Over the holidays, we're not updating too often... we're off eating leftover turkey and cookies instead.
But in our absence, here's a little something to keep you entertained. Think of it as the ultimate cure for those Christmas jingles that've been stuck in your head for the past month.
Foux De Fa Fa by Flight of the Conchords
Catchy, no? Hehehe...
(Thanks, Dan!)
Amy Karol, aka Angry Chicken, is making gift giving just that much easier this year...
She's created some funny gift tags that you can download and print out to use on your own gifts. They say all those awkward but true things you'd like to say when you give a gift, but probably shouldn't... things like "I totally want to get one of these for myself so, let me know if you don't want it" or "I made this, just so you know, so don't say anything mean about it".
Go here to download the gift tags.
(via Unvarnished)
My favourite video of 2007 was probably made in someone's den, or basement. I've been obsessed with the song My Body is a Cage by the Arcade Fire since seeing this fan video on Pitchfork's Top 50 Videos of 2007. It's entirely engrossing and mesmerizing, but came from such a simple idea - cutting an old movie to fit in with a new song. The effect is amazing, however. I need to see Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West to find out what's up with the harmonicas.
Your favourite donkey and sock monkey team are back!
You may remember Cecil and Britches from last year's video, No Santa Today...
Now they've made another video that's worth a watch - again in that glorious black-and-white old timey style. It's called Crumby Presents.
Cecil and Britches also now have a blog. What web-savvy little toys they are.
The Guardian asked some artists to redefine the traditional snowman. Goodbye three white balls with a carrot nose...
Here's a gallery of the results.
This upside-down one is by David Shrigley is one of my faves.
This fabric one by Yinka Shonibare is also pretty great.
For the Guardian's full interviews about the artistic snowmen, go here.
And here's the one I made over the weekend from mini sugar oranges! Hee!
Orange you glad it's Christmas?
This Is Love Forever, who is a very talented gal, makes, among other other things, some really lovely fabric foods -- for example, see here and here.
Now she's getting in the Christmas spirit, and has sewn up a fabric büche de noël (aka yule log) cake, complete with berries and mushrooms.
Here's another great pic of her creation.
As I head out to do the last of my Christmas shopping (yeeks!) in the rain (double yeeks!) I will leave you here, all warm and cozy, with a beautiful drawing of how winter should be: full of snow, warm scarves... and owls... :)
This lovely piece is by Geninne, an artist that I came across on Flickr.
Snowy Owl by Geninne
And this is the studio where she works...
Wow. I love all those colours and the wood. Check out this flickr set of the cabin she lives in, and also these photos of her cabin studio. Prepare yourself for extreme jealousy.
Um, when can I move in?
You can keep up with Geninne on Flickr, on her art blog blog, and on Etsy.
I love the explosion aesthetic.
What does that mean? It's what I'd like to do when I eventually move into a place where I can put as many nails in the walls as I want, without worrying about landlords and damage deposits.
To be more precise: it's arranging tons of great artwork on a wall, randomly yet organically.
Here are a couple of examples of what I mean:
Anders Nilsen (creator of the Big Questions comics, and one of my illustration crushes) made this installation of 1" buttons in the bedroom of a very lucky eight year old kid.
Go here for more photos and close-ups.
Artist Lisa Congdon did a similar thing in her kitchen with plates.
Who knew hanging plates on the walls could be so stylish?
There are tons of examples of framed artwork being hung this way (but of course, I can't find any links right now). Both Martha and Lifehacker have tips on how to accomplish this feat without going completely mad.
Now's the time to catch up on all the rock shows you missed: Pitchfork has posted their Year In Photos.
The Mountain Goats seem like the happiest band ever.
Can't decide which is better: a real xmas tree or a fake one?
How about neither. Just use whatever's lying around the house.
This bookshelf tree was made by by Frank Visser of IJM.
(via)
This past weekend, Lindsay and I were in the same city for a change, thanks to her work, which brought her from Ontario to Vancouver. As everyone kept quipping, Lindsay brought the snow with her: surprisingly, it snowed in Vancouver... but, unsurprisingly, about 24 hours later it rained and melted all the snow away.
So what happens when Magpie and Cake are together (A) in the same city and (B) in the snow? We christmassed it up and made a gingerbread house!
As we built a house together, I learned two new things about Lindsay (which is pretty incredible, as we've known each other for 15 years):
1) Lindsay had never made a gingerbread house before!!!
2) Lindsay prefers having a plan (ie.measuring and cutting out paper shapes to plan the house), whereas I was just going to cut out shapes randomly and hope they all fit together in the end.
All the pieces did end up fitting together in the end (thanks to Lindsay's measuring!), but once the icing, smarties, and jujubes came out, we both got a little out of control...
When the mini-poodles came out, we were waaaaay past rules and restraint. Poodles will do that to you.
Every gingerbread house deserves robots, unicorns, crocodiles and poodles.
Man, this town is getting to be craft fair central.
In addition to the ones I listed before, there are a couple more craft fairs going on this weekend in Vancouver:
Anti-Seam Social Ripper Craft Fair
A fundraiser for Seamrippers Craft Collective at Antisocial, 2425 Main Street.
Friday, December 7th, 6pm to midnight and Saturday, December 8th, noon to 6pm.
and
shiny fuzzy muddy 8
Featuring shiny fuzzy muddy members: AstroSatchel, Frances Felt, Laura McKibbon (I love her ceramics!), Kari Woo and Arleigh Wood, plus guest artists Jill Allan, Ulla Clark, Holly Cruise, Caroline Miller, Audra Neil, Patina Designs and Jasna Sokolovic.
Friday, December 7th, 5 to 10 pm
Saturday, December 8th, 11 to 5 pm
Sunday, December 9th, 2007, noon to 5 pm
at Video-In Studios, 1965 Main Street (at 3rd)
There was also a great craft fair that we* discovered this past weekend called Toque, which was on at the Western Front. Lots of great vendors. I bought a t-shirt from Hand and Shadow, with a drawing of hair on it. Ok, that sounds kinda gross, but the drawing is really lovely.
(*Did I mention Lindsay (the other half of Magpie and Cake!) was in town? Yeeks! More on that to come soon, including pottery, gingerbread and snow...)
Hello, December!
Time for snow and xmas decorations to start falling down and going up.
To set the tone for the month, here are some pieces by artist Matthew Rodriguez.
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