hippopip

Textile exhibition at Ledbury

2010-07-10T19:27:00.015+01:00

As part of Ledbury' s poetry festival The Weavers Gallery put on an exhibition entitled Pomp and ceremony by Elgar,below are the exhibitsThis piece is one of two by LesleyBranan
This embroidered and felted hanging is by Sylvia Thistle

The textured piece below is mine more green and blue sky in real life, and I was so chuffed when I found out it had sold and is being taken back to America. Yippee! When I was making it my Grand daughter had said she would like it and not thinking that it would sell I said she could have it.So I went and got her a iTunes voucher which by the expression on her face was a much better present

Textile

2010-07-10T19:26:00.001+01:00

Cot quilts and screen printingH

2010-05-16T12:51:00.005+01:00

Have spent most of my spare time this week trying to make silk screen positives if that is the right word with light sensitive emulsion.The first batch had far too much emulsion so had great drips on them ,the 2nd lot stuck to the cardboard underneath so were useless.Knowing how long to burn the image on is a big ? as where can you now buy 250 watt light bulbs thanks to the EU,it is very trial and error but have now got several images which should be use able.It has to be done in a dark room as I have no special light which does not make it any easier.But if anyone knows why a screen subjected to the light source for the same length of time as the others the image doesn't wash out I would be grateful. I made this cot quilt below for some friends of mines granddaughter,they knew it was a girl but did not want all pink
Lo and behold their son and wife is now expecting a child and this material in lime green I had bought from ebay, the grey I had dyed the two looked good together and I was pleased with the cot quilt and I had some small bits left over so made an iPod holder and a camera a case. So now back to grips with the silk screening

Srroud Textile Festival

2010-05-09T20:43:00.007+01:00

Had a great day went with a friend to the textile exhib. we discussed ,talked admired and pulled some to pieces.I do not think it was as inspirational as some years and the ones we enjoyed the most were the work by Bath Uni students and The Brunel Broiderers whose theme was "Curious Drawers" NOT the kind you are thinking of but chest of drawers,this was a delight large and small drawers filled with exquisite embroideries & mixed media pieces of a theme that they had chosen.It was an absolute joy looking through them,no photo I am afraid but if you can get to Stroud make sure you see this exhib. The needle felted animals are byAnnie Hutchinson

In with the museum exhibs textile pieces by Bath Spa students had been placed, lovely pieces fresh and tought provoking

Deidre Nelson has been artist in residence at the museum for the last 6 months and this is the result, red tennis balls made by the only local firm still making felt which they make into tennis balls usually yellow.Red in this case as Stroud made the red felt for the Army.Deirdre has couched various sayings onto the balls which are placed around the museum ,For 6 months work I was a little disappointed what do you think?
Jewellery byAngela O'Kelly

These tapestries in most cases quite large are by Jo B arker

Gorgeous willow installation by Caroline Sharp
Quite a few of the shop windows had textile pieces in and you sure couldn't,t miss this one
This was a small exhibition but we really liked the pieces shown.

These papier mache tea cups were hanging next to this lovely apron

A close up of the apron

We also saw work by Cork textiles network which was stunning ,interesting and witty, I took the photos but when I was down loading onto my new computer I messed up the down load so my apologies

Mica workshop and Janice Gunner

2010-05-03T20:50:00.007+01:00

We went to Forge Mill for a workshop on using mica a mineral that can be split into fine sheets it was tutored by Angie Hughes and was very interesting, I have never used the stuff before and it was fascinating . Also at Forge Mill was an exhibition by Jannice Gunell quilted indigo dyed pieces I do like her work first seen at the FOQ and I am envious of her superb indigo dyeing techniques.Below is some of her glorious pieces,enjoy.

I really liked this piece it was very appealing and livable with if that makes sense it was priced at £75 which was also appealing.

Now onto the Mica workshop, Angie is always good value for money she is a fun tutor and so generous with both her ideas and the bits and pieces that you need at workshops.The 2 frames below are Madi's on the left and mine on the right, I was pleased with mine.
My first attempt.
Some of the other students work

the best bit of the trip to Portsmouth?.

2010-04-13T21:42:00.005+01:00

We all went to Portsmouth for the W/E and were so lucky with the weather it was glorious,and what do you think was the really best bit ever? Was it seeing the graceful Victory? Was it these gruesome surgical instruments?

Or these leather fire buckets?

Grandma enjoyed looking at the embroidery on Nelsons`s cot linen

but it was not that.

Was it the excitement of seeing the Mary Rose?

or Nelson skewed?

No none of those interesting historical things it was these "hamster balls" which after about 10 -12 goes Olive was really good at and could run over the water having a fantastic if tiring time at the cost of about £40 to her doting Grandparents,so much for history!

Sue Brown`s collograph workshop.

2010-03-30T19:10:00.004+01:00

A fantastic workshop,Sue is a great teacher with a good sense of fun and she helped us all make and print collographs in just 2 hours, Sue is the one in the middle The mighty press complete with felt blanket

My daughter hard at work cutting her mount board,

After we had inked the collograph we had to remove the waste ink with old yellow pages.

One of the group looking very pleased with her print.

The next two pictures are Sue`s collographs.

And then we come to our efforts.

My daughter did this crow by a castle,well done Amy.

I went home full of enthusiasm and having found a new yellow pages on the doorstop took this as an omen to have another go using my mangle.

I was pleased with the results and will do some more after the Easter visitors,Sue Brown does workshops at Cirencester and at Andoversford if anyone interested is near enough email her at sb.brown@talk21.com

I have been crafting ,honest.

2010-03-14T20:30:00.006Z

I am afraid this was not an original idea it was Ann`s to make political pincushions,I just thought it was brilliant,Mandelson is going to be my favourite to stick pins in, who is yours? This is one for me to drool over and I shall not be sticking pins into that gorgeous visage

I have also been screen printing again and my lovely husband has stretched them over a frame for me, I have done three which I am pleased with, the last ones I did were a disappointment but I shall be able to cut them up and use them.

This is a close up of one of the "flowers",the colours are brighter in real life.

And look at all this lovely material dyed and screen printed all colour coded ready for use,I a good girl tidying it up.

The latest craze is collograph printing,I am doing a short session with Sue Brown and went to see her work, her prints are superb and she is so friendly and helpful see her work at http://:suebrownprintmaker.blogspot.com I would love one of the ostriches.I have had an attempt at printing first with a rolling pin for a press then thanks to Maggie Grey with a pasta maker,which worked well for small prints.But today I became the proud owner of a mangle care of ebay so there will be no stopping me.

These are mount board carved out with plastic daisies and scrim.

These are shapes cut out of sandpaper and thread as are the two below

These are the plates I have been using but as these prints were done using a rolling pin with the mangle I should get a deeper more 3D impression more like an intaglio print

Making bags from old clothes.

2010-01-31T19:11:00.000Z

One of Kathryn`s bags made from a cuffed sleeve of a coat

Went for a workshop on making bags from old clothing,it was with 2 of Studio Sevens artists Kathryn Clarke and Corinne Hockley,they had some good ideas and where most helpful during the session. Kathryn had made several bags to give us inspiration and they were great, using the pockets ,belts and frills from the original garment she designed the new bag. This is a photo of a frilled skirt obtained as were all the garments from a charity shop in the photo above you can see how she has used the frills to make rosettes.

See how easy it is to have pockets in your bag when you take them straight off a man`s suit!

A pillow cover made from the pullover in the photo.

The rest of the bags are the great work of the other students.

This started life as a woollen skirt plus tweed additions.

A jumper and blouse.

Denim jeans

These are so cute remind me of Victorian bathing costumes.

Work in progress.

These are mine started off life as an evening jacket now too small an getting a bit scruffy, the first bag was made by sewing the tops of the puffed sleeves together, I think this will end up as a peg bag, the smartest one on the block!

I might just possibly use this one.

Abundance of squashes

2010-01-17T19:24:00.000Z

We had a really good crop of squashes last summer, even did well with the butternut, strange how you plant seeds from a butternut and end up with about 3 different varieties, is it because a butternut is a hybrid ? They are stored all over the house including the bookshelves on the landing, and look what happened to them over Christmas, an Aussie touch me thinks.

