last sunday i 'braved the storm' and left the house, all in the name of skill building, tea drinking and book binding. i swear, i must be a crazy fool ... jokes! the sun was out! it was so bright and sunny and warm, that i didn't even take a coat! madness, right! anyway, i made my way through north london to marylebone, to alfie's antiques, and up to handmade-by-you hq.
there, i was met by instagram friend daisy, who runs these fab pop up crafty workshops as make, thrift london, and as of now, also out of the 'handmade-by you' studios with the help of one very heavily pregnant sidekick alice. we sat around drinking tea while we waited on sonia from layout lines to pop in, and then we cracked on with our wee book making adventure!
i chose to use a toy soldier themed paper, while sonia went for something a little more appropriate; a crafty themed paper. i like the toy soldiers for two reasons; 1// it reminds me of cath kidston print, and 2// i thought a british print would make a nice christmas gift for someone back home... no hints.
et voila! three hours, one million cups of tea and two bowls of popcorn later, sonia and i were official graduates of the 'make, thrift london' school of book beinding! it was not 100% easy, i'm not going to lie. and... i sometimes lie and tell people that i'm really crafty. i'm totally not! i'm a fraud! i could barely use a ruler and set square and box knife without threatening my fingers' lives.
daisy was a fab tutor and sonia was clearly the teacher's pet, but the four of us had a ball experimenting, drinking tea and gossiping like we were sat in the w.i. i haven't yet decided who this wee book is going to be given to just yet... i'm sure it will make a lovely chrimbo gift for someone... will it be you?
no really -- do you want it? cos i can totally show you how to make it*
*i actually probably can't. but, if you're keen to find out yourself then contact daisy. she's cute and quirky, and great at the whole crafty-teacher lark. do it! you won't regret it!
