If you are in Portland this weekend I hope I’ll see you at the Handmade Nation book signing at Powells Sunday night! The marvelous Faythe Levine herself will be coming to town for the reading, and I am really looking forward to it — the book is amazing and it is so cool to see it come to life as part of the community it honors. Here’s the description from the Powells event calendar…

Faythe Levine traveled 19,000 miles to document what has emerged as a marriage between historical technique, punk culture, and the DIY ethos. Handmade Nation (Princeton Architectural Press) features photographs of the makers, their work environments, their processes, their work, and discussions of how they got their start and what motivates them. This event is sponsored by the Museum of Contemporary Craft. Joining Levine are contributing writer, Susan Beal; featured artist, Jill Bliss; as well as the illustrator for the book, Kate Bingaman-Burt.

Kate Bingaman-Burt, who did all the illustrations and typography for the book (including the lovely maps above) and I will be showing folks how to gocco-print some souvenir cards previewing the Handmade Nation film premiere — mark your calendars for April 4 + 5, it will be screening at the Contemporary Crafts Museum! That will be a super fun weekend, too.

I’ll post more of a review and lots of photos from the event next week! It’s my birthday Sunday, and I can’t think of a nicer way to spend it than with craft books and crafty friends. Fingers crossed that this crazy rainy I-5-closing freakout simmers down…

Handmade Nation book signing
Sunday, January 11
7:30 pm in the Pearl Room at Powell’s
1005 W. Burnside St. in Portland
503-228-4651