Pixies & Sprites

One thing I still underestimate is the consumables that this mad crazy business of our needs.

I suppose it’s the same for lots of businesses, but with the framing workshop everything for us has just increased massively.

A large framed piece now consumes 3 sheets of conservation mountboard.

At the start of the year we were using just one type of board. Now we’re using different types, have added in foamboard and have pretty much filled the drawers of the plan chest.

A single sheet of board creates enough mats & boards to make 8 of our 10” frames. So a pack of 10 sheets gives us 80+ frames, yet is only enough to create 3 large pieces. This makes my head spin.

I can’t even complain that the pair of us don’t understand the complexities of scaling up a process, or how to manage the risks.

Still doesn’t make it easier when we’re ordering the raw materials.

Introducing the next bit of equipment in the workshop - the Fletcher multi-cutter.

A multi-head mixed material cutter. It cuts through all the flat boards used to make up the frame. Including mount-board, backboards, acrylic and glass.

The other main alternative is the Excalibur, a great name for a multi-arm cutter and was our first choice.

But the Excalibur is floor mounted so has a bigger footprint. We were keen to keep the workshop size within permitted development to avoid any delay in planning. Hence the choice of a wall-mounted cutter.

He loves the simplicity of this machine and it’s great for tearing through large batches of mountboard etc.

We’re 9 months into producing picture frames and there is absolutely no way we could be creating the pieces without these bits of kit.

But it was still the hardest piece of equipment to install, if you’ve ever watched the decade old you-tube video then you know our pain 🤭

This rather large handsome piece found its new home at the weekend.

A lovely rare & unusual map produced by an Engineering company.

Too big for our usual mantelpiece photo setting, these are taken in the framing workshop.

Bought by a lovely couple at the Buxton Antiques & Decorative Art Fair, who lived the other side of Pavillion Gardens.

So a minuscule carbon footprint for onward transportation, since it was walked home 🤭

The new challenge was adjusting the shell scheme to accommodate the resulting large gap.

Another rescued piece of ephemera, framed and presented so that it can be enjoyed for many more years to come.

270+ maps sorted in 17+ piles.

Do we need as many piles - yup and then some.

This doesn’t include the sneaky ones I’ve already squirrelled away.

Like this absolutely gorgeous, but ink stained 1940’s Bartlholomew street map of Edinburgh.

It’s thin paper, but a gorgeous map. So another rescue project in the making.

So where to find us this weekend - well actually you won’t find us anywhere!

This will be our first full weekend off since June.

Not a double market every weekend, but lots of different venues, event types, attendees - it’s been a crazy 10+ weeks!

So a full weekend off:

- to not roll from one event into the next one
- to catch up on those everyday things - front flower bed will be transformed into a lavender hedge next year 🤞🤞
- to get the log burners serviced ready to fire up all that kindling
- to get the next lot of bespoke orders out the door in October
- to finally finish off those ‘almost there’ pieces

We’ll be posting out where you can find us for the forthcoming Christmas markets, but a much gentler few calendar months for us.

You won’t find us at every venue, in fact we’ve got less than 10 calendar days booked in till the end of the year.

Why, well we’re a handmade/bespoke small business and to create our pieces & get them out to you for Christmas we need to be selective and not do too many venues in the run up to Christmas.

So you’ll still see us about, just not everywhere.

Interested in a commission? Just drop us a message 😊

Another scenic hilly picture!

My lovely Mum’s birthday today.

All Mum’s are lovely but I think I definitely got one of the better ones 🤭🥰

Our last day at Buxton and waking up to the Peak District.

It’s been a few years since we’ve been up here to visit and certainly before I’d started creating larger Peak District origami maps.

Have a whole new/old batch of vintage maps to fold of this area, so will be paying a little bit more attention to the place names as well as the topography and colours.

A perfectly calm, still and dry day today 🤭

Introducing the Underpinner

He wasn’t particularly happy that I took pictures whilst the Underpinner bench was covered in tools etc, but it’s been a busy few weeks for us & at the end of the day it’s very much a working space.

I have nothing to do with this machine at all 🤭🤭

In the early days I asked questions about nail positioning, how many you stacked, what was best size etc.

It seems this is a piece of equipment that you use, find out what works for you & the mouldings you use & just run with it.

He’s producing some lovely frames, including some quite tricky deep box & stacked frames so am leaving him to do his thing 🤭

Me very glamorously holding our next map project.

This one is a lovely example to help show our processes.

It’s a late 1920’s Geographia canvas backed map of England & Wales.

There’s still a few about, but still fairly rare.

These were made for drivers & chauffeurs at the very beginning of the boom in motoring.

Designed to be readily opened & closed with very heavy duty fabric covered boards.

The colours are glorious and the plan is to repair & mount up the piece rather than create a folded piece.

So what’s the process?

First we will carefully detach the boards & the map will spent several weeks laid out under weighty acrylic sheets.

This will give me a chance to see how stubborn the creases are.

There’s areas of separation/delamination which will require repair, together with an area of water damage.

It’s a slow process before the piece will be finally secured onto conservation board.

The plan is to share steps in the process as we stabilise & conserve the map to be enjoyed for years to come.

We love the hidden stories behind our paper creations.

Like this 1953 Buxton & Matlock OS Map.

Hidden inside is a lively handwritten sheet of a walk/trip. No date unfortunately but the map is stamped in several places with Boys Modern School, Stainforth & linked to West Riding County Council Education Committee.

So lots of clues to follow-up on & we’ll forgive the paper clip marks, given the near perfect handwriting.