Happy New Year.

2010-01-05T20:28:00.000Z

A very Happy and healthy New Year to everyone. We all suffered over the holidays with a really nasty cold which was such a shame as I gave it to my daughter who had come home for Christmas from Oz. for the first time in 13 years and she suffered for a week. I love making these papier mache faces the one below is in our bathroom adorned with shells picked up abroad. This one with giraffe legs has sphagnum moss for hair and dried fungi as an adornment.

I did some more felting before Christmas with my grand daughter this necklace is made by felting a roll of wool then adding another layer around it felting again until you have several felted layers it is then fulled until it is firm and cut at an angle to form the "beads" it worked quite well but really needed a firmer finish.

My granddaughter using multi coloured wool got bored with hers and it didn't really felt well, so when I sliced it into pieces it started to fall apart.I put the pieces in a net bag with the next load of washing and lo and behold I ended up with these "pebbles"I was very chuffed it is great when things turn out well.

Stuffed peppers they just looked so photogenic.

To celebrate our daughter arriving for Christmas I made these pennants, a great way to use up some scraps and just look at the colour of that sky.

We had a walk to the Purton hulks, these are old vessels which were driven into the side of the Severn to stop the river eroding into the canal, which is metres away at this point.They are quite haunting, and sad old timbers covered in lichen with beautiful markings well worth visit.

We next have the youngest and oldest females present at Christmas having there beauty treatments thanks to the kindness of Lisa, they looked years younger and a lot less scary afterwards ,thanks Lisa.

Felting and disasters

2009-12-06T19:40:00.000Z

I have been felting again and it is such fun when it all goes right, this was supposed to be a shrug but it shrunk too much so I will see if my Ma would wear it as a bed jacket,it is lovely and warm.Above is the back of the shrug I was sewing it together at a quiz night and a friend male said it reminded of the inside of his hoover bag! Male naturally, and a bit sad if you have time to examine the inside of hoover bags I shall have to get him a nice little hobby.
I also made this top with instructions from "Felting Fashion" it is a great book on nuno felting very instructive with tips that really help,this is more mauve than the photo and it is wearable but rather short for a plump middle like mine.It did not shrink sideways but really shrank longways which was down the grain,which I thought was a bit odd.

The colour combinations are glorious and she shows you how to add godets and pockets and get the felt into a shape.

This is called the poppy coat.

Met up with some friends and one of them inspired by an enlarged photo of a seed head had made this piece using a technique from June Barnes¬ book she had sew the wool into circles cut them out and dyed them then mounted them onto a textured background,it was inspirational and one of the " oh I wish I had done that things" I have seen in a long time.

So I decided to have a go, I sewed circles like mad into an old blanket rushed out and bought some acid dyes only to find that the cotton was still white.So out again to buy the right colour green cotton , more sewing and dyeing,started to sew it together and found out I needed twice as many as I had done so back to the machine.I decided to sew the circlkes together so that they were convex, for some reason this tended to flatten them,and I have ended up with a large lumpy unattractive mess which looks a bit like a dinosaur egg.

And it doesnt matter which angle you take the photo from it still looks as bad.
I might hang it off a tree in the garden and pretend it just grew.

temples at last

2009-11-24T20:07:00.001Z

Your first view of Ankor Wat is stunning, it is surrounded by a square moat, it has 5 lotus like towers rising 65 meters from ground level,you walk across a causeway to the entrance, even in the rain it was more impressive than I had imagined.It was built by Suryavarman II in the Mid. 12th century it was dedicated to the Hindu God Vishnu, but later to Buddha.

This is one of the "libraries"

I loved the pert bottoms on these lion statues but all had missing tails.

The inner most tower at Ankor wat,you are no longer allowed to climb up as the steps are very worn,not to mention narrow. A bias relief of temple dancers,all of which are well endowed in the bust department.

The windows are decorated with these lovely pillars

These statues guard the bridge to Angkor Thom a 3km walled and moated royal city the builing was started in 1181 by Jayavarman as his new capital.

One of the five gates to the city each have four faces.

Bayon is one of the temples in this complex and my favourite, all the massive stone Buddha faces are very impressive,there are 37 standing towers most of them with four faces.

Elephant terrace, many of them are damaged it is 300 meters long with the terrace of the leper King at the north end.

Ta Prohm built by Jayavarman VII and dedicated to his mother,the jungle really encroaches into this temple.

The children have such beautiful ,happy faces even in the rain.

This is Ta Prohm, massive fig and cotton trees grow out from the stones it is very atmospheric and the tree bark is a golden colour, this temple is where the film Tomb Raider was filmed.

The trunks look very fluid as they flow over the stones.

This is the path on the way out,it was knee deep in places, but at least warm.

Angkor Temples

2009-11-15T20:15:00.000Z

Holiday

2009-11-08T20:16:00.000Z

A Brahman cow and calf making use of the waste water. We flew into Cambodia to Siem Reap and it poured and poured but we still had a great time I was going to post the photos of Angkor Wat but blogger is playing up so will post them later. The typhoon which hit Manila came on through to Cambodia a lot of the roads in Siem Reap were under water, this is a small hotel.

Life carried on much the same they still rode their bikes and everyone worked so hard at clearing up, even though some of them had flooded houses and nowhere to sleep and they were still smiling.

The water buffalo have very regal faces.

We flew back into Vietnam to Hoian which had had 2 days before water 3 meters deep, some of the hotels had to close due to damage and down by the river it was still wet and muddy, our hotel had some damage to the roof.Health and Safety would have a hissy fit here ,they were repairing the tiles no hard hats no safety harness nothing, but they sure got on with it.

This is My Som a temple complex just outside of Hoian, quite a few of them were deliberately bombed my the Americans, they are made of brick.

This is part of the gateway to a Buddist temple at Cham Island.

We did a cookery course, which was great as we found out the ingredients for the fantastic food we had been eating, it is very fresh and clean tasting they use a lot of coriander and different types of basil.The tutor spoke superb English and we made spring rolls, Wassabi soup, tofu balls,stuffed cabbage rolls ,chicken and shitaki and banana flower salad it was all delicious,I came home with a suitcase full of dried shitaki, and a great gadget for doing julienne strips.

We even managed to make tomato roses.

We went on a sailing trip for 2 nights around Halong bay, on a boat like the one below.The bay has masses of small outcrops of rock, some of these are small some have caves which you can kayak into [you get to realise your age getting in and out of a kayak!] and some have fantastic grotto`s with stalactites.

People live on floating villages the photo below is of the school

and the village

One of the grotto's from the sea.

The islands are stunning but it was always misty and my camera is only a basic one so you do not see the masses of islands disappearing into the distance,it would make a great textile piece with organza.

Vietnam and Cambodia

2009-11-01T20:51:00.000Z

I have not blogged for ages as we have been away on holiday visiting Vietnam and Cambodia two fascinating countries.We flew into Ho Chi Minh which is a fairly modern city where everyone seems to own a motorcycle which entire families ride together, this makes crossing the road an art form as they do not stop at crossings and not always at red lights.They park the bikes on the pavements and even ride on them if it means cutting the corner, to cross the road you have to walk out slowly and the bikes go round you, if it is really busy you wait for a little old lady to take you across. They carry everything on the motor cycles and pushbikes

The children get taken to school on them,they wear the masks not just for thr fumes but too prevent their faces from getting brown, a sign of a field worker.

They rest on the bikes.

and this is a coffin being transported I ptesume it was empty.

The food was superb very fresh and piquant,we did a mornings cookery course and made vegetable rolls with shrimp, soup, fried tofu and shitaki balls and stuffed cabbage leaves. My favourite is Pho a clear chicken soup with rice noodles mushrooms and chili which is eaten for breakfast.I came back with a suitcase stuffed with dried shitaki,they are so cheapthere but then everything is to a Westerner.

Roadside barrows selling grapes, pomelos, dragon fruit all manner of fruit.

