A very special commission...

I have just finished a very special job - I had been commissioned to design and make some new Vistors Books for Kelmscott Manor - the summer home of William Morris.
I was basing the pages inside the books on the existing Visitors books, and after a personal tour of the beautiful building I was inspired to use some Morris fabric to create the covers for the new books.
Amongst the library at Kelmscott were three fabric covered books that literally jumped out of the shelves at me and provided the idea for the new design....

This project was also my first book that I needed to get the pages printed up as well - which was an education in itself. I was so lucky to stumble upon a fantastic printers in Gloucester, who use renewable energy, vegetable based inks and provide a great service - I got very lucky indeed! We worked hard to select the best paper, and the covering fabric was carefully chosen - that was a lot of fun, working through all the beautiful Morris designs.

So today I am dropping off the books - as Kelmscott Manor opens for the season at the weekend - and the visitors will have the chance to start off the new books... and I have the time for a quick sit down. Hurrah!

Oh my - I never thought I would get so excited about buttons...
I have sourced an amazing lady in the US who makes buttons from slices of tree branches - Tree Branch Buttons!
They have inspired me to make a range of leather watercolor sketchbooks that have wide leather bands that are closed with these gorgeous buttons - who knew they could make me so happy?!

The first batch of books are already made and the buttons are all used up - more buttons ordered and then more happy books to make...

But busy working on a very special commission for Kelmscott this week - will have some photos of the work in progress later this week.... now where is that coffee?

Happy to be back in the workshop this week - with a renewed zeal to get making again - creating new designs, refreshing my stock after a long and slogging winter... bring on the SPRING!

Today I started on some leather watercolour sketchbooks - using an old traditional longstitch binding technique - a wonderful structure that uses no glue, only the sewing holds it all together. And the leather wrap around cover makes it strong and sturdy - a perfect travelling journal. Now if only I could paint....

This week has seen a frustrating delay to getting back to work after my holiday - but a dose of inner ear viral wobbliness has led me to getting my long intended blog up and running... here we go...

Once the wobbling has stopped and work restarted, a new batch of notebooks are on the cards - with a restocking of my etsy shop and some new designs to watch out for..... will keep you posted!