Category: WE LOVED

It was amazing, new, funny, moving… We loved it and we share it!

Bookcrossing: Let your old books go and make them travel the world!

Posted on by Team Blookup

We all love our good old books, however, it comes a time when you don’t want to read them anymore, so you put them on your bookshelf and never touch them again, which is pretty sad. Luckily for you, we at BlookUp are going to tell you about a nice way of getting rid of your dusty pile of books!

The name is BookCrossing, it is website that allows you to let go of your old books and make them travel! The process is pretty simple: You first need to label the book you want to “set free” and register it on the website using the BookCrossingID written on the said label. Afterwards, all you have to do is leaving it somewhere you know it will be picked up, it could be at your local café, a table or a bench outside at a park….be creative! Once you get back home, saddened by the loss of your old book, you can keep an eye on it by entering the book’s BCID.

What a lovely BookCrossing house! Photo by Leisha Camden on Pinterest.

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If you don’t feel like releasing your book into the wild you can join on of the BookCrossing’s forums, tweet using #bookcrossing or directly  @BookCrossing to let the fellow bookcrossers know about your book!

The person who will pick up your book can type this code on the website and mark your book as officially “picked up”. Your book’s journey starts here! If one day you stumble upon a book that shouldn’t be here for any reason whatsoever, keep it mind that it is probably traveling the world just like your old book is so watch out for the BookCrossing labels!

 

Don’t forget to join the BookCrossing community:

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Source and credits

Tip : A secret door inside a bookshelf!

Posted on by Team Blookup

Good day to you fellow blookers!

I don’t know about you but when I was a kid, I always wanted to be like Batman and have a secret door with a secret room room behind a bookcase, just for the sake of it. So when I heard that there actually was a company that was making it a reality I knew I had to share it with you guys.

At first look, you wouldn’t think that there actually is a hidden room behind that bookcase; secret passages are only a thing in movies, video games and novels after all, right?  Ha, joke’s on you! Because this bookcase actually folds in the middle thus revealing the hidden room,  safe, wine cellar, or anything you’d rather not have everyone see.

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If you don’t like the vanilla look of the door, you can choose among different sizes, color and woods then pick the one that fits best. You can also choose to add a lock so the door won’t open! Turning it into a regular bookshelf and blocking the access to the room behind it…

If you are brave enough however, you can try to build your own secret door like this man. It will certainly take time and A LOT of efforts but at last you can be proud of yourself and ultimately spend the rest of your time hidden inside your secret lair pretending you’re Bruce Wayne in the Batcave (Which is totally not what I would to if I had one at home…).

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Sources here and here – Photos credits: Woodfold

Japanese blooming newspaper, the Mainichi Shinbun!

Posted on by Team Blookup

News literally sowing and blooming to make gardens and balconies more beautiful!

In the collective imagination, we see paper burning to warm us during cold winter times or to light our barbecues !  But we don’t think about making it recyclable to the point of returning it to the earth!
Japanese Newspaper writing

Green Newspaper table presentation Continue reading “Japanese blooming newspaper, the Mainichi Shinbun!” →

The Cincinnati’s Book Fountain in Ohio

Posted on by Team Blookup

It’s getting cold and it’s not really the time to talk about fresh water anymore.

But some of you may be waiting for one thing !  Summer, and its 36 ° C in the shade! So before talking about snow, christmas trees and winter wind, we’ll do one last little favor to summer fans by making you do a small tour of the Municipal Library of Cincinnati!

Contrary to what its name indicates, Cincinnati is not located in Italy (However, the name is Italian, in hommage to the Roman political figure Cincinnatus). But in the United States, in the state of Ohio.

There are many beautiful things to see in Cincinnati but today we will stop at this beautiful fountain, just in front of the Municipal Library !

Book Fountain Cincinnati Public Library
Photo credit: Jean-François Schmitz

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Soberly named “Book Fountain”, this monument is actually a sculpture of books made of concrete covered with fired clay ! All stacked on each other, through which water flows as would a waterfall do. According to the artist-sculptor Michael Frasca, the flow of water through the books represents the free flow of ideas and information through writing and literature.

Very popular with tourists and students from frequently pose or sit near it. The fountain is also a memorial dedicated to Amelia Valerio Weinberg. She  died in 1982 and who bequeathed money in order to build a fountain for the Municipal Library !  Her wish finally came true 8 years later, and in the best way possible!

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Hemmeling Rom, the library in the woods…

Posted on by Team Blookup

Last year we had you discover Newmarket’s mobile library. But reading in town, even in a park, was still a little bit too… Déjà vu, right?

So, you like to read but you can’t stand the metro alarms, the screeching of the tramway rails or being shaked onthe bus?

