share it. Here’s the family dog, Max, sporting a new woolly sweater that she knitted for him! As she explained to me, Max’s new coat resulted from a string of days stuck home during snowy weather. [...]
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Design by the Book, Episode One.

This fall I’ve been working away on an amazing project–a series of small documentaries following five talented local artists as they gather inspiration for their work at the New York Public Library. Co-produced by Grace Bonney of Design*Sponge and my library colleagues in Digital Labs, this series will be released over the next few [...]
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Crafting to Defy Expectations.

Worldchanging offers greener ways to imagine a future changed world. (Image from the NYPL Digital Gallery.) The latest issue of ReadyMade arrived in the mail last week, and I was happy to find within it an interview with Alex Steffen, one of the forces behind Worldchanging, an organization committed to promoting and supporting efforts to build [...]
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Who Needs Pins Anyway?

This afternoon, and every Sunday afternoon this month, the NYC subway service is offering riders the chance to take a ride in a vintage train car. Getting one of these “nostalgia” train rides is always a little bit of a waiting game for my husband and me, since we don’t set our watches to the [...]
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Grandmother’s Work.

Friends who want to learn how to sew often ask me how I learned. I am incredibly lucky because I grew up surrounded by seamstresses. My grandmother is quite an accomplished seamstress. She worked in a fabric store, did tailoring and dressmaking, and, until recently, made many of her own clothes. She taught her daughters [...]
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