Tuesday, 29 May 2012

Captain Corelli Quote ~ Those that truly love...

So... two people have tracked me own in a fortnight... both previous customers, both wanting a piece of  work done as a wedding gift. I suppose I am not hard to find, but isn't it funny that this should happen now, so close together, when it is over 6 years since I closed up shop and when i am in the area!

On the other hand, earlier in the month, at the new moon, I set the affirmation that I am once more, serious about making more income from what i do.... so maybe not so funny after all, just proof that affirmations & intent have an effect!!



I was asked to write out a passage from Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres... this extract about what love is, has become quite a classic for wedding readings. Even though it is years since I have written it out, i found that I pretty much knew the words off by heart... quite dangerous for a calligrapher, as it is easy to write what you think you know, instead of what is actually there!


The plan was to present the gift as a scroll, which the recipient could then frame at a later date. I used a handmade cotton rag & banana paper from Khadi. This is a decent weight & looks interesting when rolled up, as well as being great to write on. I went for good old walnut ink which works so well with this paper... and being a combination of natural colours, they suit most homes. This is often a consideration when people buy for someone else... luckily i love natural!! The ribbon is threaded through slits cut at the bottom, then turned up & glued... it doesn't show at the back.

various prints & original scrolls are available
or just get in touch> suziscribbles at yahoo.co.uk

This last part would make a piece of work on it's own!  As this is the bit that carries the main message of the passage, I used different letterforms to add contrast & emphasis.... the petals across the bottom help to balance and anchor the whole thing, as well as being relevant to the words about blossom falling. The credit across the bottom, matches the couples' names & wedding date across the top.


All wrapped up with matching tissue & ribbons, it makes a pretty present! It's easy to post something like this in a postal tube.... so if you'd like a custom order for something along these lines just email me>  suziscribbles at yahoo.co.uk

overall, the approx size is 12 x 17 inches, 
this can be trimmed to fit a frame at a suitable size 
~ it will require a custom made frame ~

This is the adaptation i was given for this one... but if you look around the internet it is easy to find the original:

“Love is a temporary madness; it erupts like volcanoes and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part.

 Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of eternal passion. That is just being in love, which any fool can do. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. 

Those that truly love have roots that grow towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossoms have fallen from their branches, they find that they are one tree and not two.” 
Captain Corelli's Mandolin ~Louis de Bernieres

Sunday, 27 May 2012

My First Treasury

And so... I have benefitted from being included in so many etsy treasuries, that i have at last been spurred into making one of my own. I thought it was going to be a right faff on, but it was really easy. I  think i may have caught the treasury bug... i've already done 3 more. I don't know, more time consumed at the computer, i'm going to have to give myself a schedule, lol.


'KCCO Blues....' by LoneCrowPhoto

Keep Calm and Craft On (KCCO) are a group of uk crafters working together to help each other.... so here are some dreamy blues for some soothing sunday relaxation!


Small turquoise butterf...
$25.00

Naturally Dyed Marled S...
$28.50

Felt hanging heart deco...
$3.50

Aqua blue Sea Glass Sp...
$22.00

Embellished mixed media...
$15.95

Photography Art Print -...
$4.00

Seaham Blue Sea Glass r...
$190.00

Baby Card for a new ba...
$2.20

Made in Britain - High ...
$3.50

Custom Message Flower C...
$4.00

Beach Huts lampshade 30...
$32.00

baby blue amigurumi cro...
$5.00

Hanging Blue Bird Decor...
$2.00

Silver engraved floral ...
$6.99

Sagittarius Felt Keyrin...
$5.00

Mini Painting - Magnet ...
$5.00

Sunday, 20 May 2012

The perfect anniversary quotation?

"Grow old..." with banana & walnut... sounds like it could be a cake! Of course I'm talking about Khadi cotton rag paper with banana & walnut ink.... a delicious combination.


A couple of different layouts for the quotation I have been working with...

Grow old along with me 
the very best is yet to be
~Robert Browning



 This is such a great choice of quotation for an anniversary present.... and it doesn't matter how long the marriage either. 

Thursday, 17 May 2012

'Grow old...' an Embossing Re-worked

It seems that this piece of work has stood the test of time... there are reflections on the glass, but you can still see the words embossed

Grow old along with me
the very best is yet to be
~ Robert Browning ~



The beauty of embossing is that once a template is made, you can repeat the design for as long as the template lasts. A lady who had received one of these as an anniversary present managed to track me down.... 15 years later!!  


