http://dogearedtown.tumblr.com/

We’ve been making weekly and sometimes daily posts over there.

Deck Yourself in Books, a Celebration of Book Arts to Wear

Really, I can’t resist posting anything book artsy…even if it’s just out there in the way of book arts.

HankyBooks (www.hankybook.com) are either the best thing ever, or just too much over the top. I’m not sure what I think yet, although I do wish I could reduce our use of tissue in our dog eared apartment.

Maybe this will inspire you in some way, and so I pass it along to you. HankyBooks are reusable books of, well, hankies. You can use these for spills (like glue when you’re collaging! or a little bit of coffee that just dribbled on your journal page! or, of course, blowing your nose…)

On their web site, they explain:

A HankyBook is a Handkerchief book, whereby soft and absorbent 100% organic cotton pages are bound together within an AWESOME protective cover. This makes for a nose blowing experience that is clean for your hands and your pocket!

Basically, you use a page, turn the page, use another page, etc. When it’s time, you toss it in the laundry. Pretty cool, huh? But at the same time, think of the book artsy possibilities. And, no, I’m not thinking of making books out of stains and cleanups. Why not use a HankyBook as a blank canvas, to create your own fabric art book?

Please, go do something creative with this idea. Let me know what you do.

Paper Arts on  you iPhone? Yes. It may see like the world might implode if you use your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad for PAPERY inspiration, but I promise you, it’s worth the risk.

I few days ago I saw a video about a new app, “Paper Art Trends.”

It’s a sweet app showcasing art by several paper artists with updated content each month. First up is art by Gloup Design, 7 Gods, Ana Serrano, Kyle Bean, Camille Asseraf, Mathilde Nivet, Romain Lenancker, Doriane Souilhol, Zim and Zou, Elod Beregszaszi, Agnès Audras, Bianca Chang, Chloé Fleury, Violise Lunn, Saloukee, Stina Persson, and Karim Charlebois-Zaffira. I downloaded Paper Art Trends and played around with it on my old iPod Touch, and it looks really cool. The images are sharp and are easily shared on Twitter or by email, and with a tap you can contact the artist or visit his or her web site.If you are not online, many of the features seem to not work. So, alas, this inspiration is for home or coffee shop fun, not for bus rides. (Unless you’re on a rare bus with wifi—thank you Sound Transit.)

Paper Art Trends was created by http://www.partfaliaz.com/

Based loosely on our Eye Candy semi-regular feature, we’ve created this treasury of book arts goodness from our members and artists who inspire us. Today was sunny and beautiful in Seattle, although we realize that it was snowy and dark in much of the rest of the world. So we thought we’d bring some sunshine book artsyness to you in the treasury. Enjoy!

dog eared town!

We’ve been trying really hard to get publishing again. But, it’s been a tough road. To feed everyone’s withdrawal, I’d like to offer you a little corner of the internet to gather and share and get some free information and ideas and inspiration. Consider dog eared town to be an online version of dog eared magazine, but also something more–something interactive, something that you can participate in and feed and water and help grow.

This new social networking page, dog eared town, is a little gift to you. I haven’t reached the point where I am able to give you a new issue of dog eared magazine, but this I can give you. Right now, no waiting for the mail, no needing to raise money for printing, no stress. Right?

It’s not intended to replace dog eared magazine, so please don’t worry about that. It’s only meant to be a much-needed security blanket for us book arts junkies, while we wait for the time to come for another issue to be printed.

I’d like to invite you to be part of a select group of beta-testing founding citizens of dog eared town. Right now, dog eared town will be open by invitation only. This is to keep the feel of a close-knit community, which is what we book artists really are. If you’d like an invitation, email me at kerriecarbary at gmail dot com or fill out this little form.

I hope you’ll help dog eared town grow into a special community.

Our first Alphabet of the Week Shout Out Bark Out goes to a non-alphabet: Arain by junkohanhero. I love antique keys, and this font is a perfect way to share the love without allowing anymore rusty goodness into my studio. This cool font is free, although donations are accepted at dafont.com, where Arain can also be downloaded: http://www.dafont.com/avain.font