We Love You So – Where The Wild Things Are – Spike Jonze

Peter Nencini’s Hand Werk boxes are sets of materials and forms designed for abstract play. The components—made of wood, plastic, ceramic, rubber and fabric— are “mostly designed and cut to combine with counterparts sourced from school science lab suppliers for example, have a character that sits somewhere between board game bits, measurement tools, ambiguous accessories for clothing, for eating.”

The object of the sets is to encourage truly imaginative play; that is, play free of rules, goals, guidelines or restrictions. Nencini provides forms that beg to be touched and stacked and rearranged, then lets viewers do the rest. Each kit is boxed in a plain brown container and comes without instructions. Brilliant.

Photo credit: beaucolbern!

When we did a post on the tools of the trade a while back, some of you commented that your notebooks of choice were Field Notes. After investigating the matter, we agree that their products are a necessary addition to the notebook arsenal.

An honest memo book, worth fillin’ up with GOOD INFORMATION is what the company calls their notebook; inspirations include “the vanishing subgenre of agricultural memo books, ornate pocket ledgers and the simple, unassuming beauty of a well-crafted grocery list.”

Say no more! Well, maybe a little more. Field Notes are durable, naturally, but more importantly: they’re pocket-sized and flexible. In other words, they’re built for the road, and there’s no excuse not to carry yours around everywhere. Available in all the standard denominations––ruled paper, graph paper, plain––the books also include suggestions on how to use them, for those at a loss. Examples: Road Trip Mileage, Shady Transactions, Crop Predictions. You’ll find that you probably won’t need the suggestions; in these fast-paced modern days, there’s always something to write about.

The thing about Canadian stereotypes is that they’re all complimentary. Examples: Canadians are nice, they eat delicious foods such as poutine, and are a little weird (in a good way). They are also known to enjoy hockey and maple syrup. Frank Gehry is Canadian, as is Leonard Cohen. What’s not to love?

Fitting neatly into the overlapping categories of Awesome and Canadian is ecojot, a line of delightful paper goods made of recycled materials and biodegradable inks and glues. Like many Canadian exports, the products are slightly kooky in the best possible way. Our favorites, the notebooks, are sturdy and jumbo-sized––like kid’s sketchbooks–– and fronted with designs that look like nothing else in the art store. In the ecojot cosmos, dogs are hot dog-shaped and wear pinwheel caps, birds are peppermint-colored, and whales have freckles. It’s hard to know whether to use the books or cuddle with them. One point for Canada!

Simplicity is best. Not sure if that’s a truism or just true, but it’s always a good axiom by which to live. We’re big fans of these notebooks for a few reasons: their clean colors, the artfulness of the letterpressed covers, the animals that look straight out of a Rudyard Kipling book, and the slim but sturdy size of the things.

A good notebook isn’t easy to find, particularly one with a sweet French fold and a couple of built-in ribbon bookmarks. This is one to tuck under your arm next time you go adventuring.

Tools are personal. Whether it’s a paintbrush, chisel, camera or sewing machine, a long-used tool becomes like a third arm. You learn its quirks and deficits. You figure out, over time, how to coax the best performance from it.

Best Made appreciates this fact and produces its axes–yes, axes–accordingly. Their axes are made to order, hand-painted and tempered by “one of America’s oldest axe-makers.” The handles are made of hickory from Tennessee and each axe arrives with its own leather blade guard, ready for the kindling pile. Best of all? The axes have names like “Moss Thumper”, “Big Sur” and “Zepyhr”.

Appropriate for chopping wood or just mounting on the wall, the axes come with a lifetime guarantee. As the creators put it–and this applies to every tool, no matter what size– “Axes, like all tools, are at your disposal to make your life, and the world around you a better place, and above all they require your sound judgment and precaution. An axe can bite you if you don’t respect it…always respect your Axe!”