birdie

Ooops! I didn't mean to be away this long... my Internet access has been intermittent and since handing in my notice for my job my work load seems to have tripled, why does that happen!? 2 weeks to go.

But I have had a chance to play with my gocco...


My first attempt at trying to register 2 screens (it would have been three if I hadn't been in such a rush to expose the 3rd screen and flashed my last bulbs without actually inserting said screen. Hmmm, I wont be making that mistake again!) I enjoyed the process of working it out though, stretching my brain a bit, practicing using my printing muscles...

quit experiment

I made another present for my mum the other day (she liked her book by the way, but it was slightly overshadowed by the Nintendo DS she received from the rest of my family... not really, but close!)


It's a case to keep her knitting needles in and the design is adapted from the one in this lovely book.


It's my first go any anything quilted, and as you can see from the photo above I had a bit of trouble with the tension but the photo below is the bit I'm pleased with!


I like this photo of the back of the case, it reminds me of ploughed fields (can you tell I've been watching Countryfile?)


Just think, in Spring perhaps little carrots will sprout here...

sunday

This book is a present for my mum, a photo album...


The colour in these photos is not quite right, the cover is actually purple and the pages lighter brown, but I didn't finish the book until after it got dark (which was actually about 5pm, oh yes, it's the end of British Summer Time next week, the clocks go back and it stops getting light...)


It's a neater version of the green fuzzy felt book I made a few days ago. I used paper for the joints (I loved how the felt looked but it was too bulky for this album). I learned the structure (stiff leaf binding by Julie Leonard) from this book, which I would recommend to any one interested in book making, it has some lovely photographs, lots of interesting projects and interviews with all the featured artists. Inspirational.


The structure is beautiful in it's simplicity, but that also means the book needs to be constructed really precisely... so even though I measured all the pages, making sure they were square and equal; even though I made templates to show me exactly where to attach the joints and even used a ruler to cut against; even though I checked and double checked every detail right down to the grain direction (after reading Rhonda's great post) the the book still ended up less than perfect...


Oh well, more practice I suppose...

shopping

I went into town after work today, to my two favourite shops... the art shop and the haberdashery. Stocking up on goodies to make a book tomorrow...


I'm so used to making book experiments with little scraps of paper that it feels a little strange buying nice paper and card, and I was so indecisive in the shop, I didn't get home until 8pm (although I must admit I took a minor detour to Borders to buy myself a treat...) But in the end I made my mind up and went for a nice chocolaty brown, with these colours for the spine...


So busy day tomorrow!

Well...

Right. No more suspense. I got the job!! I can't believe it! In a months time I will be working full time in the print room here as their new print and bookbinding technician, my absolute dream job... It hasn't sunk in yet...


And I just want to say a great big massive *thank you* for all the support I've had from all you lovely people about this. Thank you for the good luck wishes and the wise words, it all means so much to me. In fact (whilst I'm in oscar acceptance speech mode) I think it goes much deeper than just this week. Since I began this blog I have felt so much more motivated to make the work I want to make, and follow the ideas I want to follow. All your comments; positive, constructive and so friendly, have made me realise that I can (and should!) make the things I like to make, and I've pushed myself too, because I want to show you the best work I can...


This book is an experiment (aren't they all!) and a bit scruffy! I want to make a photo album for my mum for her birthday next week, I want it to feel substantial and to open flat and to close properly even when the photos are in. The felt here is too thick but I like the effect of this binding, especially the spine, and it opens nicely. Hmmm, something to work on this weekend I think.


Now all I have to do is hand in my notice tomorrow... Weeeeeee!

aghhghhgh!

Well today I got a phone call from one of the people who interviewed me for the job last week. But I missed the call because I was at work. Today I had to work late (and minuting meetings is really not my idea of a fun afternoon!) so when I tried to call back she had just gone home. And now I have to wait until tomorrow to find out what she wanted to say! I mean I know I am trying to be patient, but aghhgh!! So, fingers crossed, tomorrows the day...


