Will I never learn?...

I have a painting smock, I have a plastic apron and I have I yellow polka dot tee shirt because I didn't wear my painting smock or plastic apron!!!! I did remember the rubber gloves for once though.

Hibernation.....

is something I am seriously considering This should have been written about four days ago. Blame our disgusting weather for robbing me of the desire to do anything but curl up with a book!! If this is summer roll on winter...Enough!!

Last weekend was terrific. I have to congratulate the organisers of the EG Eastern Region, Regional Day. I had a memorable day, no little thanks to the company I was in. The speakers were Diane Bates and Jean Littlejohn and Jan Beaney.What can I say about the famous duo. It was fascinating to listen to there different approach to the same subject. Listening to Diane's Northern accent and humour made me quite homesick and I just loved her outlook on the work she does.
The exhibition had some beautiful work, there were a couple of things I wanted to bring home, one was an artists's box and the other was a stunwork tree which revealed more the closer you looked.
The highlight of the day was being told by Lynda of Purple Missus that I had won the draw for her quilt,(thank you Will) I was so suprised and thrilled. It looks really good against my new grey walls so I am just trying to find the perfect place. This is Lynda's photo I hope she doesn't mind.
Another delight arrived on Monday, my post card from Carol See how pretty...

My last little happiness was to see a picture of my Cyber Fyber card, I lost the original picture when my machine crashed. Just look at all the other cards, what a wonderful exhibition this will be, I wish I could get there. Wouldn't it be great to have it at the Knit and Stitch next year.

There's nothing like a British Summer.....

for being absolutely nothing like Summer!!! Another bright periods(short) windy day. So I shut myself in and made some ATC's which is something I haven't done for a while.

This was inspired by Maggie Grey's "From Image to Stitch",(did I say what a good book this is) it was great fun to make. I messed about with a photograph last week, unfortunately I messed so much I can't remember which one I used now!!! But this is the result. I printed it onto cotton and then added Bondaweb and then Fibre in Form Foils and then two layers of chiffon. I added some machine stitching and applied a little heat. I stood back to have a look. I couldn't think of anything that it would make because of the size (A4) so, on this gloomy afternoon, I turned it into 7 ATCs which I quite like. I intend to take them with me to the EG Eastern Regional Day at Colchester next week and if there are any left to the EG South Eastern Day at Canterbury the following week so if you recognise me, say hello and I will happily give you one of these.

Suits you Madam......

Neki Desu had a story on her blog A Moveable Piece about a salesman adjusting his patter to clinch the sale. Very funny! Go read. This jogged a memory. Does anyone remember the dress shops that used to be, on what was then the "wrong" side of Oxford Street, in London. These shops had entrances like funnels so that if you were looking in the windows you were unwittingly channelled towards the door where a charming (forceful) assistant was waiting to guide you in. One in there you were lost in a barrage of "Oh it's just your colour Madam", "The length is just perfect for you" "You couldn't have a better fit" ......and yes, I swear they were holding in a fist full of material behind you back!

Ommission.....

I forgot to say that the dress for the TIF challenge would proably fit a 2-3 year old. I just worked with the size of the partially made bodice in the bag.

June Calendar Girls 2008

I only managed two cards for Debbi to chose from this month. The first one was made using this
I had taken a photograph of my own hand and I added it to the print, printed on cotton it lost a lot of its vibrancy but I padded it and machine stitched into some of the lines. I added a little tag which said "hand of a friend"

This is the card that Debbi chose

Using the photograph of my hand, again, I altered it in PSP and printed it onto cotton. I added a tiny touch of gold foil from Fibre in Form and stamped the word "friendship" and added the ribbon. You can see the rest of the girls cards here

A Tale of Two Challenges..........

Do you have time?

Sharon's June challenge said "They (stash) are either purchased or scavenged materials that have accumulated over time and as such they often have a story to tell. Or it is possibly more correct to say that stashes are full of stories. The interesting thing for textile practitoners is that these materials can take on another story. They can be made into something new and take on other meanings in someones life.".

