Home Again

Many thanks for all the feedback from the last blog. Glad you enjoyed the spiral book making.

I am back from Ireland, where we had the most fantastic time. Everyone was so friendly and very keen and I gave a half day workshop on dissolvables. I am not really geared up to teaching these days but it was a long way to go just for a talk so I did a special for them. Here are some pics from the trip. Hang on in there as I have a give-away at the end of the blog. Going to make you see my ‘holiday photos’ first.

Having arrived early we went to the Ulster Museum and had a nosey round. Some wonderful John Piper paintings - he is a favourite of ours. Then on to the Tropical Ravine in the Botanical Gardens - the photos above don't give any idea of the size of the huge plants or the steep drop to the ravine below. Our thanks to Aylerie for running us around and taking care of our multiple luggage so we could do this.

Then on to Bangor, where we were staying in a cute hotel, full of character. You can tell this by the way they have folded the towels.

The food was excellent and we needed a walk after dinner. Through the clouds came a rectangular rainbow. We have seen a square one before but this was a definite strip. Much brighter in real life than the photo.

Good mosaics on the pier - loved this colourful D Day memorial.

Lots of guillemots around. Don't see many of them where we are so this was a bonus.

I meant to take photos of the class but the time whizzed by and was over before I realised.

I hope they enjoyed it as much as I did.

The give-away: with my ‘d4daisy books’ hat on I am planning to produce a multiple artist book. It will have six to eight contributors and I am looking for really interesting people to feature. Who would you choose from the stitch, mixed media, journalling and book making crowd?

Let me know and I will give away a copy of the Paper and Beyond CDROM to two lucky people. I have already asked the Facebook gang, so don’t comment here if you have left a message on FB.

The book should be out for Christmas. I shall write a section on paper and metal  as I have some new ideas that I want to explore.

I am going to a workshop with Sandra Meech on Saturday - really looking forward to that. It is on using digital prints and I am using my photos from our Scandinavian theme. Lots of printouts to do in preparation, as you can see. I will hopefully be able to show you the finished result soon.

Making Spiral Books

It has occurred to me that it is ages since I gave any kind of tutorial on the blog so here is one on making spiral books. Well, sort of books. It is from the Paper and Beyond CD that Jane Wild and I made some time ago, so you may have seen it.

I am giving away the last ten copies of the CD soon – watch out for a blog next week. Can’t do it this week as I am about to go to Northern Ireland for a talk and mini workshop. Looking forward very much to that.

Spiral Books.

Consider the following when making books. A book doesn't have to be flat, it need not have 'normal' pages and, most of all, it doesn't have to be rectangular. A book is a means of recording or passing on information and this can be achieved in many ways, shapes and forms.

My spiral books are long triangles of firm paper glued to a batten of wood. It is an interesting concept because the inside as well as the outside is on show. Consideration needs to be given to the design and to the means of linking the outer and inner surfaces.



Cutting

The basic method is very simple. Just cut a long tapering shape from firm paper or card.
I use Bockingford water-colour paper, weight 140 lbs/300 gsm. The diagram shows the
shape I used for the book shown. This was cut from a sheet of paper measuring roughly 56 x 76 cm (22 x 30 in). Don't worry about being too precise. Wavy lines are to be encouraged. Books can, of course, be cut to any size but the angle needs to be as shown for the shape illustrated.

Decorating

Both the inside and outside surfaces will need to be coloured. Never one to paint on a flat surface when a more interesting one is available, I add texture using a Texture Gel and gesso before painting. These can be found in art shops - Liquitex or Golden brands are very good. In the piece shown below. Blended Fibres Gel was used, together with gesso which had salt sprinkled into it.

You can see below the process of applying the gesso with a palette knife. It is scraped into lines and textures with the flat of the knife. Gesso can be hard to paint if used in its pure white form so I always mix a little black gesso or black acrylic paint with it – see left pic, below. The blended fibres were also applied with a palette knife – see right pic, below. In this case, the fibres were worked around into swirls with the flat of the knife.

