Six word Saturday
New binding tested my patience. Love!
All posts filed under: Blogging
I like Friday – trip to see the Ai WeiWei Bare Life exhibit
I liked the bikes! I went with a friend to see the Bare Life exhibit by Ai Weiwei at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum here in St Louis and it was well worth a visit. There is so much to see and learn here, and all for free! If you are in the St Louis area, be sure to see this exhibit. Of course the other galleries of the art museum are worth a look too, I loved this mini hall of mirrors in it’s own tower. Happy Friday x
Get Messy Season of Reflection week 1
For this season I explored the Japanese stab stitch book binding technique. I have to admit that I have always looked past this method as I didn’t think it would be a great journal binding as it doesn’t lay flat readily. I always thought it looked too bulky to work with the papers I like to journal on and I was right, it would not work very well with a watercolor paper even though I am sure it could be persuaded to open flat. So I explored some different papers. I followed the advice of the experts and went for the four hole binding to start with and I used a soft unbleached mulberry paper and my trusty waxed linen thread. It opens nicely and I like the folds at the outside edge of the book. This technique does not require folded signatures, you can use single sheets or folded sheets with the fold at the spine or the open edge. I am thinking of all the possibilities to be had with this book binding …
Taking Stock November 2019
It is ages since I did a Taking Stock post, so here we go! They are super fun so I have left a blank list at the end for you if you want to copy it and fill in your own Taking Stock. I must say thanks to Pip at Meet Me at Mikes for the original concept. In fact if you just want to browse a fabulous blog, Meet Me at Mikes is one of the best! Ok, let’s get going – Making : Sketchbooks with lovely paper and the Japanese Stab Stitch bookbinding technique. Cooking : Frozen pizza tonight as I am at work! Drinking : Biscuit tea made by Taylors of Harrogate, it is completely delicious even though I don’t normally like flavoured teas. Reading: Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson, I have only just started but it is about twins who spontaneously combust and sounds hilarious. Wanting: A good night’s sleep. Looking: At the foggy evening outside. Playing: In my new stab stitch sketchbook. Deciding: What to do this week …
I Planted some Garlic!
After much research (ok I read an article in a gardening magazine) and waiting for the first frost, I have planted half a pound of garlic. If it all grows I will have a stall at the end of my drive or I can be a French lady with a striped shirt and a string of garlic around my neck (stereotype? Moi? Never!). I even have a bale of hay at the ready for when the ground gets chilly and it needs a straw blanket, I also have a snack if any horses pop over! Happy Tuesday x
‘I like’ Friday, a Creative Day Out.
Last Friday the library where I work was closed so I took myself on a creative day out. I jumped on the Metro Link and headed to my favorite magazine shop to start my day. I picked out a couple of mags and went on my way. Along with my magazines I also had the little sketchbook which I literally made right before I left along with a few pens and a water pen filled with ink (one of my favorite things to use). Back to the train and off to Forest Park and the St Louis Art Museum not forgetting to stop off and get a rosemary brown sugar latte (so good!) to walk across the park with. The sun was shining and the trees were in their fall colours as I walked across the park to the art museum. Once at the museum I made sure I kept my eyes and ears open. You never know what you might hear in the galleries! I made notes in my book and little sketches …
Go Blog Social. St Louis Conference.
I haven’t been to many blog conferences, in fact prior to the Go Blog Social ‘Content High’ conference last weekend, I had attended Alt Summit in New York City in the summer of 2013 which was frankly a terrifying experience and you can read all about here. You see I am a wallflower, an introvert, I keep myself to myself which is the complete opposite to what I am supposed to be doing at these conferences. I am supposed to be networking and handing out all of my business cards which for the GBS event were coloring postcards with my details on the back. I did make a good decision before I went this time. I made myself this (above) little pep graphic which was my screen saver on my phone. My problem is that when anyone asks what my blog is about, I tend to freeze and then when I find my tongue, out spouts a couple of unclear sentences. This time I looked over my blog to make sure I knew what I was …
A Cup of Tea with Me
For the past month I have been a student in the classroom of Blog with Pip and I have a folder full and a notebook bursting with ideas. Now we have graduated, we have been invited to write this post by our fearless leader, Pip Lincolne of Meet Me At Mikes, so here I am to chat about me over a cup of tea. If you pop over to Pip’s blog, you can read posts by the other lovely students. I got to spend time with some creative, inspiring folk I can tell you. Today’s cup of tea features a gorgeous vintage pink willow pattern teacup and saucer. My youngest picked it out from a flea market while we were on holiday in Cape Cod last year. I must admit, I don’t drink out of it, I need a big mug of tea, but big mugs are not so pretty. Being from the UK originally, I should be a tea drinking monster, but I tend to gravitate towards coffee more and more since I have …
7/52 Weekly photos
First up this week are the weekly Color/Colour photos. Green was the chosen colour last week and photo shooting was headed up by Xanthe and Andrea and Instagrammed in style under #color/colour. I managed to spot some green walls, green trees and a fab old Robin Hood book. The other part of todays photo collection is an assignment from Blog With Pip which is a fantabulous e course I am doing. The course runs at intervals through the year and I recommend it highly, just the right combination of techy brain work and creative fun stuff. Headed up by Pip of Meet Me At Mikes. The homework was to take five photos over the weekend and here they are. All of mine were taken in the antique mall close to where we live. I managed to leave everything there, although I nearly gave into the cute sunflower salt and pepper pots and the Satellite Camera. Must. Resist. Cool. Old. Stuff. I snapped this last one while we were walking home from school one day …
Project 365 Photos 4-10
4/365 5/365 6/365 7/365 8/365 9/365 10/365 Ten photos done, only 355 to go! Still sounds a lot, even to a shutterbug such as myself! Some days I hardly get a shot at all and some days I can’t decide which to use. Yesterday (10/365) was a decision day. It was such a beautiful day I think I could have pointed my camera in any direction and got a lovely shot. I posted more from the day as part of my regular Ten on the 10th post. Are you doing the Project 365 challenge? How is it going? I am happy to be using my Canon Rebel on manual for some of the photos I am posting and quite proud of myself! Some will always come from the iPhone 4 just because it is often all I have with me. The frosty leaf for 8/365 is a perfect example of this, by the time I had gone to fetch my camera the frost would have melted and I am not sure I could have got …
Clare Davis Etheridge 