The trouble is I no longer had the template.... i do remember thinking that it was getting a bit tatty & if i ever did it again, i should re-do it. I can only assume that it was a casualty of my clear-out when i moved everything into the caravan, probably thinking it would motivate me to create anew. Well that worked! I never thought that anyone who had seen this early version would ever request another one this far down the line & it's quite amazing that she even found me!


drawn lettering on the bottom... 
at the top, the template is flipped over & stuck down onto card, 
and the 'holes' out of letters put back in, eg from O & D

And so i set about the process of designing letters... i couldn't bear to use the same style as before... besides i write differently now... and think & feel differently. I see no point in copying an old piece of work.... however similar this may become, i need to approach it as a new piece. It's quite a lengthy process.... i drew these letterforms, building them up so the 'thins' weren't too thin for embossing... then traced them down onto bristol board... and began cutting the letters out with a scalpel...


I love the cut-out-bits... they are safely tucked away now, 
ready to evolve into 'something' at some point. 

As i drew & traced & cut & stuck I took photographs thinking of giving you a full tutorial on the process & found myself wishing i had a camcorder to record the process too... so much can be better explained by actually seeing... I used to love teaching & i find myself hankering after it again... i don't particularly want to go back to adult-ed, besides, our lifestyle wouldn't accommodate something so fixed... anyway i had the photos & a tutorial planned in my head... then managed to delete all the step-by-step pics from my camera before they were saved on my hard drive (insert groans/cheers, depending on whether you were interested anyway!!)

a few tests on different papers

If you ever cut any amount of anything with a scalpel, wrap a plaster around your finger, or the top of the blade BEFORE it starts to hurt.... oh, & put a fresh blade in right from the start too, even if you think it's quite a new one. 


a credit to the poet 'robert browning' is lightly written in pencil
across the base of the lettering... 

I love the simplicity of white on white.... with white paper the shadows show up more & help define the letters. I added a line top & bottom to add a bit of strength & definition to the design... and the little rainbows came courtesy of the crystals hanging in my windows!

I've done two versions.... one will stay white, with a mount covered in the same paper, the other will be backed onto a natural paper & have a matching natural mount. This will be an anniversary present & will have names & date across the top, in pencil to complement the credit.... more pictures to follow when i'm done!

Thursday, 10 May 2012

Altered Spiral-Bound Wedding Journal

 Quite an ordinary looking spiral bound notebook... but it is being used to record special memories of how a couple met, the tale of their romance & the preparations for their wedding. I was asked to make a "special cover" for it.


The first step is to prise open the spiral spine & lose the plastic covers. If you haven't attempted this before, note how the covers fit for when you put them back.... i have been known to put the back one at the front & vice-versa!


The bride-to be wanted this lovely natural Khadi paper...  cotton rag with banana. The corners are a japanese paper with bits of leather in. It's so long since I bought it, I can't remember the name, which is frustrating... I'd love some more, but the company I bought from ceased trading years ago & several attempts to track it down have drawn a blank (so if any one knows, do get in touch & tell me!)


 I love the natural deckle edges of hand made paper. The next step was to punch holes to fit the spiral... using the original cover as a template, I decided it was easier to use a drill.


Walnut ink is the perfect compliment for the dedication page, and the book is gradually transforming into something more luxurious. On a side note, I've just spotted someone with an etsy shop who makes walnut ink... White Dragon Papers makes paper and walnut ink... just my type of shop, lol.


Remember the silks & fibres I posted about last week from Lisa at Mudhound Studio? This is what they were for.... mixed in with ribbon & leather cord to create a blend of textures.


The lettering on the front is not mine.... it's a photograph of a tattoo that the bride has on her hip... i printed it on to canvas & layered it onto the front... [I had better point out to anyone who knows me, that "my beloved steve" is not my steve, before anyone gets excited or wonders where their invitation is!]


The covers i made were thicker than the originals, & combined with photographs stuck inside the book was splaying open a bit... a couple of holes with copper eyelets through the back cover, and a length of silk with a bit of elastic joined on to form an enclosure soon sorted that out!

So... now i've got a bundle of silks that i'm itching to use on a book for myself now, so i'm on the look out for a spiral bound one with good paper in.... 



Friday, 4 May 2012

Voici mon secret...


today i received an email from someone i hold dear which included these words...
"....speaking to me (but not in words as such) about seeing without eyes..."

so i shall share these now instead of waiting until i have time, lol

i was experimenting last week.... writing on the pages of an old english-french dictionary... this is the first one i wrote.... synchronicity, eh?!





Just quick scans... i'm planning on mounting them on a natural paper, ready for framing, before adding to the shop. I'd like to frame them, as i have a specific idea of how thy could look, but posting abroad with glass in a frame is awkward & expensive, and that is where most of my sales come from.

