Who among us hasn’t spent time prepping a Valentine’s Day card featuring a heart shape cut from colorful paper? Is it even possible to look at a heart without softening just a little into a smile?

The evocative shape takes center stage in our book, FOCUS: Love, one of the books in our series showcasing digital photographers in their quest to see the world around them with perceptive eyes. Whether crafted by human hands, formed by nature or simply pulled together from our own need to make sense from the highly visual world around us—graffiti scrawled on an alleyway wall, the sloping curves of an iron gate, shapes cut from paper by a child, worn stones scattered on a forest floor—hearts can be found almost everywhere … as long as you’re looking. You’ll find 250 photographs by 150 photographers from 30 different countries within the pages of  this book.

View this little book teaser a sampling of the great imagery in the book.

We’re giving away one copy of FOCUS: Love. So, how do you enter for a chance to win? Leave a comment on this post by 9 p.m. EST on Thursday, February 9. Any comment is fine, but you’re welcome to leave a comment letting us know how you plan to celebrate Valentine’s Day this year. One winner will be selected at random and notified on Friday, February 10. Click here for the official rules. And good luck!

It begins with the influence of court dress in the first chapter, which highlights turn-of-the-century and Edwardian styles. The advent of Modernism and the flapper look in the 1920s gave rise to tubular dress shapes and short hemlines with Art Deco embellishments, while the 1930s “boudoir bride” wore glamorous bias-cut gowns from Madeleine Vionnet or Hollywood costumiers Adrian and Irene. The wartime bride of the 1940s was happy to marry in a day dress or design from the new ready-to-wear bridal market.

(More after the jump. Click on the photos for a larger image.)

Christian Dior’s New Look led to the return of the hourglass silhouette in the 1950s. A revolution in bridalwear characterized the 1960s, both in experimentation of fabrics and in shape, while bohemian and ethnic styles were reflected in the fashions of the 1970s. With Princess Diana’s wedding in 1981, the tone was set for the opulent frills, flounces, and rosettes of the 1980s, a look that rapidly gave way to more minimalistic and slender styles in the 1990s and on.

Vintage Weddings covers notable weddings of royalty as well as Hollywood celebrities and high-profile politicians. The author, Marnie Fogg, is a fashion expert and media consultant on all aspects of the fashion industry. Bruce Oldfield OBE wrote the foreword.

I’ve spent some time digging around the depths of the online wedding world to offer up to you a list of some of the best wedding blogs out there, all jam-packed with ideas for everything from the dress to decorations and extra special touches. I’ve collected 27 of them below (I just couldn’t cut it down to 25!), listed in alphabetical order. Turn to these sites for creative inspiration for the big day. But be careful: you may find yourself getting lost in the beauty of it all.

100 Layer Cake
Borrowed and Bleu
The Bride’s Café
The Cinderella Project
DIY Bride
The Knotty Bride
Emmaline Bride
Engaging Bride
Forget Me Knot
Glamour & Grace
Hot Pink Brides
The Inspired Bride
Oh Lovely Day
OK, Now What Bride
Once Wed
One Lovely Day
One Wed’s Savvy Scoop
The Loveliest Day
Love and Lavender
Perfect Bound
Recycled Bride
Rock n’ Roll Bride
Ruffled
Something Old, Something New
Style Me Pretty
The Sweetest Occasion
The Wedding Chicks

This is me making a mug. I make a lot of mugs.

My name is Thom, and I’m excited to introduce myself as the new ceramics editor and point person at Lark.

I was hired by Lark a little over a year ago, shortly after I moved to Asheville. Before that I lived in New York, where I worked a few blocks from Central Park for the craft book division of Random House.

I didn’t expect to continue to work in book publishing when I returned to the south. At least not in a full-time kind of way. But as luck would have it, Lark needed help on their needlearts team just as I was moving. I jumped at the chance. As a lifelong potter, I knew and respected Lark’s publishing program. And I was more than happy to make books for fellow makers, even if it wasn’t the ceramics books.

Fast forward a year and here we are. I will be the primary editor at Lark for ceramics books going forward (we are still a collaborative office though, and super-editor Linda Kopp will continue working on ceramics books here and there). To go along with that, I have two other big-ish pieces of news:

As of now, we have spun off a new, dedicated Facebook page for Lark Ceramics.
Drop by and say hi! We’ll give you some incentives to “like” us as well. What kind of incentives? How about posting calls for entry for the ceramics books. Not enough? We’ll also create some themed photo galleries and such. What more could you want? Seriously, let me know and we’ll make it happen if Facebook allows it. With some time, I hope it will end up as fun of a ceramics Facebook page as a Facebook page can be.

I will be attending NCECA in Seattle at the end of March.
We haven’t finalized the details yet, but I will try to wear a Lark button or hat or something to make me easy to spot. I’m also trying to think of something fun to bring and give away. (Temporary tattoos are the best I’ve got so far.) Once we have the details worked out, I’ll post them on the blog and also on our Facebook page.

I look forward to meeting our authors, readers, and everyone else in the ceramics world–whether it’s in person or just online. Let’s make things together.

