2nd 'Cotton' Wedding Anniversary Canvas

As the second wedding anniversary is traditionally seen as 'cotton', a canvas is an appropriate present…. especially when it includes a reading from your wedding & takes inspiration from the bridal bouquet! It's not meant to be an exact representation… just something that captures the sense of it… the fresh greens, the feeling of spring in the air...

Before the 1930's, just the milestones were marked; only 5th, 10th, 25th, 50th & 70th had gift suggestions. But as in most areas of life, commercialisation led to a full list names for every year of marriage…. in 1939 the American National Jeweller Retail Association published a full list. The list has been revised over the years & different countries have slightly different versions, and of course some countries have long-standing traditions for certain anniversaries.

In the 'Holy Roman Empire' of the Middle Ages, husbands would crown their wives with a wreath of silver leaves on their 25th anniversary & with gold leaves on their 50th. The tradition of a silver & gold wreaths continued in many places, with the gradual addition of more land-mark anniversaries. Traditions have changed too… at one point the Diamond Wedding was the 75th, but since Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee after 60 years on the throne, diamonds became associated with the 60th wedding anniversary in the UK.

The list I have had for ages gives the 1st wedding anniversary as paper & the 2nd as cotton, which is great for me as a calligrapher… I can offer a gift made from both! But there are various versions…. the UK & US have many dates the same but a few differences, and a 'modern' version seems to have been developed alongside the 'traditional'. Take a look over here> Wedding Anniversary Gift Lists. (the 15th is crystal on all other versions i've found) I'm not sure about the modern one at all…. gold jewellery, cars, optical goods…. hmmm, the retailers are obviously still involved in compiling that…. a kiss on the cheek would be bonus from Mr Scribbles, lol.

The canvas was 'whiter' than the photo, more like the close-up above, but i can't seem to get rid of the yellowy tones. I didn't even attempt to portray different flowers, even if I had the skills I wouldn't want too many different details vying for attention… it's the words that matter here,

"Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,



Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;


Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;



Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things."

Despite the formal style of wording, I wanted this to look fresh and modern, so quite informal, brush lettering spills down the canvas…. echoing the brighter green buds of the bouquet nestled amongst the mass of white flowers. It really makes a thoughtful & romantic anniversary gift doesn't it?

I'd love to hear about your most romantic gift… or the least, lol! I can't think that I've received anything outstanding either way... sigh...

Personalised Mothers Day Cards

Some of you may have noticed the link to "Inky Whispers"… 

I have found that creating a collection of cards in one place has led to more sales. It is much easier to see what is available & people seem happier asking for personalised messages, which I'm more than happy to write.

Mothering Sunday in the UK, is the 4th Sunday of Lent (the 40 days running up to Easter), that's March 30th this year. It evolved from honouring the Virgin Mary into a day to honour all mothers. It became customary for employers to encourage servants & apprentices living away from home to visit & honour their mothers.

There's only a week to go, but a personalised message can be sent at any time…. every day is a day to tell your Mum that she's special in my book! 

Thoughtful new fathers might like the idea of an extra special card for the mother of their baby. Any mum with a young baby would appreciate someone thinking of her… it doesn't need to be much, and certainly needn't cost a fortune… little gestures go a long way…. 

These concertina cards, or accordion books, are folded treasures full of sentiment, and can be written to say any message you choose…. they are for special people…. when your thoughts are genuine & heartfelt… they say that you care…

Woven Words...

 Things have been busy here but  this is one little experiment I tried a little while back…. Strands of old writings taken and woven into something new… hints of what has been that could have been discarded… textures mingled… random words… does it make sense? no. does it matter? no.
Just words & phrases tossed into a pool of pattern…. jumbled confusion? perhaps, but not unless you try & make sense of it.

I rarely throw roughs or scraps of paper away… at least not until they have been cut or torn & stuck or over written or stamped or collaged or…. something. And even then they get "filed" until much much later I find them bent & dog-eared beyond redemption. I was tearing this draft with the idea of making torn squares of text to collage onto other pieces. That will wait a while, cos I'm liking the effect of this!

Writing on Nepalese Mountain Paper

In the last post, Mahsheed used Nepalese Mountain paper to create wonderful collages. It is lightweight, which makes it great for layering & moulding to a shape. For all it's lightness, mountain paper is also robust…. it's made from the bark fibres of the lokta plant, which grows above 3000 feet in the Himalayan foothills. The crop is totally renewable and the plants re-grow & are ready to harvest again in about 4 years.

 These two on the cerise are written in a liquid Chinese stick ink (bought from a Chinese supermarket) using a Chinese calligraphy brush. A metal nib works well enough on this paper; the surface is actually very crisp although the paper feels soft, if that makes sense!

I want to be an outrageous old woman who never gets called old lady.

I want to get leaner & meaner & sharp edged 

and earth coloured until I fade away from pure joy.

