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Instant Diary for Capturing Essential Memories

On the last night of 2016, we found this list on Kottke, a blog we’ve loved for years. It is just notations, really, almost stream of consciousness, of public and private experiences that powerfully sum up the year. It gave us an idea for simple way of keeping a diary, which we, like so many people we know, are too busy to do. We’re going to try it while the year is young.

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space voyeurs: studios of 10 brilliant artists

We recently stumbled on Flavorwire’s tour of 10 famous artist’s studios, a welcome break from cleaned-up interiors pictures that are everywhere. These spaces are interesting because they’re fluid, unconcerned with conventional notions of stylishness, yet uniquely beautiful in surprising ways. Often they reveal important elements of the work process —  like taping a nap, resting…

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osb: cool, cheap material for furniture, walls, lights, art

Lately, we’ve come across some extraordinary uses for OSB – oriented strand board (also known as waferboard) – a cheap, strong, durable building material made from pressed tree chippings and resin. It’s generally been viewed as garbage, something to use for structure and hide, until open-minded designers started to explore its potential and beauty. Architect…

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henry miller’s eleven commandments

In the early thirties, as he was writing Tropic of Cancer his first published novel that was to become a classic of twentieth century fiction- Henry Miller wrote himself this list of 11 commandments. We find them really useful – some more than others – applicable to many creative pursuits: Work on one thing at…

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kid’s book we love: joel henrique’s ‘made to play’

We’ve written before about how much we love Made By Joel’s, Joel Henrique’s website that features his charming handmade children’s toys. This October 11th will mark the release of Joel’s first book, Made to Play!: Handmade Toys and Crafts for Growing Imaginations.The book compiles a number of great toy-making and craft projects for children and…

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the role of magic in the creative process

We are smitten with this short, illuminating online slideshow in which Marco Leona, chief scientist at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, talks about the role of magic in the creation of art. It is so delightful and illuminating, we’ve watched it several times: a rich 4 minutes. “Magic traditionally was about transformation: taking something baser, less refined, less…

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