Wanderlust 2021 - weeks seventeen to twenty - Recycling

Week seventeen was using a magazine image and keeping the pages around it, cutting them away to reveal the image, adding gesso, other images and colour.  I wasn't sure about this one and I'm still not. The original image is the jewellery piece.

Week eighteen had us looking in our stash for napkins, magazines, tissue paper, old books.  I was quite pleased with how this one ended up - judicious amounts of gesso in the background and shadowing the main images with black watercolour pencil to make them pop more. 

Week nineteen encouraged us to raid the recycling box for junk mail.  I used pizza leaflets, a politicial card, and the inside of security envelopes.  This is how it started...

...and this is where it ended up.  I used new stencils, outlining in black and white and some stamping too.  If you look closely, you can just see the security envelope patterns in some places.

Week twenty was about recycling material.  I used material left from sewing projects, including making facemasks.  The focal point was a photocopy transfer onto material.  However, to do that successfully, you needed a laser print, which I didn't have, so had to think about alternatives. I came up with a gel plate transfer print.  I had done these before onto paper but not onto fabric.  I looked at a Youtube video and then had a go.  It took a few goes - too much paint, the fabric too wet, but eventually it worked - the material was just damp and I used a thin layer of paint on the gel plate.  The stamped words were from a Visible image stamp and I masked off the rest of the quote.

So, a few challenges for this topic.    We move on to 'Poems and Quotes' which sounds intriguing.

New Books

I was lucky to get some money for my birthday last month, so I bought two books which have been on my wishlist for ages.  I am a huge fan of the Pre-Raphaelites (as anyone who reads my blog/knows me in person will know) and Jan Marsh is an expert on the subject, with many books to her credit.   I do wish that the women involved in the Pre-Raphaelites movement had left us more letters and diaries though, as it is them, whether muses or artists themselves, that I am most interested in.  

As I get older, I find I am more drawn to the pencil /chalk drawings  or the preliminary sketches, rather than the final completed works, even though they are usually full of luscious colour. I remember visiting the Pre-Raphaelite exhibition in London in 1984 (and will forever be grateful to my Mum for going with me and enabling me to see it) and my abiding memory was the colour everywhere.  

I particularly like Rossetti's chalk drawings.   I do have quite a lot of books on the Pre-Raphaelites already, but there is room for one more...

The other one is about Jane Austen.  I enjoyed Lucy Worsley's TV programme about the places Jane Austen had lived and the effect these may have had on her writing (available on iplayer for 14 days here), so this book was added to my wish list too.  I really enjoy re-reading the novels as I find something different every time I read them. She was a very subtle writer and created many fascinating characters.  My favourite novel is Persuasion, closely followed by Sense and Sensibility, Northanger Abbey, Emma, Pride and Prejudice and Mansfield Park (although my views of the seemingly weak and wimpy Fanny Price have changed through re-reading).  If you were to ask my favourite hero and heroine, I would say Mr Knightly from Emma and Anne Elliot from Persuasion (although I also like Elinor Dashwood from Sense and Sensibility).  (I am not a Mr Darcy fan - controversial, I know).  

I am really looking forward to sitting and enjoying both of these books. 

Books to be read

I mentioned in my previous post that I had a pile of books to read and these would be the ones to start with this year.  In fact, I have many, many more books than this, waiting to be read, but these are the chosen few at the moment (until something else distracts me...)  I am pleased to announce that I have read the first one, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd since Christmas. So, in case you can't see what they are, we have from the top:

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (it is always interesting to see how much a dramatisation of an Agatha Christie story changes from the book - this one did).

The second book is a craft book I received for Christmas, Mandalas to embroider and initially, I was a little dubious when I opened it as I have not done that much embroidery and don't really like too many complicated stitches.  However, on looking at the book, the mandala patterns are pretty and straightforward, with only a few different stitches needed, so I think, on reflection, this book will suit me very well. I look forward to having a go at some of these.

