A meeting of Paperlove - Part 2

Gosh - where has this year gone?! While thinking about my next post I suddenly realised I did not return to my trip to Bute as planned. And as this is still in mind and one of my happy memories of 2017, I will put that right. If you missed (or want to be reminded!) of how we came together in August this year you can read about it here.  

I mentioned in that post some of the things that we shared in Ruth's studio. And here is some more:

On our walk to the beach and in the garden we collected flowers and plants for eco-printing. My friends had been generous in their gifts, bringing old books and papers for us to share. These made beautiful backgrounds for our prints. 

We also learnt a new binding stitch.  The instructions were translated from Swedish so there was some confusion over translation, but we all got there in the end, amid much laughter! 

I was also introduced to Litho Printing, using Coca-Cola. This was an interesting idea and my own prints were somewhat dubious. However, some of the other examples were more promising so I need to experiment more with this. 

We also did some stitching. Ideas were shared, fabric and threads exchanged, and more beautiful work was produced. This is such a talented group of people! 

We also got to explore more of the island. One of our members is a poet and university lecturer, who came up with some wonderful ideas during our time together. She was inspired by a poetry form that was easy even for non-writers, and many of us gave it a try. 

We also took photos, sketched, took notes and just sat quietly, appreciating this special place.

One of our other visits was to Mount Stuart House. I had never heard of this house before going, but was amazed by the history, and stunning beauty. Paul McCartney's daughter was married there, and it it was sumptuous without feeling imposing. We were given a tour of the house and enjoyed afternoon tea in one of the private rooms. 

My neck ached from looking up at the ceilings! There was so many with paintings and ornate carvings. Breath taking is the only word to describe.

And the grounds are impressive too, with landscaped formal gardens, woodland and coastal walks, a huge glass house and vegetable garden. If ever you get the chance to go, don't hesitate!! We enjoyed our visit so much that we returned on our own, to explore some more. 

Ruth, our host, booked a different place for us to eat each evening so we were lucky enough to experience more of the island and time together.  Husbands joined us to eat, and then we returned to the studio to work into the evening. Lifts were shared and arranged, and it truly was a magical time. I feel blessed to be part of such a diverse and interesting group, and while we live too far a part to meet regularly we do maintain contact online and there has been some wonderful happy mail exchanged this Christmas. We are also arranging monthly projects and I look forward to seeing what 2018 brings. 

This reminder of sunshine and holidays has brightened my day and if you have read to the end, a big thank you! I hope it triggers your own happy memories of holidays and friendships. 

Happy Christmas 2017!!

Christmas wishes to you!

However you celebrate this time of year, I hope you are having a wonderful time. Thank you to everyone who has visited my blog, commented or taken part in my monthly 5 in 5 posts. It would be a lonely place without you.

Enjoy the rest of this holiday period! 

5 in 5 - December 2017 - Making books using Eileen Hull Journal die

Welcome to '5 in 5' where on the 5th of

each month I post 5 photos that I have

taken in 5 minutes.

I make lots of books and journals so I was intruiged when a number of friends bought the Eileen Hull journal die. It seemed a good opportunity to try it out and so while I was on a retreat I had fun making a few:

 On this one, I added a pocket on the front cover

And I made some half pages to add interest

The detail on the spine. The cover is not finished yet as I may add a fastening or more on the front, I sometimes like to live with my work for a while until I know where to go next with it. But I am happy for now.

I wanted to make a smaller version, inspired by the die. I cut the cover by hand and used the Crop-o-dile to make the holes.

I enjoyed the opportunity to use the die and experiment with soft and hard covers.  It is not unlike Modori-style journals I have made in the past, and it is always good to try new things.

Thank you for popping by!  I have made lots of new books lately so I must get round to sharing more. But for now, thank you to everyone who has taken part in 5 in 5, and I wish you, and my visitors, a very happy Christmas.  I would have liked to be more seasonal with this post but by the time you see this I will be in India, on a creative course, learning how to dye and print fabrics. I might take a few photos while I am there! So I wsh you and your family a very Happy Christmas and look forward to sharing more 5 in 5 photos in the coming year.

It is always fun to have company in this photo challenge so a big

thank you to Mary-Lou, Maggie, Melanie, Karen, Nan, Green Tomato and Borqna for taking part last month. And to all those who visited and left comments.

And YOU would be very welcome to join in too, so I hope you are inspired to get out your camera. Here is the plan:

1.  Choose a location.

2.  Have your camera ready.

3.  Set a timer for 5 minutes (I use my mobile phone).

4.  Take as many photos you can until the time is up.

5.  Choose 5 photos to download and share by using the link tool below.
                         
You have until the 25th of the month to add your photos.

