365 : camilla engman book

Whenever packages arrive, I stop what I’m doing and tear into them immediately. It is one of my favourite things. (that doesn’t involve sugar)

This book is a visual delight, by the way.

Perhaps because of the long weekend, or perhaps just because the stars were perfectly aligned, we received a record amount of fun deliveries at the workroom on Tuesday. Each of our delivery guys – UPS, Purolator, Fedex, Canpar and Canada Post paid us a visit bringing boxes filled with Japanese fabrics, sewing notions, organic cotton canvas and a stack of the first issue of Uppercase Gallery’s magazine.

Everything that Uppercase Gallery does is delightful, so it was a pretty sure bet that their magazine would be a keeper. Oh, it is. From the cover illustration by Blanca Gómez to the tear-out artwork by Charlotte Sullivan at the back, the magazine is filled with wonderful features on Irina Troitskaya, Great Lake Swimmers (one of my favourite bands), and me!

It was such honour to be asked to be a part of this project. You’ll also find a fun tutorial for Log Cabin Applique Cup Cozies that I worked on just for the magazine right after my interview. If you’ve ever been to the workroom, you’ve surely had a cup of tea with one of these cute cozies on your cup. Now you can make your own!

To celebrate the launch of this ‘magazine for the creative and curious’, I’d like to give away a copy to two lucky readers. Just leave a comment revealing something you are curious about these days. For me, it is honey. I’d like to start collecting honey from around the world and learn to discern its different flavours. I’ll close the contest by Friday April 17 at midnight and announce the winners (randomly chosen) on Monday.

With so many of our favourite magazines folding, I hope you’ll support this beautiful Canadian magazine. We have copies here at the shop, or even better subscribe!

Janine at UpperCase Gallery has declared this week ‘typewriter week’, so I couldn’t resist posting a photo of my Underwood Portable typewriter. I’ve had it for ages and it’s one of my favourite possessions. I own many typewriters and much to my parents’ dismay they are all stockpiled in their basement. I had an uncontrollable habit of buying old typewriters from Goodwill when I was in university.

Uppercase put together a rockin’ exhibit of all things Old School. I only wish I had seen it in person. Old School, the book, just arrived at the workroom and I’m getting tons of inspiration flipping through the pages looking at everyone’s interpretations of the old school theme. The roster of participants is very impressive and includes Ray Fenwick, Jen Hsieh, Julia Rothman, Something’s Hiding in Here and Lisa Congdon. Oh yeah, you also get a cute old school pencil when you buy the book, perfect writing notes in class.

I hope you have a lovely Thanksgiving weekend. I’ll be out enjoying the fall weather and eating my fair share of turkey and mashed potatoes.

It’s pretty clear that I love vintage things of a certain style. Industrial, wooden, metal and grey seem to be common elements. Yesterday when I bought this overhead projector from a girl off craigslist, I realized that “Old School” was probably the perfect classification for my obsession.

What is it about all this old stuff? I just can’t resist it. The massive reclaimed church globes (from Post & Beam Reclamation), the battleship grey stools (found by Becky, even the workroom’s space is pure vintage with the vaulted ceilings and the gorgeous front glass windows. A month ago, I had to forcibly stop myself from buying a huge vintage chalkboard on wheels from Smash. Really, how many chalkboards can one girl have? (Jill – I’m still a bit sad about not getting it!)

The overhead projector does have a purpose though. It was purchased because we’re starting to get technical at the workroom. This fall Kristiann, will be teaching beginning pattern drafting classes. We’ll be learning about slashing and spreading and other fun things, so it is necessary to have some serious classroom equipment to facilitate serious learning.

Speaking of Old School, Upper Case Gallery is hosting a show AND doing a book on just that. Good lord, I could eat it all up. Please watch this ‘educational’ video about being quiet in the classroom. It’s classic. It also reminds me that I’ll have to hunt down an old school pencil sharpener next.