The next is a book I had had for years, but never read, so 2021 is its time!  A History of English Food by Clarissa Dickson Wright.  I am interested in social history, which is probably why I bought it in the first place.

The Diary of a Modern Country Gardener is a book I am in the middle of enjoying, but I kept getting distracted by other things and so it kept getting put down.  I will finish it!

Written in bone is the second book by Sue Black and I really enjoyed her first book.  I did an online course in Forensic Archaeology and Anthropology last year, which was a bit over my head at times, but was very interesting.  If nothing else, the course gave me a new respect for what these people do, which is incredibly complex.

The Well Gardened Mind is another book I have started, but then put down. It deserves my concentration and I will read it this year.  I bought a copy as a present for a colleague at Christmas so it will be interesting to compare notes when we have both read it.  Gardening is a wonderful hobby and its effect on mental health cannot be underestimated.

So, there are my first few books for this year. No doubt there will be many more to come...

This year's reading highlights

I have been enjoying a wide and eclectic variety of books this year and here are some of my favourites.  (The pictures for the first five books are from World of Books). I don't have images of these books myself because they are on my kindle.  I won't give too much away, just in case you want to read any of them.  The one above had its harrowing moments, being about life in France during WWII, but had a blind heroine and a young German hero.  It had a very satisfying ending and felt as though the story had come full circle.

I really enjoyed the fast pacing of the Lockwood & Co stories, although there are some scary descriptions and situations for the group of young ghost hunters through the five book set.  They are Young Adult books but I know that I wouldn't have been able to cope with them as a young adult and even as an adult, I can't read them at night. (Even in the daytime, I have to check over my shoulder!) The series comes to a satisfactory conclusion and the huge increase in ghostly activity is explained.  I am not sure, but I feel that one of the characters might also feature in the Bartimaeus books by the same author.

A colleague at work recommended this book which I thought really original and interesting.  it's another Young Adult book and is also about ghosts, but is set in the Civil War and concentrates on a family with a rather interesting ability.  It was one of those stories which I just had to read with no other distractions.

Another Young Adult book by the same author which had a fascinating premise and described some disturbing events, but was ultimately another satisfying book.

This was also recommended by a different colleague and is based around and in WWI, with a heroine who, like Cassandra, can see the deaths of people around her.  It was another Young Adult book but again, kept me gripped.

 

 The final Young Adult books, by the Lockwood & Co author, with the same snappy dialogue but this time featuring a very sarky demon who enjoys belittling the reader (and any other humans) with comments in footnotes.  I enjoyed them all, but my favourite was the 'prequel', The Ring of Solomon.

Moving away from Young Adults, I really enjoyed the beautiful writing in the Easternmost House which I felt deserved to be savoured, so I took my time reading it.  It is a year in the life of the author, living in a house that will have to be demolished as the sea erodes the cliff on which it stands.  The description of the coastal and countryside life she leads, the attention to nature and appreciating it all makes this book special.

I was riveted to a brief series on BBC4 recently, called Handmade in Bolton.  Each week, an incredibly talented, self-taught man called Shaun Greenhalgh was challenged to recreate a artwork from previous times - a gold eagle, infilled with garnets and amethysts, a Pallissy ceramic dish, a Nottingham alabaster carving and a rock crystal bottle.  This Renaissance Man was Shaun Greenhalgh who was convicted as a forger and spent time in prison.  He has an amazing knowledge of so many art forms and how they were created.  Having watched the series, we ordered his book which he wrote while in prison.  If you haven't seen the programmes and are able to watch them on iplayer, I recommend them. His book is written in a very accessible style and explains how he taught himself all the different techniques and how he got drawn into forgery. I haven't finished it yet but am enjoying reading about him.  I am sure his work will be collected because it is by him - he can turn his hand to so many types of art and craft.

 This book was a real trip down memory lane, delving into the childhood reading of the author.  Some books were familiar, some less so, but she is a kindred spirit!