5 in 5 - November 2017 - Melanie

Melanie is my friend who lives in Australia and she loves photography.  Every month since the start of this challenge Melanie has taken part in this monthly meme and as she doesn't have her own blog I post here.

I love that we have found a way for her to take part.

And I was excited this month when Melanie visited UK. She has friends and family here, and as always she had a busy schedule and lots packed in.  But we managed to squeeze in a meeting one afternoon, and it was wonderful to meet her daughter after so many years. Our children grew up together, and now she is a mother herself, so I also got to meet Melanie's two grandsons who I hear so much about.  We enjoyed a lovely walk along the estuary promonade, and of course I took my camera!

 

But this is Melanie's post. So, I'm handing over to you, Melanie:

I have selected for my November 5 in 5 photos taken when I was visiting Paris.  It was an Eiffel Tower in the rain day.  Just got back home on Monday 20^th after being on the go for four weeks.  Now I need time for my head to catch up with my body and hopefully return to a normal state though with Christmas on the horizon it may not be too easy.  Hope to catch you next month with a 5 in 5 for December.

As always, thank you Melanie! It was lovely to meet up and I hope you soon find your energy. 

................

Thanks for popping by and I look forward to another post from Melanie next month. 

If this has inspired you to pick up your camera and join in please go to the original post where you will also find out how to link in.

And to find out more about this monthly photo challenge, and how this started, please go to this post. 

A SoulBook Gathering

Have you heard of the SoulBook Gathering experience, an idea recently shared by Melody Ross? I decided to invite a group of friends to join me and I was lucky enough to be given creative space to use at a local community cafe. It was the perfect location, and the warmest of welcomes (thank you Emma!).  Throughout the morning people popped through to see what we were doing and hopefully some of them will join us another time. 

Usually, when I take an idea, I expand it and always make my own tweeks and adaptions.  But this time I decided to keep it simple, and follow Melody's instructions to make the book. So I cut enough corrugated card so everyone had 6 pages, and we attached them with masking tape.  I wasn't sure how this would work as it seemed a bit basic, but with addition of papers and some strips to connect the pages together it proved a strong and useful construction.

With the instruction download came pages of prompts, such as:

'These are things I always want to remember' and

'I want to remember that every single day is a brand new chance to start over'

These were cut into strips and shared among the group and we put our books together. Then using the collection of materials provided we decorated our pages and added personal touches such as photos. There was chatting, and drinking tea and coffee; but more than this, there was periods of stillness as everyone appreciated this 'me' time, because too often we are dashing around or caring for others and not giving ourselves time to just be present in the moment. 

Here are some of the books made that morning: 

 

Afterwards we gathered in the cafe for lunch, and as always the food did not diappoint. It was made even more special by my favourite lemon merignue pie!  

I would certainly arrange another SoulBook Gathering and this it might be something that you would be interested in doing too - let me know how it goes if you do. Thank you to the ladies who joined me to made this a special time, and to Emma and her team at the School Room Cafe for providing such a warm welcome. I will be back soon!

5 in 5 - November 2017 - Pumkpin time!

Welcome to '5 in 5' where on the 5th of

each month I post 5 photos that I have

taken in 5 minutes.

Last year I posted about the award winning pumpkin grown at Hyde Hall RHS garden. This year Matthew Oliver beat his own record and so I went along to see.

There are lots of pumpkins to be seen this time of year and many homes and gardens have been decorated for Halloween. We were excited to be in York where the shop windows had amazing displays. In particular, the narrow Shambles and side streets were full of atmosphere, especially at night time. And we discovered 'The Shop That Shall Not be Named', it's Harry Potter theme even more magical than usual.

Back home we were too busy to decorate for Halloween and in the days after I saw some bargain pumpkins. So I bought a large one and set to, making some soup. With a little chilli it makes a warming lunch for this time of year and there is lots to go in the freezer. It seemed a good opportunity for 5 in 5 photos:

There is still lots left...

I will chop the rest for the freezer to use in curries, pies and for risotto.

But one of my favourite ways of using pumpkin is roasted, with beetroot, and what other vegetables I might have that are suitable. These are such versatile squash and I'll be looking out for other new recipes to try - but I'm interested to know about your own favourites - please share!

It is always fun to have company in this photo challenge so a big thank you to Mary-Lou, Maggie, Melanie, Melissa, Karen, Kat and Borqna for taking part last month. And to all those who visited and left comments.

And YOU would be very welcome to join in too, so I hope you are inspired to get out your camera. Here is the plan:

1.  Choose a location.

2.  Have your camera ready.

3.  Set a timer for 5 minutes (I use my mobile phone).

4.  Take as many photos you can until the time is up.

5.  Choose 5 photos to download and share by using the link tool below.
                         
                              You have until the 25th of the month to add your photos.