We'll see... if the picture framer i just found hadn't made assumptions I would have gone ahead & got them done anyway... i asked about getting mounts cut, that i could then cover with paper to match some calligraphy and never got as far as talking about frames... he started getting uppity about not being "that sort of framer".... i didn't get what he meant, cos i wanted several frames aswell...  it never dawned on me that he wouldn't cut mounts to fit standard sized frames and he assumed that's what i wanted ( i hadn't got as far as asking, but i do get standard sizes for my photographs!)

Anyway after telling me he couldn't say when, cos if he had larger orders they would take priority, and there was no way they would be ready for this week he then thought it would be better if i took my business elsewhere! Ah, well... some mis-communication i think, but this 2nd page i did is sort of appropriate!! I felt like a child trying to explain what i needed & not getting anywhere...

ingredients: old dictionary pages & walnut ink


Now... back to packing the last few bits n pieces i need for tomorrow & putting aside the thoughts of... "ooh, i should've.... i could just do a few..."



Thursday, 3 May 2012

Out of Chaos...

So, there i was, in the midst of chaos.... printing photographs for my up-coming craft fair.... 


with only stepping-stone-like spaces on the floor to allow myself to negotiate wherever i needed to be... 


when the post arrived.
 Printing abandoned. 
Because of this... 


and inside....  


oooh, look a little closer... touch if you like.


I can't tell you what it's for yet.... 
but i can tell you this gorgeousness came from mudhound studio... 
and this.... 


is part of the most gorgeous textile art made by lisa at mudhound... 
i've written about it <here> with more photos...
or just go to lisas mudhound studio blog and see what she says!





Friday, 27 April 2012

Paper Passion

I'm not sure when I first loved paper.... i think i've always liked nice notebooks & journals... but as a calligrapher, 'good' paper took on a whole new meaning. To begin with, probably like most people i thought the marbled effect paper from most stationers was pretty posh... but very soon the 'feel' of the paper becomes part of the experience. Smooth 'calligraphy papers' just don't do it for me, and I don't know many calligraphers that go beyond a few night classes who stick to them.



I took over selling paper when someone else at a class stopped & up to that point hadn't experienced any more than Ingres ( for pastels) or Saunders Waterford (for watercolours). Eventually i had so much paper that i ended up opening a shop, but that is another story! At some point i discovered Khadi and I distinctly remember the first order i got from them (http://khadi.com/) Not having a clue what any of their paper apart from basic cotton rag was actually like, i ordered a few sheets of everything. (I had just discovered credit cards, so I could!) 


After the stomach churning moment of realising how much it cost, the experience of opening the parcel a few days later was the most exciting, sensual, pleasurable experience I think I've ever had. Honestly. It was a first. But that excitement & pleasure of receiving new unknown paper has never gone away. Even now, going through a pile of paper or a box of paper scraps can send me into a rapturous daze.... dreamily stroking and muttering 'precious...' under my breath


The shop went about 7 years ago & i was able to keep some things in a friends studio... eventually she needed her space back & i brought everything with me in the caravan. Oops. How much 'stuff'? I managed to dispose of so much... trash, charity shops, friends & strangers all benefitted, but i still hung onto the paper.... precious.... 



I cut it down and keep it under the bed, lifting it all out every time i want some to get my fix. Some of the stuff i have has been discontinued years ago. I'd often buy up the last stocks of papers i knew that I or my students, or other calligraphers would love. Actually i wasn't that bothered about other people, they were my excuse, it was for me really!!


I have realised that i can't keep it there for ever... it is a sacrilege for it not to be used, kept like some zoo animal to be drooled over occasionally (i promise i haven't actually drooled, just salivated a little... ok, a lot) I suppose to many, this may seem like behaviour fit only for an institution, and that the men in white coats should be notified. 



I finally started listing some paper packs on etsy, in my suziscribbles shop > suziscribbles.etsy.com You would not believe how many times I changed my mind about this... i took the photos & procrastinated... i put a couple of packs on & waited.... i put a few more on and sold a couple.... and didn't know whether to be pleased or not. How posessive am I? I never get jealous of people. I reasoned with myself that i can always buy more, when i have space... & sold a couple more. I started to let them go with a bit more grace & listed a few more.



I'm looking at these pictures now and thinking "OMG.. I can't get any more of some of that stuff!!" But tough!!! I haven't used it all up in 10 years so someone else can have the chance!


I'm also starting to think that if i sell most of my current stocks, i could maybe buy a bit more to sell. I mean, the paper i need to use most often has already run out & I really NEED to get some. There's none available locally, i've scoured the shops & internet.... what i have found means paying extortionate prices....  it would make sense to get a wholesale batch... wouldn't it?!


There is a link to my suziscribbles etsy shop in this blog side bar, and there is a section for 'paper' on the right in the shop.... but the easy way is to click just <here>  That will take you straight to the precious paper page!
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