Stamp Book - April 2025

Our April meeting took place on Saturday 26th on Zoom and it was lovely to see and hear about the wide variety of 'crafty' things people had been up to during the spring, especially Margaret's 'Open Studio' days and Judi and Janet's adventures with Gateshead Art Diamonds.

Our swap theme was 'Stamp Book' which lent itself to a variety of unique interpretations.  Both Margaret and Judi had created books which were an homage to the humble 'definitive' postage stamp.  Margaret's was inspired by a Christmas card design to use stamps she had gathered across the years to create a postie's round of houses, wrapped by a 'Jane Austen' envelope fold.

Judi's  postage stamp book was accompanied by a second book of prints she'd made using the Japanese technique of tatakizome - which, roughly translated, means 'flower pounding' or 'plant bashing'! 

Ruth had been inspired by Harry Potter postage stamps to make her book and bookmark:

Janet B had used Royal Mail postcards of British Wildlife postage stamps to inspire an envelope concertina book, and created haiku to accompany each of the cards:

Pat and Jo had rummaged through their joint collection of rubber stamps rather than postal ones and found a lot of things they'd forgotten about! Pat's book took the seasons as inspiration:

Jo made an 'ABC' book, the concertina structure earning its nickname of 'the exploding pie book'!

Janet A also used rubber stamps with paint to create a lovely effect on the front cover of her book of birds - photos to follow!

It was lovely to see Jill and Karenna as well.  Our next meeting will be in person on Wednesday August 6th at Newcastle Cathedral where we'll have our annual lunchtime get-together and a book swap on the theme of 'Word Play'.

Found Objects - January 2025

Our first meeting of the year took place on Zoom on Saturday 25th January, with the theme of 'Found Objects'. In the aftermath of Storm Eowyn which gusted across the country on the 24th, taking powerlines and trees with it, Janet A found herself without power and was unable to join us in person, although she has contributed a lovely book to the swap.

We were also very sad to hear of the death of our Australian member, Mari Harrison, who has been our first - and so far only - postal member for fifteen years.  We're planning a special tribute post to her here in the coming weeks, featuring a retrospective of her books but we're sad to think there will be no more 'Harrison House Productions' heading across the ocean after this meeting.  Mari's books were always beautifully constructed, often featuring her lovely and very distinctive handwriting and her sense of fun and humour came across clearly in her work.   Our thoughts are with Mari's family- she will be greatly missed by us all.

Mari's organisational skills in getting books to the UK put the rest of us to shame - especially those of us who tend to be 'last-minuters'.  This last lovely book gathers together found poems and images on the subject of weather through the seasons:

Ruth's newspaper and magazine collage book showed not only that interesting images can be 'found' anywhere, but that they can suggest entirely new objects - or even a full narrative - to the observant eye:

Pat's 'found object' was a bag with pages from a tear-off calendar, almost forgotten and then rediscovered in a drawer.  She used Sara Coleridge's poem 'The Garden Year' to accompany the images:

Jo's concertina book took inspiration from a visit to the Foundling Museum and the preserved 'tokens' which were left at the Foundling Hospital by mothers hopeful of one day being reunited with their children:

Janet A's flag book focused on amusing and bizarre Road Signs, designed to cheer up the winter and make us smile!

Judi also created a flag book - her first! - featuring her favourite doggy images, from a serendipitously found catalogue:

 Margaret's Found Objects all related to her visit to the fascinating Basel Paper Mill Museum - her descriptions of which made us all want to book a visit right away:

Check out their website https://www.baslerpapiermuehle.ch/en/ to find out more and dream of a visit!

Janet B used found natural objects and a clay leaf from an on-going art project to create this seasonal book, reminding us that great oaks grow from little acorns. She also used 'found poetry' and her own words to create the lovely text:

Our next meeting will be on Zoom on  26th April with the theme 'Stamp Book'.  

Borders and Edges - October 2024

Our Autumn meeting took place on Zoom on Saturday 26th October and our bookswap theme of 'Boundaries, Borders and Edges' certainly stretched our creative imaginations! 

The news that Susan Moor had been posthumously awarded her PhD for her extensive research into  modular measurement in Medieval manuscripts was announced just a few days before our meeting.  It is true to say we never come together as a group without thinking of her and her incredible work as well as the warmth of her friendship, but it was lovely to be able to mark this bittersweet moment together and reflect on our pride in her achievements.  She had also inspired two of the books in our swap.

