Frrewell Cornwall, Hello London!

May 24, 1910

It is hard to believe we’ve been here for over a week

already!  Our train back to London leaves on Friday

afternoon.  It will be difficult to say good-bye – St. Ives

 is so lovely and everyone we’ve met has been friendly

and welcoming.  After our adventures yesterday, we plan to

stick close to home today, maybe a foray into town after

luncheon for some window shopping and a stop at Mrs.

Curddle’s Tea Shop.  The Trevethins have invited us on an

excursion to the moors tomorrow.  We will take the train 

and then a carriage to Bodmin and the surrounding area.

They say there is a circle of standing stones and King

Arthur’s pool nearby!

May 25, 1910

What a time we had today!  First a tiny train along the

 north coast.  Then a carriage across Bodmin Moor.  We did

see King Arthur’s pool, where legend has it that he threw

Excalibar  in and the lady of the lake raised her arm and

and caught it as it hit the water.  And the standing stones

had a magic all their own.  Touching them, knowing they were

raised thousands of years ago felt truly mystical.

We had lunch at Jamaica Inn, and then took a closer look at

Brown Willy and Rough Tor.  The carriage almost missed

the train back, but we all leapt on safely and steamed our

way to St. Ives.  Very tired, but so pleased with our sight-

seeing today.  One more whole day here and then Friday we

board the express back to London.

May 26, 1910

We decided to spend the day walking around St. Ives, after

luncheon we spent time on the beach seeking shells and

 watching the waves.  We had a lovely dinner out with the

Trevethins.  We can’t thank them enough for all the treats

and trips.  What lovely people.  Will pack in the morning

and be ready to take the local train down to Penzance

and then the express to London – back home to real life.

May 27, 1910

Writing this last entry in my journal on the train as we steam

through the Devon countryside.  Victoria is already planning

A return trip next year!  We did have a brilliant time

and  have memories to fill our hearts for many a month to

come.  I plan to nap a bit now and dream of my magic springtime

in Cornwall.

And so ends Rose's journal of a Cornwall holiday in the spring of 1910. I had so much fun working on this, gathering the ephemera, writing the journal entries and putting the whole thing together.
Hope you enjoyed it also!

Cornwall 1910, Part II

Back in St. Ives with Rose and Victoria - 

a picture from a local photography shop,

 Rose on the left and Victoria on the right.

May 20, 1910

Today we spent time in St. Ives, visiting the shops along

the High Street and several of the art galleries.  Both

Victoria and I had a brilliant time picking out lovely

little things to bring home for our families and friends.

In one of the galleries, there were beautiful small

paintings featuring local vistas of the sea shore and

white washed cottages. I picked out several as presents

and am saving a rather smashing one of the west beach

at sunset for myself as a lasting remembrance of this

time.  We also found a photography studio and had our

portrait taken.   Rose and Victoria in Cornwall!

May 21,  1910

Today we packed a picnic and took the little shuttle

train to a beautiful cove that was filled with seals! 

Such a treat to see them up close and in the sea, very

different from their cement pond at Regent’s Park Zoo.

The sun was warm, but there was a delicious cool breeze

blowing in off the water.  We dined on ham and cheese

sandwiches, scones with strawberry jam and clotted

cream, and a light Victoria sponge.  We made our tea over

a fire of driftwood and then napped in the sun. Tomorrow,

after church, we have been invited to a local sculptress’s

house for luncheon and to see her work. I know I will

sleep well tonight after our day in the open air and

sunshine.

May 22, 1910

A lovely church service – the vicar gave a good

 sermon and was very welcoming to Victoria and

me afterwards.  He spent several years in a parish

 in Chelsea and was eager to hear of news from

the “big smoke”.

Our luncheon was a real treat – freshly caught

 crab with lashing of Cornish butter,  a delicious rice

 and vegetable dish and a sherry-laced trifle for afters.

 The sculptress, Regina Worthing, is a brilliant artist and

so much fun to talk to. She’s lived in St. Ives for about 10

years now and is becoming much recognized in artistic

circles.  She studied at the Slade in London and several

times a year invites artists from different parts of

the country (and France as well) to salons at her home

here in Cornwall. 

Tomorrow we plan to find the sea marsh and have a day

 of sketching the various birdlife.  This holiday has been

such fun so far, we are both so glad we decided to come.

May 23, 1910

We splurged on a full English breakfast this morning

since we knew we have a long hike to the marsh and back

 and then lots of sketching in between.  So many different

types of sea and marsh fowl, it’s nesting time and we

were privileged to see a few nests.  Both Victoria and

I filled page after page of our sketchbooks, making

colour notes and descriptions of the marsh and sea shore.

It was a long trek back, but Mrs. Trelawney had a scrumptious

tea all prepared.  She made all the right comments about our

pictures.  An early bed tonight!

Tomorrow, the last of the holiday and the train home to London.

Cornwall 1910 - Finished at Last!

Started in late October, now done in mid March, The story of Rose and Victoria's springtime holiday to St. Ives in Cornwall in May of 1910 - the waning years of the Edwardian Era. Each spread in accompanied by a journal entry written by Rose that tells of their adventures of that particular day.

May 17, 1910                 

St. Ives, Cornwall

Arrived this morning after taking a night express down

from London to Penzance and then boarding a small train

up to St. Ives.  We are staying at Gull Cottage, just a short

walk from the High Street and the shore is nearby also. 

The morning’s early chill has turned into a warm mid-day

with a delightful sea breeze. Spring blooms are everywhere,

 carpets of bluebells visible from the train windows as we sped

through the countryside, and it seems every house and shop has

hanging baskets of beautiful flowers in bright colours.

