Where do we meet?

I was asked recently - where does Alphabeas hold their meetings?

We meet on the second Saturday of each month, except July, August and December, at

Bethany-Newton United Church (BNUC)
14853 60th Avenue
Surrey, BC
Canada
V3S 1R8

I would post a map - have one saved and ready to go - but for some reason blogger is not recognizing any of my photos today. We know that the blog is all about the photos, right?

If you are coming from the south, driving along I-5, you have two choices to cross the border.
You can take the truck crossing which is a state route or you can carry on the I-5 and come through the Peace Arch crossing.  Either way is fine, just decide when you see the sign on the freeway telling you what the wait time might be to enter Canada.

If you opt to come through the truck crossing, carry along 176th Street, which is the road you are on once you cross the border.  Turn left on #10 Highway - it is a big intersection about 10 minutes north of the border.  Then turn right at 148th Street which is just past a major intersection at 152nd Street.
Turn right at 60th Avenue and you will see Bethany Newton United Church on your left.  Park in the parking lot wherever you can and come to the door at the north end of the building.  Just inside the door is our classroom on the right side of the corridor.

If you decide to enter via the Peace Arch crossing, continue on the highway to the King George Highway / Crescent Road exit - this will be third exit from the border. You want to exit right and go north on King George Boulevard.  Turn right on #10 Highway (major intersection) and then turn left  on 148th Street.  Turn right at 60th Avenue and you will see Bethany Newton United Church on your left. Park in the parking lot wherever you can and come to the door at the north end of the building. Just inside the door is our classroom on the right side of the corridor.

Google map search for the address of the church if looking at a map is easier for you.
Now, if I could get blogger to accept photos from me, I would update the blog about the May and June meetings........

Victory is mine! finally accepting photos!!



April 2012

The Parallel Pen was the focus of our April meeting.  Bev showed us how to take the pens apart, right down to removing the nib so that the whole pen can be cleaned.  We then worked on pen manipulation and colour blending. The pen is a versatile tool, it writes with a broad edge and also a fine line.

We also did some dry embossing using metal templates. There just wasn't enough time for us all to do it all!


Looking forward to May when we will go through Joanne Fink's new book 'Zenspirations'. It will be the first of two parts of a program to then each decorate letters on tags to fasten together as a book. We also have a galleria assignment due in May - a quote by either Mark Twain or Oscar Wilde.  Hope we have some good examples to show you here!!

March 2012

The March meeting is always a full one as we must first stitch together our newsletter. Yes, we are possible the last guild left to hand stitch our newsletter using a 5 hole pamphlet stitch.

The program portion was a flurry of activity with members creating weathergrams to hang on a branch to give to the church where we have our meetings.

 Kathleen and Rita with the finished weathergrams.

Nice to think that the parishoners might take them home and put them in a tree or shrub in their garden.

 Win, Rita and Nan sharing a moment.

February workshop with Barbara Close

For a couple of days in late February, 18 members got to spend their time playing with all sorts of great art supplies.  Barbara had ventured to the 'cold north' to teach three workshops - we shared her with Duncan and Edmonton.

We chose to have her teach her "Textured Letters" workshop.  Starting most letters with the 'stem', we used alcohol inks, zentangles, coloured pencils, gel pens, watercolours, collage, pan pastels and many more techniques to create texture in our letters.

Wendy commented on Facebook that you know a workshop has been successful when you go home and don't put all your workshop supplies away.  This was most definitely one of those workshops! I still have bits of mylar, yupo and alcohol inks on my workspace. A wonderful time was had by all in attendance!

February 2012

Our program was presented by Jo Yearsley, a very patient Jo Yearsley! She was leading us through making a tunnel book. Easy enough when you are sitting at your desk, working through instructions. But, anyone who knows this group, knows that some (ok, maybe more than some!) patience is required when we are measuring, folding, cutting circles in varying sizes, etc. Some of us had taken the supply list one step further and cut the circles but sadly, missed the step about diminishing sizes.... folding an accordion perfectly, well more of that 'p' word necessary!!  With all this going on, it wasn't until too late that I realized I had not taken any photos of the books we produced.  My sincerest apologies.

February is an annual Valentine's Card exchange. This year was no different, a lovely selection of handmade cards graced the table.

It has been a busy Spring! hence, the blog has fallen behind. I will endeavour to catch up now and stay current!

January 2012 meeting

The first meeting of the year and once again it was threatened by snowy weather but a few brave souls ventured out in it and enjoyed a program presented by Wendy Cowley using pointed pen and exploring a style developed by Wendy as a result of a class from Jean Formo.

 Kathleen's "work station"

 Eileen's work

 Val's trying many nibs

 Margot trying out pens

 Joyce's work

 Pat checking what nib she is about to try.

 Doris' work

 Terry trying nibs

 around the room, working!

 mostly heads down, working at Wendy's lettering style

 the other side of the room

Wendy explaining something to Doris

Wendy gave everyone a sheet listing all the pointed nibs she had brought for us to try. As they passed around the room, members wrote on the paper in the corresponding spot. Great exercise if you have not 'found' that perfect pointed nib that works well for you.

 Sandi

 Nan

 Louise

 Rita, apparently not impressed with all the ink on her fingers!

 Rita's

 Win

 Jo

Trevor

Thank you for the interesting exercise Wendy!

phew! and now the blog is caught up! on to February when Jo will lead us through the rudiments of a tunnel book. Watch the group email for the list of supplies we need to bring!

Christmas Luncheon

Our annual Christmas luncheon was held at Win's home. It was a chance for everyone to see where she had moved and to share some cheer!  Thank you Win for hosting the guild this year!

Christmas isn't really about all the food, but as you can see, in true Alphabeas style, the food table looked wonderful!!

 Diana placing her cards in the "mailbox" bags.

Doris, Kathleen and Louise

 Eileen and our new 'honourary event" member, Dorothy who I heard played Santa!

 How much fun are these cookies?! who made them?! Love them!!

 Joyce and Margot

 Kathleen

 Marilyn and Anita 

 Muriel and Win

 Nan, Jean and Jo

 Rita, Terry and Nan

 Trevor and Frank

 Violet and Pat

Wilma and Marilyn

As you can probably tell from the photos and my comments - or lack of - I wasn't at the Christmas luncheon this year. The opportunity to travel arose and I am not one to say no! I spent the week looking at this.......

Thank you to Fay for sending me the photos from Win's! Looks like everyone had a wonderful afternoon and by the Christmas cards I received I think all in all it was a very good year!