Chronicle Books Blog

Two or three years ago a bunch of us who work on art books here had a meeting. Who, we asked ourselves, if the world was our oyster, would we want to do a book with?

What living artist best combines first and foremost making amazing art, with the other qualities of character, passion, and personal panache that we love in the folks we publish like Andy Warhol and Frida Kahlo? I found the notes from that meeting the other day. At the very top of the list? None other than the inimitable Yoko Ono.

Photo by Chris Floyd © Yoko Ono

Which is just one of the many reasons that I’m so very happy and honored that we are now the proud publishers of An Invisible Flower—a recreation of a book Ms. Ono created when she was just nineteen years old.

As an answer to her experiences in war-torn Japan as a child, she created a story illustrated by beautifully quiet chalk pastel drawings, about the invisible beauty we all sense is in the world, but cannot quite see, and the one man—Smelty John—who catches a glimpse of it.

That she created this work more than a decade before she met John Lennon adds an aura of enjoyably eerie prescience to the whole thing—sending shivers up the spines of everyone I’ve gotten to tell about the project the whole time I’ve been working on it.

Everyone here just loves everything about this book—the beauty and quiet importance of it, the spooky Lennon connection, the story of how Sean Ono Lennon found the original among his mother’s things and convinced her to publish it.

And we’re not alone in our love affair with An Invisible Flower. Everyone from People to NPR, O to W, Harper’s Bazaar to Brain Pickings is enamored as well. And for good reason.

Add to that the fact that a major career-spanning exhibition of Yoko Ono’s work recently opened at the Serpentine Gallery in London…

Yoko Ono
Installation view, Yoko Ono: TO THE LIGHT
Serpentine Gallery, London
(19 June – 9 September 2012)
© 2012 Jerry Hardman-Jones

…featuring “new and existing installations, films and performances, as well as archive material relating to several key early works.”

Yoko Ono
Installation view, Yoko Ono: TO THE LIGHT
Serpentine Gallery, London
(19 June – 9 September 2012)
© 2012 Jerry Hardman-Jones

It seems safe to say we’re seeing a full-blown Yoko moment.

Yoko Ono
Installation view, Yoko Ono: TO THE LIGHT
Serpentine Gallery, London
(19 June – 9 September 2012)
© 2012 Jerry Hardman-Jones

In her Brain Pickings review, Maria Popova calls the book “a time machine of love”—I wish I had just such a machine of my own, to go back three years and tell myself after the meeting the day that, yes indeed, before too long, we would be publishing a lovely book by this illustrious and awesome woman.

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It happens to the best of us. A button loosens from a blouse or blazer and, if we’re lucky, we catch it before it falls to the ground and out of sight. For many, the re-attaching of a button is our first encounter with a needle and thread – a serendipitous eye-opener to the exciting world of sewing, to the self-sufficiency and thrills of knowing how to mend, make our own clothes, and express ourselves with threads, fabrics and notions.

Sewing Made Simple, by Tessa Evelegh, is for the novice button sewer and experienced crafter alike. Packed with tips and techniques on everything from tools and patterns to trimmings and fabric selections – plus 20 DIY projects – it’s the ultimate sewing resource (for both hand and machine work) and a stunning book as well. Polish up your button-sewing skills with this handy tutorial and discover the world of Sewing Made Simple.

1. Start by threading a needle with double thread and knot the ends together. Using a marking pen or a pin, mark the position of the button on the garment. Pass the needle from under the fabric to the right side and through one of the holes. Place a toothpick or matchstick over the top of the button and stitch over this into the other hole and down through the fabric. Repeat two or three times to make a firm fixing.

2. Remove the toothpick or matchstick and push the button up to the top of the stitches. Pass the needle down through the hole to the underside of the button and wind the thread tightly around the threads under the button to form the shank. (See illustration, right. The shank is the vertical column of threads under the button, which – when the garment is buttoned – allows space for the other piece of fabric to sit comfortably beneath the button.) Pass the needle down through to the underside of the garment and finish with two small stitches on top of each other.

The chapter “Notions: Fastening It” highlights more than 30 different types of buttons (including this assortment, above) with details of their uses and origins.

The project “Evening Purse” features buttons as embellishment.

Buttons are a decorative and functional element of home decor, as seen here in the “Tailored Pillow” project.

The gorgeous photography proves that sewing notions are much more than just functional objects – they are items of beauty as well.

With the Fourth of July upon us, we asked Ben Applebaum and Dan DiSorbo—authors of The Book of Beer Awesomeness and The Book of Beer Pong—to share their tips for an awesome Fourth. Read on for their guide to the holiday, and head over to Facebook for a chance to win one of five signed copies of The Book of Beer Awesomeness and a patriotic knit koozie from Freaker USA.

You have to love the Fourth of July. Freedom, the threat of firework injuries, and charred processed meat. There’s nothing more American. Right? Wrong.