The markets were a wonder all kinds of delights most of which I had no idea what to do with this photo is fungi.

Beans and pulses and

Lychees

I shall post some more photo.s later if anyone is interested

Henry Foyle and our Exhib.

2009-09-18T21:27:00.001+01:00

I managed today to find time to whizz up to Redditch to get to the Needle Museum to see the Henry Foyle awards, I had suggested to Sharon that she took part and she was excepted and made this superb hat below, so much work in it and so well thought out.The theme was " Freedom" and Sharon was using the hat design to express her own creative freedom,well done Sharon. This all seeing eye is under the flap of the hat.

This is the winning entry the textile artist is doing her MA and had made the piece to fit the spot which it did brilliantly, it is made of fishing lines with words embroidered over.It is the first time I have agreed with the decision of the judges.

Choosing where it was being sited really gave it the edge it looked part of the decor and was an inspiration.

This man was great, painted fabric a la Lynda and Carol.

This one won the workbook award.

And this piece received the award for technical excellence.

I should have posted about our exhib. at Ledbury but first I had the shingles and than 10 days without an internet connection while we were trying to up grade it, so the exhib. is now on as part of H A week or open studios in Hereford week.

This is Pennys work her mainn piece Icarus was exhib. at the FOQ><

Some of her lovely smaller pieces all on the theme of the sea , including a felted bowl.

This is Cheryl`s work she paints onto canvas and then machine stitches over and into the painting they are very colourful and quaint.

These pictures are Pennys,

Sue`s theme was beatles and she did the most glorious stump work and goldwork pictures, click on the photo to enlarge it my favourite is the red beatles they glow.

These are Angie`s two new pieces inspired by her ballon flight and Hunderwasser.Dyed and foiled velvet machine sewn.

Angie`s moving piece inspired by John Masefields poem "I must go down to the sea again"

And lastly my corner all ammonites.I was really pleased with the final piece which is the long framed one,but shock horror it cost £128.00 to frame!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

New camera and ATC`s

2009-08-29T15:52:00.001+01:00

I have been using a Casio QV-R camera for the last 5/6 years and it was sent back to be repaired costing me £82.00 I did think at the time it might be more sensible to replace it but as I am a bit of a Luddite it suited me well,Last week it gave up the ghost again ,I rang Casio and they said put it in the post and if it is the same fault we will repair it free of charge when I complained about the cost of sending it reg.mail I was told they would send me the packaging and free postage.To my amazement a few days later I received a package with a brand new Casio camera similar to the type I had been using I was thrilled it is not often you get such excellent service and I wanted to sing their praises if anyone wanted to know what Casio`s after care is like . I have been taking part in Kate's ATC swap and I am posting up some of the ones I have received they are lovely and varied in technique and style. This one and all the fabric is from Di Thompson This one in luscious velvets from Ann in Durham the photo does not do it justice

This is from Anna my favourite colours and with beautifulhand made beads and threads to use.

Lovely purples again and themost wonderful little handmade booklet.

A great flower from Lynne

Pretty in pink fromWendy

Delicate beaded flowers from Aine in Ireland

Tea leaf and gold from Shelina and a great bookmark

Lovely delicate colours transfer painted onto felt from Norma who very kindly sent the pearl headed pins as well,just what I need I keep deheading mine.

A "smile" ATC from Leah and lots of fabric pieces

You cant beat mauve and lime green and the dog bis so cute,both from Mary.

A lovely one from Kate who organised the swap, deeper colours in real life and a piece of oriental fabric.

Bright zany needle felting from Norma in Arizona

Big beaded flower from Marga makes you feel sunny just looking at it

Lovely texturedATC fromWil with a super hand folded card

Joyce sent me this ATC it has glowing colours she very kindly sent me the lovely skeleton leaves

Sheila¬s ATC also glows with colour and a most unusual card, many thanks to you all I was quite overwhelmed,

Goodies to win

2009-08-27T21:25:00.000+01:00

Nip over to the Stamp Mans blog and see what you could win

A little quilt swap and the Banksy exhibition

2009-08-16T21:19:00.000+01:00

I took part in Another little Art quilt swap organised by Kate,you made an art quilt, posted a photo on Kates blog an then voted for them in order of preference,I made two so I had 2 in return, this one as seen on Lynda`s blog which I shall get at the FOQ,

And this lovely one from Penny in Oz, the photo does not do it justice, it is lovely and loads of hand sewing Kantha style I am so pleased many thanks Penny.

This one of mine which went to Lisa in Oz. called carrots and cupcakes, which was screen printed with dyes discharged and reprinted.

This is a detail of the ammonites from the quilt which went to Penny in Oz, so we swapped quilts.

I went to the Banksy exhibition in Bristol museum with my daughter and granddaughter and queued for 2 1/2 hours at least it wasn't raining and when you get inside it is not too crowded to have a good look.This one is painted on a wall in Park St.

I must apologise for the poor quality of the photos my camera has bust again so was using my husbands and we were not allowed to use a flash and the lighting was dim.

This one is called " The Angel of the North" complete with fags and drink.

A Damien Hirst print which he sells for over a thousand pounds vastly improved by Banksy.

This is entitled " Flight out of Egypt"

My favourite she looks as if she is really enjoying the rest and the ciggie.

Great idea this one complete with blood.

Terrible photo but it is a mother hen with her "chicks" they are in fact chicken nuggets!

Tweetie complete with bird flue.

This one states you can get away with anything as long as you put it in a large gold frame.

Daughter and granddaughter in classic pose

This is police in riot gear tripping through the daisies

I do apologise for these pictures I had not realised they were so bad.

Berkeley castle.

2009-08-02T20:50:00.000+01:00

This my calender girls card for August based on a card by Erika Oller, I love her sense of humour I just went with the hearts on this one.It has a backing of painted foil then a piece of silk paper then the hearts cut out of paper fabric and organza over the top which makes it difficult to photograph. We spent a lovely afternoon at Berkeley Castle, which is probably best known for the death of Edward II who was imprisoned there,we saw the room he was kept in, adjacent to a dungeon pit into which they threw dead animals the idea being that the gases they gave off would kill you.In his case he survived that but was either strangled or the red hot poker version .Common people were just thrown down the pit ontop off the animals poor souls, but the fall would have probably killed them . This elegant building is where they would have kept the dead game and meat to keep it cool,it would have hand wire mesh panels to keep the flies out.

Berkeley is famous for being the longest lived in castle, it has some beautiful wooden doors

The Berkley family fought in many wars and brought back a sapling tree from each of the battles, this tree came from the Flodden.

It has the most beautiful chimney pots I think these are called barley sugar.

They also have a butterfly house with some beautiful creatures

This one took a fancy to my daughter, I can understand why.

Boasting

2009-07-25T20:15:00.001+01:00

I have been a bit tardy posting up my calendar girl cards, this one is from Lynda at Purple Missus and was for June, and the one below is from Debbi in Aus,please go to the calendar girl website by clicking on the logo as both cards are superb but spoilt by my photos.

The boasting is about our local horticultural show my daughter entered the fruit cake below

Olive entered this great scarecrow which won first prize, well done Olive.

I entered this bag in the item made from recycled items ,and got a first prize and best handicraft in show award!

This cushion which also won a first.

And my favourite this scarf, nuno felted and hand embroidered and beaded, got second because it was supposed to have been made from a metre of the same fabric and nuno felting was not considered as one fabric, well you live and learn.

The catalogue stated "three dressed onions" so that is what they got tongue in cheek, well the judges have a good sense of fun as they got a Highly commended, and a comment saying " on this occasion they were a little overdressed"!

So next year I am going to work out a way of doing "runner beans" any suggestions.

Calender girls card and York

2009-07-11T20:17:00.000+01:00

It was my choice this month for the Calender girls card, all that lovely texture so I used one of the many techniques that I had learnt on Carol and Lynda`s on line course, it was a bit hard on Lynda as the card was for her.There book "Stitching the textured surface " arrived this week and it is full of exciting and brilliant ideas, available from www.d4daisy.com or the fibre in form website it is well worth the money.

