Hand-Drawn Maps + Collecting Places

If you're a map lover or just want to learn a new creative skill, Anne Ditmeyer of Prêt à Voyager is teaching a map making class on Skillshare this month. No worries if you're not a professional designer or super computer literate as you can use any type of media for your creation.

The virtual class, Map Design: Learn to Communicate Places Beautifully ($20), will take place over three weeks starting Feb. 18 and is divided into three units: Hand Drawn Maps + Concepting, Mapping in the Digital Age + Alternative Guides, and Office Hours, which includes a Q&A segment and participating in a Google Hangout with the class.

By the end you'll not only have a map that plots out a memorable corner of the world, but will also interact with people from all over and discover their own favorite haunts. As it stands a nice mix of photographers, illustrators, designers, magazine writers, and "generally-non-creative-but-still-awesome-types" from 11 countries have signed up.

I think a hand-made map of my favorite neighborhood in the city would be a fun gift to give when guests come to visit. Or perhaps plot out any of my many travel adventures for an awesome addition to a scrapbook.

To enroll, click here. And while you're there, might as well check out all the other cool (and affordable!) classes Skillshare has to offer.

P.S. If you look at Anne's Paris map above for eight seconds, a little pink surprise will appear.

Image: courtesy of Anne Ditmeyer

Love Notes from Porcupine Hugs

We might be working hard behind-the-scenes for our launch, but we're still rolling out the goodies. Check out Porcupine Hugs' Love & Friendship cards on sale now for Valentine's Day! The Little Town greeting card is a personal favorite and one that would work for friendly messages year round.

In the meantime, here's a sneak peek of the cards that will be making their way into the shop soon.

A. has been helping me design a website and fingers crossed that our relationship can withstand the partnership because holy crap has it been trying at times. Both because of my expectations and because he likes to remind me that I'm not a web designer every chance he gets.

Have you ever tackled a big project or handled business with a significant other? I hope mine knows I plan on paying him back in kisses and lemon chicken.

Disney's Paperman

I'm a sucker for Disney movies. I know they're for children, but damn if they don't hit you right in the gut. My friends and I recently drove down to Virginia Beach again to meet our friend's handsome little baby and we were treated to not one, but two Disney films: Tangled and The Princess and the Frog. Don't ask if her four-year-old daughter was even around for the majority of it.

This week, Disney released its Oscar-nominated silent short Paperman online in its entirety and it features a new art technique that seamlessly blends CGI with hand-drawn animation. The result is quite gorgeous and the story, about a New York City missed connection, is based on the tried-and-true, but with a sweet twist.

P.S. It totally reminds me of Signs, another short film released in 2009.

Beasts of the Southern Wild

Last week, I went out to see the Oscar-nominated film Beasts of the Southern Wild. Set in a rundown Louisiana bayou cut off from the rest of the world by a levee, the story follow 6-year-old Hushpuppy as she tries to make sense of her life in the rundown Bathtub community. Her mom is no longer in the picture and her ailing father, Wink, has compensated with a tough love that's touching and yet painful to watch at times. Hushpuppy is left to retreat into her imagination while holding fast to what little she understands.

Tiny actress Quvenzhané Wallis is so wonderful to watch (off-screen as well), no wonder she's been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress, the youngest one yet. Now you might wonder how much acting a 5-year-old is capable of and if she was just fed her lines and actions bit by bit, but no matter because she just wraps you up with her facial expressions alone. Her interactions with her daddy, played by Dwight Henry, reduced me to tears.

All of that said, on our train ride home, A. turned to me and asked, "Did you understand the movie?" I gave plausible explanations to the plot before I had to admit that no, I didn't entirely get it either. It had moved me and all, but there were some blanks that would be nice to have filled in for some closure. But seeing as the film has already garnered praise and awards and is in the running for Oscars in Best Picture, Best Director, Lead Actress, and Adapted Screenplay, perhaps everyone else has understood something we clearly missed.

Have you watched it yet? Did you get it?

Image: afistofculture.com