Showing posts with label meetings. Show all posts

July meeting | London Beekeepers Association

 Our July meeting was abuzz as we welcomed Richard and Natalie from the London Beekeepers Association to talk to us about bees in London.
 We learned all sorts about bees and, notably, that the #1 thing we can all do to help save bees of all sorts (there are over 200 varieties in Britain) is to plant bee-friendly plants in our gardens, windowboxes, and flowerpots.
We enjoyed observing the small active hive that Richard brought along and some of us even located the queen! A treat at the end of the night was sampling local honeys from hives in SW12 and SW17!

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June meeting | DIY cosmetics


 For our June meeting, we didn't have a special speaker, but had our own crafty ladies leading us in making some fun DIY cosmetics. All shades of pretty lipglosses, flavoured with natural oils and coloured with natural pigments were melted and poured.

 
On another station, we were blending exfoliating ingredients like brown sugar & coffee grounds with lovely natural oils and essential oil fragrances for our own bath scrubs. The room smelled amazing!
On the night, we also did a bit of art creation. Members drew and sketched out ideas for our very own BWI enamel pin design! The committee came up with a shortlist and members then voted on a fun and empowering design we hope to have ready for autumn.

Sometimes the best nights are the ones we do all on our own!
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April meeting | Lavender Print School

This month we all got to do some carving. Luke & Laura from Lavender Print School in Battersea came along to teach us the art of linocut printmaking.
 Everyone had their own idea to create from portraits to pets to wedding designs! It was a great night to try something new and we all got to take home cards printed with our new designs.
 Gorgeous work, all!
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February meeting | tassel earrings w/ The Sewcial Circle

February’s meeting was a great hit. Longtime BWI favourite Katie of The Sewcial Circle came along to teach us to make trendy tassel earrings.
 Everyone was able to choose her own colour and base style to make something really special.
 As a bonus, member Val had recently been to Denman College with her BWI bursary and took a baking course. In addition to sharing about what a great time she had, we also enjoyed her new skills in the form of some delicious treats!
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January meeting | all about WI resolutions

Many people, members included, don't know The WI is a campaigning organisation. 2018 marks the 100th anniversary of the 1st national-level resolution and campaign. As this month always includes individual votes about preferences on the national resolution for the year, we decided that January would be a great month to focus on this aspect of our wonderful group and have a discussion-led meeting for members new & old.

Committee members led the meeting sharing about the history of campaigning in The WI, recent & ongoing campaigns, the process of submitting a resolution (based on BWI's own submission making the national shortlist for 2017), then learning about this year's shortlisted proposals before voting. We talked about how we can take action on the 2017 resolutions locally and had lots of great ideas. Look out for our actions across Balham and beyond!
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December meeting | wreath making

Our December meeting was quite hands-on as we learned to make Christmas wreaths.
Wire frames, greenery, floral wire, and basic decor was provided and members generously brought various additional sparkly, shimmery, and exciting bits and bobs to share to make the wreaths extra special.
Everyone had her own ideas about how to craft the seasonal decor and every wreath was a unique creation. We had a very fun night and gained some new members for the new year in the process!
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October Meeting | Breast Health

Our October meeting welcomed Charmain Case, one of the fabulous nurses from the St. George's breast care team. She spoke to us about breast health and breast care, with a focus on recognising signs that may lead to cancer and what we can do to best take care of ourselves. Charmain tackled this serious topic with a really friendly approach and was able to answer many questions posed by members about self-checks and the general outlook of breast care through the NHS. She was a really great speaker and we all learned a lot about how we as women can keep ourselves in our best health.
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September Meeting | Glass Jar Terrariums

What a fun night we had this month!
After getting through our usual meeting business, members led each other to get a bit dirty in a green thumb evening of creating layered terrariums with succulents. Every woman had her own unique spin on the theme and the different designs created were incredibly varied.
Everyone brought her own container which ranged from small Kilner jars, to large purposeful terrarium pods with everything in between.
We even had some dinosaur sightings! It was a very fun meeting topic and we were thrilled to have a good number of visitors come by for the evening, many of whom have joined us!
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July Meeting | Wandsworth Welcomes Refugees

We have moved to a new venue! Starting this month we are now meeting in the beautiful Gallery at The Exhibit on Balham Station Road.
Our first meeting in the new space was a wonderful talk from Fleur Anderson of local group Wandsworth Welcomes Refugees. This group is working to make our borough more welcoming for refugees from all over and specifically is trying to work with Wandsworth Council to get more displaced people from the war in Syria to be able to settle here. Currently, although many have been pre-approved, only one family of 3 from that troubled region have been able to move here.

Fleur's talk was incredibly informative about the process for refugees to be approved to come to the UK, the current government schemes which local councils can work with to help re-settle displaced people, and the work being done here locally to help people who have had to flee their home countries. We all enjoyed the talk and learned a lot.
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June meeting | Shibori dyeing with EcoMe Creative

Our June meeting was a great evening for everyone. After our no-show presenter mishap in May, we were especially looking forward to a hands-on night in June and our presenter Susie Wareham of EcoMe Creative didn't disappoint.

Susie shared with us a bit about how she got started in natural dyeing and textiles and then focused specifically on the rich history and benefits of dyeing with natural indigo. After a short bit of simple instruction, we got to get our hands into the business of creating our own shibori-style dyed designs!
Every member was provided with a cotton tote bag to dye as she wished and some members also chose to bring along other items like t-shirts and babygrows to dunk in the dye vats. Everyone was having a great time, even as we all turned a little blue! 
 


The results of our experiments with knots, bands, tying, marbles, stencils, pegs, and whatever else we could think of were all just stunning. We look forward to seeing the stylish dyed bags out and about in South London and the many 2017 BWI babies will be the best dressed around!
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