Finally, a gothic tale which has left me with some unanswered questions.  It kept me gripped and had elements of Victorian novels such as Jane Eyre, The Woman in White and Lady Audley's Secret.  In the beginning chapters, the author describes what it is like to be a reader, to have characters stay with you and to resent starting a new story and having to push previous stories aside.  The story twists and turns, with disturbing elements and lots of 'ah, I see' moments too.

Following the creative muse

 I decided that I was going to work on my second art journal today, so in readiness, last night I prepared two pages with brown paper.  I was going to paint them and then stick paper circles on them, although I decided to add another layer by sticking some torn text on top.  I was telling Chris about University Challenge on Monday night where one of the questions was to identify which books were used for some blacked out poetry.  (The only one I knew was the Pride and Prejudice one).  I thought it was a really interesting idea.

I was looking at a page and these words just jumped out at me.  So my original idea was postponed and I ran with this one.  The words made me think of darker colours and images, so off I went with the gel plate to make the background using black, copper and gold.  I then added some stamps (trying to find some suitably grungy or gothic or just 'dark' images.  (I realised I didn't have all that many, so made do with what I found).  I then printed the words using a stamp set and placed them so that the original inspiration words could still be seen. 

It wasn't what I had planned to make at all, but somehow, it came together quite easily and I am pleased with the end result.  It's quite a change from my usual colours and style, but I do like it.  Chris really liked it too. 
Sometimes, you just have to follow where things lead you...

An evening with Ben Aaronovitch

Last Monday evening, we spent a very pleasant one and a half hours in the company of author Ben Aaronovitch (The Rivers of London/Peter Grant series).  He is a large man, both in physical presence and personality.  For those of you not familiar with the Rivers of London series, they centre around the Metropolitan Police in London (usually) and various departments therein but with a magical twist, including River Gods and Goddesses.
He talked about the spin-off series of novellas, of which The October Man is the first.  There are three more to come, so far, one about Abigail, one about Agent Reynolds and one about Nightingale (in the 1920s).  However, an audience member did suggest one about Lady Ty, which he said he hadn't considered before, so you never know.
He talked about being a writer:

• Write what you love and hope that someone will read it
• Don't bother going on writing courses where you offer your work to fellow students to critique - give your work to a couple of people whose opinions you trust
• Keep writing until you find your own voice and style
• Be nice to booksellers
• Don't give your characters skills that you don't know anything about, unless you are prepared to research
• Embrace the Nerd (the reader who contacts you as an author, putting you right on the fact that the Police didn't use the particular sort of baton you mentioned until such and such a time - or any other fact you got wrong).  Apparently, the nerds become writing advisors!
• Even small characters will take on a life of their own - he said that several characters were just there to open a door, but insisted on taking part (including the foxes)
• A novel is around 90,000 words and a novella is around 40,000

He also advised would-be novelists to read the book 'How not to write a novel' by Howard Mittelmark and Sandra Newman.  

Apparently, the character of Peter Grant was originally going to be female, called Simone, but then 'Peter' just strolled into view, fully formed (with a chorus of heavenly voices) and that was it.

Of course, all of this was from Mr Aaronovitch's experience and also illustrated with many an anecdote about the publishing world/writing/scriptwriting.

I have read the Rivers of London series and enjoyed them - the next one is due in November 2019 and although he didn't give much away, he did say that the story wouldn't be going where we necessarily thought it would. He also mentioned 'children' (plural) too...  

Happy New Year 2019

Happy New Year to all - let us hope that 2019 will bring us moments of peace, joy and happiness.  Welcome to new followers and welcome back to those who have been followers for a while.

(Big Ben ringing in the New Year this morning/last night)

Today, as has become a bit of a tradition, I review various aims from last year and think about this coming year.  (These aren't really resolutions, as I find they don't last very long with me!)

• Make more felt - this didn't happen, because I had made so much for the craft fair the previous year and was a bit felted out!  I may do some again this year, but this will be as and when inspiration and inclination hit me.