As the work was inspired by the Philip Pullman trilogy 'His Dark Materials', I wanted this piece to represent the abyss and the folds of the paper met to form it. This design was, to some extent, worked out beforehand and you can see my texture sketch below, right.

The piece did however take on a life of its own when the folding took place.

Allow the work to dry and then paint with water-colours, inks or acrylics. If you want to achieve a blended effect, use no more than three colours and first wet the surface of the entire piece. Just spray it with water before you paint. If you are using water-colour, you may find that a little acrylic paint is also needed to work into the textured gel area. Finish any further work on the front of the scroll. This could mean working into the textured areas with coloured pencils or soft pastels – see below, left. If the subject is suitable, use metallic waxes or a dry brush of gold, silver or copper acrylic paint.

Painting The Inside

Don't forget the inside. Paint this too with a suitable toning colour or perhaps with walnut ink, tea or coffee. This area of the book could be used to contain messages.

Don't forget that some of the inside will be viewed from the outside. In the book shown below, the inner surface is painted with walnut ink. Strips of lettering with suitable phrases, some hand-written and some using torn strips of computer printed hand-made paper, were attached. The strips were stitched roughly together before the bottom layer was glued to the inside area of the scroll.

Finally, the book is attached to a piece of painted doweling which my local DIY shop obligingly cut to size for me. Alternatives to the doweling could be the decorative beading sold in DIY or framing shops. A selection of these is shown, below, bottom left. You can also see details of the 'pages'.

To stick the doweling to the inside of the book, use contact adhesive such as UHU or Bostick. Place the adhesive on the edge of the book and on the doweling. Leave for a minute or two and then press the two together. Cover with baking paper and put under a weight, such as heavy books, for an hour. Then spread more adhesive over the next inch of paper and roll around the stick to cover it.

Hope you have enjoyed this and will experiment with gesso and texture gels.

A Big Day Out

Yesterday we went with my cousin Sue to Greenwich. Clive and I were going to see the Alice Kettle pieces at The Queen's House, Sue was going to re-live the Olympics (the equestrian events were held there).

We took the car to Richmond and hopped on the underground to Tower Hill. Then we introduced Sue to the Docklands Light Railway, which I love as I have a thing about monorails and this is pretty close. It was a brilliant day for it - warn and sunny- and they had extended the line since last we went, so we enjoyed seeing all the ponced-up dock areas. It took us right into Greenwich and we soon found ourselves looking at the Cutty Sark.

A quick bite at Pizza Express (I can never review an exhibition on an empty stomach) and we were soon walking to the Queen's House. I  love this view of the river with Canary Wharf viewed through the old buildings.

I am not going to go into detail about the Alice pieces as I have reviewed it for Workshop on the Web (the review part of WoW has unrestricted access so you can all see it in the June issue). I will just show this amazing piece (right) - my favourite.

Plus the flowers that a lot of Facebookers helped Alice to create.

Then we were on the next stage of our 'How many forms of transport can we do in a day' quest. A boat trip back to Westminter, where we could pick up our tube again. Here we are, the cousins, basking in the sun. It was a really hot day.

I amused myself by seeing how many shots of the Gherkin I could get, all with different foregrounds. It does seem to travel with you as you go along.

Disembarkation at Westminster, below.

We were soon on our tube train, heading back to the car. This should have taken us all the way back to Richmond but there was a Reggie Perrin moment - signal failure at Turnham Green (it really is called that!).

This lead to another, unexpected,  form of transport, surface trains to Clapham Junction and then again to Richmond. Something of an adventure but everyone was very helpful, producing iphones with apps to suggest diversions and check trains. Think I will get that app when we next travel to London.

So, home: rather late and tired but it was a brilliant day..

Thank you so much for all the comments on the last blog, especially the Newport girls. We are booked in for next year and I already have an exciting idea for you all to try. I have had such good feedback from that day that it is now firmly in my repertoire.

