Lyon, France

We had a wonderful time in Lyon. I think the city is incredible and well worth a visit, historical and beautiful, for me it has it all.

We stayed for a week in an apart-hotel very close to the Gare de Vaise railway station & Metro in the 9th arrondissement. The room was great, just perfect for us. It had the living/kitchen area, bathroom with bath & shower, good sized bedroom and a full length balcony (which faced the evening sun).

We've been to Lyon many times and wandered around all our usual haunts. We arrived on a Wednesday afternoon, so we looked for food and went to the Phenix bar which is a local bar to watch football and drink Ricard. In the evening, the temperature was about 14 degrees C.

Thursday was rue de la Republic. We got off the metro at Bellecour and stopped for a meal deal from Brioche Doree (love the raspberry tart). Mojo (my other half) bought cigars to bring home for us to smoke in the Cigar Bothy at Hotel du Vin in Edinburgh. For dinner, we went back to the apartment with some Toulouse sausage and a baguette (yum). Later on, we wandered into the Vieux Lyon (old town) for a stroll and some lovely Cote du Rhone and a cigar outside a bar looking over the river Soane. In the evening, the temperature was about 15 degrees C.

On Friday morning, Mojo went out to have a look at some guitar shops and I stayed in and rested. in the afternoon we went to Foch and visited Bernachon for a coffee (the president cake was rather disappointing, shocked). After that we walked along to Brotteaux for evening drinks and had a lovely time.

Saturday found us back to Vieux Lyon and found some of my favourite shops and places to sit and watch the world go by. In the evening, we had a Groupon deal, so a walk in the rain took us to  l'Address, a very modern bistro/bar for an amazing 3 course meal. Well worth getting a soaking for.

We stayed in and chilled out for most of Sunday. In the evening, stayed locally for a few drinks.

On Monday, we went to Bellecour and took a bus to the new Confluence shopping centre. It is really lovely and absolutely full of great shops. Not all of them were to my taste of course, but I did find a few. After that we went to Part-Dieu shopping centre to get some thing to take home with us.

Tuesday - we went up to Croix Rousse on the hill to have a wander about and have a picnic lunch. It's a lovely part of town (more like a village), stayed for ages. Then got back on the metro line and got off at Hotel de Ville and had a wander around the Opera. We had another Groupon deal for an intimate little bistro in one of the back streets called Comptoir Lyonnais. The food here was amazing and we had a brilliant time here. We are definitely going back to this bistro next time we are here.

Wednesday, we were very sad to be going home, could easily have stayed another week or two. Can't wait to come back again.

Talk soon
Love & hugs
Ange xxx

Edinburgh School of Icon Painting: 5 days intensive Icon painting course

Edinburgh School of Icon Painting: 5 days intensive Icon painting course: INTENSIVE ICON PAINTING COURSE IN EDINBURGH 10th June - 14th june Tuesday - Saturday 11.00am- 5.30pm Andrej Rublev "The ...

Edinburgh School of Icon Painting: The Divine Feminine

Edinburgh School of Icon Painting: The Divine Feminine: Exploring the Divine Feminine Saturday 12th April   -  10.am - 4pm Salisbury Centre                                 Workshop Le...

Sunny Days & New Projects

At last, Spring is here. What a difference it makes to see the sun out (well, sometimes) and everyone looks in a better mood. I've heard that this summer is going to be the hottest since records began. That could be good and bad, loads of fantastic days out and vitamin D, but think I'm thinking droughts in England (after all the terrible floods), though we shouldn't be too bad in here in Scotland.

I thought for a change, rather than showing you a finished notebook, I would show you one that I'm in the middle of doing. It has a blue background with needle felted pale trees. The size is going to be somewhere in the middle of an A5 and an A6, I've cut the paper and bound in into signatures. I've been doing a lot of Coptic stitch recently, so I'm thinking that would make this casebound instead. The middle of the main tree trunk will be the spine, it's a touchy feely type of notebook. You will feel each of the twists in the trunk as you handle it .

I'll take more photos as I go along and post them on my blog.

Talk soon

Love & hugs
Angela xx

PS: Has anyone read the book 'The Four Agreements' by Don Miguel Ruiz, it's one book that has really made me seriously look at my perceptions and have a rethink.

My Folksy shop is now up and running

I made the decision a while ago to change my shop host from Etsy to Folksy. Now it's done and here is the link:

https://beta.folksy.com/shops/McLeanBookArts

I've listed some of the notebooks I've already made and I'm planning to do some notebooks with wet felted covers. 

I also have some photos on deviantART here:

http://mcleanbookarts.deviantart.com/

On my To Do list are some wet/needle felted Moleskine covers. I love Moleskine notebooks, so I think I'll make covers for mine and for sale.

At the moment, I'm making an A6 monogrammed Coptic bound notebook for a client and after that I'm making a diary. I'm getting fed up using my phone diary. I'm not sure of the size or design yet, but I have the diary pages ready to print. I make the diary blocks myself on Publisher, that way I can get the layout exactly how I want it. I'll probably start it from 1st May to end Dec 2015.

I'll might be putting something on Folksy next week, I wonder what it will be....

Talk soon

Love & hugs

Angela xxx

Opening new shop

I've finally decided to move my shop from Etsy to Folksy. There isn't anything on it for sale yet, so I won't put the link on the site yet..

I'm going to try a different angle for the notebook covers. I've been on a few wet felting courses and really enjoyed it. I've got all the gear, including olive soap, all I need to do is get on with it.

Wet felting is great fun, it's like being a child and guddling (It is thought that the term applied to any mess involving water) with soap and water, getting everything soaked.

I'm also going to make some accessories as well, Keep an eye on the shop......

I'm going on an Exploring the Divine Feminine/Icon Painting workshop soon. A bit of meditation and a bit of painting a religious icon (I'm not really religious, but I love icons.)

Sold another notebook this week, so really happy.

Talk soon
Love & Hugs
Angela xxx

Pet Fostering

We have just started pet fostering and it is amazing. We have fostered a dog for a few weeks while her owner is unwell and unable to take care of her. Not many people seem to know about this service provided by a charity. The owner provides enough food (or cost of) for the duration along with the pets belongings and a carer will take care of them (the owner is also expected to cover any vet bills). This isn't a re-homing service, the pet goes back to the owner once the fostering period is over. The owner has no access to the foster carer, but can keep in touch via the area manager.

The dog we have at the moment is quite well trained and is no problem to have in the house or to take out for walks. She took to us very quickly and it's like having a dog of our own, albeit for a short while. It must be a relief for a person who is ill or going into hospital, to know that their pet is being well taken care of.

Maybe this is something that you or someone you know may like to do. Please look into it, there may be a similar service near you.

Talk soon

love & hugs
Angela xxx

PS: The wee dog has gone to a re-homing service as the owner couldn't take her back. I'm heartbroken that she can't go home and that we can't keep her. I'm sure that Dogs Trust will find her a forever home, because she deserves a lot of love and hugs.

PPS: Checked the Dogs Trust website. Candy has been reserved, yay. Hopefully the checks all go through and she will have a loving new home. So happy for her :)

29 March: Candy is no longer on the rehoming website, so my wee girl has her forever home.

Just waiting for our next foster pet.
Talk soon
Love & hugs
Angela xxx