After luncheon, will stroll down to the sea to spend a

lazy afternoon reading and maybe some watercolours.

May 18, 1910

Rode on a very tiny train to Porth Kerris today. A fishing

 village clinging to the sea cliffs, with very steep lanes

leading down to the sea front.  We watched the fishermen

 bringing in their catch of pilchards.  Wandered through

 some intriguing tide pools full of small crabs and bright

 seaurchins.  A well respected potter has his shop here and

 we spent some time perusing the pieces on display.

I decided on a lovely sea blue vase, and, Victoria  a set of

delicate candlesticks in a soft ivory.  We dined on fresh

 caught crabs and a fresh baguette from a bakery next to

the restaurant,  surprisingly with a real French baker! 

Following an afternoon of exploring the surrounding woods

 and countryside, we caught the last train back to St. Ives.

I am writing this just before supper.  We are going to the home

 of Mr. and Mrs. Trevethin, friends of Victoria’s parents who

insisted we look them up while in St. Ives.

May 18, 1910 (late evening)

Mr. and Mrs. Trevethin were delightful!  They welcomed

Victoria and I so warmly and we felt “at home” in a trice.

The supper was rather topping – a creamy clam chowder,

Followed by fish in a lemon dill sauce that was light

and piquant, accompanied by new potatoes and fresh

baby peas (from Mrs. Trevethin’s kitchen garden.  We

Londoners tend to forget that Cornwall is blessed by

the Gulf Stream and Spring comes much earlier here at

Land’s End.  We have even seen palm trees!  Over coffee

the Trevethins talked to us about things to do during

our time here in St. Ives.  More tomorrow, dear journal,

but fresh sea air and good food have rendered me

exceedingly sleepy. And so to bed!

May 19, 1910

I am lingering over tea here in the breakfast room at

Gull Cottage. Our hostess, Mrs. Trelawney, is an excellent

Cook and her scones are light as air.  Victoria has stepped

out to the High Street to find some beach shoes – nothing

she brought along is doing the job.  I took the chance to

stay and write.  Soon I will go out to the garden and

paint awhile, the flowers are brilliant and several

birds come to the feeders that are scattered around.

Mrs. Trevethin told us of a marshy area a little ways

out of town that is teeming with herons, egrets and

all sorts of water fowl.  We plan to ferret it sometime soon.

More tomorrow as Rose and Victoria continue their joyous holiday!

Affix, Attach and Assemble!

Spent a few happy hours in the studio - 

with heavy gel medium and matte medium.

Getting paper ephemera and heavier embellishments

 put down in the Cornwall Journal.

Have had this bit of patchwork for
 years waiting for the right project!

Clips help hold things over night til they're really dry.

Having fun doing multiple layers of

 journal entries, ephemera and scrap.

About a third of the way done - will keep you posted.

Progress - Slow, Sure

Progress is being made on the Cornwall Journal -

 my wonderful Margot volunteered to drill the holes 

through the cabinet cards and postcards.

She's great at this sort of thing, and it's not my forte

so I was glad to hand it off to her expertise.

It was quite a stack to get through!

Planning embellishments for the front,

and have everything for each spread in it's own envelope, 

so I wouldn't forget anything.

Tomorrow will start the affixing with

 heavy gel medium and matte medium.

Hope to have it finished sometime this weekend -

 not bad for a project that got started last November! LOL!

Marinating's over - time to create!

Back in November I started hunting and gathering for a new project, a travel journal of  two young women on a holiday to St Ives, Cornwall in May of 1910.

I've amassed quite a bit of ephemera, embellishments and written the journal entries.  And it's all been sitting on the studio table "marinating" and today I began the process of turning it all into a Cornwall Travel Journal, 1910.

Getting the journal entries ready to attach

 to the backs of the cabinet cards.

Sifting through ephemera to decorate the pages and the covers.

Fun little crocheted flowers, skeleton leaves and 

a penny-farthing bicycle charm, all will find their place.

Will keep you posted on the progress.

Small World!

My good friend and writing coach extraordinaire Judy Reeves  recently taught a workshop in La Mansanilla, a tiny fishing village on the Pacific coast about 90 minutes south of Puerta Vallarte.
Margot and I spent a couple of weeks there in 2005 and had a wonderful time - fresh caught shrimp, Mexican beer and lots of relaxation. Judy posted the above picture on faceBook and I realized we'd been there for breakfast.

In fact I'd done a quick sketch of it while waiting for

 our food to arrive. Pequeño mundo.

Sun Valley Serenade Part 2

Found these vintage postcards

at a cool indie bookshop.

More vintage snaps!

Movie poster from Sun Valley Serenade.

Used this colourful ruler ribbon to accent the covers.

Sun Valley Seranade

Here's the journal I kept the week we 

were in Sun Valley last month.

Again, I used the chunky board book as the substrata.

I was doing some healing work there and it

 was good to have the journal to record things.

Love this vintage snap!

Lots of great coffee shops and cafes there.

More on Thursday.

Holiday Journal, Part Two

Once I start the journal, in situ , I add bits of ephemera,

writing, collections from the trip.

This was one of my favourite pages from the journal -

 a collage of past Christmas stamps.

The little snowman and Victorian scrap pieces
 adorned various Christmas presents

and now decorate on the back cover and spine of the journal!

Holiday Journal Part One

You may remember that for our Christmas holidays Margot and I spent several days at the Love Shack  in Ojai.  I blogged about it here.  I finally got around to taking some pics of the journal I created while we were there.

 I used one of my favourite substratas for a short journal,

 a very thick 6.5x6" children's board book.

For a mini vacation I like to do the covers and 

add decorative paper to the pages before we leave.

More to come next time.