A Yen for Paper

I seem to be obsessed lately with advertising involving the clever use of paper. Maybe it's because interesting advertising is rare. But there's also a bit of nostalgia here, as paper becomes less and less important in society -- newspapers losing ground to reading online, books in print being overshadowed by ebooks, etc.

Paradoxically, paper has become even more important to me in the past few years. I've always been an avid reader of books, magazines, and newspapers (not to mention cereal boxes, catalogs, posters -- you get the idea), but now that I make books, I've developed a whole new and delicious appreciation for all kinds of paper. In some ways, then, I may be going backward instead of forward in time. In this case, I don't think it's a bad thing.

This is the trailer for Le Petit Nicolas, a live-action film based on the book of the same name. The book was first published in 1959, written by Rene Goscinny (who also wrote the Asterix comic books), and illustrated by Jean-Jacques Sempe. Followed by several more books about Nicholas and his friends, the books became wildly popular in France in the 60s.

Thanks to Celeste Frittata for the heads up on this video.

How about you? Do you, too, have a lust for paper?

P.S. For those of you who are much more Blogger-savvy than I, how do I get an accent mark on that final 'e' in 'Rene' and 'Sempe'?

Off to Make Books

Five Luminous Towers, A Book to be Read in the Dark, offset printing, laser-cut

pop-ups, light and batteries, Carol Barton

BookGirl is off to Arrowmont tomorrow for a week of doing of my very favorite things: making books. I'm taking a class with book artist Carol Barton, who is known for her paper engineering and pop-up books. Everyone I know who's taken a class from her says she's a wonderful instructor, so I'm particularly eager to work with her. Since this will be my first time at Arrowmont, it'll be a bit of an adventure, even though it's only a two-hour drive from here.

I'll be signing off while I'm away, but to give you a little something to look at to help tide you over, I'll point you toward BookPuppy. Yes, it's true, BookGirl's dog has a blog. My friend Riverlark, whom I met at Penland in June during a book arts workshop, enticed her dog, Bella, to start one, and you know how dogs are -- mine had to jump on the bandwagon. Warning: elevated sugar levels and high cuteness quotient.

See you soon.

Tunnel Map, silkscreened tunnel book, Carol Barton