Creative Books

I managed to spend some time over the weekend finishing off various small books that have been laying around for ages.

Just a very easy Coptic Binding using some bought paper.  I pasted a circle of tissue paper depicting a butterfly to the inside cover with matt gel medium just to provide a bit of interest.

Below another coptic bound book. The very nice handmade paper was bought in Worcester.  I added some more of the tissue paper butterflies to the cover to add highlights.

Two Secret Belgian Bound books using papers I had decorated myself.  I cut a circle in the front sheet of the right hand book and then added a circle of the cover paper to the second page so that it was viewed through the hole in front.

Two Stab Bound books. The left hand one is paper I decorated using a combination of methods including Quink Ink and bleach.  The right hand book was a plain black handmade paper which I stamped with gold acrylic.

A new binding for which I do not know its name I am afraid. It involves placing a strip of leather across the back of the spine before pasting the endpapers to the cover of the book. The signatures were stitched over tapes with a French Link Stitch. The gold paper was purchased from Paperchase in a pack of handmade papers and was very nice to work with. Both books have hand decorated endpapers to compliment the covers.

Finally, a structure which I have made before using dyed blanket.  This time I improvised with some leather.  I think it is called a Cross Structure binding.

I utilised some old metal buttons and the catch was a treasured find from the Rag Market, Birmingham.

Remix/Reimagine Exhibition

Went to see the Remix/Reimagine Exhibition at New Brewery Arts in Cirencester yesterday with a friend and it was fabulous. Particularly loved all the creative books on display.  The exhibition features work by Sumi Perera who is a textile and paper artist.

The piece of framed work that I liked the most was the one shown above.  It had little bits of machine embroidery on it within the circles and was lovely. There was also a book based on circles which I did not take any pictures of which certainly gave me lots of thoughts and ideas for future work I might do.

This was my favourite binding which was full of very inspirational work mounted in windows throughout the book.

There were images created by rusting, various methods of mark making, printng, eco dying and stitching.

I loved this concertina book which also had a slip cover. The colours do not show up particularly well on this image

Coincidence or What?

At the moment lots of things keep falling into place, quite unplanned and without any reason.  I was chatting to Caroline Bell at the NEC about her work and suddenly realised that the piece of fabric I had been given as a present at Christmas had been a piece of her work.  She had exhibited at the Harrogate Knitting & Stitching Show.

Alison Hulme was also exhibiting as part of the group at the NEC and I loved her work, being a combination of both print and stitch, which I love ...

It was a lovely day out, I spent lots, met friends and generally had a nice time. Just what I needed to refresh flagging enthusiasm.

Nice Friends I have!!

This mug, given to me recently by one of my dear friends, is supposed to assist me if I forget what a squirrel looks like.  Those of you who know me well will be aware of why this is a joke in particularly bad taste!

We have lots of crocus out in both the front and back lawns at the moment but they seem to be in blocks of one colour.  Do not know why as they were planted randomly. Don't they make you full of joy when the sun comes out and they open their blooms wide?

Vegetable Plotting 2

The sun is shining outside and I have seen a Brambling in the garden under the bird feeder for the second time this week.  It makes your heart sing.

The latest Yorkshire Travelling Journal arrived earlier in the week ready for me to make my own contribution to it.  Below are the two plus pages I made last year based on my allotment and sheds theme ....

A comfy chair

This week I have been busy making a cushion for my chair so that I can sit and read in my workroom - ha ha dream on!! Anyway it is almost finished and just needs some ends fastening off and stitching in.

Vegetable Plot

Yesterday I realised that I had never actually photographed the pages that I created in my 2015 Travelling Journal and as I am just about to pass it on again for the 2016 round of travels I got the camera out.

The picture above was printed using an imprint from a savoy cabbage leaf.  I punched small holes around the edge of the page to make it look like the cabbage white caterpillars had eaten them.  The butterfly was a section of a page ripped from a paperback book and then drawn on. The background of both pages was made using glazing fluid and acrylic paint which gave it a nice transparent look.

Previous blogs have shown the cabbages and cauliflowers under construction some time ago. They have small compressed paper balls inside them.

Bumbarrels

Over the past month or so I have been trying to draw Long Tailed Tits with not too much success.  I wanted to draw them from life but can never get close enough and their visits to the garden are very unpredictable.  Instead I have been using various photographs found on the internet and in my bird books.

Whilst looking up some of the curious names they are known by I found this poem by John Clare.

                                 Bumbarrel’s Nest                                                       
The oddling bush, close sheltered hedge new-plashed,
Of which spring’s early liking makes a guest
First with a shade of green though winter-dashed –
There, full as soon, bumbarrels make a nest
Of mosses grey with cobwebs closely tied
And warm and rich as feather-bed within,
With little hole on its contrary side
That pathway peepers may no knowledge win
Of what her little oval nest contains –
Ten eggs and often twelve, with dusts of red
Soft frittered – and full soon the little lanes
Screen the young crowd and hear the twitt’ring song
Of the old birds who call them to be fed
While down the hedge they hang and hide along.