Despite all the magic contained in your book, despite all the nice turns of phrase, you can’t get into it as you are forced to check for your next stop or detach your hand off the bar to which you were hanging in order to turn your page while you are suffocating, standing between two very close neighboors?

Forget the stress and constant distractions with this library of dreams! Secret Library Hemmelig Rom exterior view

Designed by the americans of Studio Padron ! The “Hemmeling Rom” (or “Secret Chamber” in Norwegian) is a cabin of 200 squared meters entirely made of oak, furnished with a bed, a chair, a desk and a wood-burning stove.  Everything you need to curl, warm, comfortable, with a good book in hand and plenty of others lining on the walls all around!

Secret Library Hemmelig Rom stove and bed

For those who love solitude and calm, the joy is complete as the library is completely isolated !  Lost somewhere in the woods of the state of New York, United States. It’s an essential travel stop for true books and new experiences lovers!

Secret Llibrary Hemmelig Rom windows and shelves

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Article source – photos credits : Jason Koxvold

3D printing: We love printing your hikes!

Posted on by Team Blookup

Are you an avid mountain hiker or a more casual one? Either way, you cross on foot or bike the most beautiful reliefs and you want to keep an original souvenir of your prowess?

Turning your best hikes into a 3D map is what the Spanish startup Nice Trails offers you. And we share the discovery with you this week!

This startup offers a revolutionnary solution to print a 3D model of a moutain excursion that you have done. All accompanied with nice reliefs that show you the altitude you have climbed as well as the achievements you have accomplished!

The idea came from the founder who thought that the path shown on a paper map does not convey well the remarkable character of physical prowess and exertion.

Book Hiking 3D Relief

This is much better than a Michelin map!

How does it work?

You send the GPS coordinates of your hike to the web platform, preview the 3D object representing your path – drawned in a bright red line along the relief you walked. Then you confirm your order to send it to a 3D printer. 

The object arrives at home only a few days later. It’s now up to you to use it as a paperweight, to frame it and hang it on a wall, or leave it on the living room coffee table like a trophy!

Nice Trails features 3 diferent print sizes and price ranges from 99 to 249€ (around $111,48 to $280,40). A good way to immortalize the hikes of your life, just like BlookUp allows you to re-materialize your digital content in a real paper book. It’s so amazing to see how the concrete objects that you can hold in your hands still have a bright future ahead of them!

A customised book with the name of your child!

Posted on by Team Blookup

We’ve found the perfect gift for a mum-to-be or for little readers… A book that you can customise with the name of your child! A very creative concept, because the story inside the book adapts to the name you choose.

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The idea is simple: it’s the story of a little boy or a little girl (as you wish) that has lost his/her name. Little by little, the child will find one by one the letter of his name and live some magical adventures at the same time. Every character that the child met will give him the first letter of his name… Louis will first meet a lion, and Chloe a chameleon!

What do you think about this concept, pretty amazing don’t you think? To know more about the “Lost My Name” project, it’s this way!

And if you want to create a customised book to offer a wonderful gift to your child, you can also print your family blog into a book or your most beautiful Instagram pictures with BlookUp 🙂

Story Pod : a new kind of library in Newmarket (Canada)

Posted on by wsb

Last week, we discovered the Blook and Bed Hotel, a very original hotel based in Tokyo, where bedrooms are seperated by books. This week, we are going to Canada to discover an other original concept.

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In Toronto (Canada), some people have created a library for the city of Newmarket. It is a big black cube which produces light by night thanks to the solar energy. During the day, this cube becomes a library which looks like a book. People can come over and read a book while sitting on the grass around. There are books for everyone : children, teenagers, adults… everyone will find what he wants.

This is such a good way to encourage people reading !

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This tiny book is full of happiness !

Posted on by wsb

This is the end of the week. The week-end is almost here, so we decided to share a lovely project with you.

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The artist Evan made the tiniest book we have ever seen, untitled « The small pleasures of life ». The idea was to list all the little pleasures everybody can have in his everyday life : drinking a good coffee, reading a book, writing blog articles, watching the stars,… Every little pleasure, memory or feeling is summarized in a few words on one page, and illustred by a very simple drawing on the other page.

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This is such a beautiful idea, full of happiness and poetry ! Every one should own this kind of book 🙂

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Source

A box full of books in the street (France)

Posted on by wsb

Would you love sharing your books with others and discovering new books for free ? Well, this is possible ! In Moulleau, South of France, a box has been installed in the street. The concept is very simple : you put a book you loved (or not) in the box, and you can choose an other one and take it for free. The goal is to discover new authors or stories and to share with others.

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On the box is written : « Take the time to read… In this box, you can leave one or a few book(s) you loved. It is free access. Every one can borrow a book and read it on a bench before redepositing it in the box.” 

The idea has been developed in other cities of France, and hundreds of people have joined the concept. If you are curious and like reading books, this was definitely made for you !