Thursday, March 31, 2011

new threads

artwork by jillian tamaki
 



 .....................
wow.
waddaya think?
here's a glimpse at the Penguin Books new Classic Deluxe series called * Penguin Threads * : re-issues of some of our favourite books! the covers are embroidered art designs by artist jillian tamaki ( love the details, modern colouring, and that the covers will be embossed! nicey!) . 

always love seeing great creative art on book covers.


i'm excited penguin's dedicating a whole series to these fun new covers! hope they'll be lots more!

thoughts?
what book cover would you love to illustrate/design?

{ first seen on the fabulous sublime stitching via the atlantic. }



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Wednesday, March 30, 2011

a giveaway with brilliant blogger jessika hepburn




it's a fun new series on the blog, nicies! a fill-in-the-blank interview with some of our favourite super-bloggers from around the blogosphere that inspire each of us everyday with their writings! i sent each nicey a page full of fill-in-the-blanks questions { my words in blue } ...  & they filled them in with their insights { their words in grey! } hope you'll enjoy fill-in-the-blanks with today's brilliant blogger: the inspiring handmaking-cheerleader, designer, mommy & blogging superstar, jessika of oh my! handmade {one of my very favourite blogs!}  { AND ... read on to see how you can WIN an amazing advertising & PR package for your indie business, too!} 
 ..................
Hello lovely RikRak readers

I'm Jessika Hepburn, editor of Oh My! Handmade and I am so excited to be featured on RikRak, one of my favourite Canadian blogs.
I am an artist & a designer & a mama to two beautiful little girls, Ila Elizabeth and Sela Dae.

I blog about all things handmade and wonderful along with my team of over 20 monthly and guest contributors at Oh My! Handmade.

{You might be surprised to hear that I moved to Halifax from a tiny island rainforest utopia called Sointula in northern BC. Sointula means "place of harmony" in Finnish and is the only place in North America where orca come out of the water to rub themselves on the beach. Founded by Finnish utopian socialists in 1901 it is home to the oldest cooperative in Canada. When we lived there I ran the non-profit resource centre + a cooperative preschool.}

Beyond blogging, my  perfect
day would be :  crafting with my girlfriends (who are spread all over the world now) , eating fabulous cupcakes, talking about life,  listening to our children's laughter as they run wild, playing together with handmade toys made by mama's hands.


I'm
happiest when I am working with others to create something wonderful. Or when I am home alone crafting-it's split 50/50!

Here's my favourite photo of myself (see top of interview).
I love this photo because it's the ONLY recent photo of myself where I'm not hugely pregnant or holding a baby. Also, I am in front of one of my Nana's hand-dyed silk tapestries. She was an incredible artist & woman + her love of colour and fibre is one of my biggest inspirations.

I just finished
making a bouquet of felt flowers for a Spring Flowers tutorial on Oh My! Handmade in April and just started building a personal website for my design & consultation business. I'm in the middle of planning a kitchen reno + massive spring cleaning.

I love making  too many things! But I am really inspired by wool & fibre, vintage fabrics, pen & ink & paper, creating with my computer... oh and food-I love making elaborate cakes & meals.
Crafting makes me able to let go of the never ending list of things I need to get done  & cooking/baking makes me happy no matter what else is going on.


A word I love to
overuse is lovely, it is like a compulsion.



I
am amazed by how much I enjoy blogging!


The
community is so supportive  and the creativity of it constantly amazes & inspires me!

I began blogging 
when I took over Oh My! Handmade from Sara Tams of sarah+abraham and now I blog because I love it so much!

It amazes about blogging that
it's so easy to make new friends I adore and build community with people all over the world!

My 3 tips to a great blog would be:
Originality, excellent content & creativity.

Gosh! It's challenging blogging when
there just aren't enough hours in the day!
But fear not, I just
chose to let go of some of the other work in my life that wasn't fulfilling me. Plus I stay up late & drink lots of strong coffee!
 
One of my absolute favourite blog posts I've ever written is this one on Copycats & Copyright: Keeping Our Handmade Community Safe . I am loving all our Handmade Ethics  posts & how the comments have shown that readers are loving it too!
I am so inspired reading other blogs.

I love the
Scoutie Girl blog because Tara & her contributors are filling the world with the ethics & ideas I have lived by for a long time. We can create a better world through living our creative dreams and supporting each other-it's that simple!

and I 
adore the Pikaland blog because it's like an online art gallery filled with innovation & new artists to fall in love with.

and of course the
RikRak blog is fabulous because it's so filled with heart, kindness & handmade goodness. {editor's note: many thanks, wonderwoman. i feel exactly the same about your fabulous blog!}

One thing I wish I had learned sooner in bloggyville is that
it is SO easy to make friends & connections that are fulfilling not just professionally but personally.


My favourite part of blogging is
the creativity & kindness of
the community, hands down.

