This Valentine’s Day I’d like to celebrate handmade gifts. And on that short note here’s a love letter to hand made from Nicole Licht and the folks at Etsy:

Happy Valentine’s Day! XO, Etsy from Etsy on Vimeo.

The Secret of Kells grabbed me and didn’t let me go. I might have blinked once, maybe twice, during the whole movie. That’s how much I loved it. Colors, patterns, watercolor washes left, right, front and center. The illustration taking cues from the Insular Style it wished to honor.

With a running time of one hour and 15 minutes, this movie is quick and sweet; it keeps you glued to the screen from beginning to end. I think I also had a star-struck look on my face from the rapid succession of excellent animation set on beautifully illustrated backdrops, worthy of adorning the pages of a contemporary manuscript of their own.

For me the best bit was when our hero Brendan defeats the dark, serpent-like deity Crom Cruach, using nothing but a piece of chalk. It was defeat by design, I tell you!

Brendan and Aisling play in the forest

Brendan shows Aisling his first attempts at illustration

Brendan illustrates under Aidan's tutelage

Brendan as Aidan's apprentice

So it’s September, which means 2012 calendars are going to start popping up everywhere. This one by Hamburg-based design office EIGA (for purchase here) is a weekly celebration of food-related art and design. Definitely on the spectacular side, with loads of handmade type: syrup, sushi, banana peels, moldy bread, tattooed eggs, bacon strips, are all made into beautifully extravagant numbers.

The one problem I see: I’d be hard-pressed to scribble all over this beauty.

Via Fubiz.