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a page from...

 

my book I started making in the workshop in France.

Any excuse to draw a skull really....

a to z...book making

Perfect weather,a converted walnut mill in the south of France and five whole days devoted to making and filling books...that was how I spent a week of my holidays. It was as idyllic as it sounds- a well balanced and mixed group of characters, picture perfect countryside and an inspiring tutor.

 the studio- L'Espace

Les Soeurs Anglaises in the Dordogne region played host to the book art workshop run by Rachel Hazell. It was a beautiful place to stay;generous,charming hosts who created an idyllic space in which to relax and work, exceptional food ( a cook book is in the making ) and an inspiring studio workspace.To top it all off,I had a room with its very own bath that looked out over the terraced gardens across fields to the nearby village- bliss!

 
the view from my bath

 

A few mornings, I managed to get myself out of bed for an early run along quiet roads and back again, in time for a long soak in the bath before breakfast.

 A' warm up book' -day one

Between, running, swimming and eating, I managed to squeeze in a little book making...

The theme of the workshop was Dictionaries and Definitions: A Personal A-Z.. The workshop outline promised that we would learn 'unusual and beautiful bookbinding techniques, with humour and the luxury of time to experiment".

That last bit about the 'luxury of time' sealed it for me - for me the week was about spending as much time as I wanted on each stage of the book. Nothing done quickly or just for the sake of filling the pages: the focus was on the process rather the the finished product.

  Final book in the making

 

 

ink, paper and thread...

add a little glue and you are well on the way to making a book.

Day one of the embroidery workshop yesterday and our first exercise was to make a book with a decorated paper and fabric cover.

One of the aims of the workshop is to use hand and machine embroidery and to work beyond your usual boundaries. My natural inclination would be to stop here, or at the most add a little texture and depth to the body of the cover using (most probably) white thread so that it blends into the background. Maybe a small amount of blue or even red thread for contrast but nothing too alarming.

Do I stick to my usual aesthetic ( simple and fairly minimal) or try to do something different - maybe add some shocking colour or bold texture? The materials requirement list included beads, buttons and lace to embellish the cover.
All of the above which are still sitting quietly in my workbox. All around me there is a riot of colour, texture and embellishment happening. Lace, crystals, heavily stitched surfaces.

I have already taken the bold step of messing up the surface of the accordion pages I am going to stitch into the book.

Crumpled, ink stained and torn - quite a world away from my standard clean ivory pages.

Embellished or unadorned?
Need to think about that one.

one cross goblin....

Ever since I finished this zine, Rose has been busy with her own book...I finally finished scanning and colouring the images for her, so that she could add the text.

(I'm just a little bit proud....)

ready to post.....

Off to Japan, USA,UK,Switzerland,Portugal,Canada, The Netherlands,Israel,Finland, New Zealand,New Caledonia and of course all over Australia.
I love snail mail...hope you enjoy finding these in your mailbox, where ever you are!
All feedback encouraged and most welcome.
( For those of you who want to take a look at the illustrations, you can find them all here on Flickr)

8th March....Thanks for the great response. All of the mini zines are now spoken for...only did an edition of 50 (quite enough folding and stapling for the present!)  so if you missed out, sorry!

odd sock soup....

I finally finished the artwork for my mini- zine...scanning and printing is all completed and its ready to be folded  and stapled. I used the instructions from this book to make an instant zine - fast, easy and light to mail.

So, if you asked for a copy, it should be on its way to you at the end of this week ( if you asked but haven't sent me your mailing address, please do!). It's not very big...a little bit of drawing, a little bit of collage and a very little bit of text! Shouldn't take more than a minute or so to read but hopefully a minute that you will enjoy!

all the way from Dundee, UK...

Just yesterday I was over here looking at the beautiful felt blankets that Di makes;

Today I found a package in my mailbox with this in it....a special gift to celebrate her blog's one year anniversary. I was the first person ever to leave a comment on her blog - how lucky was that!

The girls loved the hidden bear-

I was especially taken with the thought and generosity that went into the unexpected gift- thank you so much, Di!
Another present in the mail- this time one from me to myself!
( How thoughtful am I?)

Only had a chance for a quick peek so far but I know I am going to love it- just the cover alone is brilliant!

travelling journals...

I'm taking part in Uschi's travelling journal project.
My journal has been made from an old book cover with a new Coptic stitch bound text block.
The text block is made from mixed media paper with a few pages from the original book added in.

A bit of masking tape and my first page has a pocket for holding bits and pieces
( I went to see The Barber of Seville at the Opera House on Saturday. Yes,that was me tearing along the Opera House walk in The Dress and my big black boots,hair flying - sorry if I nearly knocked you over but I was running very, very late. I made it just in time. But only just!)

to-ings and fro-ings....

Just before I headed off to north to Port Douglas and the Daintree, I somehow managed to squeeze in a quick visit to Melbourne ( I know, I'm doing it tough this month...)
Highlights ( and there were many!)

Violet and Rose Peg Apron- picture courtesy of the official Violet and Rose clothesline...

Meeting Jo from Violet and Rose and enjoying it every bit as much ( and possibly even more) than I had imagined. Now I just need to move Melbourne and Sydney a little closer so that I can drop around for a cup of tea and a catch up a little more often... the beautiful apron was part of a bag of goodies that Jo put together for me ( if you too want one to help you achieve that drop dead gorgeous look whilst hanging out the smalls, visit her blog. If you happen to be in Melbourne, pop into Meet me At Mikes to see this and more of her lovely work.This shop is full of craft blog goodness, and if you are lucky you will get to meet the most personable Pip!)

Finding this wonderful stack of old Japanese books hidden in a box under a rack of kimonos at Ziguzagu at Kazari Warehouse.

The covers were so perfectly old and weathered and then inside....

I haven't a clue what I will do with them but I just couldn't leave them behind.

The old obis below came from the same place. ( You might remember one of the obi's from last years trip took on a new life as this crochet roll. I so love using this roll.)

Going to the cinema not once but twice to see a foreign film... Paris, je T'aime  and Orchestra seats at the Cinema Nova, Carlton. I think that the cinnamon choctop that I had on the first evening was a large part of the reason for the second visit the following night!

Just a few of the memorable moments...there were way too many for just one post, so expect another some time soon...

 

 

sticks and glue

I finally managed to take a few photos of the dowel spine books from the workshop at Primrose Park  Paper Arts, a few weeks back.

We started off  with a single dowel book that is simply cut and folded.
No glue needed. The beauty of this one is that you end up with little pockets on the inside perfect for tucking paper scraps into...

From there we moved onto a triple dowel spine accordion book.

If you want to change the pages you just slip out the dowels, remove and replace. Too easy.This was my favourite book to make.

Then it was onto the more complex multi dowel spine book. I didn't quite finish weaving my dowels together - once I've done that I just have to trim off the excess dowel ( in this case bamboo skewers).

This one was a bit of a challenge - satisfying to make but a bit too fussy for my liking...
This weekend I am off to another workshop - this one is a birthday treat present for my hardworking- yet-always- there- friend Stephanie.
Happy Birthday Steph!
It is a mixed media workshop with Glen Skein - we will be creating a "multiple section box piece incorporating found objects and images to create a sense of narrative".
This is the blurb in the leaflet....as far as I'm concerned its a great excuse to spend two days catching up with Steph with no small children underfoot ( between us we have five of the darlings).
Fun, fun, fun with a bit of cut and paste thrown in for good measure.