decor8

Hi everyone! I love a good book, don’t you? That is why I have to share this sweet crafting title from blogger Abbey Hendrickson of Aesthetic Outburst today. In addition to her life as a blogger, she’s a freelance artist and craft stylist living with her family on a farm in rural New York. I’m guessing that living away from the big city is what makes Abbey so super creative when it comes to crafting — often when you have less to work with you are forced to think and create and DO stuff. Of course, everyone is different, but personally I find that the less I have the more I find creative ways to get what I need.

In her new book, You Are Awesome – 21 Crafts To Make You Happy, published by Cicada Books, Abbey will show you how to get crafty with basic things you can find either already in your crafting closet or that you can pick up anywhere – and each project is really cute, too!

About You Are Awesome, “In between DIY disasters, childcare catastrophes, book obsessions and cultural consumption, Abbey makes some fantastic and funky craft projects, which she sells through her Etsy shop. You Are Awesome collects together 21 of her craft ideas from her blog and her “20 in 20″ challenge (for which she made 20 crafts in 20 days), each one presented in color and clearly explained step by step. They range from an embroidery sampler to a bookshelf to a laptop toy made from a cardboard box. The projects are fairly simple, but all distinctive and quirky, and will appeal to novices and crafting professionals alike. Each one captures the warmth and humor that Abbey herself radiates and which has made her and her blog so popular.” Sounds about right to me! Here are some spreads and more pics from it to whet your appetite!

What I loved about this book: First, the gorgeous neon orange spine and the lovely cover – from the project featured to the font chosen, it looks really fresh and clean. I also love that the end papers are the most gorgeous pastel blue, so serene and such a nice complement to the neon orange accents throughout the book. The entire book feels very fresh as you flip through it, too – the layouts are simple yet striking and the font choices throughout are quite lovely. Another favorite is that it’s small enough to fit into your handbag yet it still feels special because it’s hardbound in some cool cardboard, I’ve not seen this often and totally like it because it doesn’t take itself too seriously.

I also really appreciate the title, even though I’m sure being a bit vague (it’s hard to tell it’s a craft book when you first see it) may make it hard to find for those who don’t know Abbey. Despite that though, I still love the title for one reason: it makes you feel good. I think that lots of people feel intimated by all of the perfection out there from what we are seeing on Pinterest to the pages of gorgeous magazines – it’s very easy to feel like you sorta suck in comparison. That’s why YOU ARE AWESOME is such a nice, “There, there, you can do it!” pat on the back kind of message. I like that.

In addition to the design of the book and title, the photography shot by Garry Maclennan is beautifully done and the illustrations throughout by Fiona Biddington from Pink Paper Circus are equally charming – what a great team Abbey had assigned to her book!

Some of my favorite projects include the Awesome pegs on p. 16/17, rainbow necklace on p. 18-21, Faceted necklace p. 34-37, Geometric ornaments p. 22/23 and the Valentine medals p. 64/65. The book also comes with handy templates in the back.

All in all, this is lovely little craft book – nice job Abbey!

(images: holly becker and pages from You Are Awesome)

What a great afternoon I had! Let me tell you what I did. First, I stressed out a little because I realized I have a few looming deadlines I’d forgotten (oops!) and, instead of working on them, I had to stick with my appointment this afternoon because there was no way I was going to cancel it… Then (the fun part), I spent 5 hours with my film instructor, Christopher, shooting and working on editing a short film we made in my work studio about the simple pleasures of reading a good book and enjoying a cup of tea. I’m not going to show it all (sorry, we didn’t finish it) but it came out really good and if you’d like, you can watch some of it on Vine if you follow me there (@decor8).

Sounds simple, but there is so much that goes in to making a really good film – it’s absolutely the coolest thing to really LEARN. If you want to convey emotion and lots of love (at least if that’s what you’re going for) without having it look boring or too corporate-y, you really have to shoot with your heart. Thankfully, he is exceptionally patient and talented because I didn’t feel for a second like I was going to fall asleep – just the opposite – when it was time for him to wrap up I felt like I could have gone on learning for many hours more. It felt good to just give myself 5 hours “off” (no guilt!) from the normal routine to absorb all he had to teach me.

Later this week, we’ll go on a field trip to a film studio to work some more — I feel like I’m learning so much. I have no clue what I will do in the end with this education but I’m not learning with any “goal”, no big picture in mind, no end result. I’m simply learning because I’ve always wanted to learn about video production and editing and finally found the time to do it but also the person to teach me. I’ve been thinking more and more about doing a little video here and there for decor8 and my e-classes, so this is also inspiring me in that direction. But again, no big planning or new career direction. Just having some fun. It’s vital to do things that we love, just because we love them.

Speaking of LOVE, this lovely e-mag that Jen Ramos from Made By Girl just released is LOVELY. It’s called, Cartas De Amor, or Love Letters in English. It’s a collection of personal handwritten love letters from the heart from Jennifer and 17 of her closest blogging pals. It’s really sweet and personal and I think Jen did a really nice job on it and hope she does more e-mags it’s nice to see her eye directing a magazine! To view the entire mag, click here.

Which reminds me… February 14th is just around the corner – I’m cooking for my family and friends and then we’re all going out to see a concert so it will be a very nice day. What will you do on V day?

(images: jen ramos)