• Read interesting books - yes, I have done this again!  102 books in total this year, many re-reads but some new to me.  Quite a few crime thrillers have featured, balanced by romantic stories too.  I have enjoyed the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde and am on number six now.  The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths was enjoyable, as was the Peter Grant series number seven, Lies Sleeping.  I wonder what 2019 will hold - certainly the first in the Cormoran Strike series...

• Be Creative - I think this has definitely happened and will continue in 2019.  I have been sewing, gardening, reading, making cards, making jewellery, making gifts, creating an art journal (on-going) and have also completed four online leisure courses with FutureLearn (History of Royal Fashion, History of Royal Food and Feasting, Jane Austen and Introduction to Music Psychology, which was my favourite so far.  I have signed up to one starting in February - Literature of the English Country House - which I am looking forward to.  I would like to sign up for one on weather for gardeners, but that doesn't appear to be available at the moment.  I really enjoy the creative side of my life and find it has become increasingly important to me.

• Get rid of/donate things I do not want or need - I have been doing this but need to do more of it this year.  Alongside this, I also need to stop being so precious with my various stashes for my various hobbies and actually use the things I have (that's why I bought them, after all!).  As part of this aim, I am going to make myself a tunic using stretch fabric (something I have not used before and am a bit wary of).  I have the pattern and material, so I shall make that a definite aim for this year.  I also have quite a few kits for sewing/crewel work which I haven't yet started, so I need to start with some of them too.

Phew, I think this year is going to be a busy one for me.  

(Part of the firework display at the London Eye )

I hope 2019 will be a good year for us all.

Christmas reading 2018

I wrote about my favourite Christmas reading back in December 2010 (you can read the post here).  They are: The Wind in the Willows, Little Women, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Children of Green Knowe, The Pickwick Papers and A Christmas Carol.While I have revisited some of these books so far this December (The Children of Green Knowe and A Christmas Carol), I have added another to the list. This is The Box of Delights by John Masefield (those of you of a certain age will remember the BBC dramatisation with what was then cutting edge animation).  I may also sneak in A Traveller in Time by Alison Uttley as the story includes some wonderful descriptions of Christmas feasts and entertainment.
I really enjoy revisiting these books and in fact,  I get a great deal of pleasure re-reading many of my books.  I am quite a quick reader, which means that sometime I miss things the first time round.  I do view my books as old friends, ready to welcome me back in, no matter how long I have been away.

An evening with Elly Griffiths

(photo from https://ellygriffiths.co.uk/)

Last week, Chris and I went to hear Elly Griffiths talking about her books. I have read the previous nine in the Ruth Galloway series (murder mystery with a forensic archaeologist set in Norfolk) and have been lent one from another series (1950s murder mystery series set in Brighton, I think) too.  She read an excerpt from Dark Angel, the tenth in the Ruth Galloway series and said that she was already working on number eleven in the series, The Stone Circle.

(image from Amazon)

She also spoke about a standalone book, to be published in November 2018, called The Stranger Diaries.

(image from Amazon)

This sounds right up my street - here's the description:
'Clare Cassidy is no stranger to murder.  As a literature teacher specialising in the Gothic writer RM Holland, she teaches a short course on it every year.  Then Clare's life and work collide tragically when one of her colleagues is found dead, a line from an RM Holland story by her body.  The investigating police detective is convinced the writer's works somehow hold the key to the case.

Not knowing who to trust, and afraid that the killer is someone she knows, Clare confides her darkest suspicions and fears about the case to her journal.  Then one day she notices some other writing in the diary.  Writing that isn't hers...'
Sounds good!
Elly Griffiths told us that she liked Wilkie Collins (a kindred spirit - well, I really like The Woman in White and The Moonstone, although I haven't read any other of his novels) and mentioned the part where Count Fosco writes in Marian's diary in The Woman in White as the inspiration for this part in her story.  She was very entertaining, enthusiastic and erudite, so I would recommend going to see her if she is in your direction.