This card was made with machined cords which were covered in gesso and then painted.

I picked these dock leaves when I was out walking the dog, the colours are great and the holes, I will get around to doing something with them one day.

We had a weekend in York, my birthday present to my husband,great weather and an amazing city, not just the minster which is superb, we stayed and listened to a service the acoustics are fantastic.

These two tapestries were part of a bigger piece,lovely work and a great stump work sheep.

Quite a few of the tombs had these effigies decorating them.

We walked all the way round the city walls, York is unique as so many old building are so well preserved, below is one of the many gatehouses protecting the river.

We had a sort of four poster bed to sleep in and the plumbing was about the same era.It was a great weekend but we shall have to go back as we didnt get into Betty `s for tea as it was too busy.

Or even a hectic weekend!!!!!!!

2009-06-28T21:52:00.001+01:00

A hetic week end

2009-06-28T20:55:00.001+01:00

Jazz at Upton upon Severn and the sculptures at Quennington all in glorious sunshine,Upton is a very old town with half timbered houses on the river Severn it holds a jazz festival one weekend every year.

It starts on Saturday with a procession through the town, and as well as some of the bands taking part we have dancers and lots of ladies with umbrellas.

Lamarrote from Holland are my favourite band great fun and full of enthusiasm there are about 10 venues around the town to choose from and every type of jazz.

The Old Vicarage at Quennington plays host to the biannual sculpture exhibition with around 160 sculptures all set in the beautiful gardens,here is a shot of the library which is the round building it is a delight.

Star form,a giant seed pod made in copper we all loved this one.

First of all put in a swimming pool!

These are made from resin and roofing felt I loved the shape but the finish was too shiny for me.

My favourite he is very tall and gorgeous but I will have to keep saving as he is over 6 thousand pounds

60 blue resin hands hanging from a tree.

Two "dressed" trees ready for the ball.

Painted hessian sewn into a house shape and filled with sand £90 each,

This is a man looking down at his own reflection on water, 4.6 m.high £62,000.

One of my husbands favourites,I do not think I would give it house room

Across the road in the church they had an exhibition of the local children's artwork, papier mache heads which they had really pulled out all the stops and excelled in being very creative, why when we grow up do most of us loose all there freedom and creativity.

The church had a great collection of beautiful kneelers

2009-06-19T21:08:00.000+01:00

For those of you who live near Gloucestershire the sculpture show Fresh Air is on from the 14 June until the 5 of July, it is a superb show set in beautiful gardens at Quenington and well worth a visit. www.freshair20098.com ., I have made the cushion below from indigo dyed fabric from C&G days it is for the local horticulture show for the patchwork entry.May`s Calender girls card was from Neki it was sent to Oz by mistake so it is well travelled, it is a take on the water lilies by Monet it is very textural and a beautiful warm golden colour.

Junes card was from a painting by Ton Shulten, I find the ones that I really like more difficult to do than the ones I am not so fond of.

The following are from a visit to Stroud College an open Art week, some of it was weird and wonderful but I liked the techniques used in the picture below,

and these two paintings ,quite large where stunning, a very talented lady.

Some sculpture, and this one to bring a smile this little old lady on her zimmer has written round her hat...."Do not go gently into the good night" one side and " old age should burn and rave at the close of day", my sentiments exactly.Anyone know where this quote comes from?

Dawn Dupree`s workshop.

2009-06-07T20:34:00.000+01:00

It is so great after all those hours of digging, manuring,planting watering ,throwing down slug pellets, to start reaping the benefits. Over the Bank holiday I did a 3 day work shop with Dawn Dupree, of the supermarket trolley fame, her work is not quite what I would want to put on my walls but she gets fantastic depth to her screen prints, and she is a very good tutor. Two of her pieces are shown below, she is into vacuum cleaners ironing boards and of course trolleys.

The first day we had to decide on the design that we wanted on our silk screens, I spend a lot of time at workshops thinking why didn't I do that or bring that I did not know that you could bring a image and have it photocopied ready to go on the screen so I had to draw mine, well you live and learn. We dyed fabrics with dye pastes , steamed then we discharged the fabrics and steamed again,the next day we procion dyed and discharged again,followed by pigment printing and flocking and foiling. It was fantastic but very tiring and I was almost glad to go back to work for a rest.

Dawn on the left putting the fabric into the steaming machine.

Some of my work in progress.

The washing line ,luckily it was quite sunny so fabrics dried well.

This is the machine used for flocking and foiling.

This lady was doing pictures of her children.

This is a photocopied image of a bewigged gentleman. Drawings of boots and jars.

The two lasses over from Ireland were well prepared, they had brought images to photocopy and then image onto the screen.The writing is from a letter of her Mother in laws who had died last year.

The red flocked image is a cow.

They were both very industrious and really pushed the boundaries, it must have been expensive to come over from Cork and stay for 3 nights but they said they do not get this level of tutoring in Ireland ,we are so lucky here.

The two below are from one of my screen prints I had to drawn the out by hand as I did not bring any images to photocopy, the others had the sense to bring ready made images.

This piece was printed at the workshop and flocked,the maroon circles at the bottom and the squares in the centre are flocked, I like this piece and will put it up on the wall when I can work out how to display it. The pieces below I have done at home using a screen and Gocco printed screens,I pinched the idea of carrots from one of the Irish girls I love them so quirky.

This is my favourite the colours in real life are darker and more vibrant this one is going up on the wall we are supposed to be down sizing but i need all the wallspace I can get!

The trouble with size 8 feet is they are so large they always get in the photo.

Hilary Bower Lecture

2009-05-22T21:21:00.001+01:00

I went to a talk by Hilary Bower as part of the Stroud Textile Week,she talked about her recent work and that it is inspired by other craftsmen work how they make it and what is left over at the end.She is now using metal in her work and some pieces are nearly all aluminium.Her pieces represent item in everyday use objects not considered works of art,so the fact that I thought one of her pieces looked like Hoover bags wasn't so far off the mark.She said that the piece below was very difficult to stitch it is aluminum on organdie.

She even brought her sketchbooks for us to see she does a lot of writing and always makes a lot of maquettes. She came across as a very warm person and I would love to have a tutorial with her.

At Ruskin Mill at Nailsworth their was a felting exhibition Margaret Docherty and Sarah Brooker, who was there she had made a pink bag for Gregson Perry ,and had a great photo of him in a frilly dress with the bag.Her work was superb and she is doing a workshop at Urchfont , which I hope to go to.The piece below is by Margaret who is resident at Ruskin Mill.

The felt shown below is by Sarah from an exhibition called Tutti Fruiti.

You have to park at Horsley and walk back along by the trout streams, what a joy,ducks and wild flowers every where and the gardens all planted with every type of vegetable.

A seat carved in memory of one of the students the mill is used by people with learning difficulties

Beautiful isn't it.

2009-05-17T14:19:00.000+01:00

Angie Hughes sent us some homework about our work and designing and where we see ourselves going a la Claire Benn.I find this type of thing very difficult as I do not have a logical bone in my body and find doing critiques quite toe curling.I did have a go at it and what came out was my embroidery/stitching skills are OK but I fall down in the design compartment.I must admit I usually think up the design as I go along and do the back up work when I have finished a piece.So I have been busy trying out design ideas,using Beverly Ash Gilberts ideas on colour which are on her blog of the same name, and a lot from "finding your own visual language"by Claire Benn & Leslie Morgan a book I have had for a little while looked at but not bothered to put into action, the pictures below are made by cutting shapes out of papers and swapping it all around, I can see that this could work especially for quilts.

I liked the ones below they have an art nouveau feel to them.

Because I am still on the fossil topic I had a session of cutting out ammonites shapes and then splitting them.

I also wrote out how I feel when I go fossilising at Hock cliffs, it is very peaceful the occasional cry of a bird,wide open skies and grey mud and clay and the magic of looking down and finding an ammonite thousand of years old at your feet. This is the first time I have used writing to help design a piece and it was useful.So I painted paper with fabric dyes so that I could get the same effect on fabric and the result is below.If you go to www.artclothstudios.com/Essays Claire and Leslie have several good essays on designing

I saw a great quote in Angie`s studio by Leonid Cohen " There are cracks in everything, that`s how the light gets in" it really appealed to me.

