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Book Club artwork and discussion

Brittany

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May 12, 2017

How are you enjoying this month’s book club selection? We’re reading, The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio and it’s been wonderful hearing so many of you who have already read it or seen the movie. What are your thoughts so far? We have some discussion questions below to get your clocks ticking.

And to go along with it, we have worked with one of my favorite illustrators, Louise Lockhart of The Printed Peanut, to create some original artwork. She created a poster with a quote from the book that reads, “It’s all a matter of what you set out to do” as well as a bookmark. It would make a great Mother’s Day card, doncha think?

Get the free printables and discussion questions below!

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Favorite design books for spring

Brittany

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May 5, 2017

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In general, I’m one who likes to check out books from the library as it saves money and space in your house, but design books are different. They are reference books used for inspiration or tutorials to have on hand when you’re making. For this reason, in addition to our monthly book club, I decided I would share some of my favorite design and craft books with you in a new feature called Lars Library. Every season I’ll share my favorite books, generally new releases, so you can be in the know on the latest and greatest books on the market right now, books that you should definitely add to your design library. Check in every so often for the best of the best. You can find them all on one page here.

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May Book Club: The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio

Brittany

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May 3, 2017

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May Book Club: The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio

It’s May, Lars Book Clubbers! As we remember and celebrate mothers and the women who have influenced us this month, we wanted to share with you the incredible story of one resilient, unwavering mother whose enterprising wits and enduring humor kept her family out of poverty. The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio by Terry Ryan tells the story of Evelyn Ryan, a married mother of ten children and a “contester” during the 1950s and 1960s. As she completed songs, poems, and advertising jingles for various companies, her pencil and paper kept her children fed, clothed, educated, and even entertained. Evelyn Ryan was a woman ahead of her time, providing for her family when women weren’t encouraged to do so, and had little to no say in financial matters. Author and daughter Terry Ryan tells her mother’s story and shares her prize-winning writing in a wonderfully humorous way, despite their hardships and struggle with an alcoholic father and husband. We hope you are inspired by this story, surely a tribute to tireless, hard-working mothers everywhere! Feel free to follow along with us @larsbookclub , where we’ll post quotes and thoughts from the book. Check back in the middle of the month too, when we’ll have some discussion questions and artwork up on the blog for you! Happy reading!

And after you’re done reading the book, watch it in the 2005 movie!

Follow along on Instagram for daily updates!

Photography by Anna Killian | Wallpaper from Sandberg

Seven Flowers Print and Bookmark

Brittany

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April 19, 2017

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How have you liked Seven Flowers? Did you dive in or have you had to take it slowly? Potter gives you LOTS of information, we know. It may be hard to digest it all, but we hope you’ve learned a few new things and gained more appreciation for these amazing flowers. Here are some questions to think about – we’d love to hear your thoughts! And BOY are there some beautiful books regarding flowers! Be sure to check out the further reading suggestions!

This month our featured illustrator is Portland-based, Yas Imamura of Quill and Fox, a long-time favorite of Brittany’s. She’s created a beautiful poster with a quote from the book:

“It isn’t enough to let the flowers bloom; we must decode what they have to say.”

Get the free Seven Flowers bookmark download on the next page!

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April Book Club: Seven Flowers and How They Shaped our World

Brittany

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March 31, 2017

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April Book Club: Seven Flowers and How They Shaped our World

A new month means a new book! In our world today, we have the ability to view, enjoy, or seek out any flower we wish to beautify our homes or bestow as a gift. But these flowers didn’t always exist on our home shores, wherever that may be. They came from foreign lands near and far; they were discovered and dissected, revered and reproduced. Seven Flowers and How They Shaped our World by Jennifer Potter explores a handful of flowers that became religious icons, status symbols, metaphors for emotions and matters of the heart, and so much more. They infiltrated poetry and the arts, and even created financial frenzies! Read along as we discover the origins of the Lotus, Lily, Sunflower, Opium Poppy, Rose, Tulip, and Orchid. Jennifer Potter masterfully uncovers how these beautiful plants changed our world and what they tell us about ourselves. Find the book here and follow us on our @larsbookclub Instagram! We’ll post daily quotes or highlights from April Book Club, and we’d love to hear your thoughts!

Photography by Anna Killian | Lars Book Club is led by Julie Richardson

Living Danishly: Book Club Questions and Printable

Brittany

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March 27, 2017

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Living Danishly: Book Club Questions and Printable

Every month, in addition to our featured book, we feature an illustrator who creates an original print with a quote from the book and a bookmark, free to download. I was excited for this month’s book, about an English couple’s move to Denmark, because I would get to choose a Danish illustrator. Sabine Brandt, of Sister Brandt, was one of the first Danish graphic artists I ever came across and I was so thrilled when she said yes!

Have you enjoyed The Year of Living Danishly? Would you ever make a big transition like this couple and live somewhere new for a year? (Sounds wonderful to me, actually…) Here are a couple of questions and some further reading suggestions for you. Feel free to continue to read along with us, and share your thoughts! Comment on our daily Instagram posts @larsbookclub, which continually highlight a section or quote from the book, along with sharing a lovely picture of Denmark (there are too many to share, really)!

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March Book Club: The Year of Living Danishly

Brittany

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March 3, 2017

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March Book Club: The Year of Living Danishly

As you might recall, I lived in Copenhagen, Denmark for 3 years with my Danish husband. It’s where we met and lived when we first got married. As you might guess, I was pretty interested to hear another take on a foreigner’s experience in Denmark. I’ll have A LOT to talk about! Stay tuned for our mid month check in!