Then a couple days later I read a blog post about how nice it can be to see pops of bright color amid all the grey and white of winter. That same day I started seeing it everywhere I looked. And not only online. I walked into Target and they had new neon accessories front and center! There must be something to the psychology of it all…a measurable effect of bright green, pink, and orange.

So a couple days ago I started pinning it. You know, in case anyone else has winter blahs and needs a bright burst of color. There’s a preview below, but a bigger neon board over on Pinterest:

If you want to find out more about Pinterest, check out my previous Pinterest post or head over to Pinterest’s site.

I adore old Valentines; the kind you can find at antique shops in tin boxes. And so, just for you, I dug up some Valentines that you can download and print from your home computer. Inscribe a nice message for that special someone and you’ll get instant points. So easy! (What’s not to love?)

Here’s a pretty Valentine that you can easily customize. Use it as a framing device for a favorite photo of your friend or sweetie. It would make a great gift tag too. Download it here.

Why not list all the things you love about your sweetheart or friend in this charming hand-drawn Valentine? Or whip up a special menu for that meal you’ll cook for your Valentine. You can give it to them in advance or position it, just so, as a charming table setting. Download is here.

These images really make me smile. Note how the moon changes its expression based on the interaction between the characters in each shot. Create a humorous Valentine by adding some silly thought bubbles or an amusing phrase to any of these images, or create an entire story using each frame. It’s your time to show your love; get creative with it! (Click on the image for a better view and download the pdf here.)

These antique images are from Memories of a Lifetime: Romantic Illustrations — one of a series of books that comes with a CD so that you can download and print the artwork that speaks to you. And what you do with it is up to you! Card making, artful journaling, scrapbooking, fabric transfer; the possibilities are endless.

Happy Valentines Day!

xoxo

Some old, something new, something borrowed, something fabulous like this custom dress from Holly Stalder.

More Etsy nuptial finds after the jump.

Veil, headband, or perhaps a halo? Crystals, flowers, lace, or feathers? You may have a hard time choosing at Myra Callan’s Twigs & Honey. but browsing amongst these dreamy head pieces is decadent fun.

A bridal bouquet is a must-have, but real flowers are optional.

(L) Fabric bouquet can be found at Autumn and GraceBridal

(C) Pearl and rhinestone bouquet from Noaki Jewelry

(R) Sunny and Stumpy created this paper ranunculus bouquet

Paper products play a big part in weddings. There’s the Save the Date, wedding invitation, RSVP card, and the thank you cards.

Whatever your printed-on-paper wedding needs, I feel pretty confident that Amy Leigh of Inviting Moments will have something you’ll like.

Carrie Klein shows us how paper can also play a big role in decorations, too with her pretty place card holders, cake topper, and wreath.

And for a sweet ending to the big day, what better send-off for your guests than these pretty cake pops by Poppies Cake Pops and Cupcakes?

1. Projections in Snow

Where: Mount Buller in Australia

Large scale snow sculpture illuminated with animation by 3D projection software from ENESS (September 2008)

Video from ENESS

2. VT State Snow Sculpting Competition 2011

Where: Burlington, Vermont

Video from Stuck in Vermont and Seven Days

3. 14th Annual Art in Ice Festival

Where: Livigno, Italy in the Italian Alps

Video from DW-TV

4. ‪International Snow Sculpture Championships‬ 2011

Where: ‪Breckenridge, Colorado‬

Video from the Breckenridge Resort Chamber

5. Sun Island Int’l Snow Sculpture Art Expo

Where: Harbin, China

Video from ICPC 2010

6. ‪International Snow Sculpture Championships‬ 2010

Where: ‪Breckenridge, Colorado‬

Video from Trip Television

7. Snow Carving Workshop: David Andrews

Do you have access to plenty of snow? Want to try your own hand at some serious snow sculpture? This video workshop is packed with good tips from a veteran competitive snow carver.

Video from Winterfest Madison

Whether they put you in the mood for a crisp, white wintery day, or they echo the softly falling snow you already see out your window, here are some beautiful photos, creations, and visions celebrating the newness of the year and the color of the season.

Snowflake Paper Garland :: from ArtsDelight

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12 White Ceramic Modern Bottle Vases by Sara Paloma :: from sarapaloma

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Winter Woods :: from AYearInTheWoods

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White Flower Print Pillow :: from ClassicByNature

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Botanical Necklace :: from BeautySpot

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White Winter Flowers :: from PrettyPetalStudio

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Vintage White Buttons :: from ForestDaydream

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Okapi Necklace :: from okapiknits

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Crochet Lace Beach Stone :: from TableTopJewels

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Trees in Snow :: from NicholasBellPhoto

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White Lace Imprint Brooch :: from redstitchlab

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If you do decide to join, there’s all sorts of ways to use the Pinterest boards. Some websites and blogs, like ours, now have “Pin It” buttons built right in (look to the left hand side of the page once you click on a post). You can also use Pinterest’s own linking software to grab images from posts you want to pin to your boards.

Lark will soon have a Pinterest account of its own, but until then I’m going to share a little bit of what I’m exploring now and then. This week, I started out looking for new soup recipes–but like the potter I am, I ended up just as captivated by the ceramic soup bowls. Now my board has about as many inspiring pots as inspiring recipes. See what it’s all about by clicking the preview of my board below, and let us know if (and what) you’re pinning!