Craft:

I'm not going anywhere on vacation this summer so I figured I'd start a short series on inspirational craft and design books that can help take you away to another land. Today's trip is to Japan!

This new small-format picture book, Hello, Please! Very Helpful Super Kawaii Characters from Japan by Matt Alt and Hiroko Yoda is a little inspirational pick me up giving you a glimpse of Japan and their super cute characters that are used all over from bus stop posters, store displays, street signs, and more. Also for all you amigurumi fans, you'll find lots of inspiration for potential toys you can make. Available August 23 from Chronicle Books. - Link.

Nuku Nuku is is a great all around craft book that covers knitting, crochet, sewing, and embroidery. I love the cozy photographs and most of the projects are small so you can easily make them in a weekend. There are also easy to follow diagrams for all the projects. Available at Amazon.co.jp. - Link.

I love making rubber stamps and this book makes me want to stamp everything and to have linen fabric everywhere. There are lots of traceable stamp templates which are very cute. And the project ideas are very inspirational -- perfect for gift ideas. More photos from the book here. Available at Amazon.co.jp. - Link.

This is one of my favorite Japanese sewing books and it's ironically called Made in N.Y. The book comes with a large fold-out sheet of all the dress and skirt patterns in the book. The designs are really simple, yet also modern and stylish. The illustrations in the book also explain everything you need to do to sew up the patterns. But because you really won't be able to read any sewing details, I recommend this book only for intermediate to advance sewers. Available at Amazon.co.jp. - Link.

Note: On Amazon.co.jp you have the option to view the page in English. Just click on the text link on the right hand side.

For more inspiration, you can visit my Japanese craft book Flickr set - Link.