Janet B used the 'Border Book' format Susan had shown us to create a wrap-around border and central text block. She was inspired by vibrant traditional Portuguese tiles she'd seen on a recent trip to Lisbon  and the book is fastened with a bead from a dress that she'd worn whilst she was there!

Judi's book used some of Susan's many photos of the North Sea at Roker and Seaburn to reflect the importance of the sea in Susan's life, creating a poignant reminder of a much-missed friend.

 

Jill  used border patterns and intricate cut edges to create a Japanese stab-bound book of thoughtful words and timely reminders - we all need to do more of what makes us happy!

Jo had taken the idea of marking boundaries with walls and fences to create a lexicon of wall-words in a concertina book

Janet A had taken inspiration from garden borders to create a calendar of lovely gardens she enjoys visiting throughout the year, a reminder that there's interest in nature even when the Summer is over!

Pat had also been inspired by nature to use her flower-and - geometric doodling to create a fold-out album which is deceptively spacious:

Margaret was inspired by a Brian Bilston poem to create a clever structure which unfolds to reveal its message but can be simply re-folded with a twist of the wrist!

Mari took us beyond our own borders with a beautiful book about Australia with sections which pull out to reveal the beauty of the 'Land Down Under'.

Karenna's book is still a 'work in progress' but sounded as if it will be a really good use of some of those craft items she's stashed away!  Maybe we should all follow her lead for the next theme which is 'Found Objects'!

Our next meeting will be on January 25th 2025.

Sending very best wishes to Ruth and Christine who were unable to join us - hopefully they will be able to make the date in the New Year!

Quotations - August 2024

Ten past/present members and friends attended our third annual summer lunch meet up on July 31st at Café 16 in St Nicholas’s Cathedral, Newcastle. It was a scorching day outside but the cafe-refectory provided a cool venue as we enjoyed an excellent lunch, conversation and a book swap. There was plenty of time to explore and enjoy the eight handmade books on the theme of 'a favourite quotation'; we discovered tiny items hidden in pockets, surprising pop-up constructions and a variety of media including calligraphy, collage, printing and woven paper. 

Margaret's book was a double sided 'Flipping Pages' book with her favourite quotation - 'A friend's writing on an envelope lifts the heart on the rainiest morning'. The the front and back of the flipping pages have images taken from a huge collage of beautifully addressed envelopes she has received over the past 30 years.

Janet B's Hanging Book comprised a large Swedish woven heart paper basket, embellished with a handmade tassel, conceals a hanging book. Pulling the plaited thread handle magically reveals a sequence of three further linked heart baskets containing text from the song ‘You've Got a Friend’ by Carole King. The smallest basket has a removable mini book to give to a friend in need, reminding them 'You've got a friend'.

Marise's book used a complex fold to create a beautiful background for her chosen quotes and a spectacular sparkly slipcase!

Ruth's mixed media pages reminded us of some philosophical quotes we really ought to take to heart!

Judi's nature inspired note book features a wrap round leather cover, quotes and artwork within pockets on the theme of the natural world.

If anyone has photos of other books from the day, please do forward them and I can add them in!

Our next meeting will be on Zoom - 26th October, with the theme of Boundaries, Borders and Edges -  but we are already looking forward to the Quarto summer lunch 2025!

January 2024 - 'Locality'

Our first meeting of 2024 was on Zoom on Saturday 27th January, when our swap theme was 'Locality'.  It was lovely to see the different ways in which this theme had been interpreted, with people taking a wide range of approaches to the word.

(At the time of writing, not everyone had managed to send me photos, so I'll update this page as and when they arrive!)

Margaret B took us on a fascinating  tour of her home village/town of Haxby, using a flag book structure within a concertina book.

Janet B's epic Hadrian's Wall book is 2.5metres long, representing the wall snaking its way across Northern England, including 3D milecastles and a handy tourist map. 

Pat D focused on the history and development of her local park, in a structure which folded out from a photo of the park gates.

Judi P's petite concertina book was placed inside a box embellished with real shells and containing calligraphed lyrics from the traditional Northumbrian song 'When the Boat Comes In' alongside a shoal of 'little fishies'.

Jo D created a hand drawn map of her house and surrounding area, which also happens to be on the site of the world's first steam-powered railway line, carrying coal from Hetton Colliery to the banks of the River Wear.

Mari H was inspired by free postcards from Australia Post designed to be sent for free to 'someone you care about'.  These formed the covers, bound with ribbons and the pages contained Australian picture clues and thought-provoking questions. 