Happy New Year 2018

(Photos taken of the London fireworks last night/this morning from the TV - I was pleased with how they came out).
Happy New Year to all and I hope that in this unsettled world, 2018 will enable us to snatch some moments of joy and happiness.

 As has become somewhat traditional for me, today is the day I review my aims for 2017 and decide on aims for 2018.  So, what did I want to do last year?

• Make more felt - I definitely achieved here.  I made a whole new set of heart decorations incorporating birthstone charms.  Even though they didn't sell, I was pleased with how they turned out.  I also started needle felting, making sheep, which were very successful and I will need to make lots more if I am going to the Craft Fair this year.  I have also experimented with screen printing and block printing onto felt and this is something to continue, possibly making smaller pieces and incorporating them into cards and decorations.  This aim is continuing this year.
• Read interesting books - I smashed my previous totals this year, possibly due to the amount of reading I have fitted into my break times at work and the fact that in some cases, ebooks are shorter than real books.  I read 105 books in 2017; many of which were old friends which I enjoyed re-reading.  There were also some new ones including: the Miss Marple stories by Agatha Christie; a book about Anne Bronte, 'Take courage: Anne Bronte and the Art of Life' by Samantha Ellis (who obviously feels as I do, that Anne Bronte should take centre stage alongside her sisters, not hidden by them); 'When Marnie was there' by Joan G Robinson which had mysteriously managed to pass me by as a child;  'The Lady in Gold' by Anne-Marie O'Connor (which I had to read having loved the film, though the book is much more harrowing than the film);  'Lady Audley's Secret' by Mary Elizabeth Braddon; 'The Dark is Rising' sequence by Susan Cooper and all the Ruth Galloway novels by Elly Griffiths.  There have also been biographies, on the artist 'Gluck' and 'Mrs Keppel and her Daughter' by Diana Souhami, as well as Steampunk based novels; the Newbury and Hobbes series by George Mann and a couple by James Blaylock.  Certainly an eclectic mix and an aim I shall try to continue this year too.
• Be Creative - I have been creative this year and have enjoyed stamping, embossing, using Brusho paints and printing on felt).  Jewellery has become less of a pull, although I still make myself a few bracelets and pairs of earrings, as well as the occasional gift for birthdays.   I have curtailed my spending on gemstones, although paper crafting appears to be edging ahead now!  As I get older, I am realising how important creativity is to me, so I will certainly continue this aim.
• Get rid of/donate things I do not want or need - I have continued to do this but only in a small way so I need to make more of a concerted effort.  I also need to use the things I have, such as my fabric or craft stashes.  I think this will be an aim for many years to come!

An extra achievement on a personal level is weight loss this year, after we joined Slimming World and I am feeling much healthier and better for it.  I have discovered the joys of Quark (a soft cheese which can be eaten with either a sweet addition, such as honey or fruit sauce, or a savoury addition, added to a sauce to make it richer or with something like marmite added to it.  It is high in protein and fat free and I usually eat it with a bit of natural yogurt and honey with a banana for lunch.  It is something I wouldn't want to be without.  I have also discovered chocolate frozen yogurt which I like better than ice cream (I didn't think I would ever say that!)  Then there are Slimming World chips and crustless quiche, which are also delicious and part of our diet now.  I don't think I have ever eaten as many vegetables as I do now and I really enjoy them. 
So all in all, a pretty positive review and aims that continue into this year too...  I hope that 2018 will be a good one for us all.

Lincoln Book Festival 2017

This last week has seen the Lincoln Book Festival where various book related events have been happening.  As an avid reader, I thought I ought to be involved. Chris brought the programme to show me and there was one event which I could not miss, as one of my favourite blog writers, Kirsty Stonell Walker (from The Kissed Mouth blog) would be speaking about Pre-Raphaelite women.  Here's the info about the evening:

"Tuesday 26th September, 6:15pm - Painted Ladies, Iconic Faces - chaired by Dr Claire Brainerd, University of Oxford

MARTIN KEMP on the Mona Lisa

Martin Kemp is one of the world’s leading authorities on Leonardo da Vinci and has published extensively on his life and work. In his new book, MONA LISA: THE PEOPLE AND THE PAINTING, co-authored with Giuseppe Pallanti, he cuts through layers of accumulated myth to reveal a wealth of information about the people and events behind the portrait.