~ Julie Kookin ~

I copied the quote from someone else years ago & searched for it's origins a while back. The words had been used in a film, & I think the character was Julie Kookin…(I may be wrong on this as information was conflicting) and were taken from "Country Women- A handbook for the new farmer, by Jeanne Tetrault & Sherry Thomas". Annoyingly I never wrote down the source for any of this, and now I can't even find a reference to the quote anywhere, so if anyone knows anything, please share!

I have tracked down the 'Country Women' book though...

… and look, it even has calligraphy on the cover. It seems to be a practical book with stories & poetry too, & judging by this review, it looks like one worth purchasing.

"The line art work is graceful, poetry is inspiring, the diaries reassure me that I am not alone in my failures or frustrations, and the practical information is well worded, empowering women into thinking 'yes, I can do this'. I refered time and time again to the companion planting section, wood cookstove section, wood splitting section... in fact, I referred so often to so many parts of the book that they are now committed to memory, along with my favorite poems. The book is somewhat dated in some ways, yet absolutely timeless in others."

forget not that the Earth delights to feel your bare feet

& the winds long to play with your hair

~ Kahlil Gibran ~

These were written with gouache… and with a brush again. I do like the effect of black brush lettering on the coloured mountain paper, especially where the paint is running out… and it feels gorgeous as I write. I can see a series of these coming up when I order some more paper. 

Gorgeous, Bright Mountain Paper

Before Christmas, a lovely lady bought several packs of the Himalyan Mountain paper which comes from Nepal. It's a gorgeous paper, that comes in 10 colours as well as natural.

We had a lovely correspondence, from her first order to her receiving the paper, 

then to news of the creations made with it.

She must have spent many happy hours spent in creative bliss with her young daughter over the Christmas holidays! I asked her if she would be happy to share some photographs here...

… and I'm so pleased that she did! I absolutely adore this tree with the little bits of text mingled in amongst the branches.

I would never have thought of doing anything like these, and I'm so thrilled at what these talented ladies have created…. each one is so different… I love them.

Thank you for sharing Mahsheed, 

I hope you & your daughter enjoy this mini exhibition of your work!! 

Just off the Drawing Board...

A few trials.... which of course work out better than the 'real ones'

A bit blurry, but you get the idea...

I can't show any more until this new Bride surprises her husband with this 

Valentine's gift... her wedding vows to him....
but I can tell you, that we have gold powder dropped into watercolour.

Chaos....

Those lovely pieces of green glass were my favourite vase not so long ago...

You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star

~ Nietzsche ~

Chaos is inherent in all compound things. Strive on with diligence.

~ Buddha ~

In all chaos there is a cosmos, in all disorder there is a secret order

~ Carl Jung ~

In the midst of movement and chaos keep stillness inside of you

~ Deepak Chopra ~

[ yeah, spotted the spelling mistake... just now! ]

Falling Stars...

Way back last August (crikey, 2013 seems so far away now), I had a Groom that was planning well ahead for a gift for his Bride on their wedding day.  He came with a romantic tale too...

Very early in my fiancee's and my relationship, we went stargazing at the top of the tallest hill where we live, which was really the night that we realised there was something special going on. She saw a falling star for the first time in her life, and it's one of our favourite memories. Subsequently while browsing a poetry website, I was floored to come across this poem, which seemed to sum up the feeling of that night.

Do you remember still the falling stars

that like swift horses through the heavens raced
and suddenly leaped across the hurdles
of our wishes--do you recall? And we
did make so many! For there were countless numbers
of stars: each time we looked above we were
astounded by the swiftness of their daring play,
while in our hearts we felt safe and secure
watching these brilliant bodies disintegrate,
knowing somehow we had survived their fall.

~Ranier Maria Rilke

He liked the style of the Yeats, Cloths of Heaven canvas and had the idea of hills in the foreground.... of course I was happy oblige! 

I hadn't come across Rilke before, but having looked him up, it seems I've been living in a cave! His quotes have been used in tv, films & self-help books.... In the US he is one of the best selling poets along with Kahlil Gibrahn & Rumi... not sure about in the UK tho'.

The Poetry Foundation begins a quite extensive biography with these words, 

Widely recognized as one of the most lyrically intense German-language poets, Rainer Maria Rilke was unique in his efforts to expand the realm of poetry through new uses of syntax and imagery and in the philosophy that his poems explored. With regard to the former, W. H. Audendeclared in New Republic,"Rilke's most immediate and obvious influence has been upon diction and imagery." Rilke expressed ideas with "physical rather than intellectual symbols. While Shakespeare, for example, thought of the non-human world in terms of the human, Rilke thinks of the human in terms of the non-human, of what he calls Things (Dinge)." Besides this technique, the other important aspect of Rilke's writings was the evolution of his philosophy, which reached a climax in Duineser Elegien ( Duino Elegies ) and Die Sonette an Orpheus (Sonnets to Orpheus). Rejecting the Catholic beliefs of his parents as well as Christianity in general, the poet strove throughout his life to reconcile beauty and suffering, life and death, into one philosophy. As C. M. Bowra observed in Rainer Maria Rilke: Aspects of His Mind and Poetry, "Where others have found a unifying principle for themselves in religion or morality or the search for truth, Rilke found his in the search for impressions and the hope these could be turned into poetry...For him Art was what mattered most in life." 