Many Independence Day celebrations are missing a quintessential American ingredient: Awesomeness. And nothing brings a healthy does of vitamin Awesome like having fun with your beer.

So here are 5 tips we’d like to share to help everyone party like a Champion.

Tip 1. CHILL IT QUICK
Beer, like revenge on an archenemy, is best served cold: usually between 35 and 45 degrees Fahrenheit (colder for lighter beers, warmer for darker). But in an average fridge that can take over 90 soul-crushing minutes.

So break out a more awesome solution: a fire extinguisher. Use a carbon dioxide canister (red with a black band) and blast your sixer of cans for thirty seconds. The brews are instantly chilled and ready to put out that thirst fire in your belly.

Tip 2. MIX IT UP
Yes, beer is great. It’s the world’s oldest and most popular alcoholic beverage. (Take that, wine.) This magical fermented liquid bread has been shown in moderation to improve bone density, decrease risk of heart disease, and increase bowling skills.

Why mess with it? Because it’s the American way.

So break out a mixed beer cocktail this Fourth, like the Michelada. Sure this brew-based spin on the Bloody Mary was invented in Mexico, but it is taking the States by storm. Plus, it uses one of America’s great awesome inventions: Clamato.

Tip 3. TAKE IT ALL IN
Sipping a beer can be an exercise in mindfulness—being fully present and in the moment. That’s great and all, but Americans move faster and need to hurry up this enjoyment thing. And nothing facilitates the can-to-stomach transfer of contents like a shotgun.

Step 1 – Poke
Hold the can horizontally and puncture the back with a key or can opener—pushing the edge inward, for safety and class.

Step 2 – Lock
Close your lips around the hole, making it as airtight as possible.

Step 3 – Pop
Tilt the can back into a vertical position and pop the top. The air will rush in, forcing the beer out through the hole and directly into your beer hole.

Tip 4. PLAY WITH IT
Before you dismiss drinking games as juvenile, just consider that, well, they are. But juvenile does not preclude significant. Take Beer Pong. It was created in the early 1950s in Dartmouth College—the very same party scene that inspired the movie Animal House. So if you question playing along, just think what one John “Bluto” Blutarsky would say: “Let’s do it!”

Tip 5. CLEAN IT UP
Just because the keg is tapped doesn’t mean the fun is over. The keg toss keeps the party going and the awesomeness flowing. There are many places it could land but there are only two sanctioned ways to launch it into the air.

For Height
To emulate your favorite strongman competition, employ the pendulum method. Use a fluid (pun intended) swinging motion with the keg between your legs to generate some momentum.

For Distance
This is an ode to Thor. Like throwing a mighty hammer, discus, or little person, the key is centrifugal force.

So there you go. Five tips to make your Fourth more awesome with a liberal application of beers and ingenuity.

Now join us in raising a beer to the sweet taste of freedom—and cold liquid bread.

Cheers!

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Nothing says summertime like a weekend in the woods. Here’s some camping-themed eye candy to get you in the mood.

Campers
I wish I had the teardrop camper featured in Sunset magazine, but at least my birds can hang out in style in this vintage camper birdhouse.

L: Camper from Sunset magazine, photo by Thomas J. Story; R: Vintage Camper Birdhouse by jumahl

Cards
For writing letters home.

L: Canoe Greeting Cards via Gems; R: Small Adventure’s What To Pack Cards

Camping kitsch

L: 1970 Barbie Camper Furniture on Etsy; R: 1937 ad for Camping With Lipton Tea via Paul Malon

And finally some camping-themed contemporary art.

L: Jackie Besteman via Design Work Life; R: Fukawa Aiko via The Jealous Curator

L: Nakagawa Takao via The Zoo Keeper; R: Ana Albero via The Art Cake

Happy trails!

Allison Weiner
Designer

I have a great tote bag. It tirelessly hauls half-gallons of milk, bags of apples, and cans of soup from the grocery store to my apartment. It carries my water bottle, lunch, and “cute” shoes (that give me “not-so-cute” blisters if I walk to work in them) to the office. And it doesn’t even flinch when it sees the pile of books that it has to bring to my late-night study sessions.

But, alas, its boring appearance does not match up to the impressive feats it reliably performs: it’s a khaki-colored satchel of blah. So, when I flipped through Super Cool Iron-Ons by Sukie and Unlimited Editions: 20 Instant Iron-Ons by Mike Perry, I jumped at the chance to finally give my functional tote the pizazz it deserves. Each book offers a variety of fun, colorful designs and figures that you can apply to T-shirts, totes, pillowcases, tea towels, and whatever else you can think of. All you need is a hot iron and one minute to spare!

These two books of iron-ons showed me that you CAN teach an old tote new tricks! Do you have something new or old that you’d love to jazz up? Please share your ideas below for a chance to win these two cute instant iron-ons.

Chelsea Baumgarten
Sales & Marketing Intern

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