Winter walk

Winter has been strange so far. One day it is cold and dry, the next ,wet and windy. Day after day seems to alternate between these two states. Average temperatures are apparently low for this time of year,somedays struggling to climb into low single figures. It started with a heavy frost today but dawned bright and sharp. Despite a long list of things we needed to do this morning, we headed 40 minutes drive  up north of the county to Newport. It's one of the places in Pembrokeshire that has lots of second homes so it's usually quiet in the off season and it has different habitats to explore. The sea becomes a tidal estuary flowing into reedbeds and we took our binoculars with us, lucky enough to see little egrets, herons,sanderlings and curlews.

We walked from the large beach at Traeth Mawr, around the estuary and onto the beach at the Parrog. In reality it's all one massive stretch of sand with the estuary cutting through the centre of it. The water was crystal clear and running beautifully. The sun was out all day and where you could feel it on your face, it was really warm. At one point it felt quite like Spring. Really. I am not exaggerating, I promise. Just wanted to share the beauty of it all.

Winding down to year end

I find that the winter solstice is the day when I start to really think about one year ending  and another one on the horizon. Christmas is nearly upon us but I've already taken stock and looked back on 2014 whilst planning ahead for 2015.
This is just a round up of some of the things that have meant something to us this year; visits to the beach for walking and beachcombing; the end of the beekeeping when my husband became allergic to the very thing he loved;  lots of rooting around in churchyards and exploring them; the making of many books and then teaching them in workshops;  birds, birds and more birds in our garden and further afield; enjoying our garden and encouraging wildlife into it; design and printing in all its forms.... the list goes on.
A major part of the year was spent working on the project at the local museum, researching the men who volunteered for the Great War. I found some wonderful stories but I never shared them here as I felt they were not mine to share. I became fond of men I could never know or have known and shed many tears when I found photographs to support my research. It has been an emotional year commemorating the start of the war but I think it has been fitting.
I have a plan for 2015 that might have also been an intention for 2014 too but this time I feel very positive about it. I intend to spend more time simply drawing. I want to sharpen my skills. I know I can draw already but I want to do it better and more spontaneously. I have an idea in mind and have set up another blog to go with it. If I get it off the ground I will let you know!


I hope everyone else has had a good year and wish you all a great Christmas and an exciting 2015.

At last , a post pops up from me!

 Ran a couple of workshops last week and wanted to share a sample idea from the first one, which was a day of paper pop-ups and paper engineering. Everyone made some ingenious cards once a few basic supports had been mastered; so many so, that I could not photograph them all and do justice to their work here,  so I want to share a free download with you or anyone else encouraged to pick up the scalpel....

 If you visit here, you will find some fantastic paper engineering with quite a few generous free downloads.Look in the 'Learn' folder and download the snowflake PDF.  I picked the snowflake for the obvious seasonal reasons and then realised that what went into one card could be expanded into an accordion book.

 So, I folded and cut my book, but not before I bought a jewellery gift box from Wilko's (the UK's new type of Woolworth's) and converted it to my needs.

 The box is only £1.50 and with a bit of luck, there will be a few discounted in the sale! I removed the satin liner and measured my paper to fit the box. After folding accordingly, I cut three snowflake templates and then popped them. The download site even has a video showing you how to do this. Once you get going they only take a few minutes to cut as they are all straight lines. The snowflake book is really effective and looks like a I spent a lot longer on the project than I actually did. The last page is blank and I've decorated it and used the whole project as a special card for my brother and sister in law. The box is well made for the money and I'm thinking that with a bit of collage on the cover etc etc, they can be used as a carrier for future accordion book ideas. I know it's a bit late to start giving out the festive ideas but it might spark the production line for next year!!

Waking and walking

We have had a few days of stunning weather. Waking up to strange early morning mists that hang like ribbons as I look across the field next door. Our first frost as autumn slips into winter but with the promise of sunshine later.

So, there's been two days of walking, enjoying the company of friends and my lovely husband on the coastal path from Abermawr to Aberbach. Not a massive distance by any stretch but the warmth of the sun and the sound of the waves crashing on the rocks below meant frequent stops to look, to sit, to listen and to absorb it all. All topped off with a trip round the headland to Pwll Deri stretching its arm out to sea.

 Pwll Deri

 High morning tide at Abermawr

 Walk around the path from the bay at Abermawr........