At the last EG meeting our lovely Jane, who brings us useful things like pelmet vilene and thermolan, had some bags of bit and pieces which she was selling for the huge sum of £1, of course I couldn't resist, well I needed it didn't I? (Like the proverbial hole). Having seen the colours for Sharon's challenge I challenged myself to use this bag of pieces for the June TIF. (The woman is challenge mad!!!)

When I opened the bag this is what I found.


I I examined them I realised that these were probably all fabrics from a bridal shop.
I spread them out

I had thoughts on weddings that happened and those that didn't and thought about
a fabric book for stitchin fingers but that will have to wait a while
because on closer inspection I found that the one's outlined in red and green

were very interesting indeed.

The one outlined in red was a part of a very small bodice and remined me immediately of Degas' Ballet Dancer

(hold that thought)

The piece outlined in green was some kind of head scarf/bonnet made of organza petal shapes.

I went away to think some more about the TIF challenge. "So this month the idea to think about is stories that are and stories that are possible."

Stories...hmm I love stories. Those that are... the scraps of material. Those that are possible.......the (wedding) dresses. Stories...... my favourite story is still Cinderella. Charming version here.

and there it was I would make a dress which showed the "ARE".. the rags and the "POSSIBLE" .....the ball dress.

The proportions aren't quite right but I was determined to work with what I had, I added some sequins and some gold ribbon for the sash and some eyelets for the lacing but everything else came out of the bag.



This is the Cinderella dress front and back. It was very difficult to photograph but it will give you an idea. Here are a couple of close ups.




It is imperfectly made but it is an idea that could be developed at some time so I will tuck it away until that time arrives.

A couple of links......

This is a better link if you are interested in Maggie Grey's "Image to Stitch"

Thanks to a comment I found the delightful blog of Annette EmmsHer fairy shoes are wonderful and she has a tutorial for a bookwrap which appeals to my love of tactile looking things.

It is apparently Worldwide Stamping Week I found this link onDapple Designs I used to do a lot of stamping and still have drawers of stamps which I use from time to time. I don't think I will have time to take part but I thought the list had some good ideas would be useful for those times when inspiration just won't come be it paper or textile.

Look what arrived today.........

well yesterday really, Maggie Grey's latest book "Image to Stitch" and it is a beauty.

I have only dipped in and out of it but it is full of inspiration and more importantly, information. Could'nt resist a little play last night this is the Calendar Girls 2008 picture for June



yes girls, I have started thinking.......

and this is what I came up with after trying out a couple of Maggie's suggestions.

I have printed it onto cotton,(the colours weren't quite so vibrant so I will have to play with settings).

Now what to do next? ....excuse me I have to go and have another quick read!

Meet my girls........

In the south east of England we are not having a good finish to Spring, the longest day is about two weeks away and we are having to put the lights on at 8pm. YUK. I hate grey, I would rather have storms than this dull, heavy, sit on your shoulders type of weather which seems to have been going on for weeks.

But today a couple of nice things happened. First a phone call to say that a friend of my husband's who had a stroke is now at home and doing fine and then there was my May Calendar Girls Card from Carol

The texture is wonderful and the flowers are like sunshine coming from behind a cloud(I wish). It is a geat addition to my collection.

So in the cause of cheering up.... Meet my girls! Inspired byJulie Arkaell I am in the process of producing these for my golf clubs.

When I showed them to my son he gave me an old fashioned look, "Well, they'll make people laugh" I said defensively....."Or step away" was his reply.
Fortunately they make people laugh, I think they have improved my golf and if not when I make a bad shot who gets the blame....?

Finally caught up.........

How do I see myself?

I have thought about this quite often this month, but always come to the same conclusion, I am a seeker, a searcher. The drawback is that I am not quite sure what I am seeking.

I am a butterfly, as soon as I discover a new technique, a new product or a new book I fly to it, sometimes convinced that I have found what I am looking for but most times as soon as the acquisition has been made,the technique fathomed, I am already pursuing something else. In other words I am a Jill of all trades, master of none, a dabbler who occasionally strikes lucky and produces a passable piece to work.

