The Art of the Book

A peek into the studios at The Center for Book ArtsThe storefront of Printed Matter, Inc.

I love books. And I also love art. And, like peanut butter and chocolate, when books and art cross it makes for something even better! Think illuminated manuscripts, graphic novels, illustrated diaries, sketchbooks. . . there is something very appealing about the the combination of the written word and graphics. As well as I like the succinct presentation of art in a bound codex, allowing the viewer/reader to flip through pages, discovering multiple levels of art within one piece.

In today's post I am happy to introduce two places in Manhattan each centering around book arts. The first is The Center for Book Arts. The Center for Book Arts is a multi-purpose book artist's studio, education center, exhibition space and center for resources on everything related to bookmaking. They have classes in bookbinding, printing, letterpress, paper making, paper marbling, leather tooling, typography, collage making, paper cutting, illumination, and so much more. They also host lectures on book-related topics, hold book-related events or invite guest artists in to share their work.

Artists can rent studio space at the center, giving them access to all the printing and book binding equipment and supplies. There is a small gallery at the Center, with a fascinating rotating exhibit of book art. A visit to the Center offers a glimpse at the current exhibit, a small book shop offering rare and limited edition handmade art and poetry books, and a peek into the bustling studios and workshops where artists and students are busy cutting papers, stitching bindings and manning the letterpresses. Classes can run a bit on the expensive side, but it is worth checking out the schedule of events if you have any interest in learning anything related to bookmaking. The Center for Book Arts is located at 28 West 27th street, between Broadway and 6th Ave.

The other place I recently discovered is Printed Matter, Inc. This is an unusual shop on the far west side that sells rare, limited-edition and handmade books. It describes itself as being "the largest non-profit organization dedicated to publications made by artists." 'Odd' and 'fascinating' are two very appropriate words that come to my mind to describe this shop. Visit this shop to see the variety of ways printed matter can be presented, to inspire you to print and bind your own writing or to just buy an offbeat publication. Printed Matter, Inc. is located at 195 10th Ave. between 21st and 22nd Streets.

Sweet Cuppin' Cakes

With the explosion of various chic cupcake bakeries around town I imagine you're expecting the post where I publish my informal results of a cupcake competition. Is it Billy's or Magnolia? Crumbs or Cupcake Factory? (Yes, inevitably that post too come, . . . but at the moment I am still eating myself around town. I must carefully weigh all the options, you see).

However, if you prefer to skip this tired competition all together and instead think you can make a cupcake as good as from any of these trendy cupcakeries, then I suggest you head to N.Y. Cake & Baking Dist. shop to stock up on baking supplies. The shop is filled with cake tins, decorative paper cupcake cups, frosted flowers, baking tools, candles, cake toppers, frosting dyes and glitter, silver gilded almonds, sprinkles, cake stands, wedding cake supplies and so much more. Even if you are not a seasoned baker, browsing the aisles of this shop might just inspire you to go home, remove the handbags and winter hats from your storage closet, ahem, I mean oven, and bake a cake or two.

N.Y. Cake & Baking Dist. is located at 56 West 22nd Street, between 5th and 6th Aves. The service is very rude, but you might have to put up with it as this may be the only baking store in Manhattan that is this good.

Just a word of warning - remember, you live in NYC, . . . your kitchen is TINY and you already use your oven as a storage closet. Don't buy too many baking supplies!

