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This video is all over the internet... and well it should be. "The Joy of Books" is a lovely, magical work by Toronto's Type Books . (Bonus points if you spot Hoopla amongst the shelves!)

I like tiny things. When I was small myself, I had a dollhouse (inhabited by bears and bunnies ) and also a few shelves and a  type case filled with little items like a glass hedgehog, tiny teapots, little shells, and other miniature treasures. And while I've since tried to reduce the amount of clutter and knick knacks in my life, I am still partial to a few cute, tiny touches here and there, like the penny-sized plastic antelope that grazes atop a picture frame in my kitchen and the micro hippo that lurks on my desk. (But seriously, who doesn't want a house hippo ?! Seriously.) So I think I was already pre-conditioned to enjoy  Microcrafts: Tiny Treasures to Make and Share , a new book by  published by Quirk Books. Compiled by Quirk editior Margaret McGuire and crafters Alicia Kachmar and Katie Hatz , the book presents 25 projects for crafts dreamed up by a dozen or so crafters. Like the book title implies, the projects are not only smaller than bread box, th...

The Vancouver book launch for Hoopla was really fun. It was great to see such a good turn out, and great to chat to everyone there, including the lovely Leanne Prain (author extraordinaire) and Kirsten Chursinoff (embroidery artist extraordinaire), and one artist who's project is featured in the book who had travelled all the way from New Zealand to be there! I didn't know which photos were going to be included in the book, so it was a fun surprise to open the book and see. The photo of me and my husband got into the book, looking all super cute (even if I do say so myself, heh) with embroidered hearts all around us, as well as my favourite photo of all: my little nephew 'reading' the newspaper, looking very serious and dapper with his embroidered moustache! I'm really excited to see my work in print. In my day job in the publishing industry, I work with books every day, but seeing  your own work  in a book is pretty thrilling. More of this to come in the future, ...

A little last minute.... but tonight is the Vancouver launch for HOOPLA !   Hoopla: The Art of Unexpected Embroidery is a new book from Leanne Prain, who wrote Yarm Bombing . At 400 full-colour pages Hoopla: The Art of Unexpected Embroidery is a spectacular subversive embroidery opus. The book contains interviews, profiles, history, technique and over 28 innovative patterns for readers to create. I am excited about this book because (A) it's a great topic, (B) is bound to be awesome and (C) one of the projects in the book is by me! I can't wait to see a printed copy of the book this evening. Four hundred pages -- it's a beast!