However, I could do without hearing so much about copying/plagiarism in the handmade community especially by big business! It makes me really angry & sad, but I know we can find ways to protect ourselves & each other.

Something
exciting  happening on my blog these days is our Twitter Tea Party! 2 hours of chatting about whatever our theme is + work/life with my followers who all just awesome. It's a good time & you're invited! Check it out here.

 
jessika hepburn
........................

yay!
thanks so much, jessika, for your inspiring words! 
i'm such a fan of all you do, nicey!

jessika is just one of those fabulous fabulous folks in life that you're just gonna love. she's inspiring, sincere, a creative power-house, so generous and loving and warm ... everything i know we all aspire to be in life and qualities we dream of having in a dear friend! kudos to you, sweetie! you're just wonderful!

and now... one lucky rikrak studio reader WILL WIN...




....... an $85 advertising and promotion package from jessika hepburn! ....

that's right ... this prize pack includes:
2 months of banner advertising on the oh my! handmade goodness blog
($70 value) 
&
an animated ad 
($15 value)
.............
WOW! 

1. tell us why you need to spread the word about your crafty business!
=   1 entry


2.  grab the oh my! handmade rss feed.
...  & tell us.
=   1 entry
3. become a fan of oh my! on facebook.
...  & tell us.
=   1 entry

4. heart/fave jessika's lovely handmade shop on etsy. 
...  & tell us
=   1 entry

5. follow BOTH oh my! handmade { she's @ohmyhandmade } AND the rikrak shop (that's me! @therikrakshop)  on twitter
... & tell us.
= 1 entry

6. take a look thru jessika's new design website & tell us your favourite logo design or small business marketing package. 
= 1 entry


... & tell us.
= 1 entry


8. tweet on twitter
... about this giveaway and come back here and tell us! be sure to include @therikrakshop so i can find you! 
= 1 entry

9. blog about this giveaway
... come back and tell us.
= 1 entry

10. grab one of my rikrak studio buttons,
like this one from the left hand sidebar, for YOUR BLOG!



the rikrak studio



the rikrak studio


and add it to your blog!
{ ... just copy & paste the text in the box above  onto your blog sidebar! thanks! }


11. :: PLEASE NOTE: 
each entry must be it's own comment.
thanks! ::


..........................................
:: RULES ::
a) it is possible to have a maximum of 10 entries total per person.
b) please make sure to leave each entry as its own comment. thanks!

c) using random.org, 1 winner of the jessika hepburn giveaway will be chosen on thursday, april 7th @ 11pm EST.
d) open to contestants worldwide.
e) please be sure to leave me an email where i can reach you if your account doesn't link to one. thanks.

................................................

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Tuesday, March 29, 2011

slumber party revealed: follow up to * which film characters would you LOVE to play?*



....................................


don't you just love a slumber party? comfy pjs, silly movies, telling your friends, old & new, your thoughts & crushes & dreams.... such fun! so i thought i'd invite you to the fun continuing series on the rikrak studio blog... the rikrak slumber party. here's a followup to the question i asked a little while ago: which film characters would you LOVE to play?  thanks for your fun answers! be sure to visit all of the slumber party posts here and chime in!

....................................


holey moley.
being a film star for a day would be fun! isn't it fun to always be who we want to be?

i asked.
you answered.
who would you love to star as?


here are a few photos of you cuties in action!

.................
splendid!
elyse & hilary  & itchin' stitchin would all love to play that clever cutie, amelie.
...............
 
and i agree ... 
i think you'd make a fabulous james bond, fringe!

...............



itchin' stichin' also loved the idea of playing the title character summer in 500 days of summer! { and i agree- such a great wardrobe!

............... 


and speaking of wardrobes ... morgan's ready to star as that femme fatale ... catwoman
rarrrr!

............... 



............... 


and kathy is ready to set the 
stage afire as sally bowles in cabaret.

............... 


both elyse & moira are inspired by 
ada mcgrath in the piano.

............... 


and hilary & leslie longed to reinact/revisit those
high school years 
as sam baker in sixteen candles.

 ..........

so there you have it... 
some of our fun film roles, cuties!

hope it's a glamorous kinda day for you, nicies!
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Monday, March 28, 2011

congratulations!




happy monday, cuties! a bunch of congrats to dole out today! first up, many cheers to the winner of the papermode paper earrings giveaway! random.org gave us....  #149 - erin of wallwork {that's her beautiful cross stitch seen above!} love love love your modern style and gorgeous shop, sweetie! yay!

next up, a big congrats to the winner of the *i love my sponsors* march gift certificate giveaway! #245 was random.org's number! congrats to darcy of smart bottom enterprises/ AndThen art prints! what great shops you have, nicey! love your fabulous photograph prints and kid's art kits!



and finally today, kudos to the millions of folks who took part in earth hour saturday night! here at the rikrak home we played boardgames by candlelight, and told word-a-time-stories in the dark. so much fun!

friday i asked: * what will you be doing to celebrate! *  - thanks so much to all of those that responded! here are a few of my faves { images seen below, clockwise from top left } 

* camila of nao me mande flores celebrated with a romantic candlelit dinner with her cutiepie! { love it!}

* ana of i made it so worked on her knitting by candlelit! { yay crafty earth hours!} 

* elisa was brainstorming something wonderful to do! {i hope it was working on one of your brilliant paintings, lovely!}

* and allisa was planning a fabulous evening of magical forts, flashlit castles and lots of three-year-old fun! wonderful!


love seeing the creative ideas inspired by earth hour!
hope we can keep that energy saving momentum alive!
here's to a great energetic week, nicies!



