Archive for June 2011

June meeting - Foldfinger

Friday 17 June 2011 § 0

Last night was our June meeting, entitled Foldfinger.

There was a lot going on, as at the start of the meeting our founding President Georgiana announced that she is stepping down. Gemma is our new President and is well-placed to continue the good work, with her links to the West Yorkshire and National federations.

After all the tears and drama, we continued with our usual meeting business, hearing about our financial situation, the NFWI AGM, the 80s party being organised by the Social Committee, I Love West Leeds Festival and all the other things our Buns & Roses girls are involved in.

Our guest for the evening was Kirsty Ware, origami mistress. She is the curator for Fold for Japan and Night of a Thousand Cranes and hosts origami sessions known as Foldageddon.

Kirsty helped us make boxes, animals and decorations, and we also had chance to make progress on our other craft projects, have a drink, eat cake and natter!


Kirsty demonstrating origami

Check out our puzzled faces!

Origami takes a lot of concentration!

Some of our folds got a bit wonky as the drinks went down!

Penguins were particularly popular

Penguins and swans galore!


A hat, a box and a decoration - a productive evening!

If you want to learn more about origami you can visit Kirsty's blog Night of a Thousand Cranes.

Thanks to all who came - we had around 50 people - members, non-members and several newcomers -  last night and it was a lovely evening all-round. Hopefully see you all again in July!

Classic Roses and Vintage Buns - 1940s/50s day

Sunday 12 June 2011 § 0

On Saturday, 11th June, Buns & Roses WI held a 1940s/50s day entitled Classic Roses and Vintage Buns.

The event included dancing, hair and makeup sessions and lots of tea and cake!

We started off with the dancing. Rob and Al from Lindy Fridays showed us some lindy hop moves.

We were pretty successful for the most part and managed to twirl each other round the dancefloor without incident!


Mastering the art of coordination!

Got it!

Al and Rob put us all to shame with their moves.

After all that exercise we stopped for luncheon, which included loads of yummy sandwiches, several pots of tea and muchos cake.

Georgiana making the tea.

Lots of cake!
We then moved on to vintage hair and makeup lessons, with Dee and Michelle.

Everyone had a go at pinning in victory rolls, which is way fiddly, and donning the trademark vintage black eyeliner and red lips.

Dee demonstrates on Georgiana.

Sam looking v classy.

Beautifully neat rolls done by Gloria.

The key is backcombing ...

And then more backcombing!

Michelle recreates the classic look from the 40s and 50s.

So that was our yummy 1940s and 1950s day. By the end of the afternoon, apart from being shattered, we all looked the part and could at least manage not to kick each other or fall over while doing a bit of lindy hop!

For more lindy hop action, check out Lindy Fridays.
Next month, we're jumping forward a few decades for our 80s night! Check the website or join our mailing list for more info.

The WI AGM 2011 – Liverpool Echo Arena

Thursday 9 June 2011 § 0

On Wednesday, June 8th, the National Federation of Women’s Institutes held its Annual General Meeting at the Liverpool Echo Arena.
WI members at the Liverpool Echo Arena

Around 4,500 members attended the event, including Buns & Roses Vice President Gemma Rathbone, who gives us her account of the day.
West Yorkshire at the National AGM
I was asked to attend the AGM alongside the press team, so that the media would have a member on-hand to talk to. As it turned out, those present were mostly interested in the farming resolution, so I didn’t have to do much, but it was still an excellent day and it was good to be “backstage” and see both sides of such a huge event.
As with many WI meetings, proceedings started with the singing of Jerusalem. Hearing all those women belting out “I will not cease, from mental fight” was so powerful and moving.
Singing Jerusalem
Chair Ruth Bond then addressed the meeting, speaking on the strength of the WI (21,000 new members in the past year) and the importance and influence that we have as an organisation.
We heard a financial report and it was interesting to realise the similarities between our own Institute and the National Federation. We both face the same challenges, just on different scales!
There was also mention of the proposed abolition of cheques, as this is something the WI is concerned about.
The WI Board members on stage
Erwin James was the first guest speaker of the day. Now a Guardian writer, Erwin had a difficult start, leaving home at just 10 years old and turning to a life of crime. Jailed for murder, his time in prison was a turning point, and helped him make a better life for himself. In light of the WIs Care Not Custody campaign, highlighting the treatment of those with mental illness in prison, it was a fascinating talk.
Then, on to more news about the WIs campaigns: Country Of Origin Labelling, protecting honeybees, promoting ethical fashion and legal aid reforms. The WI has done some mazing work in these areas, and many more, in the past year and efforts are continuing.
And so to the first resolution: library closures. On the surface this is a fairly straightforward matter, but there were several issues to consider.
We heard from those who had proposed and seconded the motion, and an expert speaker for and against the resolution. Then there was time for questions and discussion from delegates. There were many excellent points made and it was an informed and interesting debate.
Votes were cast and the result was announced later that afternoon: 97.79% voted for the resolution. That’s 6,097 WIs that want to campaign against library closures.
To finish off the morning we heard how Denman College is doing, and the news was good! More support is always needed though, so every member should seriously consider taking a course there or even using the college as a B&B if ever they visit Oxford.  A fundraising challenge to bring Denman’s heating and water systems into the 21st century has also been launched, so expect to hear more about that in the future!
We then broke for lunch and had chance to mingle with fellow members before heading back for the afternoon session.
The debate on the farming resolution was the first item for the afternoon, and this proved to be rather interesting! Again, we heard from the proposer and seconder and expert speakers on both sides of the debate, before moving to an open discussion.
There were many concerns raised, not least that the wording of the resolution was not clear enough. Many members felt that the distinction between large or “mega” farms and “factory” farms was not clear enough, and as such, were not able to happily take one position or the other.
As the vote was about to be made, there were rumblings and shouting, and even slow hand clapping! It turned out members wanted to abandon the vote and move on, but procedures had to be followed and there was some discussion on the appropriate steps. In the end, the motion was passed that we move to the next business, so there was no vote on the resolution!
This may sound like an anti-climax, but considering it was agreed by almost every delegate and none of the concerns had been successfully addressed, it was the right thing to do. The issue will be re-visited at a later date.
A much more relaxed afternoon then followed, with talks from Dr Rita Gardner on landscapes and Sir Steve Redgrave on his work as a FairTrade Ambassador.
To close, Ruth then spoke about the future of the WI, and in particular the centenary in 2015. There will be a lot going on over the next few years and it is up to every woman to make the most of the opportunities that membership affords us.

(Sina)Major Tom - Fascinator making

Friday 3 June 2011 § 0

Last night, June 2nd, was our fascintaor workshop, which Hayley titled (Sina)Major Tom. Sinamay is the name of the material used to make the fascinator bases. See what she did there?!


After everyone got settled Hayley started the demonstration. She showed us how to make the fascinator bases on a homemade hat block (very WI!).


The sinamay is steamed with an iron and stretched over the round base (in this case, half a polystyrene ball stuck on to a chopping board!) and pinned down. It then holds the curve so you can cut out a shape for your fascinator base that will sit nicely against your head.


Here are all the girls getting started. You will notice we decided to do the session in the bar area, as it's more cosy and closer to the booze! Also, it was easier to tidy up at the end!


Here is Helen working away. The sinamay base is edged with bias binding to make it neat and pretty. Helen left the base plain and went crazy with the buttons! 


See how happy our Buns & Roses members are!


Finally, here is Steph sporting her finished fascinator. She added pink feathers and buttons.