last year’s stationery show at the javits was full of beautiful designs- many of which designed to designer kamal from virginia. i’ve been following her work since the show and was excited to hear that she’s launched a new product line called “miniwraps”. kamal’s miniwraps are a series of ‘celebratory’ 16×23 inch gift wraps that come in 4 patterned designs. each mini roll comes with 2 sheets and 2 tissues for wrapping a little something special. i love the idea of mini wraps and having smaller quantities to use for craft projects- i’m thinking they might be just what i need to jazz up my drawers. it’s always fun to open up your dresser and see something pretty staring back. click here to check out kamal’s new collection and shop online (miniwraps rolls are $6.50 each). thanks, kamal!

speaking of calm simplicity, i’m also loving this super-minimalist letterpress calendar from designer beverly hsu. beverly fell in love with letterpress printing while studying at carnegie mellon and decided to create a calendar using twelve different decorative types that she discovered in various typecases in the school’s letterpress lab. each decorative piece represents a day and each set of decorative elements represents a month. it’s definitely not for everyone, but if you’re looking for a calendar that is clean, minimalist and decorative, beverly has got you covered. click here for more information and here to shop her calendar at etsy.

before we jump into before & after day i wanted to share this beautiful new calendar from amy soczka. each calendar features 12 original illustrations with a botanical theme and comes with a clip for wall hanging. click here for more info and to pre-order. thanks, amy!

good morning! today i’m kicking things off with these beautiful handmade paper lights from margarita and ludwig at mn*ls. this one-off collection was created from handfolded antique books and was shown at a small gallery and then used in a japanese restaurant as decoration. i love the under of working in a home office lit by folded book paper lamps. so stunning. click here for more information on mn*ls and their work.

over at the d*s guest blog, lucy is introducing us to artist kat macleod’s and her favorite spots in melbourne’s north carlton area- click here for the full post!

sometimes simple design finds make me the happiest. i love a great pattern or a decorative piece of furniture, but sometimes a beautiful glass vase is what makes me smile. i’m loving these super simple vases from kajsa at HAPPYsthlm. the shape is so small and pleasing- it’s just right for a carefree last minute arrangement. click here for more information and to contact kajsa about ordering.

calendars are another affordable art buy for me- this year i decided to pick up calendars as casual “just because” gifts for family and friends and caitlin keegan’s new soy-ink calendar is such a cute option. i love the little spaces for notes and wheel shape. click here to buy online ($20).

in other calendar news, i’m also enjoying dutch door press’ 2010 letterpress calendar, $30 at little paper planes.

alyson graves is the designer behind postal press in portland, oregon. she recently released a beautiful new 2010 letterpress calendar titled “specimen” that is filled with letterpress images of butterflies, plants, and shells. i have such a soft spot for botanical art (ferns in particular) so i was excited to see the fern prints, which could easily turn into wall art when the month has passed. for more information and to pre-order alyson’s calendar (calendar’s will ship on october 28th) click here. thanks, alyson!

i’ve been anxiously awaiting the second edition of book city jackets’ artist series and was pleasantly surprised to see new work by cheeming boey, nishat akhtar and michael hsiung. i really love a good guest artist series and this new set of covers really makes me smile. i love the idea of rotating different artist-drawn paper covers to both protect books with beautiful covers and cover books with not-so-beautiful covers. if you’d like to pick up the new edition of covers ($12 for all 3) click here to shop. thanks, jeremy!