concertina book

This is my version of the concertina book we made in the class on Monday...


Its a slightly scruffy version as its been taken apart and put back together again good few times now. Sometimes seeing things come to bits helps to understand how things are made...


No glue in this book (that's for next week :) ) All folded paper, sewn or slotted together...



I like concertina books.

catch up

Well, Thursday already. It's been a busy week...

Monday evening spent with a lovely group of ladies, making concertina books, always a winner! The class seemed to go well, and I got to meet Hazel (who is just as kind and funny in real life, Hi Hazel!) And I forgot to take pictures of the books, maybe I'll remember tomorrow.

Tuesday was work all day, and Wednesday was catching up with one of my bestest and oldest friends. Her daughter started school this year, the same school at which my friend and I met, and when we went to pick her up I got to have a little look inside... Not that much has changed in 21 years, and I still think it would be quite nice to go back to painting all day, to reading picture books, sitting on the carpet, playing with the sand queuing up for assembly and collecting acorn stickers for good work.

Today, well I've been playing with the buckram instead...

sunday

boxes again...

Thinking about boxes; containers for student's dvds and film pieces...


Trying to be accurate; cutting the boards right, sanding them smooth, avoiding (trying to avoid!) glue splodges, aiming for just the right balance of the lid fitting tightly but not too tightly...



Admiring this, the dedication, the skill, and the idea of making 'not for the 99, but for the one'

An another (not quite finished yet) idea, folding out to hold many dvds or other things...


Hmmm... makes me want to make boxes within boxes, hidden draws and unexpected fold out bits (perhaps tomorrow).

home

Despite being booked into a compartment that didn't exist on the sleeper train, and a fire in the Channel Tunnel I've made it home safely...

A whirlwind of a trip...


Due to the problems on the Eurostar we had a day in London instead of Paris, so, a visit not to the Louvre but the Natural History Museam in London...


Amazing. And one afternoon is certainly not enough.

Traveling by train leaves lots of time for thinking... and its so different to flying. From a plane window the world below appears so small and toy like, and it moves so swiftly... But travelling through the landscape, slowly across the continent, trees and buildings, people and animals; all the little details made me start (and only start, because I only travelled for 700 miles, and the world is much more vast than that isn't it) but at least start, to appreciate the scale of the world...


It makes me think of how much I take for granted, that I could reach the other side of the world in a few days and be home again by the end of the week. Even trains more so incredibly quickly, relativly. The Roman Legions had to walk...

choo choo!

I'm off on holiday tomorrow, so I won't be around for the next few days... I'm going to Rome on the train, with a stop off in London and Paris, should be a bit of an adventure!


So have a lovely weekend whatever you're up to, and I'll see you next week :)

nests and books

I love going to the library and just browsing through the shelves, seeing what catches my eye. It's also a great way to feed my appetite for new things to read without draining my bank account...

Here's what I found on Friday...


I love these illustrations of eggs, definitely some inspiration there...


And a whole chapter on 'formation, structure and appearance of the avian egg'. Kept me quiet for hours :)

I've been trying to workout who this nest belonged to, found abandoned in an very old and tangled shrub my dad was removing from the garden


It seems to be made from twigs, roots, moss, stones and bail band; an interesting combination, although I think it's quite old and would probably have had some kind of soft lining (I hope!) After reading through the book I think it might've been built by a Robin...


And it's not the only nest in the garden...


Those cheeky chickens :)

On a different note, there's a few new books in the shop today


Little concertina pocket books, take a look, if you like...

And have a lovely Sunday!

When we went to visit the observatory at Kielder the other day we came across something unexpected half way up the mountain...

A Skyspace! Designed by artist James Turrell, an enclosed space that opens up to the sky above...


...framing the clouds, the changing sky, the light...

photo courtesty of spaceplace

It was strange to go from the warm sunny massiveness of outside to this small, cold, smooth, quiet, palely lit place. We could've been anywhere. I like to look at the clouds and sky anyway, but to have them framed in this way... I felt the sky looked like a planet, it seemed to glow, and cast shadows on the curved white walls...


And the view from the top...


And now I'm off for a walk in the sunshine before it rains again...

bookbinding anyone?

I've just found out I'm teaching 3 weeks of a 6 week bookbinding course starting next week! Lots of ideas are running round my head... buttonhole binding, pamphlet stitch, concertinas (and more concertinas), folding and hidden pockets. What about case binding and coptic stitch, gluing and endpapers and stab binding and single sheets. So many things to choose from and only 6 hours to fit it all in!

So, if any one is in the Leeds area on Monday evenings starting next week, and is interested in bookbinding, then the Bowery in Headingley is the place to be :)


And seen as it's been a busy week and I haven't got much to show for it, it's time for some gratutitous chicken pictures! Taken at the weekend at my parents house, from the top... Cleopatra, Tiger Lilly and Lemony, aren't they lovely ladies? And all looking at me and thinking 'what's that shiny thing shes pointing at me, and more importantly does it despense food...' But no need to worry, they all got some freshly picked blackberries for being such good models :)