Butterflies

 I've finished the June bookmark and it proved quite tricky to take a photo showing the correct colours.  This is the nearest I could get but all the colours are stronger than in the picture. 

I've started sorting out my materials for the July bookmark which has a seaside theme.

A Little Bird

 On my walk I came across a little bird who was happy to pose for the camera.  As it has a white stripe over its eye I think it was a Sedge Warbler. 

I also spotted a Comma butterfly and, although it was further back, I managed to get a photo as it paused on top of the undergrowth. 

If you go down to the woods today

You're sure of a big surprise.

On the track to Oakhill Woods there are 2 giant dragonflies standing on tall posts.  

I had noticed the dragonflies perches were different but then met someone who explained they were designed on Goole's water towers known as the salt and pepper pots.  Furthermore they are aligned with the two towers.

 

Deep into the woods is another surprise, a giant newt whose design is inspired by the Tom Puddings.  These were 'trains' of barges that carried coal.  

You can see the bow of the boat in his face and the barges of coal make up his body.  

 The metallic oblongs on his back reflect irridescent colours in the sunlight.  

And best of all - they all stayed still while I took photos!

Rare Sights

A beautiful little bee orchid surprised us all by popping up in amongst the long grass next to boat on stands.  

Another sight which is probably not so rare is a cygnet hitching a lift on its Mum's back.

May Bookmark

 The May bookmark was based on a maypole but that does seem to have disappeared during the design process!  

The top of the design on the bookmark is based on an aerial view of a maypole with the yellow circle representing the maypole and and the 12 blue lines which form a flower shape are the ribbons.  To simplify the pattern I removed some of the ribbons at this point and then crossed over the ribbons to represent the pattern twisted round the maypole. 

I then decided it needed some more interest as the pattern progressed and as it now resembled Celtic Knotwork I added some Celtic Knot style flowers and reduced the number of ribbons on the way.  

I was pleased with the way the couching worked round the curves and I also used it for the lettering.  

I've also had a try out of using invisible thread to couch metallic thread and am looking forward to incorporating that in a future piece.  

Drawing Lines (and keeping them straight)

Before any writing can be done, the page has to be prepared. The design is called the 'mise-en-page', and it turns out that there are many difficult and complicated ways of doing it. After messing about with harmonious rectangles for some time, I decided that, given the small size of my bifolia (150mm x 200mm), I would need to maximise the text area or it would be too small to contain any writing. I have attempted to apply the 'Recipe of Saint Remi', which lays out a set of proportions for the parts of the page. The upper margin is ⅔  the width of the lower and outer margins, and the inner margin is ⅔ that of the upper. I decided that most pages would have lines ruled straight across, but I've added four pages with columns, where the gap between columns (intercolumn) is the same width as the inner margin. 

Once I had decided on my layout, the next job is to prick guide dots down the edges of the pages. 

I used an awl for pricking, and tried pricking at the outer edges, using a ruler to keep the pricks in a

straight line. After pricking, the holes were ruled with a blind tool (a blunt darning needle, in this case).

The resulting lines are clear enough to see on the front and the back of the page.

I also used in-text pricking and intercolumn pricking on some of the pages. These were ruled with

a pencil, which I found much easier.

Here are the four ruled bifolia of my finished quire, ready for text and decoration!

April Easter Eggs

 The April bookmark shows an array of Easter Eggs all stitched in various colours using blackwork stitching.  The material is black aida fabric.  

This was a fun design to stitch but now I have to get my thinking cap on for the Maypole idea for this month. 

On a different note, here is my new bike complete with its basket which should be very useful.  Bess couldn't resist getting in the picture!