The Flower District

Today's highlight is the Flower District. Running between 6th and 7th Avenues on 28th street, the Flower District is a visual delight of exotic flowers, plants and floral and garden supplies. Even if you don't intend to buy, just walking along the street is like walking through a greenhouse. But if you do plan to pick up some greenery, prices are good, especially for the dried flowers and decorative/floral supplies (vases, ribbon, props, etc.). Here are a few of my favorite stores along the street:

For Fresh Flowers:
- Fischer & Page, Ltd.
- Tropical Foliage - United Wholesale Florist, Ltd.
- G. Page

For Potted Plants:
- International Garden Inc. (this is on 6th Ave. between 27th and 28th streets)
- Paradise Plant, Inc.
- Noble Planta

For Floral/Garden/Decorative Supplies:
- B&H Florist's Supply (great prices for ribbons and vases!)
- Jamali Garden Supplies

For Silk or Dried Flowers:
- Dry & Silk Flowers, Inc.
- Center for Floral Design
- Silk Gardens and Trees
- Pany Silk Flowers

For Tree Branches:
- U.S. Evergreen Wholesale Florist (this is on 6th Ave. between 27th and 28th streets)

June Bride

The happiest day of my life! Photo by Melissa Blemur

With wedding season in full swing, what better a month than June to talk about weddings. I myself was a June bride exactly a year ago (June 21, 2008), and during the long course of planning leading up to the big day I discovered a few great resources here in the city for wedding planning. While hosting the actual wedding in the City would be extremely expensive, there are a lot of free and unique resources to be found here for wedding planning. (I spent last year in NYC planning my wedding and benefiting from the vast array of opportunities and inspiration, but the wedding itself was held upstate in Ithaca).

One of the best things I discovered was The Wedding Library on the Upper East Side. The Wedding Library is a shop/library/wedding planning center. They have swatch-books, portfolios, and contacts for bakers, bands, caterers, calligraphers, cleaners, DJs, floral designers, linens suppliers, makeup artists, musicians, officiants, party planners, photographers, registries, stationery, stylists, venues, videographers and wedding dresses. It is open to anyone and though reservations are strongly encouraged, I did manage to stop by unannounced and they were happy to help me and let me browse through their collections of stationary (which was great help in giving me ideas for designing my own invitations). With so many resources all under one roof it is a great place to start wedding planning and gather some ideas of how you want to shape your own event. The Wedding Library is located at 43 East 78th street. They also have an e-newsletter that I suggest you sign up for and you'll receive new wedding related ideas every week in your inbox.

For wedding dresses, the best place to go is Kleinfeld's. (Perhaps not necessarily to buy the dress in the end - prices are steep, - but as the first place to look at dresses and figure out what styles you like). Kleinfeld's is a beautiful luxuriant gallery of wedding dresses. You must make an appointment first, often a few weeks in advance. When you visit you will be assigned a personal dress consultant. You can begin by browsing the showroom or closets for wedding dresses (like a kid in a candy store), or if you have an idea of what you want your consultant can find dresses that fit your description. But go in with an open mind. I myself never envisioned a strapless wedding dress, but at her suggestion I tried a few on. . . .turns out strapless looked the best on me and in the end that is the style I went with (though I purchased the actual dress from a more discount store). Your consultant will help you try the dresses on and you can try as many as you want on in your 1 1/2 hour appointment. Visiting Kleinfeld's is not only a great way to explore the vast possibilities of wedding dresses and figure out a style that suits you, but it is also an exciting experience a bride-to-be would not want to miss. After all, isn't the dress the most exciting part of the wedding to plan?

Whereas the upscale places such as The Wedding Library and Kleinfeld's are great resources to look at for inspiration, New York also has extremely budget places that are absolutely unique to New York. Keep your eyes open in Chinatown, the Lower East Side and the area just south of Herald Square for Asian import stores that often sell bridal accessories such as veils and hair pieces. They are often the very same pieces you would find in wedding retail stores, just with out fancy packages and high prices. I found my veil in one of these stores on 6th ave around 27th street for a third of the price you would pay at David's Bridal (and even David's is known for low prices in bridal retail).

For corsets and specialty bras, go to Orchard Corsets in the Lower East Side. Run by orthodox Jews, the small shop is a throwback to the early 20th century with an antique sewing machine, old-fashioned decor and cluttered shelves of corsets in cardboard boxes behind the counters. Again, prices are much lower that you would find in a more, ahem, modern looking store. Orchard Corset is located at 157 Orchard St. They are closed on Saturdays.