The true story of the Mona Lisa is even more astonishing and transcendent than the legends. It will forever change the way you look at the world’s most famous painting!

KIRSTY STONELL WALKER on Pre-Raphaelite Models, Muses & Mistresses: from bathtubs to asylums – Today any woman with red hair is regarded as pre-Raphaelite but who were the original Pre-Raphaelite muses? Kirsty has spent the last 20 years researching their lives and loves, who they were and what became of them – incarceration or front page news. From mid 19^th century to 1920s, they were icons whose lives were as scandalous as the roles they played in paintings.

Kirsty is the author of STUNNER: THE FALL AND RISE OF FANNY CORNFORTH and two novels exploring the Victorian art scene, its murders, lust and secrets; she also writes the intriguingly titled blog The Kissed Mouth."

It was a very enjoyable evening, marred only slightly by someone attempting to be 'Coughing Bob Fleming' (from the comedy show 'The Fast Show') and by a staff member imitating David Bailey and clicking his camera at every opportunity.   

I had a chat to Kirsty and introduced myself and we talked about the Pre-Raphaelites and the Brontes (as she was visiting Haworth the following day).  She was just as she is on her blog - the same enthusiasm, passion and slight irreverance which makes me laugh.  Both of the talks were informative and very interesting (but secretly, I liked Kirsty's best - no surprise there).  The book festival has had some stellar names including David Starkey and Alison Weir as well as Janina Ramirez (historian who has presented several BBCTV programmes).  It finishes today and I hope it has been very successful.

Latest reading - for my inner 'young adult' and 'adult' selves

 

(All images taken from Amazon.co.uk) 

I have been reading several 'young adult' books recently, which I have enjoyed.  My very good blog friend at Elephant's Child (I consider her such, even though we have never met and she lives in Australia, so the chances are we probably won't) often reviews books she has read and I usually have to go and search them out because they sound so intriguing.  The Grimm Legacy was my favourite of the two and I would have loved it if I had read it as a teenager too.  It's about a very special library which has magical collections and someone has been stealing items from it...

 This book will need another reading, I think. Again set in the library, but all about time travel.  My unscientific brain felt a little confused in places.

I am just starting this sequence of books, having allowed them to pass me by when I was a child/young adult.  They sound to be just my sort of books.

 Chris noticed this one in our Uni library and it intrigued me.  I wouldn't have read it as a young adult as it would have been a  little too scary/gory for me then.  It is a re-imagined part of the story of Frankenstein and his creature, when he comes to London to work on creating a mate for the creature. Mr Creecher meets a young pickpocket called Billy and together, they follow Frankenstein.  It is very cleverly done and does fit neatly into the original story.  I felt that you would need to know a bit about the original book to really gain the most from it, but it was very accessible.  Even the look of the text gave the book an 'old' feel.

This one is for the adult reader - the start of a series (bother - I will probably have to read more...) of ten stories (so far) about the work of a forensic archaeologist in Norfolk, who is called in to look at a skeleton which turns out to be Iron Age. There were lots of red herrings and I thought that most of the characters was the murderer at some point in the book (but then I'm not very good at discovering the murderer in these types of books, so that didn't really surprise me), but it resolved itself satisfactorily. I now have the Dark is Rising sequence, as well as a couple of biographies to read (one on Mrs Keppel and her daughter Violet Trefusis and one on a female artist called Gluck.  We watched a good documentary on Gluck on BBC 4 and this has piqued my interest).  On with more reading...

