{Music Monday} Love Love Love...paper animation

I discovered the New Zealand band, Avalanche City, because of my love of (paper) stop motion animation. I'm quite taken with this video- but it's a catchy tune too. Another discovery from this band is Hunter & Gatherer who did  artwork for the band's album, Our New Life Above the Ground- check out their cool Etsy Shop here. Art & music.... a lovely way to start the week. Happy Music Monday! 

{Mid-week Inspiration} Rob Ryan...

Handmade Portraits: Rob Ryan from Etsy on Vimeo.

I've been a fan of Rob Ryan's since I gave Chris the book,  This is For You  a few Valentine's Days ago - I just saw this great video about him this morning on the Etsy Blog & thought I would pass it on. After I watched it, I cruised through Rob's  shop, where I saw the, "Our Adventures in Wallpaper Collaboration with Mini Moderns"! Lovely - I'm a fan of Mini Moderns as well so I was thrilled to see this. I recently saw a great post about Mini Moderns on Bright Bazaar too that you might want to check out. Nothing like a great collaboration between some amazing artists/designers to help get you through Wednesday. Hope you are having a great week! 

{Everyday Inspiration} Paper attire for a dream date...

Ever since Cardboard Man's existence, I've been dreaming about what sort of outfit I could wear for a night out on the town with him. When I saw the work of Jum Nakao {via here}, my question was answered...

Incredible! Isn't the end nuts- can you imagine? Ah, the drama... 

Now the only thing left to wonder about is where should I take Cardboard Man in our paper attire (& would the end of our date be similar)? Hmmm.... Hope everyone is having a great weekend! 

{Everyday Inspiration} more paper love...

Here is a little inspiration for your Wednesday. I just ran across the work of paper artist, Mandy Smith via Roadside Projects & I was immediately smitten. Not to mention the book her work is included in, Paper Craft 2 looks incredible!  Given that I'm married to "cardboard man" who makes art often dealing with interior & exterior spaces, I felt the need to share this. 

The Move, Paper Animation from Mandy Smith on Vimeo.

Isn't her work amazing! I just love this paper animation. Awesome!  (Chris this is for you) Hope everyone is having a great week! 
{photos via here}

{Everyday Inspiration} Papercraft Part II- video ...

Remember that cool book I posted about yesterday called Papercraft? Well, I looked through it some more last night and loved every minute of it. The little jewel at the end of the book is a DVD of some video spots made by a few of the artists or design groups included in the book. I was able to find them on youtube so I can share them with you. 

Do you have a favorite? While I certainly enjoy all of them, I have the Audi commercial sort of stuck in my head. Cardboard & Woody Guthrie is a pretty winning combination (not a shabby car either).  

{Everyday Inspiration} Papercraft ...

Being that Chris loves to work with paper, books, & cardboard lately, I gave him a book called, "Papercraft: Design and Art with Paper" for Christmas this year. It truly was a gift for him- I saw the look on his face when he saw this book in person & knew I had to get it for him. With that being said- I LOVE this book! I've been patient and made a point to not jump on it the minute he opened it up. However, I couldn't  wait anymore. I cracked the book open last night and barely scratched the surface. HOLY MOLY this book is just oooooozing with inspiration & amazing work! It really does have a wonderful variety of papercraft art represented as well. I thought I would give you a peak of some of the artists featured. Seriously, there is sooooo much more & I could go on for hours. But here is a start....

Peter Callesen

Helen Friel 

Edouard Sautai

Brian Dettmer

HIna Aoyama

Elizabeth Lecourt 

Mark Fox 

I'm sure I'll be posting about new discoveries as I plow through this book. It's about 250 pages with a dvd included! Oh joy... this will be a nice little break I think. I have to say, the piece called "Invisible Cities" by Helen Friel, was something that made me think a lot about this blog. 

"She created the work based on a place described by Italo Calvino in his book 'Invisible Cities'.  Each time a new relationship is made, the inhabitants run colored string between buildings."-  Papercraft.

I love that concept and think it would be fun to imagine or realize color strings representing all of the relationships this blog has brought me. Just a thought for now. But it would be interesting to start a project like that  being that it's the beginning of 2011. So if you are reading this blog. Let your voice be heard- you may just become a piece of colored string...