Craft: transforming traditional crafts

Matt Maranian has contributed so many swanky projects to the pages of CRAFT magazine that they are perhaps too numerous to list here. Check out his author page for the whole array. Among my favorites is the Bibliophilic Stash Box, a sneaky little cache made out of vintage hardcover books, from CRAFT Volume 09:

I also love the Camp Lamp Chandelier from CRAFT Volume 06, where Matt taught us how to scavenge just the perfect branches and combine them with classic camp lanterns to make this rustic, kitschy delight:

Another one of my favorites is the Curio Case Table, which I featured as a Flashback last month, meaning you can access the whole project and make your own.

Matt's aesthetic is unique, and he never ceases to amaze us with what he could come up with next. We touched base with him recently to see what's new in his crafty world, and he was excited to announce the release of his newest book, L.A. Bizarro: The All-New Insider's Guide to the Obscure, the Absurd, and the Perverse in Los Angeles.

This is what Matt had to say about the book:

This is the much anticipated, totally revised, and munificently expanded edition of the #1 Los Angeles Times bestseller that I wrote with my longtime pal Tony Lovett, which was originally published in 1997. Although technically a "travel" title, L.A. Bizarro is actually our sardonic, irreverent, perverted, sometimes loving, oftentimes loathing, treatise on greater Los Angeles, disguised as a guidebook. It's a vicarious joy ride (or horror show) through Los Angeles culture and it's colorful, lesser-visited cracks and crevices. Having relocated to Brattleboro, Vermont, to open my new, used, and vintage clothing store Boomerang in '99, I had to jump back into the Bizarro saddle with a vengeance, taking a month-long research trip which had me hopping from nudist RV park to professional dungeon to colon hydrotherapy session, all the while cramming in as many dive bars, vintage diners, and third-rate tourist attractions as possible in my down time — all in the name of research of course.

Fun! Sounds right up my (dark) alley! In addition to the book, as Matt mentioned above, he and his wife Loretta Palazzo stay busy with their shop Boomerang in Brattleboro, Vermont.