All Booked Up

report by Kit Calladine - Applied Arts Coordinator
Hallowe'en weekend at Dilham saw most of the beautiful autumn leaves whisked off the trees and unceremoniously dumped in soggy heaps in the lane.

But in the studio, leaves of the book variety were being ingeniously folded, arranged, stitched and glued into gorgeous little books with lovely covers in all kinds of textiles and papers.

Penny Graham-Jones and I demonstrated several ways of constructing books that could be used as diaries, sketch books, note books, recipe books, folders, letter books, etc. We were both amazed and delighted how each student took these methods and freely adapted them to suit their own particular projects.

The variation of papers, fabric, stitches, beads, cords and ribbons chosen showed just how versatile and exciting this application of arts and crafts can be.
Feedback from the students confirmed that they too were thrilled to bits with their efforts; some have already signed up for next year! Penny and I can't wait to get started both on our own new projects and to plan those for next September when we shall be doing 'Further Bookings'. Check out the 2010 course list on this blog. Also take a peek at Penny's blog for more insight into 'All Booked Up'.