 ...... and you'll see the little beach of Aberbach

I've been restless all of this year,talking about moving, frequently. There are times when I feel a bit cut off from the rest of the world and want to be closer to the action. I wish I could hop on a train and get to London to see exhibitions or just visit places without planning it like a military manouevre... and then I have a week like this and it makes me realise what I have. Great friends, a charmed life  and some very special landscape to be a part of. Why look for more I wonder?

Finally!!

 I've had a great week making more marks on paper, rusting fabric, trying out some different book structures and generally messing about in my shed. I thought it was about time I finished my glass book idea. The plates have been made for months but my soldering skills are minimal and the loops needed re-soldering, so it has been an idea on hold until I felt ready to tackle the soldering iron again. Any close scrutiny of the loops or the soldering will show that it is still a process I have not mastered, but, hey, the book stands on it's own (with a little help from the windowsill.....)

Making their mark....

 It's been a busy old month for me, full of courses I've either been teaching or attending. As much as I love it, I was starting to forget what day it was by the end of last week. I finished the last two sessions of my altered books course on Friday and have spent all weekend delivering a mark making workshop for the local Embroiderers Guild . It was a marvellous two days and although I know my body is telling me it is tired, I feel very energised by the whole event. The eleven ladies in the group tackled everything I suggested in order to experiment with tools and processes designed to enlarge their visual vocabulary of marks and work back into them.

We began by rusting paper and fabric and whilst the marks developed we explored different tools and mediums to get something spontaneous onto paper with inks. Everything was geared to preparing samples to turn into books. I taught three different formats and we discussed lots more. We photocopied some of their marks onto labels, re-coloured them or cut them up, placed them on top of the first layer of marks and built up ideas. We bleached and we polished and we scratched and we foiled onto lots of different types of paper, from the heavy to the translucent, and the overriding theme to the weekend was 'I wonder what happens if....'

We shared lots of ideas and all took away a great idea from someone else. I fell in love with marks made by a bottle brush and now I just have to find one. The whole event has made me want to take my samples and continue to work into them. As it is half term this week, I suddenly have a free timetable and intend to have a 'me time' week. I tend to throw the kitchen sink at things like this so it was a full on weekend with lots to show at the end of it. These are a fraction of images from those I took. I cannot show something by everyone but they give a flavour of the fabulous work they produced. It was a joy to be part of and I thank them all.

Random Words

 Only one more week of having to wear the surgical stockings! Hooray! As the weather turns cooler I am beginning to feel even sillier wearing white stockings around but it's not long now and I feel great so life is good. I've joined a couple of evening classes locally to boost the numbers and one of the tutors I work with has joined my Altered Books group which starts tomorrow. She takes Collage and Sculpture so I think we shall have some crossover which will be intriguing.
I only have three hours a week for five weeks to cover a massive topic so I am trying to hone it and pare it down so that maximum effect is achieved. Samples lie all over the floor and I'm in danger of altering books my husband is still reading......
Tomorrow we'll be folding books to make 3d sculptures and then next week it's on to book boxes  and book safes. I finished this one today using a great book found in 'Books for Free' again. It cried out to be altered in some way so I've used the book jacket to make a small envelope and placed some of the random words inside. It was a bit tatty so could have been neater but it illustrates the point I shall be making.

 I have not planned to do any book making on this course but do want to show how old books can have their covers re-purposed into new ones. This is a recurring theme for me as I think they have such potential. I've made a few coptic stitch journals today using them and love these two shown here. 'The Daughter of the Regiment' is perfect, especially as it says 'leaves from my grandmother's journal' and as for 'The Man with Three Eyes'....... my husband says that only I could find that fascinating but I know I am not alone!

And when I started this post it says this is number 502!!! I don't think that is right so I shall be checking as I intended to do a giveaway for my 500th post and didn't think I'd missed it.  I shall give you advance warning that it will be a book of some description... after all my default mode is always 'make a book' and it might have an obscure and quirky old cover..... after I get through tomorrow I shall get on the case and sort it all out. The Daughter of the Regiment would have been great to giveaway  but it is watermarked and stained badly so might not seem like much of a prize to win. There's a presentation certificate inside from 1888 so I'm not surprised it's been through the wars at that age. Never mind, I shall scour the boxes at Books for Free for something interesting and sort those dates out!