An adventure to Bath

After reading my copy of Mollie Makes magazine and their article on Bath and all the lovely little shops and crafty places I decided I have to pay a visit myself. And it had to be a Saturday of course to go to the Saturday flea market! Here are some pictures I took during the day and of my purchases!

cute little old shoes at the market

This was my market purchase - an original victorian trug

drawing with ink pots

My thoughtful sister in law ;0) bought me a set of lovely Winsor & Newton Inks for my Christmas last year. I finally cracked them open today and realised how much I had been missing! They are loads of fun to use. I used them with paint brushes (that are actually acrylic ones) but they seemed to work fine. 

This is the little painting that I did which makes another page of my book art from the last two posts and another clue to the theme!

Any ideas on the theme yet anyone? I'm so excited for it to all come together!

What is book art anyway?

Why the title of my post today? Because thats what I was thinking before this weekend happened. I'm not going to pretend I know some fancy definition of what book art is after one weekend workshop but I defiantly have a much better understanding. 

Its about making a book into a piece of art work, not something just to read but something to look at and interpret and appreciate as more than just pages with information or a story on them. 

Today was day two of the book art workshop taught by Rachel Hazell at the Lewis and Wood Mill in Woodchester, Stroud. See yesterdays post for what we got up to on day one. 

Today we worked on our own individual projects creating a consertina type book with no main spine as such. We used somerset velvet paper/card for the main body and then added our bits of whatevers to embellish it and create a story. 

My content isn't finished yet so I don't want to give too much away just yet. I'm aiming to have it finished in time to submit to the anticurate exhibition at the MAC.

  Here are some pictures of the process so far. See if you can spot the theme.....

working out how to join up the pages

Envelope templates - great wee invention

Making a little pocket but sewing ribbon along the bottom of two pages to join them together

can't go wrong with a bit of lace embellishment 

was lovin' these alphabet stamp letters

glueing fabric onto hard grey board to make the cover

with a book like this you really need something to keep it together

here is what the last two pictures joined up together look like

inside front cover with little envelope, my button broke :( but I've got another one to replace it so its all good

Birds eye view. its got sections that open front and back

this in the pocket I made one the ribbon trim was stitched along the bottom

this is one of my content pages

I used a chain stitch to bind the pages into the frame of the book and then continued it onto this page to link it in with my theme

Okay so maybe the theme is a bit vague so far but I've got so many more ideas it'll all make sense once its finished.But of anyone have got any  guesses let me know....

Book binding

Maybe its just me but I'd never thought stitching had so much to do with book binding. I'm taking part in an amazing book art workshop this weekend, taught by world famous Rachel Hazell. Its been so much fun and already I've learned loads that will be forever useful and hopefully help me to use up lots of various bit and pieces of fabric, paper and trimmings that I seem to collect. 


Today was this first day of the workshop which is taking part at the Lewis and Wood Mill in Woodchester.  They produce the gorgeous fabrics and wall papers, a dream for any fabric lover (thats me!) especially interior fabrics. 

this is inside the Lewis and Wood shop

lots of lovely fabrics for sale

So, today we were learning some book binding basics, folding and cutting paper, stitching little books together using different stitches. 

My work space and tools

This is a chain stitch

Three way binding stitch (i think), using cut offs of wall paper as a cover

before stitching the sections together you mark out lots of little dots  and prick them using a needle

This is called a ladder stitch. I used regular embroidery thread but i guess the proper way is to use the waxed linen twine but its a bit boring and white.

This is what the inside looks like

work station a buzz with little bound books

My little collection of books, some single section, double and there is even a tripler in there

 Can't wait for tomorrow where we start using fabric and ribbon and buttons and all that kind of stuff to make a special book....pictures to follow. 

cable knitted cushion cover

 I finally finished my cable knitted cushion cover last night. Had another trip up to Scotland at the weekend so sat in the car clickity clicking with the needles for hours and finished the backing. The cable pattern is an Amy Butler pattern from Midwest Modern Knits but I've adapted it a bit as I got the tension wrong and I designed what the back would be like myself . There won't be much room left on the sofa for me at this rate....all these new cushions. Could it be time for an Etsy shop, or Folksy shop? watch this space.......

the front

the back....with little covered buttons I made with scrap printed cotton.