A New Approach

Some time ago I decided that something in my working life had to go. I love giving talks, I love teaching, I love producing Workshop on the Web and working with Michael Wicks on the d4daisy books is a blast. But it all combined to be greater than the sum of the time available and the decision was made (very reluctantly) to put a temporary stop on the teaching. I don’t seem to have any more time and I really miss teaching but an alternative has occurred to us and we road tested it in Wales on Thursday with around fifty participants.

 

I had such fun at Busy Bees in Newport and I think I have found a format that really works as an interesting and fun day. Taking the topic of Dissolvable Delights, the morning format was a talk, the first part of which covered stitching on Romeo-type film – lots of samples discussed and ideas passed on. Because we had all day it was a longer talk than usual with a coffee break halfway through. The second part looked at dissolvable paper and its role in mixed media. We also had a mini movie. Then we had a close look at the work I had brought and how it related to the talk. By then it was time for lunch. The venue was next to a National Trust property and also had a handy fish and chip shop – so lots of choice.

In the first part of the afternoon we split into two groups. I produced new work, sketchbooks and books for one group, who also had the chance to take photos and make notes of any of my textiles, like this sample of a water-soluble cast stamp stitched to a silk background.

  

 

I swept off the other group for a mixed media demo. We worked through the making of the little tower books which form one of the free online workshops for my Textile Translations book. I love making these, just as well as I have lost the originals and had to make more for this class! The triangular shapes have water-soluble paper casts, set into gesso and sprayed with strange substances.

 

Here you can see how well the paper can be moulded over an ammonite.

 

  

This time, I made little loose inserts for pages, attached by cords.

 

 

After this, we swapped groups before coming back together for a group session on oiled paper and a chance to ask questions about other aspects of mixed media.

 

Sue and Sandra at Busy Bees were wonderful and they had arranged volunteers to keep the tea, coffee and biscuits flowing. Small samples were distributed as parting gifts and everyone seemed hugely enthusiastic. I really hope to be able to repeat this as an alternative to a teaching day so I hope some of the West Country and Guild branches might take it up.

 

While sorting through my stuff I found this sample (right)  – another idea for using WS paper. Trap it between two layers of net and stitch auto patterns or text on top. Then partially dissolve the paper and squirt with a little paint. Would make a great background.

 

 

Comments

Thanks to Jaci, who I know follows my blog, for all the kind words you said about the Busy Bees day. It was great to meet you.

I am having fun, Dorothy. It is so good to finally feel better. Even managed to go to the singing group last week without coughing. I have furniture in the summer house (also from the garden centre) but this seems like too good a chance to miss to update it. 

I am sure you are all right and that I will love the conservatory. Great chance to have a whole new room without all the mess of an extension. It is booked for early July. I want it NOW but I think it is a good sign that the firm are pretty busy.

 

Interesting Times

Well, it has been an interesting week. We have made a sudden decision to have a conservatory (which I am quite excited about), found some amazing new authors for the September issue of Workshop on the Web, made great inroads in the preparation of pieces for the DVD I’m making and been to the Warner Studio set to check out the Harry Potter experience. No wonder I am shattered.

The conservatory came about because the east wind that has been with us for so long has made the back of the house very cold, in spite of double glazing. This, coupled with our council’s new recycling scheme (which involved Clive braving the elements to feed four different bins, as well as bringing in the logs), made us think about a porch. This led to market research on Facebook as to how useful conservatories are – an overwhelming yes vote - and we were hooked on the idea. Hoping it will be finished in June and planning the furnishings.

The Harry Potter thing in Watford is amazing. We were taken by daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter and it was wonderful to be driven. We knew we would like it, being fans of all things Potter, but it exceeded all our expectations. The sets are so detailed and to walk down Diagon Ally, looking in the shop windows was a surreal experience.

 

 

Love the Owl Emporium………….

 

 

 

But the best thing for us was the chance to see the detailed designs and the white models, so carefully made.

