Sunday 23 January 2011

Got any old leather?

Today saw me at another workshop at the Welbeck Estate at the studio of Louise Presley of Hope and Elvis - this one being run by Cath Ray bookmaker.



I'd seen Cath at a couple of craft fairs so was familar with her work - recycling old leather into the covers of new books. These leathers include an old cream sofa, a leather jacket too squeaky to wear, leather from old car seats and old handbags.



We were to make two books today one with a soft back and another quarto bound. Cath had lots of lovely papes to use as end papers but I'm a fan of the marbled papes so used those on both books. Although we used new paper I love the idea of incorporating some vintage papers - the possibilities are endless.



I must admit I missed a trick when somebody spotted this vintage crepe paper wrapper among Louise's treasures and bought it to cover his book!



And so the day was spent measuring, folding, pricking, sticking, pressing and generally becoming more familiar with a set square than I have cared to be since leaving school. (Speaking of school - one of the attendees recognised me from being in the year below her at school 36 years ago!). This pile of blocks of wood and clamps is a book press to ensure that papers had bonded with leather.



It was great to see that something which I had envisaged would need a lot of expensive tools could in fact be undertaken with some very cheap tools using a bit of imagination.



The book on the left is the soft back lined with marbled paper with 6 "signatures" (bundles of papers) hand stitiched down the spine.



And the greeny one below is the one with hard back boards covered with marbled paper and with a leather spine taken from a suede jacket. If you look closely you can see the holes from the stitching which I decided to use as a feature rather than remove its history.



I think I might have a new hobby!

Love Wend

Sunday 16 January 2011

My toy shelves

Been playing with my toy shelves!



Just a set of shelves with some of the bits I pick up when out thrifting.



Lovely old childrens books...



The parrot was infused with DDT which used to kill the flies near it...



Lovely abacus - not that old ...



My drunken sailors...



French knitting doll and Ladybird books ...



My first paint box - a lovely little ebay find. I showed this to some folk at the office and they remembered having one of these paint tins in the 60s.



Odd little dolls and Russian dolls are a favourite



Lovely vintage book jackets designs...



and other little wooden dolls. I'm not sure why I'm drawn to these things other than that I didn't play as a child - I was a reader and had no interest in toys. Maybe I'm a late developer!

Have a good week.

Oh I've added one or two things to my blogshop - link in side bar

Love Wend

Sunday 9 January 2011

Let's bring back

Considering Homes and Antiques "Let's bring back" survey this month I looked around my home thinking of the things I'd like to see more of. Their list included home libraries, fountain pens, teapots, wind up clocks. old phones, toasting forks, pocket watches, Georgian decanters, "the front parlour", and the Goblin Teasmaid. So unashamedly piggy backing their theme I include these pictures with my own starter thoughts ...



pewter and tarnished silver - love the soft glow on these



good quality cutlery - Mum recently gave me this heavy weight pair. I know they are over the top but have so much more about them than today's cutlery.



old wireless sets - such a wonderful sound!



old wooden frames - I'm picking these up when I see them now as I prefer them to a lot of the new ones...(Don't you just love the photo with the swimming costumes I found in my local junk shop last week?)



Wooden cotton reels and bobbins - I'm sure there's a very good green argument for not using them but I'd happily recycle them if we could bring them back!

What would you bring back?

Love Wend ( who wonders whether she is stuck in a time warp!)

Tuesday 4 January 2011

What do you know?



I mused on the tradition of making new years resolutions as I enjoyed the beauty that is found in decay. I was pointed in the direction of the thoughts of Pamela Redmond Satran

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE …
enough money within her control to move out
and rent a place of her own, even if she never wants to or needs to…

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .
something perfect to wear if the employer, or date of her dreams wants to see her in an hour…

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE
a youth she’s content to leave behind….

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .
a past juicy enough that she’s looking forward to
retelling it in her old age….



A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ….
a set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra…

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE
one friend who always makes her laugh… and one who lets her cry…

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ..
a good piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in her family…

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .
eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems, and a recipe for a meal, that will make her guests feel honored…



A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .
a feeling of control over her destiny.

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW…
how to fall in love without losing herself.

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW…
how to quit a job, break up with a lover, and confront a friend without ruining the friendship…

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW…
when to try harder… and WHEN TO WALK AWAY…



EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW…
that she can’t change the length of her calves,
the width of her hips, or the nature of her parents..

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW…
that her childhood may not have been perfect…but its over…

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW…
what she would and wouldn’t do for love or more…

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW…
how to live alone… even if she doesn’t like it…




EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW..
whom she can trust, whom she can’t, and why she shouldn’t take it personally…

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW…
where to go…
be it to her best friend’s kitchen table…
or a charming inn in the woods…
when her soul needs soothing…

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW…
what she can and can’t accomplish in a day…
a month…and a year…

Not resolutions as such (and very Americanised) but they did make me wonder what I have learnt along the way...This year I will be concentrating on the Cordless Drill and the Black Lacy Bra. Is this liely to change my life (in a good way)?

By the way the final picture is of a birthday gift wrapping inspired by the Etc book I shared a couple of posts back. It's made from the Victorian velvet which covered my father's old writing slope before it was restored and bound with some old upholstery webbing and held together with an upholstery needle's stitch. The ends were tied with old twine. Possibly the most thoughtfully wrapped birthday gift I've ever received...(Apparently it was cheaper than wrapping paper!)

Love Wend

Saturday 1 January 2011

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone!

I thought I'd start the new year with a "picture post" of the Rob Ryan exhibition in Stafford that I mentioned I was visiting.



What a great show! Had to buy a calendar for my desk at the office...




























Love Wend