I would never call myself an artist,yes, I am artistic (I am certainly not a scientist, 6% in my first Chemistry exam proved that) but for me an artist is someone who produces work which touches something inside of me. Paintings have made me cry, pieces of sculpture have made me marvel how anyone could make such a thing from stone and textile pieces have made me yearn to reach out an touch them.

Maybe one day I will find what I am seeking and I will produce a piece of work which will prompt others to call me Artist but until then I will keep looking…………..and having a ball.

I give you my TIF piece for May illustrating my mind.....well I followed the colour scheme!!!!!



Actually it looks better on Teddy

Still catching up.....

Yesterday I posted my Calendar Girl 2008 postcard to Dianne. I had made three cards this month but Dianne chose the one that I made particularly with her in mind.

The fairy was painted with transfer paints and ironed on to dupioni. The flower and the heart was picked out with stitching and a few irridescent sequins were scattered around to suggest a little magic.

The other two cards were

flower made free hand on the embellisher and another fairy

stamped onto organza this time and applied to black felt with old lace. The hearts refer to the text on the calendar

A coffee, a tea and a hot chocolate.......

I had another good day on Saturday, when I met up with Lynda and Sharon from Calendar Girls 2008. We met at Sharon's exhibition at the Frensham Rural Life Cantre. For me, conversation with two people who's work I admire was a great treat, here we are
. This photograph was taken by Sharon's husband Mike who had some wonderful wildlife photographs on show,you can see more here, take a look in his gallery and watch out for my favourite, the sheep.
You can't have a day out without goodies, this is one of Sharon's beautiful art cards

and this is a card from Shirley who was showing her beautiful lino cuts.She is under persuasion to start a blog.

It was a good day, I look forward to the next time we can meet and hopefully some of the other CGs will be able to make it too.

Catching up....

Thursday was the day our little group got together. At Christmas Val gave us some very pretty hearts and she showed us how she made them from shrink plastic using acrylic paint and embossing powders. One she had made looked like rust and this was just what I needed to add to my Fay Maxwell panel. so instead of hearts I made these.





A long way to go yet but it is beginning to take shape.

What a week...

One of those weeks that held enough delights to last a month. Released by Maggie I spent a lot of time on Sunday playing with Paint Shop Pro and this is one of the transformations I achieved, I would like to think that I might be able to use it as a base for something textile.

This was the original photograph and this

is what I finished with.

On Wednesday I played hookey from my usual golf game and went to London for the day. First visit was the Royal Academy for the Cranach Exhibition I had never really heard about this artist but saw that is was on on when I went to the From Russia. I was so pleased that I did. Initially I went in without an audio guide but I soon returned to the desk to get one. One of Cranach strengths was his attention to detail of costume and the audio guide highlighted some of these like the slashing on a knuckles of a pauir of gloves.
Very little costume here.... but just look at the veil. Magic!!


I had a lovely wander after the exhibition (probably walked twice as far as on my golf game) and then to end the day I went to see The Jersey Boys

Great night out, not just the music and it was amazing just how many you knew but also the way is is presented you learn so much about the individuals who made up the Four Seasons. If you like musicals this is a good site to get some tasters.

Marvellous Maggie.......

the weather was horrible today, persistent heavy rain interspersed with even more persistent drizzle....not a day for driving but drive I did for about an hour to visit the East Kent EG near Canterbury to hear a talk by Maggie Grey.. It was worth every minute of the journey.

Maggie based her talk on her new book which comes out in two weeks "From Image to Stitch". With the help of husband Clive and a wonderful combination of laptop and digital projector Maggie demonstrated how she uses Paint Shop Pro as a design tool and then went on to discuss methods by which the designs can be transformed into testile pieces.

She made it look so easy and the results brought gasps of suprise and admiration from the audience but for me something really important happened. I have enjoyed using Paint Shop Pro for some years but I have always had a vague feeling that somehow I was cheating, that design should be done with a pencil and paper. Today Maggie banished that feeling, she made me realise that the way you use the tools in PSP is as much your expression as being able to draw. Neither is better than the other if it is right for you.

At the end she apologised for over-running...I could have happily sat there for the rest of the day. Thanks Maggie and Clive.

