Pop-Up Advent Calendar

[Eric Carle's Dream Snow Pop-Up Advent Calendar, from Chronicle Books]

I want this. I know, I want a lot of things, but this I might actually get. I know that the gif here is super crappy, but you can kind of see the awesome paper engineering on this calendar. Who cares about flat hang-me-on-the-wall advent calendars when you can have a POP-UP tree AND a POP-UP Santa.

I am also a big fan of Eric Carle and have been wanting to go to the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. I unfortunately do not know anyone that lives in Amherst, and can therefore not justify the trip just to go to the museum. Sigh. Perhaps one day I will find myself in Massachusetts and will make time to go.

Getting Organized

[Notebooks by Cath Kidston, images from Cath Kidston]

I somehow managed to survive the first part of 2008 without a daily planner. But now that I can see my old self coming back (ie, scary busy,) I decided I needed one and fast. Normally I would buy something online from an indie designer, but instead I drove to Barnes and Noble so I would have something in hand immediately.
To my surprise, Barnes and Noble had a pretty decent selection of interesting notebooks. One of my favorite illustrators, Jill Bliss, had a few products displayed in the store, and there were several Chronicle Book products featuring the work of Cath Kidston, mother of the "shabby chic" interior design revolution. I was pretty much crushed that there was no Cath Kidston day planner, only plain notebooks. But, oh, such pretty notebooks! I could probably just buy them to display on my desk instead of actually writing in them.
Still, I can't complain. I bought this awesome 18-month weekly planner designed by working class studio, a group of faculty, alumni, and students from the Savannah College of Art and Design.
I'm glad that places like Barnes and Noble are taking notice and buying more interesting stationery products for their stores. It's nice to see more colorful alternatives to the plain leather day planners that line the walls.