You dont have to produce something crafty from scratch to be creative. Yesterday Liam and myself attended the launch of this Irish Language phrase book in Ranelagh. It was a great occasion for us because 99% of the hard work involved in producing the phrasebook was done by my lifelong friend Maureen, who has organised and co-ordinated an Irish Language conversation group (Na Cabairi Raghnallagh) for the past year or thereabouts.
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| The Little Book of Ranelagh |
What makes this book stand out from any other Irish language phrasebook you might come across is that it is based on what we might say or hear locally: eg In the Barbers/In the Park/In the Off-Licence/In the Coffee/Bicycle shop......ok ...you get the picture. Speaking about pictures the book is illustrated with great photos from all the relevant establishments! AND it includes a chapter on Texting in Irish (as Gaeilge)! I was really impressed by the chapter on Curses and Insults. My only complaint - they didnt go far enough!Now, I have to say that I was a bit nervous about going to this event. My Irish language skills arent up to much and my most used word would be "eerrr....". But there was a lovely friendly athmosphere and the launch speech was made by Antione O Coilean, Chief Executive of Gael Linn and we could understand every word, which is a complement to Antoine, not to our language skills. There was coffee (caife), sandwiches (ceaparai), soup (anraith) and Pringles (Pringles!) on the house and best of all the Ranelagh Phrasebook is free (saor in aisce) and you can find it in the Arts Centre, 26 Ranelagh or leave a comment and I'll organise a copy for you.
There was a massive amount of work involved in producing the phrasebook; selecting what to include, proof reading, grammar and spell checking, organising sponsorship, photographs, printing, the launch to concide with local Arts Festival... If this is not being creative then what is? Today, so many people are concerned with earning money, pushing their businesses forward, self promotion etc etc it is great to see how voluntary efforts can produce a morale-raising event and a gem of a phrasebook.
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Maureen and the Ranelagh Phrasebook
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Geraldine x
A little clothespeg (clothespin) witch with her cat and broomstick. All you need to make this is a tiny amount of fabric and felt for her cloak and hat.
The MAD crochet item...its a toilet roll cover with added spiders for true bathroom horrors.
Close up of 2 of the door hangers.
Thank You, Dianne for your hard work and the thought you put into making all these cards and showcasing the Snippets so well.
Now, for a bit of altering. Every Euro shop has these wooden spoons, 3 for €2, so there's no excuse for not being able to get hold of them and liven them up with ribbon, lace and a glue gun. I would be lost without my glue gun! The flowers are from Wild Orchid crafts and to make them go further I backed them with crochet circles. I'm planning to start up a crochet blog with free patterns for items such as these circles - all easy makes for anyone starting to crochet. Watch this blog for details!
Some Indian Summer jewellery. I just love beading. If I hadnt discovered crochet and papercrafting I would be blind from beading long ago. The necklace is made with a stitch called St Petersburg chain and the bracelet is just a plain chain store one embellished with beads from my stash. That's all for today. Dont forget to ramble over to the challenge blog
Thats all for today,