Toads and wax

2009-05-10T19:21:00.000+01:00

Our dog usually called the terrier from hell, spent the weekend at our daughters,I think that they spent the W>E partying and carousing as she has laid dormant for the last twelve hours. I met up with 2 friends from City & guild days and we tried out encaustic wax,not something I have been dying to try but it was more fun than I thought. You melt the wax on a flat iron and then swoop it across paper which has a shiny finish,you can have more than one swoop but two many and the end result can be a muddy colour.Wax can be dripped on and spread with the point of the iron, or spread with a special heat tool.when it has cooled you can polish it to get a great shine,some of my attempts are shown below

This work was in the latest Quilting Arts and it is by Deborah Kruger who uses the wax on fabric to great effect.

I bought these nuno felted mittens and scarf plus linen jacket from a local charity shop,a real bargain.beautifully modelled here by Olive the colour really suits her.

This was the inspiration for this months card chosen by Doreen from OZ. it is a Monet when I see lily pads I think of toads

so my card this month is one little toad begging to be kissed I just hope that Sandy likes it .

Textle festival.

2009-05-04T21:32:00.000+01:00

I am so lucky to live in a very beautiful part of the country with lovely hills and scenery, and on top of that we have a textile festival every year.It is now in its fourth year and thanks to Lizzi Walton it just gets better and better,we have workshops gallery displays and talks from Hilary Bower,Michael Brennand-Wood,Matthew Harris, Mary Butcher to name a few.You can visit all the gallery displays for free and one by Studio Seven is an on going exhibition as the public are invited to contribute , it is called Cut 2 on the fold, last year it was make do and mend. they are a very inventive group and the display this year was fascinating exploring the journey from flat pattern to calico toile to finished garment, I added a piece to the collar of Anne Rogers`nuno felted jacket it was very fine and gave me the urge to rush home and start felting. The costumes/finished pieces will be used with some large dolls in a contemporary dance piece to be held at The old Rectory Quennington. The necklace below was made by Yoko Izawa she wraps acrylic shapes in tubular elastic knitting,in real life it was surprisingly stunning. The piece below is by Matthew Harris whose pieces were inspired by a visit to Japan where he saw large lanterns hanging over wet pavements.He states that he is not interested in perfect textiles.what excites him is the interruption of the perfect surface by tears and darns.He works on basic cotton twill which has the dye dribbled across and is then folded pleated and cut.He has been commissioned to make apiece for the new Colston Hall in Bristol, as has Michael Brennand -Wood.

Matthew`s pieces I found intriguing the colours were beautiful and I thought they were the best in the entire textile festival.He apparently lives locally.

This piece is by Jacy Wall. mainly know for her woven tapestry work this piece depicting mending and darning.

Hilary Bower, well Angie Hughes raves about her I know she is regarded as a great mentor, but I am not familiar with her work she has 2 pieces in the festival,one made of brushes that looks like a boot scrapper and the one below which is made of metal and wood and fabric,it reminded me of vacuum cleaner bags, I am going to her talk on her gathering of information for her solo exhibition at Halifax, so maybe this will help me see clearer.

Two pictures by a local artist Louise Cannon.

These textile pieces are by Tanya Stanyer and they have a lovely quirkiness to them

Detail of 1943.

1943

Picnic

Cupcakes. Priced at only £60 which I thought was very reasonable considering the work in it.

These pieces by Michael Brennand - Wood were on show, I have never lusted after one of his pieces but having heard his lecture I can now appreciate the thought processes behind them, my favourite piece is the small black and white one below which is entitled Babel,which in is talk he said was also his favourite,great minds think alike! I should be so lucky!

He talked about his life he studied Fine art and then embroidery at Manchester he said that patterning was a form of language and that ideas and design come when working on a piece which I completely agree with.He mentioned Carl Andre as an inspiration he of the Turner bricks fame,and Rachenburg.His flower pieces started with photos of flowers which he then stitched on an industrial machine,but they incorporate some macabre additions some are sewn over hundreds of plastic soldiers. he said that at one time he bought bags & bags of them,from John Lewis, the checkout lady said to him " someones going to have a nice time " he replied " I am an artist" she tapping him on the shoulder said" that's all right then". He came across as a very interesting ,unpretentious amusing person and his work to me is so more enjoyable because I now know what it is about. One of his quotes was " relationship with a piece of work is like a love affair" I thought how true this is .

Can ducks count?

2009-04-26T18:15:00.000+01:00

This lovely duck was hiding in the rushes on our local canal with 10 baby ducklings.She came out when I threw in some bread the ducklings swim around like clockwork toys little legs swimming like mad.When she went to swim off she quacked like mad until all 10 came out of the reeds,so can she count or is it instinct that tells her when some are missing,makes it even sadder knowing that not even half will survive.

This is the Stroud water canal and the trust has just been given the go ahead plus money to clear it and make it navigable,at the moment it is choked with weeds and fallen trees, it is going to be a hard task.

I went to a local gallery to see Theresa Poole`s work she is a local artist working from an old mill in Chalford.She trained in paint finishes and trompe l`oeil,her pictures have an oriental feel and she uses metal leaf and mica in her work.I loved the one of her ornamental chicken with great flowing feathers .but it is a very large canvas and would need a huge room,it was also well out of my price range.

I did buy this picture of a branch of cherry blossom hanging over the sun, it is a golder colour in real life,I sneaked it into our bedroom and it is up on the wall and my lovely husband has not even notced yet maybe I could have got away with the big picture!!

Aprils card

2009-04-19T19:28:00.000+01:00

This was our card for April I love trees and especially birch trees but I could not get inspired. This was an image from photoshop.

Jenny from feltedfibres sent me this lovely one the bark really stands out, but still no inspiration.I have a load of birch bark that my sister gave me about 6 years ago and I wanted to use that but how. Well this is the result after many failures I do not think I will be using the bark again, so it is all real birch bark with some painted kozo fibre,I am finding the kozo very useful.

This superb bridge is at Monmouth, we went at the weekend to see the temple at the Kymin, my husband belongs to the 1805 club a Nelson society and they put some money towards restoring this temple which commemorates England's finest admirals.

Unfortunately Britannia has had her trident taken someone must have climbed up and removed it. The names of the Admirals are on the plaques around the temple.

The Kymin is named after these massive rocks which are strewn around the place, it was built in 1800 and Nelson visited Monmouth by boat and was impressed with its scenery

This building adjacent to the temple was built in 1794 and was used weekly for dining by a select club it has the most fantastic views.

Happy Easter

2009-04-11T21:42:00.000+01:00

Happy Easter to you all and may the great Easter Chicken bring you lots of eggs and good health and happiness.

I went down to the Severn and this photo is to try and show how wide it is here

I got plastered in mud but I had a wonderful time, one of my favourite pastimes looking for fossils.Angie had suggested that as I was using fossils as my focal point I should think about what they meant to me and why I liked them so much.So I trekked off to Fretherne on the Severn

This is the church where I park the car and walk over 3 fields and down to the Severn

We used to see this flower a lot in my childhood but down here is the only place I see it now it is called cuckoo flower or milkmaids.

And a lovely bed of teasels

As well as getting plastered in mud I got these fossils, some ammonites but I still need to find the 2foot one, in the lower left hand corner are criniods these are a sea lily and the pieces you can see are the stem.

I have great enjoyment collecting them it is the fun of finding them and the fact that they are thousand of years old and yours for the looking.

Apologies for the last post half of it appears to be missing and what is worse is I was stone cold sober when I posted it.

March`s card from Carol

2009-04-05T19:12:00.000+01:00

This i s March`s card from Carol at Textile tales it is beautiful colours and warm orange stitching very vibrant in the flesh,I was so pleased with it thankyou Carol.

By using the fern leaves you could get 3 printoffs from one plate I pressed these in news paper which was dated 1980 so they have lasted well.The flowers above are the same age I think they are Hatties Pincushions and the details have printed off very clearly.