 

 

 

  

At the end there is a model of Hogwarts which is simply beautiful, photos can’t do it justice but I might try in another blog when I've stitched all the photos together. 
 

 

The grand-daughter loved it, especially the Butterbeer.

 

 

 

Clive and I already want to go again.

 

The only down was the long queue to get in, even with a timed ticket. Still worth it, though.

It has taken me days to get over it as I’m not quite back to normal after the flu thing but it was well worth it.

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Almost Normal

I have been really poorly with this flu thing - I keep feeling better and then it comes back to bite me again. It is only in the last few days that stitching, drawing and walking have been possible and then only in short bursts.

I meant to tell you about my visit to my friend Elli Woodsford who does fantastic work. I expect you have seen her book Machine Embroidery and Textile Decoration (Elli wanted to call it Body and Sole as it had lots of lovely projects for bodies and shoes). I saw her, and managed to infect her, the day before I took to my bed. Anyway, one of the reasons for my visit was to see if she would be in the DVD I am making on the embellisher machine. I am doing lots of stuff with mixed media and paper on the felting machine and am also excited about embedded stitching, but thought it would be good to make up some yardage and turn into jackets and such-like wearables.

Not only did she agree to help me but she produced some wonderful pieces, like this jacket, made on her embellisher. So I will be able to show you them.

We will visit her Embex Studio for some filming. I have another mystery guest for the DVD and will tell you more later. I am determined that it will be full of ideas and information but not too static. I plan on having free, downloadable technique sheets to go with it as I find it annoying to play movies in my workroom.

Elli has lots of animals - three lovely dogs, a Maine Coon cat and a Ragdoll like Smudge (a distant relative of his, actually, also bred by my daughter). Her Ragdoll is called Genghis Ken and is quite unique. He has his own Facebook page (Ken.Genghis Ken) and gets up to all kinds of evil deeds, egged on by the dogs who are his partners in crime.

Ken was very interested in the samples that I took to show Elli. In fact he thought a little more distressing was needed, as you can see.

So they had to be placed in Elli's larder for safety. Then he took an interest in my scarf and that had to go in the larder, too.

It was a really good and fun meeting, especailly with Genghis.

Comments

Thanks for all the heartening messages, they really helped.

Anna, I have heard that Kingcombe was wonderful. Can't wait until next time.

If anyone is still waiting for their prize, do email again, in case yours got lost.  Fiona has sent them all out and thank you for saying that you are pleased. I am working up tp another giveaway on Workshop on the Web's Facebook page so watch out for that.

Giveaway Winners and a Thin Week

It has not been a good week as I have succumbed to proper, old fashioned flu. The kind that comes with fever, aches and pains, cough, cold, headache and general grumpiness. 

Not only have I felt horribly ill but I have missed several things that I have been looking forward to for ages. Namely:

• The Kingcombe Stitch Retreat, four days of heaven with my mates.
• West Country Embroiderers Dorset Day
• My favourite cousin's big birthday lunch

To add insult to injury I have also given the flu to my friend Elli.

My friend Jane (Wild) has also been a victim - one day ahead of me. Our suspicions that we caught it at a singing workshop were given credence when our singing tutor had to cancel a class due to flu, another victim.

The one bright note was our daily phone calls to check on each other, not so much conversations as prolonged coughing sessions - Jane on her phone, me on mine, spluttering at each other. At least it made us laugh - which made us cough more.

I am on the mend at last but I have such pains in my ribs from all the coughing, Poor  Clive has been worn to a frazzle looking after me.

Winners of the Book/Softsculpt giveaway are:

June Carroll, 

Gilby,

Smarcoux, 

Susan D, 

Amanda, 

Anna Nowicki, 

Hazeltwig, 

Jacky Ives,

Gill,

Naida Willis,

Angela Collins,

Jean Dobbie,

Pian Bates.

I shall try to contact you via your blogs but, if you'd like to save a sick woman a lot of trouble, contact me with your snail mail addy, please. maggie@workshopontheweb.com