If you are the kind of DIY person scouring the city for deals and planning every detail of your own wedding, then I assume you'll also be handling your own flowers. For this, the best place to go is the Flower/Plant District on 28th St. between 6th and 7th Avenues. I won't go into details on all the stores - but stay tuned next week for an upcoming post on the Plant District where I will highlight all the best stores. I will say that the Plant District is a great resource for exotic flowers and cheap prices, and is unique to New Yorkers. Much of the flowers that come into the U.S. from South America and around the world pass through this street on their way to the rest of the country. Take advantage of this, people! You can compete with professional floral designers in having access to the best variety of flowers for your wedding!

This One's for You, Jackie

Hey all you sweeteeth out there, listen up: I just discovered Economy Candy, where (as the name might suggest) you can get not only relatively cheap candy but also all sorts of "retro"/"vintage" varieties as well (think Cracker Jacks and Pez galore). Yum! Located among the hipster streets of the Lower East side, and has been in business since 1937, Economy Candy can authentically be labeled as "old school" cool.

Glass jars line the walls with all sorts of per-pound confections. Hundreds of wrapped varieties such as hard candies, gum, mints, pastiches, halveh, gummies, caramels, lollipops, dried fruits, taffy, candy buttons, pixie stix and even some fine European chocolate bars stock the aisle shelves. I even spotted some Lindor chocolates, my longtime flame.

Next time you find yourself down in the LES, stop by this classic candy store for some old time kicks, to satisfy your sweetooth, or perhaps just to stock up on gingerbread house materials. I myself couldn't leave the store without a box of Cracker Jacks and a pack of Beemans Gum. Economy Candy is located at 108 Rivington, between Ludlow and Essex Streets.

Besides the ABCs of Home Decor

PHOTO from THE JOHN DERIAN CO. website

There are some places, like ABC Home & Carpet that we all know. We all love. We all wish our apartments looked just like store. In-the-know tourists visit ABC for an afternoon of sightseeing. It is a museum to interior decor. But ABC is old news.

I'd like to present two other of my favorite "interior decor museum" stores: The John Derian Co. and Apartment 48. Smaller and tucked away on east 2nd street, just off Bowery, The John Derian Co. is an exquisite storeroom of furniture, art, textiles, antiques and curiosities. Most well known for their decoupage items, you might recognize their glass and decoupage paper weights, which show up in other home stores or gift shops around town. But The John Derian Co. store on 2nd street offers so many more treasures. Just like ABC, prices here are steep, so plan to come here mainly for design inspiration.

There are actually two disconnected stores on 2nd street - the eastern one skewing more toward textiles and bedding, and the other filled with a more eclectic mix of everything from Astier de Villate ceramic glazed tableware to 18th and 19th century prints to antique chandeliers. The store is a 3D version of a page from Blueprint (RIP) or Design*Sponge.

Apartment 48, located on 17th street between 5th and 6th Aves., is another beautiful home store. Unfortunately in the past year Apartment 48 has moved from its original (and much cooler) underground storefront (still on 17th street) to its current above-ground and sadly average storefront. The underground storefront felt hidden and secret. The store itself was made up of several separate rooms, each decorated like a different room in a house, giving the effect that you were wandering through someone's cozy railroad-style apartment. Still, despite the boring store of today, Apartment 48 still offers unique and beautifully designed housewares and art.

The End of History

While it's more of a museum than a place from which you would realistically buy anything (due to the exorbitant prices), it is well worth a trip to this little glass shop in the West Village with the curious name of "The End of History." They primarily sell glass vases, seemingly specializing in milky opaque glasses in vivid saturated colors. Set out on beautifully designed furniture pieces from the 50's, 60's and 70's the shop has a distinct vintage flair.

Their wares are organized by color, thus having the effect of a beautiful glass rainbow as you stroll around the shop. Vases come in all shapes and sizes and are mostly American, Scandinavian or Italian in origin. The shop is on Hudson Street at Perry.