(Inside A Black Apple)

Drink your Milk

I broke down and got the crazy-pricey overseas subscription last November.
Even though everything on the website is in French, I just needed to do it, because, this magazine is the most magical of magazines. I think it was when Lisa finally caved and subscribed to Selvedge that I decided to go for it. And then, no magazines came. It is quarterly, but still. When two (or maybe three?) issues came and went on the website, and none came to  my mailbox, I began to grow a little concerned.

So, against Josiah's good advice, I wrote to them in awful, hilarious French, inquiring about the whole debacle. Well, it seems that my pleas in broken French touched the hearts of the subscription dept. at Milk...it was probably the phrase "Je suis triste" that really got 'em. (wink)
Less than a week later, the newest issue was delivered to me! Sorry, I just needed to share the drama and turmoil surrounding my Milk Magazine, so that you could understand why I went crazy with happiness at its arrival yesterday.

Just some snippets of its beautiful children and whimsical strangeness (please ignore the stubby fingers):

 

 

 

It was so worth embarrassing myself.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!
xoxo

When you were small (and so was the chair)

So, Julie Morstad is pretty wonderful...I mean, her work is. I know lots of you applets are fans.
She did the beautiful drawings for Neko-my-love-Case's most recent record sleeve, and some sweet little bird tipped me off about the children's book she illustrated, called When You Were Small, which I now own and am in love with. It is a little-ish book with a little story about a boy named Henry (my most favorite boy-name, p.s.) who asks his father repeatedly "Tell me about when I was small". His dad seems to be a very creative sort with a wonderful imagination, and he regales Henry with tales of just how small he was.
It is simply one of the most quietly, perfectly-spare but lovely little picture books I have ever seen. The book's design is clean but sweet and library-like, and the drawings are charming and fragile-looking vignettes. The words are matter-of-fact in this wonderful, whimsical way.

 
Again, I'm smitten with the endpapers:

See how delicate and perfect?

At first I thought that the "thread" illustration was clearly my favorite...but now I think the "sleeping in a slipper" might be...

And, speaking of little things, in my studio right now is my new, blue, tiny chair:

I had been on the lookout for a tiny chair for quite a while and this one seemed like the one for me. Although, one can never have too many miniature chairs...

Happy Weekend, sweet peas.
Go nestle in a slipper
or
take a bath in a teapot.

Look & Cook + Enclosures

Look & Cook is an incredibly lovely book by the lady who brought us See & Sew (which I blogged a little while back). I think that loads of people already have/know of these books (like Meg said the other day, I know that I'm "not your only news source"). They are new to me, though, and I am so taken by them.  Like its sewing counterpart, it is purportedly for children...and truthfully, it would probably to a darn good job of teaching any interested little person their way around the kitchen. Or any big person who slipped through the cracks of learning the basics.  However, we all know that a little more than half of the charm of these books is in their perfect vintage-modern design, and the fact that they are covered in sweet, vintage illustrations. (SO sorry for the unfortunate photographs today...it was 32 degrees and drizzling the whole day).
Again, with the lovely endpapers:

 

Some recipes that I will never make, but that are charming nonetheless:

and others I most certainly would...

And, possibly my favorite thing in the book:

This egg chart, which I find hysterically funny. I think it is because of my fondness for calling people Good and Bad eggs. I really want to frame this chart for my kitchen...and I think I will do that this weekend.

Non-book related, I recently designed/had printed some new business cards (fresh year, fresh cards) as well as a little "Thank You" enclosure postcard to be sent out with all Black Apple orders. Both with rounded corners, so super-exciting and snazzy (to dorky me). I had been trying to think of a little mini-gift I could use as an enclosure with my packages. Since they are almost all flat, and bending/poking is a number one issue, pinback buttons or any little object have always been out of the question. I adore postcards so much, I'm not quite sure why it took me so long to think up a little thank you postcard that could then, in turn, be used by the recipient.  Certainly a big bunch of credit goes to Hillary for her string of genius postcards...

Both big boxes came today, and I'm very pleased!

The back of the business card obviously has my shop & blog addresses, email, etc. and is quite snazzy as well, even though I don't have a scan of it. So this is what will be keeping  your orders company for the foreseeable future. Good company indeed!

xoxo

Blackstock's Collections

I'm here...catching up with everyone and everything Internets-related after a brief little break. I've got a wonderful book for day one of my picture-book-blogging plan, called Blackstock's Collections (the link will take you to the Amazon listing). I picked it up at my favorite little comics place downtown, Bizarro Wuxtry. There are some great comics shops in Brooklyn and NYC proper, but this is still by far my favorite...mostly because everytime I walk through the door, I'm immediately bombarded by the newest, coolest "things that Devlin thinks I might like". He's about 95% accurate (I can't seem to convince him that I don't care for the art of Robert Williams), and this book was one of those thrust-into-my-hands things a few weeks ago...

Aren't these great? Gregory Blackstock, this archiver of bees and saws and airplanes and crows, is a savant who obsessively catalogues the sheer number of versions-of-things that exist. And when would you say these were made? I mean, if you couldn't read the dates beneath them...
Isn't it crazy? They are all dated from the 90's to the 2000's! I would've guessed that they were drawn in the 30's or 40's... The colors and just general sensibility is so antiqued.

Anyway, happy Wednesday, darlins! Back tomorrow with another picture book...

Buttons are my favorite

I really love buttons...when I was a really tiny person, I "collected" them, meaning that my mom would let me choose 10 loose buttons from this big bin at the store. Digging my fingers into the huge sea of little candy-ish plastic and glass discs, Amelie-style, was one of the most satisfying and wonderful sensations.

I found this sweet Japanese book via the wonderful Molly Chicken blog, and it is available for order here. What a beautiful little volume it is...and it  makes me want to just hoard all of my special vintage buttons in glass cases and shadow-boxes!

Don't those little animal shapes just kill you? Who am I kidding, they ALL kill me.

The cherry pie from yesterday was really tasty. Thanks for all the cute comments about that apron! My best friend Sarah gave it to me before she moved away to Brooklyn a few years ago. It is the perfect apron for protecting from flour and the like, while still being adorable. I love baking so much these days...though today I think I'm going to make a big pot of chicken soup with rice, ala Maurice Sendak. It is one of my favorite winter-foods.

A few links:

• This hilarious and wonderful series of short animations, Making Fiends, which was found via BoingBoing. It is really clever and adorable. I read on the site that it is being picked up by Nickelodeon soon! It reminded me of what it felt like to discover Teen Girl Squad way back when.
• Revamp Vintage, which is vintage reproduction clothing. So cute! I'm thinking of having them make a few simple 1940's style day dresses for me. Between them and Remix, I feel very happy. Very happy indeed.