It's been rainy and a bit dreary here in San Francisco this week, so I've been catching up on my reading! This week on Sfgirlbybay's Stylish Seven, I'd like to share some great reads I've found of late. Some wonderful DIY books, and some new design publications and blogs I've been checking out. So curl up with a cup of tea, light a nice fire and settle in for a bit of bookish goodness.

1. There's a new design magazine just out and it's coming to us all the way from Calgary, Canada. The folks behind Uppercase Gallery have developed an amazing new quarterly magazine all about design - learn from other artists, illustrators, designers, photographers, filmmakers and musicians, whether they're upstarts or icons, famous or shy, verbal or visual, you're going to want to subscribe to Uppercase!


2. Wallpaper Projects is a new book from The Curiosity Shoppe's talented duo, Lauren Smith & Derek Fagertrom. Published by Chronicle, Wallpaper Projects is a perfect example of the two's inspiring way of thinking - Wallpaper Projects is full of over 50 different craft projects utilizing wallpaper scraps in ways I'd never dreamed of. Wallpaper...it's not just for walls anymore! From projects for your home like lampshades and a modern cuckoo clock, to window shades and TV trays, and on to stylish accessories like wallet and checkbook covers to playful pinwheels, Lauren & Derek have done all the brainstorming for you. I'm also hosting a book giveaway on sfgirlbybay, which you can enter here.

3. Shall we take a shopping trip to Paris? Ouí! Pia Jane Bijkerk is an Australian-born stylist who lives in Amsterdam and Paris, and has worked internationally with renowned photographers and contributes to some of the world's most prominent magazines and advertising agencies. Pia has a distinctive eye for forecasting lifestyle trends and her taste is just impeccable! Her new book, Paris: Made By Hand features some of Pia's favorite shopping haunts throughout Paris and includes her favorite atelier/boutiques. A must have for any francophile!

4. Better Homes & Gardens has a new special interest publication out, called Do It Yourself. This month they are featuring the apartment of yours truly, me, along with loads of wonderful and easy to do DIY projects. The magazine comes out eight times per year, and you can find out more about subscribing here. Do It Yourself is full of lots of home improvement, cooking, decorating, and landscaping ideas.

5. Design Your Life: The Pleasures and Perils of Everyday Things by Ellen and Julia Lupton is new book with a fascinating new look at the world of design and the role it plays in our lives. The twin Lupton sisters are the experts on DYL philosophy, and are very well-known in the design realm. Taking a fresh, funny look at parenthood, housekeeping, entertaining, time management, crafting, and more, Design Your Lifefrom St. Martins Press shows you how to evaluate the things you use, and how to recognize forms of order that secretly inhabit the messes of daily life, be it a cluttered room or a busy schedule.

6. I've recently discovered this really cool website called Grain Edit when included me in their Twitter list of their 50 or so favorite design-related Tweeters. Based in Oakland, California, Grain Edit is focused on classic design work from the 1950s-1970s and contemporary designers that draw inspiration from that time period. Their site content includes wonderful interviews with graphic designers (like some of these below), articles, designers’ libraries as well as examples of rare design annuals, type specimens, Ephemera, posters and vintage kids books from our bookshelves.

7. And lastly, but not in the least, there's a new blog in town! I first came across the beautiful interiors of Atlanta-based photographer Lara Rossignol when she very deservedly won Domino's Reader's Choice decorating contest last year. And now Lara's sharing more of her wonderful interiors on her blog, Piewacket, named for Kim Novak's cat in one her favorite films, 'Bell Book and Candle' (she says just the sets alone, make it worth watching), and although they spell it 'Pyewacket' Lara changed the "y" to an "i" because she also likes pie! Check out Piewacket for some lovely interior photography!