 Rainier Maria Rilke 1875-1926

Some Rainier Maria Rilke quotes:

“Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage. Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love.” ―  Letters to a Young Poet 


“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.” 

“Why do you want to shut out of your life any uneasiness, any misery, any depression, since after all you don't know what work these conditions are doing inside you? Why do you want to persecute yourself with the question of where all this is coming from and where it is going? Since you know, after all, that you are in the midst of transitions and you wished for nothing so much as to change. If there is anything unhealthy in your reactions, just bear in mind that sickness is the means by which an organism frees itself from what is alien; so one must simply help it to be sick, to have its whole sickness and to break out with it, since that is the way it gets better.” 
―Letters to a Young Poet


“Extinguish my eyes, I'll go on seeing you.
Seal my ears, I'll go on hearing you.
And without feet I can make my way to you,
without a mouth I can swear your name.

Break off my arms, I'll take hold of you
with my heart as with a hand.
Stop my heart, and my brain will start to beat.
And if you consume my brain with fire,
I'll feel you burn in every drop of my blood.” 


“Go into yourself. Find out the reason that commands you to write; see whether it has spread its roots into the very depths of your heart; confess to yourself whether you would have to die if you were forbidden to write. 

This most of all: ask yourself in the most silent hour of your night: must I write? Dig into yourself for a deep answer. And if this answer rings out in assent, if you meet this solemn question with a strong, simple “I must,” then build your life in accordance with this necessity; your whole life, even into its humblest and most indifferent hour, must become a sign and witness to this impulse. Then come close to Nature. Then, as if no one had ever tried before, try to say what you see and feel and love and lose...

 Many more quotes here

Apologies for the stripey backgrounds to some of the text. For some reason everything I copy & paste includes the background colour & I can't get an exact match to the background of my blog no matter how much I fiddle around!

St Johns Bible... a modern calligraphic masterpiece

How do you fancy writing out the bible when you have a bit of spare time? Oh, & not in scrawly handwriting.... it needs to be in your bestest calligraphy to match the style that everyone else is using! It's the idea that Donald Jackson had for years before it was taken up by St Johns Abbey, Collegeville, Minnesota & the Hill Monastic Library. There are 7 two foot tall volumes made of vellum, over a thousand double page spreads & 160 illuminations....

OMG is an often over used phrase, I think, in this era of text speak. But watch this video & you will be OMG-ing more than once! It doesn't matter whether you are Christian, Pagan, Atheist or anything else, this rendition of St Johns Bible is a take-your-breath away masterpiece.

There are so many Youtube videos about Donald Jackson & the making of this manuscript if you want to see more. It's really interesting to see what the individual scribes on the team have to say, and Sue Hufton makes the point about how much of a team effort the whole thing was... and there was a whole team of calligraphers, illuminators, studio staff and so on for this project, that took nearly 13 years, not including preliminary discussions!

There is a The St John's Bible site and also a St Johns online exhibition but it would be wonderful to see even a printed copy... like the people in Austin library in the 1st video, I'm sure I wouldn't be able to resist touching!

Here's the full run-down of who was involved http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Saint_John's_Bible

A baby from Heaven...

Nevaeh is 'Heaven' spelled backwards, so for a baby girl that seems to be Heaven-sent, it could be a perfect name. This couple chose to alter the first e to an a.... more suited to a North Eastern accent perhaps? I don't know, but apparently a few people do this. The name Nevaeh has become popular over the last 10-15 years. 

"Babies are little bits of stardust sprinkled from heaven"

New Baby card on Khadi cotton rag paper with bougainvillea petals

I heard the tale that it became particularly popular after the Twin Towers... perhaps so for some people, but the initial surge of popularity came after a rock star with a daughter called Navaeh featured on MTV's Cribs! What astonished me though, was the amount of hostility that some people direct towards it.... what is all that about, eh?! (Take a look at Behind The Name if you want to see what I mean)

An accordion folded book aka a concertina card, 

with a wrap around cover tied with an organza ribbon

They make a lovely unique card, and if I'm making one, I might aswell make another... 

several more actually....

A selection of concertina books are available
in the shop > here

Concertina books make great keepsakes & over the years I've made them for so many occasions.... wedding invitations, secret love notes, thankyou cards.... cards for birthdays, anniversaries, engagements, weddings, christenings.... sympathy.... new job, retirement.... the list goes on....