Latest Reading

My latest reading has been a little eclectic, but then that seems to be par for the course.  Before Christmas I started on a couple of Miss Marple books on my Kindle - Nemesis and Sleeping Murder - partly because the Joan Hickson adaptations were being shown, so I wanted to read the originals and because those are my favourites so far. Joan Hickson was perfect casting for Miss Marple, right down to her twinkling eyes!  Since Christmas, I have continued with The Murder at the Vicarage, The Thirteen Problems, The Body in the Library, The Moving Finger and A Murder is Announced.  Although I had some inklings about who the murderer might be each time, (I was usually wrong) Mrs Christie managed to bamboozle me and I missed lots of clues. On my Kindle at the moment is Pride and Prejudice.
However, I have also got 'real' books which I have either started or am going to.  I usually have a few on the go at any one time.
So, in the photo, there is Nella Last's War (the Mass Observation Exercise diary kept by Nella Last and which Victoria Wood dramatised in 'Housewife, 49').  This brings home the way life had to go on during the Second World War, with rationing and managing on very little.
There is also The Invisible Woman which I was inspired to read following a film of the same name which I watched last year.  This is the story of Ellen Ternan and her family; she was involved with Charles Dickens but was 'invisible' to society.  So far, it is fascinating and presents an interesting picture of the lives of Victorian actresses and how they were thought of/treated.

('To Walk Invisible' photo from http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/)

The Brontes is a very good biography of the whole family which I bought back in 1995 and have read several times.  I watched 'To Walk Invisible' over Christmas which I really enjoyed and this made me want to read the biography again. (It is still available on iplayer for the next thirteen days to watch if you are in the UK).  'To Walk Invisible' was a dramatisation of the adult lives of the Brontes, following Branwell's downfall and the sisters' fame beginning to spread.  It was beautifully acted and set and Haworth looked just as I imagined it should.
Finally for now, there is The Mitford Girls which Mum bought me for Christmas.  I haven't started it yet but have looked at the photos.  With their connections, it should prove to be a fascinating story.

Happy New Year 2017

(Photos taken of the London fireworks last night/this morning from the TV - I was pleased with how they came out as it almost looks like I was there!)
As has become somewhat traditional for me, today is the day I review my aims for 2016 and decide on aims for 2017.

• Make more felt - I made a grand total of two new pieces, one of which is not finished.  My other craft activities took over, including, of course, paper crafting.  So, not great progress by any means.  However, I have reserved a table at a craft event in November 2017, so that should give me the impetus I need to get making again.
• Read interesting books - Definite success here.  I read 84 books in 2016, many old friends which I enjoyed re-reading.  There were also some new ones including: Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey; The House on the Strand by Daphne du Maurier; several Miss Marple stories by Agatha Christie (and three more waiting on my Kindle); several books containing accounts of children's past lives and the Cazalet Chronicles by Elizabeth Jane Howard. I shall do my best to keep the eclectic mix going during 2017.
• Be Creative - I can safely say that I have continued my creative journey with kumihimo necklaces, stamping onto polymer clay, paper crafting (and making some Christmas cards).  I am hoping to use some of my Blockwallah stamps in lino printing, but felting has to come high on the list (see the first bullet point).
• Get rid of/donate things I do not want or need - I made a tiny bit of progress with this one, but if I had a report, it would be 'must try harder'.  I have far too much stuff and must really sort myself out.  Another aim for 2017.

No new aims again, as the ones above still stand for 2017, so lots for me to go at there.
Happy New Year to you all and I hope it is a healthy, prosperous and peaceful one.

'Blind Date with a Book'

(All photos from Amazon)

The University where I work has just finished an initiative in the Library called 'Blind Date with a Book'.  One hundred and four books were wrapped in tissue paper so that you didn't know what you were choosing. Being an avid reader, I decided to take part and here are the four books I chose.  At the top was one I don't think I would ever have chosen, so it was a good start.  The premise was interesting - what happened to Freud during his visit to America which would put him off Americans ever after?  The author's idea was that he could have been involved in a murder case.  Although the psychoanalysis went above my head in some places, it was a gripping (if a little gory) story and I had no idea who the perpetrator was...