Pangolin Gallery.

2009-03-29T18:07:00.000+01:00

One of my lovely patients gave me this egg, which her daughter makes, the daffodils are beautiful,very delicate its is too good to eat which is just as well as the diet starts tomorrow! We are fortunate to live about 4 miles from the Pangolin Gallery, they do the castings for Damien Hurst , Jonathan Kingdom & Terence Coventry, they also cast The Angel of the North.It is a fascinating place and they put on splendid exhibitions,including one on Lynn Chadwick a local sculptor, one on extinct species this one was sculptors prints.If I had a spare £800 pounds I would have been tempted with one of Lynn Chadwicks Damien Hurst`s screen print of coloured spots at £1200 for a limited edition print I wouldn't give wall space to.The bird below is one ofTerence Coventry`s and with very simple lines they have a great presence.

These next two were just stood outside I liked this one of the skeletal horse goin back to flesh.

This one is similar to Lynn Chadwicks work.

We were in time to see them pouring into a casting.

I spent the W/E overprinting and disperse printing some of my material that coloured with breakdown printing,some of the pieces needed ait more colour and shape.

These were stamped with disperse paste then ironed and stamped with thickened dyes.

This one in the flesh is great the grids are a lovely turquoise.

This one has a cow parsley stencil

I have finished my ammonites box canvasses and I am disappointed with them maybe its because I have benn working at them for too long,I have also just realied that the photo is on its side bother.

Happy Mothering Sunday.

2009-03-22T21:32:00.000Z

I never realised until our daughter moved to Oz. that Mothering Sunday varies from country to country, or rather the date does.I thought that it was in the church calender,my husbands say it varies so that they can shift the cards around the world when they don't sell! Well I did not go to see my mother attired like the lady above as unfortunately I do not have her sylph like figure,but we did all go out for lunch and a walk along the river at Hurley.

A lovely old wall at Hurley,and the daffodils and cherry blossom by the river.

Carol choose the card this month for calendar girls and it is the most beautiful colours, it was taken in Korea and I think it was turquoise and orange netting or fleece .

I already had a satin material in the right colour and some kozo fibres dyed orange and turquoise
so with the addition of some orange organza I was all set.I did not alter the original much as I liked it the way it was.

A friend has lent me one of Yann`s books and the are great inspirations for textile pieces,the strangest photos are quite breathtaking ,the one I am thinking of is a shot of uranium mining in northern Aus.

Cracking up fast.

2009-03-18T19:49:00.000Z

Well I am cracking up fast my apologies for not doing the draw on Sunday it was because I went on this early Thursday morning...... For three days of golf with 24 other members of our golfclub at Hardelow and Le Touquet and the sun even shone.

And thanks to great team members like Marian who got this close to the hole with her tee shot on a par three I won on 2 days! I did take my laptop but I didnt get on line so that is my excuse.

We then moved on to Lille where the traffic was awful and we would have gone on but we did not have the correct car lights so luckily we stayed and found a great old fashioned hotel in the old quarter.Lille is great for beautiful architecture some very Flemish and in with all these lovely buildings were these devils/angels which were oddly fascinating,made by some Russian co -operative.

This house was built for Coilliot a ceramic artist by Hector Guimard in the Art Nouveau style, the walls are made of enamel no straight lines or any symmetry,it is a stunning house now in need of some tender loving care.

Well I finally got around to drawing out a name or rather my daughter did and Guzzisue is the winner, well she could probably do with a warm scarf on that motorbike. Many thanks to everyone for taking the trouble to comment, lovely to hear from all of you.

100th blog

2009-03-08T18:45:00.000Z

Well if my adding up is correct this is my hundredth blog,many thanks to all who have taking the time to look at it and comment it is very satisfying to know that someone does read it.I find it amazing how generous bloggers are with their help and sharing ideas it is a great community.So if anyone would like to leave a comment I will do the usual names in a hat and announce it next Sunday,the giveaway is for one of the indigo dyed nuno felted scarves shown below,or if you prefer one of the notebooks shown in last weeks blog.

Yet another book,this one was ordered in Jan but has only just come, and it is great, she covers random screenprinting,gelatin,discharge,soy wax batik,rubbings,stamping using found objects and discharge printing among others.It is written well with clear instructions so is enjoyable to read and really makes you want to start at once,I love books like this. Using found object stencils.

A serendipity moment.

Gelatin plate printing.Rayna Gillman `s book covers most aspects of surface design and is a joy to read.

This was a mock up for one of my final pieces for the masterclass,the general opinion was it was too blue should look more like rock strata and the strips of felt needed to go right across the piece ,so back to the drawing board. With Angie we had a "what did I buy this for day",I took some lutrador which I have not done much with as I find it very stiff to sew into, this bowl was lace machine sewn between 2 sheets of 70 lutrador then placed over an upturned bowl and zapped with a heat gun,much to my amazement it stayed in a bowl shape and I painted when I got home,I thought I could put a few eggs into it for Easter.

I bought this glass piece at Brewery Arts in Cirencester, as I fell in love with it.

One more to the hundreth!

2009-03-03T19:36:00.000Z

Next blog is my hundredth so will have to think of a giveaway.

I have bought this book It is very good if you do not know anything about colouring, painting ,heat treating metal and then using it for stitching,I was disappointed with it as a lot of it I already knew and found most of her finished pieces uninspiring I have photographed some of them so that you can decide.

I always collect metal toothpaste tubes & tomato puree tubes to keep for the metal,after washing I smooth the metal out with a spoon and then emboss first onto the wrong side and some on the front,

beeswax is dripped into the indentations to keep them solid.

The edges have been wrapped around a piece of cardboard and then "rub and buff"is spread over the surface left to dry,it is then polished off in the raised areas.

These two have been painted with Adirondack alcohol inks

and this is a completed one.

Found this fungi in the woods in a damp spot it just glowed I was told it is red elf cups.

I kept so warm stitching the edging on my daughters quilt that I decided to make a lap quit for myself.I used some of the breakdown screen printed fabric that I did last year (managed to use some Shirley)which was edged with a procion dyed black and an orangey yellow which was dyed with onion skins.I had printed the kopopelli after screen printing,I did think that I would not be needing it but it has got much colder again. Art classes are going fairly well,a bit galling to find that your beloved husband is a "natural" at perspective I wish he would share it out. We also did some tonal drawing which I quite enjoyed but I need a lot more practise.

On Sunday went to visit my Mother and we walked along by the river,where these photos were taken, this is the trap to let the fish through

and at the Museum of rowing statues of Pinscent and Redgrave,most unusual as the faces are coloured I was not sure that I liked this effect.

Bath,card and books

2009-02-24T19:05:00.000Z

We were given homework by Angie to make use of our stamped fabric,so a few rings of silk fabric bonded on black chiffon on the top. With some wadding underneath it was all tacked to hold it in place before quilting

It was then cut in two and the edges oversewn to make these two notebooks.

The insides showing the coloured papers,this is from an idea of Frances Pickerings,when you paint the paper with diluted inks or paints 1 2 or 3 colours and stack them on top or each other a right angles to dry so that you get these lovely lines and marks.

We had a day out in Bath this W/E as Olive the grandchild from hell has been "doing " the Romans at school and as we are riddled with Roman remains around here, with villas and mosaics,but I have not been to the baths since we went to a roman orgy about 35yrs ago and swam in them amongst other things.It was a great place to visit about 6 baths a frigorium and the temple.The water in the main bath is warm and yellow due to the salts,one of the baths is steaming,you can sample the water and it tastes very flat ,warm and rather like bath water!

Reflections....

The Celtic grandchild from hell with Flavia a Roman citizen,who was fantastic she kept in character, regardless of how many questions you asked and she had a great sense of humour.When asked about what language she spoke with the Celts,she said I wish that they would speak Latin but we have been told When in Britannia do as the Britannians do!

On Saturday my card arrived from Pat it is lovely,she thinks that unicorns are white and I admit I do too, if you would like to see how she arrived at it click here. She very kindly set me this lace as well.

