Happy Bookbinding at Unit Twelve and a trip to Glasgow

 Sophie (my daughter) and I had a lovely treat over the Bank Holiday Weekend - a two day bookbinding course at Unit Twelve in Staffordshire, with the talented Alix Swan.  We own a couple of her 'books', although I hesitate to just call them books as they are exquisite paper creations accompanied by elements from the story eg 'Rapunzel' is a tiny accordion book within a castle shaped box, and 'The Elves and the Shoemaker' comes complete with a teeny pair of shoes!

Although I've made books in the past I'd never had a go at making hardbacked books of this nature.

Bookmaking is a very precise craft but I was very happy with the results, and even considered leaving one of the books with an open spine!

We used lots of found papers in the studio to make two more books in addition to the plain workshop one.  I intend to fill the blank one with snippets from the story 'The Elves and the Shoemaker', one of my very favourite stories, but the others will become journals.

They are only tiny but now I know how I'll be binding my own journals with a mixture of papers and to the landscape A4 size that I love!

Then it was off to Scotland for a short break.  Whilst up there we were able to visit Glasgow, a city that's long been on my list of places to visit.  I will definitely be going back!  We took a tour of the Glasgow School of Art but it was limited to just the outside of the building and the furniture gallery because of student exams.  It was still really interesting though.  I love the work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and he designed so much more than just the building.

As an art student himself he realised the need for wide corridors (for carrying canvases) and doors clearly labelled as 'out' and 'in' so you could manage your bulky artwork without colliding with anyone.

It's not clear on this photo (but how ace is that lamp-post?!) but the roses he positioned across the top windows start off as buds on the left of the building and as you move across, open up to blossoming roses on the window on the furthest right!

And I just LoVe how they validate your ticket...

....by stamping a moustache on the man himself!