Folded book

Another finished book! I'm really on a roll here.

This is another of the silk noil books.  The silk noil had been dyed using an ice dye which at the time felt unsuccessful, but actually the marks that were made looked like rust and decay and really fit my canal theme.  I added some of the words of my canal poem through a thermofax screen.

I printed out some contact sheets of my photos onto silk and organza.  The photo shows the fabric on the left and the backing paper on the right.  The backing paper might turn up in collages at some point.

I also printed out a sheet onto Bondaweb.

I bonded some of the printed fabrics onto the pages.

I also tore up the printed Bondaweb and bonded it to the page.

I bonded two 'pages' back to back and folded them. This book is now 11.5x12 cms.

You may have noticed that I have not put any stitches on the pages.  I felt the pictures I had put on were so straight edged that stitches would look odd.

I put two of the pages together to make signatures.  I had made 7 pages so I left out the one I liked least.  I stitched the signatures.

Then I wove through the stitches to bind the 3 signatures together.  This is not one of my best weavings as the original thread through the signatures was not sufficient to cope with the weaving.

I may at some point cut the weaving off and redo the whole binding but for now it will do.  I have several other books to finish first.

Thanks for joining me today
Bernice

A felt experiment

At a recent Eclectica get-together we had a go at making felt bowls.  Well, actually I didn't.  I made pieces of nuno felt instead.  I used undyed scrim and some merino wool tops.

I thought I would experiment with making a felt book.  I stencilled with acrylic paint on both sides of the pieces.  This is the scrim side.

And this is the felt side.

Then I stitched into the felt but I forgot to take photos before I assembled the book.

Here's the cover.

The front

The back.

It's not my favourite book.  However I'm glad I made it but I probably won't be making another one.

Thanks for joining me today
Bernice

An odd poem plus two more

As promised, an odd poem.

To an armpit
Smooth or stubbly?
Hairy or shaved?
Smelly or perfumed?
Rarely sees the sun. 

Smooth as a baby’s bum
That changes as puberty hits.
Smooth skin wrinkles over the years
Making shaving more difficult
If that’s your preference. 

All parts of the body are necessary
But what does an armpit do?
It connects an arm to a body
A hollow under the arm 

A sweaty place perhaps
A term used to insult a place
A place to put our hands
To keep them warm in winter 

The May 'Write Poetry' zoom workshop was sort of about aging or certainly about time passing.  The first exercise was about writing about the passing of time and a body part.  I actually wrote this after the session and a bit tongue-in-cheek!

The second exercise was about choices made either by me or by someone else which impacted me.

Subject
Not good enough for science
Nor good at art
Lousy at languages
Really just a spare part. 

Allowed two ‘A’ levels
Rather than three.
No university application
Training college for me. 

No help from the teachers
For ‘failures’ like me
Despite being in the top
Two percent of the country. 

Decisions made for me
Based on my actions
I didn’t put the effort in
Which caused the school’s reactions. 

Now retired I look back
At choices made for me
How different the trajectory
If I had stood up for me. 

Should I regret the might-have-been
Or celebrate my success?
A life well lived. Good jobs, degrees.
Great friends, a home and health.
Forty years of marriage, a son
And three grandkids. 

Those that made the decisions
Are long gone now.
But did they drive me to impress?

The third exercise was about exploring life through numbers.  I feel I was a bit influenced by the song 'Once I was 7 years old'. 

Still counting
When I reached 30
I suddenly felt grown up.
My opinions seemed to matter
More than at 29. 

When I reached 40
The mother of a 3 year old
A 37 year gap
Me, a geriatric primigravida. 

When I reached 50
A champagne breakfast
Hosted by a friend
50 was the new 30
Although it didn’t feel like it! 

When I reached 60
The 3 year old was 23
And married.
We went to New York City
And took a carriage ride
Around Central Park. 

When I reached 70
Three score years and ten
There was a garden party.
Not a surprise party because
I don’t like surprises.
But the 23 year old, now 33
Surprised me with his wife
Facetiming through the television. 

And nearly 4 years on
Still counting,
Still reaching towards 80 

I’m aiming for 100
and a card from the King

Thanks for joining me today
Bernice