 The second book was this novel for young adults - again, one I probably wouldn't have chosen for myself.  It discusses mental illness - and suicide - from the point of view of two traumatised teenagers who develop a bond when one stops the other from throwing themselves off a tower.  Although sad, it was poignant and powerful and it had an uplifting feeling at the end.

Number three was something completely different - a historical novel written about Elizabeth I and the attempts from various parties to get her to marry.  I prefer historical fact, rather than fiction, but a lot of this was based on fact, if slightly amended for the time frame.  It was an interesting view into how her mind might have worked and what her feelings might have been.

I did cheat slightly with number four.  I had seen that this book was in the Blind Date and really wanted to choose it...however, once the Blind Date had finished, I asked the librarian if I could have this one and they kept it back for me - they are lovely!  I had read the reviews and was intrigued by the premise of a lady in her eighties with dementia, who feels that her friend Elizabeth is missing.  Her mind goes back to the disappearance of her sister after the war and in solving one mystery, she inadvertently opens up another.  It was a gripping story; one of those which is difficult to put down and one which stays with you after finishing it.  In fact, I will read it again before taking it back to the library.  

So, although I didn't manage to read many of the Blind Date books, it did encourage me to read outside my usual choice and broaden my reading horizons.  I hope they repeat it at the Library next year.

A Catch Up

 You may have noticed that my blog has been a little garden-focused this year.  This was pointed out to me by a friend who said "Another garden post?" in a voice which implied it would be nice to have something else instead.  So, I thought I would do that today.  Above is a memory wire bracelet I made as a commission, but I think I will have to make one for myself too.  I used lapis lazuli, sodalite, rainbow moonstone, pearls, and blue fire agate.  I have also made myself a pair of rather baggy long shorts to wear around the house and in the garden (not to go out in!), but haven't got a photo to show you.

In other news, I have been experimenting with Flitterglu (Flake and Glitter glue, in case you are wondering), which can be put onto a stamp, then stamped onto baked polymer clay, then gilding flakes applied onto the glue, then wiped off, to leave a pattern.  The glue is a bit like PVA, but stays tacky, so it doesn't matter if you need to go and do something else as you can come back to it.  It can also be used on lots of other materials such as wood or card, and can be used on fabric, although if gilding flakes are used, the fabric can't then be washed.

I particularly liked the writing, which has worked very well.  A lot of detail can be picked up by the gilding flakes, which creates some lovely patterns.

Apologies for the flash glare in this picture - but it does show the gilding flakes well.  

 This was an experiment on a white background, which I didn't think worked as well as the darker colours.

I'm doing reasonably well with my reading challenge (to read all the books in the photo above before I buy any more books).  The reading has gone well, but the 'not buying any more books' has not lasted!

I haven't yet read The Last Pre-Raphaelite, but have read and really enjoyed the other books shown here. The Lost Pre-Raphaelite began as delving into the history of the author's recently bought house, but developed into a mystery about the life and family of a painter who lived there and it was an engrossing hypothesis.  
The Beverley Nichols trilogy was a joy and delight - houses, cats and gardens, with various odd acquaintances putting in an appearance throughout.
 I have also read Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, which was unsettling but an incredible first novel and a cleverly created parallel world.  I have also enjoyed the BBC adaptation of the book, despite some small divergences from the story, but I shall definitely read the book again.
 I am currently on 'Colour: Travels through the Paintbox' which is fascinating.  For instance, did you know that the colour 'Mummy Brown' actually contained ground up Mummies?  No, nor did I until I read this book!  I had been putting it off because I thought it looked a little hard going, but, in fact, it is easy to read, well written and really interesting.  I wish I could remember a few more of the fascinating facts the author reveals...
I have also been very busy with a 'Christmas in July' swap (three handmade Christmas things from a list), which is also a Secret Santa, where the recipient does not know who is making gifts for them.  I shall be posting my parcel this week and on the 25th July, or thereabouts, we will all be opening our presents, so I shall share my makes and what I received then. It is exciting to think that somewhere in the world, someone is busy making gifts for me too!