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Friday, March 25, 2011

earth hour

{the handmade earth hour} 
clockwise from top left: 
the earth via susannah tucker . change by lulubugjewelry. 
candle light by olivia collins photo
the hour by urbanwalls.
earth hour by the wwf.  good air {plant} by tohold.
natural light by irene suchocki . moonlight by sherri conley

..............


it's earth hour tomorrow night {march 26th}, sweeties.
a world-wide pledge to turn off our lights for just 60 minutes. over 131 countries will join in on the darkness.
how will you be celebrating in the dark?

i'd love to hear. {i look for creative lovelies to include in my earth hour followup post every year!}

have a wonderfully, energy-restoring weekend lovelies.
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Thursday, March 24, 2011

photo essay: at the curling rink

   { all images by me: kristal davis / rikrak 2011 } 

...............

now i've never curled in my life, sweeties.
but this classic winter sport has recently become part of our weekly life: little rikrak's become an avid little curler! {now i'm biased - but he's just great at it!}

part shuffleboard, part crokinole (my fave!) 
i love the symmetry on the rink. the glide & curl & colour of it all.

ever curled? 

thanks for the wintry memories, curling!
see you in the fall!

...............
 
   { all images by me: kristal davis / rikrak 2011 } 


 


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Wednesday, March 23, 2011

come advertise with the rikrak studio blog!




i just love my sponsors! i'm so thankful for their kind and artistic support each month! and i'm just delighted with how things are going, growing here on the blog with you lovelies. thank you!

so i'm very happy to be offering a few new ad spots as of today for APRIL.

with april comes  a great time to continue building your wonderful indie business!  i hope it might be the perfect opportunity to showcase your beautiful shops & blogs for all of those handmade shoppers & bloggers & media out there! spring is such a great time for new beginnings, and i'm offering a few new ad spots, all at GREAT prices!


if you feel that your shop, group, Etsy Team,  or blog would be a good fit with the rikrak studio blog feel & focus, and are interested in rates, please email me at 
---> rikrakmail @ yahoo.com <---

there's lots of continued fun coming up on the blog: funfun guests, little inspirations, more fabulous giveaways you're not going to want to miss, great games, fantastic features,  and, as always, a few extra fun surprises, too. being part of the fun is a great way to boost sales, increase exposure and build your little business in the handmade community, too!

i'm a handmaker & mommy and know it's a challenging economic time out there... so i try to keep the rates nice & reasonable.

i also love designing ads for folks that need them, too.
so just let me know if i can help!

so come & be part of the fun!
thanks so much, lovelies!
k.
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Tuesday, March 22, 2011

handmade sister cities { part 9 } : tokyo, japan & rome, italy

...................

row one
tidabeads :: tokyo
Chickslab :: rome

row two
korkekork :: rome
JewelryLois :: rome

row three
PiccolaNuvola :: tokyo
mairitales :: rome

row four
lalalandart :: rome

row five
tibori :: tokyo
hinomaru :: tokyo

row six
humoresque :: tokyo
paperthoughts :: rome

vivatveritas7 :: tokyo



............

oh how i've always loved the idea of sister cities.
two great places, joined over sea & sky by the idea of common cultural & commercial ties.
this rikrak studio series explores 
2 official sister cities @ a time,
and some of the handmaking lovelies that they share!
i've done a bit of research to find official sister cities, and love seeing what handmakers are up to there! be sure to visit the other handmade sister cities posts here.

...................................


handmade sister cities { part 9 }


...................................

 
tokyo, japan & rome, italy

all of japan has been on our collective thoughts of late, so in this sister cities edition we pay homage to some of the fabulous handcrafters from the tokyo region and her sister city of rome!

two cities that i just plain adore, i love tokyo & rome for their rich artistic histories, the amazing architecture, the yummy culinary crafting, the beautiful handmaking cultures and gosh: so very very much more!
i look forward to the day when the whole family rikrak can visit both of these amazing cities again.
mr. rikrak and i honeymooned in rome many moons ago, and just adored it. 
and tokyo: well it's a longtime dream to just plain live there!

happy handmaking, tokyo & rome! 
{all our love and thoughts for wellness, lovelies.} 

have you been to either/both of these 
handmade sister cities? 

tell us your favourite parts/neighbourhoods/delights/sights!
we'd love to hear!

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