Ruth R indulged her love of miniature books to create a little library of volumes, one of which contained her own paintings of Richmondshire.

Janet A created a beautiful book listing the fortresses and castles of the borderlands between Scotland and Northumbria, evoking the routes of the Border Reivers.

Karenna F's book explored the history of the area she lives in, with focus on some of the historical buildings and fascinating characters who had lived there.

Jill W had created an album of information and specially taken photographs of her home area, which she decided she'd keep as it had grown too big and heavy to post!

On the whole, we all agreed that we'd really enjoyed the research side of this theme and it was really interesting to hear about the stories we'd each uncovered.

Next meeting will be April 20th - a week earlier than usual - when our theme will be 'Heroes'.  

August 2023 - Buffet with Books!

Almost a year after our last in-person meeting, we met up again on August 2nd at Café 16 in St Nicholas’s Cathedral Newcastle- 14 past/present members and some long-time friends of the group! It was a very rainy and rather miserable day weather wise, but the sun was certainly shining in our corner of the café as we enjoyed a delicious buffet lunch and swapped news, stories and some beautiful handmade books.   

One of the joys of meeting in person is that we all get a chance to handle the books, rather than just seeing everyone else’s over Zoom and each of these books made its way slowly round the table before reaching its new owner.

Our swap theme was to make a book using paper that we had been saving (or hoarding!) - a crime we're all a bit guilty of!

Marise H brought a concertina book of precious Art Deco pictures adorned with lace, ribbons and flowers:

Pat D had made an exploding kaleidoscope book which twisted to reveal four different sides:

Jo D used small pieces of much loved papers to remind her of places where she’d bought them:

Karenna F created a very clever binding using leather and cork fabric to hold precious papers from her stash:

Judi P had created a book with Gateshead’s  Arts Diamond organisation which used some lovely paper swatches and fitted into a decorated box:

Janet A calligraphed the words of a beautiful Irish blessing, inspired by a choral piece she’d sung:

Janet B used a precious piece of illumination she’d created and added some letters to remind us to ‘Shine’.  The pages were cleverly held in place with ribbon so they can be removed if needed:

Mari H sent a cunningly folded and bound book which held inspirational quotes about writing:

Margaret B used some much loved paper to create a book of fluttering butterflies and quotes about friendship:

(Photos are mine, mostly taken at the table – apologies for any stray crumbs or photographer shadows!)

Thank you to Janet B for all the organising  - such a lovely day.  

Our next meeting will be on Zoom on Saturday October 28th when the swap theme will be 'Woven, Sewn or Printed.' 

 

 

 

January 2023

Our winter Zoom meeting was blighted by serious internet connection issues, although thankfully the fact that our signal kept dropping out didn’t affect the meeting too much!

Our chosen theme was ‘Unusual Shapes or Structures.’

Margaret demonstrated an amazing piece of paper engineering in her stunning folded triangle book:

Mari H sent a spooky book from Australia:

Janet B was inspired by a tutorial on the British Library website and her Christmas copy of the Radio Times to create ‘I’ve always had a soft spot for Columbo’ – a heart shaped tv quiz book:

Janet A was inspired by the Mantras of Mother Theresa:

Jill used handmade paper and a ‘Flat style Austrian Reverse Piano Hinge' binding (the one Margaret calls a ‘Striptease!’) to create her ‘Spring’ book:

and Pat D was inspired by bees and honeycombs:

In a slight change, we’ve decided the next meeting will be at a slightly earlier time  – 10am – and on a Sunday morning, April 16^th with the theme ‘Contrasts’.  

We’re also hoping that our summer meeting will once again be an ‘in person’ event, with food!

October 2022

Apologies for the delay in posting this!  Somehow Autumn and Winter have passed by!

Our Autumn Zoom meeting took place on Saturday October 29^th and the theme – appropriately enough! – was ‘Autumn’.  As always, it was fascinating to see so many different interpretations of the theme!

Janet B used ink decorated real autumn leaves to decorate and embellish her book:

Janet A’s book recalled her visit to ‘New England in the Fall’:

Jo D used her super set of Crayola crayons for a hand-drawn ‘abcde-rie’ of Autumn:

Pat D was inspired by Bep van Gasteren’s embroidered books and a stash of
autumnal fabrics:

Margaret B used words and printed cards to create her variation on a star book:

and Mari H sent us sunshine from Australia in her ‘Sunny Book’:

Next meeting was planned for January 28^th 2023, with the theme ‘Unusual Shapes and/or Structures’.