This chicken is not impressed...

more trees anyone?

My favorite thing to do with a bit of paper is fold it into a concertina. There's something so very satisfying about matching up edges and creasing, folding and creasing and ending up with a little paper caterpillar that can squash and open and flex. And a concertina is so versatile as a book structure. I love how long concertina strips bend and pages sewn in the gutters move with them, flopping about all over the place.


In this book the pages are sewn on top of the crease and the difference is subtle but there none the less; the spine stays stiffer while the pages seem to move more freely. I'm pleased with how this book closes flat but opens further than you would expect; how the spine extends ever so slightly, the pages move over each other and the pictures change. It's nice to turn the pages...


And I cut an extra tree hole in the front (it looked a bit plain...) now when it's stood up the concertina makes a tunnel book...


Sometimes it takes me ages to get a book to work, a real struggle. This one seems to have come together ok, nice and simple is the way I think...

distraction

Well I had my job interview. Not sure how it went, it's so hard to say isn't it? I think I'm just going to try and forget about it now, just not think about how it went or what they thought. I mean, why worry over something of which you have no control? At least that's what I keep telling myself...


To distract myself a bit I've been playing with flickr toys. Hours of fun. (Hours I probably should have spent doing something productive like cleaning the house or such like, but hey!)

birdie

I've not been feeling very sociable lately. My new (in the same office new, not exciting new new) job seems to be taking up a lot of energy and for some reason I'm being a bit pathetic about it all. I think it's going to take me a while to get used to dark nights again (or that's the excuse i'm using for a bit anyway...)

In other news I've got an interview for a new new (very exciting!) job on Friday. Eek!

more projects

I seem to be starting lots of new projects recently, not sure whether that's a good thing or not, it either means I'll make lots of stuff or that nothing will get finished... but I'm sure it will be fun (or at least occupying) finding out!


I love old samplers and when I was younger I always used to pester my mum to take me to Bankfield Museum to look at the three large samplers they have there. I loved one of them particularly because it was sewn by a young girl, 11 years old I think, and it was beautifully intricate, I think I aspired to do the same... I also loved the verses they embroidered on the sampler, often about life and death; one of the samplers was a list of everyone who had died in the unnamed lady's family. I found that intriguing. I'm really interested in the social history of these pieces, the lives of the women who made them, the beautiful craftsmanship. I'd love to go to the V&A Museum to look at their collection of samplers. One day.


I've made a few samplers of my own, mostly from a pattern and once my own design. That was much more difficult than I anticipated, I lost count of the times I had to unpick and restitch, despite the fact I planned it all on paper first! So this time I'm half following a pattern (it's similar to this) and half improvising with my own designs.

I also decided to pick my own colours, partly because I know how I want it to look, partly because my Grandma gave me all this thread and I feel silly buying more!


And all the sewing things live in this bag, made by my mum before I was born. I like that.

envelope problem

I've spent today trying to make some kind of envelope for some tree cards I've been making. I thought it might be nice if there was some kind of surprise opening method but the design kept getting more and more complicated, with more and more folds... I think perhaps now I'm just going to go for something plain and simple like I had in the first place, I don't want the envelope to be confusing, and really the card should be the surprise shouldn't it?


Oh I'm so bad at making decisions, so many possibilities... why can't I just decide on one thing!

quilt?

My mum has a special birthday coming up and I really want to make her something special as she means so so much to me...


And I've been looking at all the lovely quilts out there in blogland at the moment...


And so I thought I would have a go at making my own! It will only be small, although I did spend yesterday evening measuring my bed and working out patterns and material amounts and time scales, but then I realised I was being a little bit ambitious, especially as I have never made any kind of quilt before...


I'm quite excited really, because even though it could all go horribly wrong I'm looking forward to having a go and seeing what happens! So we'll see...

time

The dark nights are closing in, I can feel it; the days getting shorter, walking home at dusk, curtains drawn. Blue hydrangea turning pink and I'm trying not to hibernate...