Thursday 30 May 2013

CILIP Cymru Wales - Challenge - Bling my Conference Bag


I can now rest easy. My task is completed. I have sewing machine hunch-back just to prove it! My conference bag has had the bling treatment.

When this fun task was first mentioned I wondered what does CILIP mean to me? Could this influence how I jazz up my bag? Well, perhaps! CILIP gives me direction, it guides me, it's been a beacon throughout my professional life. Hang-on, beacon …. lighthouse. Hmmm, I can do something with that.

But the influence didn't stop there. Whilst on secondment with CILIP Cymru I've been welcomed by all of our active Special Interest Groups, but none more so than by the Youth Libraries Group. Through their Carnegie / KateGreenaway short-listing day I've been reintroduced to the fabulous world of children's illustrated books. The influence of a recent trip to the Seven Stories (the National Centre for Children's Books) Museum in Newcastle, and a display of Julia Donaldson's work, including the Snail and the Whale, can also be seen in my design. But I think there may also be elements of “The Lighhouse Keeper's Lunch” in there too. Oh, and if you fancy it, “The Seagull”. Any others?

Granny's Singer sewing machine came down from the loft. Blow the dust off of it. Lost the casing key …. manage to gain access, using a screwdriver. That wonderful black and gold miracle of domestic engineering lay safely stored underneath; … still shiny, and with a wonderfully faint aroma of three-in-one oil. Ah, bliss. (OK, it's a bloke thing!) You know, I think using a sewing machine is a bit like riding a bike. Once mastered – never forgotten.

So the seascape came first. Really enjoyed sewing in the wave a pattern on that. Then my psychedelic lighthouse. Sorry about the colours but I didn't have any spare white fabric. The button at the top, represents the light, and the pink band, a beacon of light. Hmmm … pink band … guiding me home. Freud would have a field day! At this point I realised that my design was taking influence from my subconscious and therefore the whale and seagulls were added. It was difficult to stop there, but fortunately I did stop. So no snail on tail of the whale!

The final touch was adding a t-shirt iron-on transfer of my version of the CILIP Cymru Wales logo. I've put four on the back too, just in case some critter tries to steal my lovely bag.

So there we are. My “blinged” bag. So ok, it isn't perfect. But it's mine, and I think it's great. My next project might also involve quilting to give a bit of a three dimensional effect. 


PS. Two final confessions. 
  • The bag isn't actually a CILIP Cymru Conference bag. Sorry! When I came to look for one at home all I could find was a Welsh Government “Ask a Question” bag. Yikes – sorry. (I still love it though!). And it's been thoroughly CILIP-i-fied now!
  • I had help with the seagulls. :-)