2009-02-15T16:31:00.000Z

Using the paint techniques from Fibre in form I have finished these 4 box canvases using budgie grit for the ammonites,2 pewter and 2 rust

Following on from last week I have been making stamps from foam,I have been using an old yoga mat and as it is thinner than the usual blocks I mount them onto wood first.I like the vague patterns best the leaves like the ones Sue did and the wicker basket I think these could be very useful

More mould making using latex and these two tubs which you mix together to harden both end up with a rather too soft mould,OK for casting plaster but does not work so well with the loo paper technique so I might have to try making aplaster casting from these then they will be inside out you cant win.

I made these two using Sculpey brushing a thin layer of it over a photocopy of an ammonite,very disappointing.

Spent most of this W/E trying to workout how to make my next ammonites piece for the end of year show at Ledbury.I want the piece to be very textured so have been painting and burning kunim felt and vilene so the whole house stinks,painted felt does not burn too well so tried transfer dyes but could not get the colours I wanted.

Painting onto cotton and vilene worked a treat I used one of the foam stamps I had made by pressing it into buttons, and I added xandaprint which I had coloured first and when heated it gave me the texture I wanted.I tried using Lutrador but the thicker one once painted is very stiff and I didn't fancy embroidering into it.

The effect I am trying to achieve is of layers cracking open to reveal the ammonites underneath,I think my next step is to try a small section to see if it will work.

Snow snow quick quick snow

2009-02-08T19:32:00.001Z

I am not going to complain about the snow although it is going to be difficult if it goes on into next week as I will not be able to fit in all my patients, but then not having your toenails cut isn't exactly life threatening, when you think of those poor souls around Melbourne with the horrendous fires it must be so frightening,so I will not moan about the cold even if we do get another power cut.I have been reading on other peoples blogs about snow dyeing so thought I might as well put the stuff to a good use the problem was I couldn't check out the best way to do it as we had a power cut so just winged it. Below is the scrim that I dyed in the melted snow/ dye mixture. At first I was not too impressed with the result but when you look into the colours and see the fantastic patterns I was quite chuffed.

These are the two tubs of scrunched fabric with the snow on top look good enough to eat don't they .

The card this month for Calender girls was this one, a unicorn covered in jewels and a detailed background, so I had to simplify it. I put it into Kaleidoscope and came up with this I liked it,but was unsure what to do with it.

So it was made into the envelope and I drew out a simple design

which I was going to paint over felt, it ended up looking very "furry" and even covering it with aquawax didnt quitegive the right look,and I could not get the colours as in the card.

So back to painted calico with black chiffon machine sewn over the top and then unicorn horns hand sewn with a few beads. I did think about heat treating the chiffon but got cold feet and left it I just hope Doreen likes it especially as she is suffering in their heat wave.

I had time to make loads of cards trying out some new ideas this one is painted wallpaper and the inside of a tomato puree tube embossed and machine sewn on. The next three are -------------------eggshells from a picture I saw in Maggie Greys latest book.I finished off painting these with interference paints so difficult to photograph.

And these two are ---------------------------------- plastic pellets from a car air freshener which my husband had finished with so the cards smell good too.They were painted with paynes grey silver then ink and I had some chinese red rub and buff which I had bought in Oz and it really lifts the whole card. One thing I have found out is if your rub and buff or Treasure gold has dried out put a small amount of Turps substitute in and it will work a treat.

Message for Sue

2009-02-03T19:48:00.000Z

Hi Sue didnt have your email so here goes the printing blocks are called Moldable foam stamps made by Pen Score, I googled and found that dharmatrading.com sell them but do not who sells them in Oz. At the moment I am using an old yoga mat which seems to be made of the same stuff,hope this helps.

Rosalinds works of art

2009-02-02T18:49:00.000Z

My sister Rosalind who gave me the book "Silk Unravelled"has made this stunning cushion from torn strips of silk and a lovely gerbera flower for her hat ,what talent.

We went to Ledbury today for our masterclass with Angie Hughes,we were using those blue foam block to print with,you heat them up with an iron with baking parchment on top of the block to protect the iron then press them onto an object to get a shape. Sue did the one below using dried leaves for an imprint, it really worked well. This one used a block which had been pressed into star anise and on the right a small strip which had pins to make the impression.

This one was dried beans and below cords from a belt.

This one of mine is star anise again and the squares are from garden netting.

and of course for me fossils.I went to the local kitchen shop in Ledbury to buy some star anise and the assistant asked me what recipe we were all going to make as she had sold a lot,when I told her it was for printing she very kindly sorted out all the whole ones for me,very sweet of her.Angie is running a tag competition when I can find the details I will post them.

The quilt for my daughter in Oz is finished and someone has offered to take it and a pair of Hunter wellies out to her,which is great.

I am a lucky girl

2009-01-25T20:23:00.001Z

My first Calender Girls arrived in the post this week, and it could not have been a better one,it was from Val, I love the way she has kept the beauty and colours of the original in her version of it,I am so grateful.Haven't done much this week as we have been moving furniture about and the carpet fitters have chipped the paint off the skirting board in our newly decorated bedroom.I rang up the boss to complain about this and he had the cheek to tell me it was probably because it had not been decorated very well.This annoyed me as I was the one who had sanded and painted them,so he got an earful, he hasn't knocked anything of the bill so he is going to get another call.

Great egg drawings,just a shame that Paul the tutor drew them and not me.

Husband and I have have just started 6 weeks of drawing classes,for beginners,3hours went by so fast.After several warming up exercises he had us drawing eggs,difficult getting them to look solid but he was very good at explaining how to curve the shading lines to make the egg "pop" out.

I tried drawing this pear at home as we are supposed to draw each day, why it looks as if it is leaning backwards I have no idea.

This is what I settled for in the end thanks to those who helped by commenting, only another 3 to go.
After a great morning at drawing classes lunch in a pub for £2.00 each we came home to decorate a bedroom,my husband passed out twice went down like a tree,quite worrying I took his B/P and it was a bit on the low side so he was told to stay in bed.Typical man decided to get up and he keeled over again so phoned the GP who much to my amazement was still at the surgery and took him down.His B/P was right down due to the fact that they had him on Ramipril as he is a diabetic to test his kidneys and the dose was too high,quite a worry so he is off the tablets and he is now fine one way to get out of the decorating

Help please

2009-01-17T21:06:00.000Z

Blogging tonight as tomorrow we have to shift furniture in 3 bedrooms for new carpet and I have a strong suspicion that I will not be able to get into my crafting room.I am doing a series of 4 of these box canvases 2 rust coloured 2 turquoise,with painted ,zapped, and stitched kunin felt Plus ammonites.Well the question is,has the first got enough on it or does the 2nd one look better? any suggestions would be appreciated.Forgot to use the daylight bulb.

Something someone told me once was to take a photo of where you had placed pieces so that you could put them back in the same place,you probably already know this, but if like me the memory is going it is a great reminder.This is a lap quilt I am making for my daughter in Oz, why she wants a lap quilt when it has been 40 degrees in Sydney I have no idea.She wants to try living back in the U.K !

These are 2 of the finished squares,the shoes are because Lisa loves her shoes and the piece by Edward Mon kton is right up her street." When I wear my killer heels men will gasp with passion ,lust and longing & girls will sigh with despair.For I shall be the total queen of hotness & they shall be my faithful humble slaves."Great

postcards and Atcs

2009-01-10T20:26:00.000Z

Before Christmas I was very honoured to be asked to join Calender girls a group of 13 bloggers who each month make a card from a given picture from a calender and send it on to another member,I of course accepted before they changed their minds.This month the artist was Shane Pickett an aboriginal from Oz it is asuperb pictur and i enjoyed doing it,I painted calico a la Fibre in form and then added french knots,below is the original.

I made this bag for my daughter as she liked the other one,I do like this colour she and my granddaughter are very good at wearing and using the items that I make which is very gratifying

I have also made 35 ATCs for a swap which Kate of quilting fame is organising,I think I prefer making postcards less of a fiddle.

