Notebooks

Recycled paper notebook

Red embroidery thread

Front cover. The cover flaps are sewn in to give extra strength to the front & back covers

Notebooks for the un-recognised animal super-hero lurking within us...

My alter-ego: The Squealing Squirrel

5-hole stitched spines with the cotton thread

I've enjoyed making my own notebooks and journals since secondary school. Recently I decided to run a workshop for my students and thought a little practice may be in order. Here are the results of my endeavours.

The recycled paper notebook was made from paper from a Tasmanian lady named Joanna Gair. The cover paper has an autumn leaf sandwiched between two layers of paper. I was saving this piece for something special where its leafy beauty can be seen and appreciated, so the notebook is a perfect way to show it off.

The other notebook covers are watercolour paper (160gsm) with some letraset transfer lettering on the covers left over from my architecture student days. I used crochet cotton to stitch the notebooks. Paper inside is a 120gsm pastel paper so its good for drawing and stapling dye samples to.

Dye Batch 005

Recently finished batch of experiments. All were mordanted with Alum.

Left to Right Top Row: Red Rambutan Skins 2nd use on Bamboo, Red Rambutan Skins 2nd use on Cotton, Red Rambutan Skins on Wool, Bougainvillea on Soy, Bougainvillea on Wool, Red Rambutan on Bamboo

Left to Right Bottom Row: Black Tea on Wool, Dried Brown Rambutan Skins on Wool & Soy, Black Tea on Soy, Red Rambutan Skins on Soy

How I keep track of what worked and what didn't, what colours work with what mordants, what colours are obtained from various dyestuffs and times

Cotton swatches in my dye journal