This is just a quick snap of one of the tables They don't do it justice, it's just a reminder for me.

Useful blog....

I came across this useful blog,I'm sorry I can't remember who pointed me to it. Many links to techniques from embellishing to usingg Tyvek,Textile Arts Resouce Guide

Bits and pieces.

Memos for me....and perhaps for you... still worried about losing things again. The only stuff I have is what I had on the web.


The first rose of summer(though summer seems to have disappeared again), colour is just about right on my monitor. If anyone has any idea what this one is called I would be grateful to know. We must have bought it but neither of us can remember where or when. This is its second year.

First of all, Susan has launched a new round of Cyber Fyber for people who missed out last time.
Incidentally one of the things I lost was my picture of the postcard I sent to Cyber Fyber, I didn't publish it because I wanted to be sure Susan liked it enough to use it before I put it on my blog.

Just look at the designs Beth Robinson has created doodling with circles.

Thanks to The Embroideress I have just found this great colour site.

Sharon has been at it again, she has created a site Stichin' Fingers where we can meet and discussto our hearts content.

A couple of questions for you.....

Why are the mens clothes in M&S prettier colours than the womens?

How many "bags for life" do you own? At the last count I had 17, most of which are on the back seat of the car when I get to the checkout!!!

Good morning....

The sun is shining and the birds are singing and I am seated in my freshly painted and carpeted living room in front of my new computer, Hurrah! And it just gets better you can see the carpet in my workroom which I have not been able to see for the last four weeks. I removed eight boxes to be re-cycled at the tip and st the charity shop so I am feeling very smug. Now all I have to do is re-cycle my stash by getting creative again.

Thank you for the messages of sympathy in my self inflicted predicament. They are still working on the files.
One of my losses, if that is what it turns out to be, are the dozens of photographs I took at the Three Emperors Exhibition at the RA. I was reminded of them when I caught the end of the programme on the Forbidden City on BBC2 last night. (Yes, I was watching the Nancy's)

This is from the RA's site, painted on silk....can you imagine?

Last year I did a workshop at the EG with Fay Maxwell based on her work in her book Crewel and Unusual, I have to confess the piece from this workshop became a UFO but I jumped at the chance to take another workshop when she visited us again. Her workshops hardwork because she keeps you at it but great fun. Half the room wanted to do the modern take on Crewel work we did last time and the other half, including me, wanted to do the much freer canvas work.

We had to paint a piece of canvas before hand, having done that Fay then said we could ignore the painting as we were going to cover the canvas to within an inch of it's life. I was just a way of getting over staring at a blank piece of white canvas. I have been fascinated by the rust pieces that Lynda of Purple Missus has been doing, so I pinched her colour scheme of Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold and Paynes Grey and I added a little Iridescent Gold. I painted the canvas and also a piece of velvet and some threads. I was fascinating to see how the different materials took the paint in different ways. I forgot to take photographs as we went along but this is the piece to far




The lace is only being auditioned at the moment and I want it to look more distressed, loads of work to be done but this is going to be a great "pick up and do a bit piece" for the summer.

Off to enjoy the day just in case this fine weather spell turns out to be "summer".

There's good news....

and there's bad news.......for me anyway. I have a new computer, with a wonderful 19 inch screen so that I can stop peering at a tiny screen. I had it built by a local firm Matrix and I am so happy with the service I received. The bad news is that they are having difficulty retrieving the data from my old machine but they have promised that they will keep on trying so I won't give up all hope for the moment.
The moral of this story is BACK UP, BACK UP, BACK UP. I was always promising myself to do it and I do have some things on disk but it is going to take me ages to do re-load it all. I have bought a USB Flash disk and promised myself that I will do it regularly but for the moment "My Picture" is completely empty...weird sensation.

Hopefully I can now play catch up, the decorating is finished and the new carpet is down, I have already said that I have whimped out and this is my April challenge for Sharon. Change!!! There is still my room to do, as this became the repository of anything I couldn't decide whether I wanted to keep or throw out.

Calendar Girls and Take it Further are calling me so hopefully by next week I will be up an running.