I have been making more cards as I just adore this technique Fibre in form start another texture class very soon so go and book up you won`t be disappointed.

The leaves look so beautiful this time of year with a coating of frost.

Lynda from Purple Missus has been talking on her blog abut light tents,and in a ahha moment I thought well my chiropody light has a large round daylight bulb so lets go try it.The photo below is one taken in a mixture of artificial and daylight but the colour is truer in the one below taken with the daylight bulb.This time of year it is quite a problem taking a decent picture and getting the colours right. It is a piece of kunin felt coloured with transferred dyes and machine sewn with the addition of zapped organza and foils,we did it at Angie Hughes masterclass but it has not inspired me to finish it.

My chiropody light

Testing testing

2009-01-03T18:42:00.000Z

Sharons blogs please read it here I can do it Yippee and it has only taken 2 hours!!!!!

New Year

2009-01-03T16:59:00.000Z

A happy healthy and creative New Year to one and all.I spent some time reading other blogs when I should have been getting on with some work,Sharon`s is one that I read regularly and her latest blog is well worth a read she has intertwined her thoughts and photos perfectly,click here,is that doesn't work(I have no faith in my IT skills) it is http://sharonoyoung.blogspot.com/. One of her thoughts is on the loneliness of doing C&G, as a distance learning course I am so glad that I completed mine just as they were finishing around here such a pity.I was not gong to start until I had retired but went to the end of term exhibition and was hooked I went intending to do felting but the embroidery was so inspiring,tutor Frances Pickering, that I signed up for that instead.The 20 or so other students added to the fun and enjoyment of the course and I learnt as much from them as from the tutors, three of us still meet up regularly and exchange ideas and courses we have done, so I do feel for Sharon, but she has created some great pieces for her course. The library has got me "Finding your own visual image" I have only attempted two exercises so far but have read through the book twice,the articles on evaluation I really found useful as was the page on altering a piece but a lot of it is things we all know and do without being conscious of it. So you end up thinking what have I gained? and what does fiddling around with bits of paper and 20 rubber stamps do for you?I am not normally short of ideas and projects, and you just have to read some of the great blogs out there to get inspired and there is never going to be enough time to finish all the things I would like to make and do anyway so why do I spend time reading these books when I should get on and do it,having cut out these bits of paper and done this designing they do not attempt to mention how you transfer it to fabric.If you want a book to spark off new ideas ,yes I can see the point and they are 3 good tutors but what does everyone else think?Well I think my New Years resolution must be to stop procrastinating

2008-12-21T20:05:00.000Z

A very Merry Christmas to one and all, have a great time and a very healthy New Year,and many thanks to everyone who takes the time to read this blog and comment it is much appreciated

My husband who is in deep trouble moved my bay tree about 9 months ago it was about 12 years old and I had nurtured and pruned it into a lovely round ball on a straight trunk,well in moving it he killed it off.So my lovely daughter from Oz has sent me these two beautiful trees to replace it,I am a lucky lady,and husband will not be allowed to touch them. His worst deed to date concerns my catalogue,I am taking part in Maggie Greys online tutorial and the catalogue has been out in the garden since the summer and he was asked not to move it.Well for a man who never puts anything away or clears up he had a sudden rush of blood to the head and put it in the recycling bin,and it has gone forever,I am contemplating a quick divorce or even murder.

Hard grafting, no crafting

2008-12-14T16:40:00.000Z

Spent most of my spare time and this W.E decorating our bedroom I think we are getting too old for it groaning up and down ladders and in my case unable to get up after painting skirting boards.I used to do all the decorating and quite enjoyed it but when my husband said "I think I will get another ladder when we next do some decorating" I was thinking "No fear I am going to pay someone". I think it would make more sense for me to treat patients feet and pay someone to do the decorating especially having just noticed how uneven the top of the wallpaper is.Well I suppose we can whack up some coving,we have a Victorian house and they have high ceilings and very uneven walls. Have also made 200 Christmas cards for my patients seemed like a good idea at the time but even using the gocco to make the screen print they took quite a time,I have had the message inside printed so that made life easier

This little fellow has been born at Sydney Zoo he is a Pygmy hippo,and my lovely daughter is going to try and get me one for Christmas a bit of a messy feeder but very cute.

Another masterclass

2008-12-07T21:01:00.000Z

At the start of Angie`s masterclass we all show and discuss are projects and journals,Cheryl who does some lovely paintings brought in some of her machine stitched pieces,they have a very appealing quality and I could not resist this one, which is titled "Two redheads" I am really pleased I got it.

Three of the sections I cut from my piece on the Sue Dove technique

Angie had us doing the Sue Dove technique of ripping paper and colouring in between it is very effective,we did it on a piece of A4 paper and looking through a view finder we cut them up,below is one of Angies This monstrous cat was made by Annie

Cheryl`s piece you can tell she is an artist

The next two are mine the first one is supposed to be ammonites

And the next 2 are Angie`s which he has cut up

This bird was made from an idea in Tesco`s food magazine,my husband who does the shopping keeps bringing them home in the hope that I might get keen and cook something different,not much hope of that, they showed theirs made in white felt but I decided red would look more cheerful

Well these are some of the screen prints that took me 5 evenings and cost me £120.00,I do have quite a few and I am thinking of papering the downstairs loo with them.The whole course was very rushed and would have been impossible to get the final printing done had not half the class not turned up.It was not what I was after as it was for printing on paper and any questions I asked about blocking a screen for fabric just got dismissed so it was for me a waste of money,but you live and learn.I did ask him at the start of the course what we would be doing but it was a wait and see answer, I did feel I ought to tell him that it was too rushed,but when we talked about it ,it was the first course of that type he had done and I couldn't bring myself to criticise it.I am just a coward.I did smile to myself on the way home he showed us some prints that were going into an exhibition and although I can admire the skill I just do not like them as a piece of art,so what a nutter doing the course.

Finished pieces and grandchildren

2008-11-30T21:25:00.000Z

A very proud Grandma went to see Olive aged 9( it was her birthday the same day) in her school assembly she was the narrator.Olive is sat at the front legs crossed with a headband on,she was brilliant,as every Grandma would know! The next day I went fossilising with son and grandson aged 5, poor Sam had trudged along the Severn at Aust for miles looking for fossils last W/E without much luck, so this W/E I suggested Hock Cliffs down at Fretherne, well know for its devils toenails , but we really wanted ammonites.He was very good walked a long way again and we did find a few broken ammonites but when I gave them to him he said" I don't want them Grandma they are all dirty", so I don't think we will make a fossil hunter out of him ,lovely as he is.

Well I even got around to doing Maggie Grey`s online course for her book Textile Translations, below is the finished piece, it is a book,

This is the book opened I decided to use chinese symbols as English did not seem quite right.

I decided to put tissue paper on yheinside to cover up the threads, this was then painted with interference violet and lightly touched with treasure silver.

I finnished the corset it is on the board and ready for Angie to inspect tomorrow.

I sewed beads along the top and in circles in the ammonites and hemmed the edges.

I finished the bag off with some embroidery and sewed on the handle, and with the piece cut off the flap I made a small purse/ phone holder.

This is the finished scroll from the Textured surfaces workshop it was great fun to do and turned out quite well,I seem to get on better with a distressed effect rather than a "perfect" finish. This is the inside which is xandaprint through a stencil then coloured.

I also managed to finish the book, its not the right measurements but it turned out fairly well,I must give up the red wine when I am supposed to be concentrating,but yippee my Mother has just sent a case of 15 bottles an early Christmas present and I might just have to sample them to make sure they are satisfactory!The front of the book the design is made of Tyvek and the back has xandaprint through a stencil then rubbed with treasure copper,it is wonderful stuff.

I have put my samples inside with a description of the process used, aren't I a good girl.

These are samples I did for different textures below left seeds, and right
fabric strips and thread.

these are split lentils, string and rock salt.

Below are pieces of pelmet vilene with budgie grit and budgie sand in fabric medium before painting,great textures, could be very useful for my ammonites theme, this is all from Lynda and Carols on line course.

This is budgie sand through a stencil and then coloured.