According to the UN World Happiness Report (yes, that is a thing), and many other surveys, Denmark is the happiest country on earth! What makes Danes so happy? Surely not their location, with those long, dark winters… Is it their infrastructure? Their amazing pastries? All that amazing, minimal Danish designer furniture?? Find out this month as we read The Year of Living Danishly: Uncovering the Secrets of the World’s Happiest Country. Author and journalist Helen Russell sets out to the find the secret to their famed happiness as she and her husband leave their hectic London life and move to Denmark. Russell chronicles their lives month by month for a year in rural Jutland, learning local customs, traditions, and getting help (or being chastised!) along the way. Russell’s down-to-earth writing style and sense of humor will make you laugh, and we’d love to hear your thoughts as you read, especially if you have lived in or visited Denmark yourself! Follow along on the @larsbookclub Instagram account, and tag your own book photos with #larsbookclub ! Enjoy!

Photo by Anna Killian for The House That Lars Built | Lars Book Club is led by Julie Richardson

Dreaming in Cuban printable quote and bookmark

Brittany

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March 2, 2017

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Dreaming in Cuban printable quote and bookmark

Team Lars just returned from a trip to Cuba! And I can’t wait to share our experiences with you. Going along with the cuban theme, here’s an update on the book we read for #LarsBookClub for February.

Have you enjoyed Dreaming in Cuban?? Reviews of this book are such polar opposites, so we’re curious to hear what you thought! Have you been to Cuba? Or after reading Dreaming in Cuban, is this intriguing island now in your travel plans? With questions in the back of the book, it was difficult to come up with some new ones, but here are a few. I recommend reading Garcia’s discussion questions and also the interview with her (which sheds LOTS of light on the main female characters) in the back of the book!

For this month’s printable poster and bookmarks, I used photos that I took in Cuba. The trip was endlessly inspiring and I can’t wait to share all the magical photos. One element that really caught my eye were the ornate tile work. There were so many beautiful combinations (including this one that our photographer, Chaunte just so happened to match!). These patterns inspired me to create so many other beautiful things.

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Lars Book Club: Dreaming in Cuban

Julie Richardson

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February 3, 2017

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We shared our mantra for 2017 with you (see here) so we took our own advice and booked tickets to Cuba! That’s right! Team Lars is going to Cuba at the end of this month! We are anxious to explore the sights, crafts, architecture, and colors of this beautiful island country and look forward to meeting other artists and artisans. We are assembling our itinerary now but we’d love to hear some of your suggestions particularly rad artists and artisans? I’d love to hear them!

Since the Lars team is headed off to explore Cuba this month, we figured as a book club we’d venture into Cuba too! So for the Lars Book Club: February 2017 we will be reading Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina Garcia. It is a novel about a country led by dreamers and schemers in power for several decades, an impoverished, one-party island run by rationing and government distribution, its starving people fed instead by mystical beliefs and religions. Innovation and enterprise are quashed, and dissenting opinions lead to hard labor, imprisonment, or worse. Garcia introduces us to the life of a Cuban citizen through three generations of women in the del Pino family. Through different points of view, you’ll piece together their histories, discover what they love and despise about their country, whether they support the revolution or not, and how the oppressive political climate has affected their lives. Garcia writes in such beautifully descriptive language, you can almost feel or see what it’s like to live in tropical Cuba!

Follow along with us on our @Larsbookclub Instagram account and show us your pics by sharing to the #LarsBookClub tag. Tell us what you think, ask questions, or share your favorite quotes or happenings in the book!

The Lars Book Club is spear headed by Julie Richardson | Photo by Anna Killian | Wallpaper by Justina Blakeney for Hygge & West

The Art of the Handwritten Note and printable bookmark

Julie Richardson

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January 25, 2017

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The Art of the Handwritten Note and printable bookmark

How’s the reading going?? Margaret Shepherd’s book, The Art of the Handwritten Note, may be tiny, but we hope you’ve realized that it’s FULL of helpful tips and advice on the etiquette of handwritten notes. Has it inspired you to start writing more? Have you found some pretty pens and stationery? Personal cards and notes are always a joy to receive in the mail, but as Ovid said, “While writing, the very pleasure gives toil.” We hope this book helps YOU enjoy the writing, giving, and sending aspect of handwritten mail.

And to go along with this month’s book we have guest illustrator, Leah Goren, who created a special illustrated bookmark with a quote from the book that reads “Letters mingle souls” from John Donne. Leah is one of my favorite illustrators and I was so pleased to have her join us this month. You can download the bookmark below!

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Lars Book Club: January

Julie Richardson

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January 6, 2017

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Happy New Year, Lars readers! So glad you’re here to join us for another year. And if you’re just joining the Lars Book Club, welcome! We’ll have some lovely, artistic, enlightening, fun, and thoughtful reads throughout the year.

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Lars Book Club: December

Julie Richardson

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December 16, 2016

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The holidays are here! And with that, an inspiring but easy book to curl up with! Are you enjoying Your Inner Critic Is a Big Jerk?? That really is such an accurate title – we put labels on ourselves, we make excuses, we get intimidated, and we let that jerk of an inner critic take over. Well, I hope Danielle Krysa’s book is picking your brain about why you may be stuck in a creative rut and how to get out of it. Or maybe you thought you weren’t the creative type at all, but were wanting to be…only to realize that that one skill or hobby you love really IS your creative outlet! Whatever stage you’re at, take notes from Your Inner Critic and push yourself to try something new. Below are some questions for you to think about, and some further reading suggestions as well.

Our guest illustrator for this month is Michelle Christensen of My Little Belleville who created a quote from the book and corresponding bookmark FREE to download! Michelle is a friend who has done lots of rad illustrations for Lars in the past. (You must be familiar with her famous faces by now…I have bought so many things from her!). We were lucky to get her for this month’s book club read! Enjoy!

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