What goes around comes around

 It's a couple of years since I wrote a blog post highlighting the book in the left of the picture above. This used a fabulous childrens encyclopaedia that I found, to make a book which is either described as a carousel book or a star tunnel accordion. Every time I put it on the timetable to teach, events conspired to remove it but its turn has finally come this week. So, you can imagine the dismay when I tried to find my star sample and couldn't find it anywhere!

Now, many years of bookmaking leads to lots of crates of samples but it was conspicuous by its absence despite many searches. I was bereft, thinking I'd left it in a venue on display somewhere so I asked my husband to search for it..... and he found it in the first box he looked into....

 After passing through quite a few hands it had lost its ties and needed a bit of TLC so I have repaired it and fallen in love with it all over again. It is one book I could never give away despite its flaws and I am excited to teach it on Friday and see what my group come up with for content.

Because I thought my sample was lost I quickly made a couple more. I usually have blank books in the various 'making' stages for my workshops but always like to have one special one, fully formed, for ideas and discussion. Now I have three.... and lots of ideas for a few more so I am making a couple more samples today but wanted to give a sneak preview of my two new samples......

 I always try to use up materials that are to hand, so one is using silvered card which creates a great mirrored effect. I've had this stuff for years and can't believe how long it has taken me to use it effectively so it will now line up with my new Andy Pandy book made on a whim after a chance comment by a friend the other day about the TV of our childhood here in the UK.

They are time consuming books to make but can look great with a good idea. Andy has now joined my encyclopaedia book in my 'favourites' pile and I'll try to remember the camera to show you what the group conjure up on Friday. Looking forward to it!

Just drifting along

Isn't it proving to be a gorgeous late Spring, early Summer?  Lots of sun but tempered with soft breezes. The light is wonderful and the garden is very lush. I love it in the early morning or evening best and this year we seem rabbit free so lots of plants that usually get decimated seem to be thriving
The swallows have long returned to our little pig cott and are flying and twittering everywhere. I even saw swifts flying overhead yesterday, a first for our little patch.

The garden is teeming with bumble bees and the weather indicated it was a good time for a moth trap so we had one the other night. Numbers were good but not significantly so for this time of year and some of the usual suspects were conspicuous by their absence. If the warmer weather continues we should see some bumper evenings in the next few weeks so we'll keep trying but another first for us came in the form of the Leopard Moth in the final photo. It was so large that it did not go into the trap. I found it resting on the corner of the shed and popped it into an inspection pot for a closer look. It was gorgeous and then it sat on my hand for a few minutes warming up before it flew away. It made my day. A good reminder to appreciate the natural wonders around me.