It is going to be a STUNNING day today! The weather is looking Fab and I have a whole day to get all my orders out then I can start to play with the samples I need to make for my new DVD with Colouricious. Oh the joy of being at home - I must make the most of it. I am hoping to do a little sketching later, it is very rare for me to take the time to sit and draw but I seem to surrounded by beautiful flowers at the moment and they are crying out to be looked at, adored and committed to paper. Sometimes photographs just won't do - you really need to LOOK at the shapes and forms . . . .  My sister bought me this huge bunch of lilies before I left for Exeter and they are now fully out and look and smell divine, they scent the entire house ( I have a very small house). The only thing I have watch is the pollen, it can be a nightmare as it is a dye, I have tried cutting it off but you lose the lovely contrast of the dark and the light. Nature really does know best. My love...

  My stand when it was looking tidy Creative Stitches at Westpoint was brilliant. The Thursday and Friday were like being at the NEC in Birmingham and Saturday and Sunday were just BUSY.  I met some great people, everyone was really friendly and interested. I think everyone had a splendid show. I was in good company there. Jill Kennedy Mixed Media Textiles www.craftsontheweb.co.uk Nina Corey Rag Rugs www.makings.co.uk    Jan Tillett Breautiful stitched bags www.jantillett.co.uk Anne Griffiths Contemporary Textile Art www.annegriffiths.com Jane E Hall Fine Art Embroidery www.clothofnature.com Jamie Malden Colouricious - an amazing array of wooden printing blocks www.colouricious.com  . . . and last but most certainly not least -  my lovely friend Brenda Killigrew of Inkberrow Dsigbn Centre who is also the owner of Castanea Craft Courses Craft Courses in Spain www.cas...

So much for a posting a sensible missive this morning - too tired and running late. Here is a sample of a texture and colour scheme I am very fond of taken at dinner last night in a fantastic pub in Sidmouth . . . . . Last day of the show today then home tomorrow  If I'm not too tired I'm hoping to drive up to Avebury to look at those amazing stones on the way home. It is not often I am over this way so need to make the most of it. I WILL do a proper post on Tuesday!  x

they must be healthy - they have nuts and seeds on. . . . . I am at Westpoint in Exeter demonstrating my techniques at the Creative Stitches Show.  The last 2 days have been the busiest I have ever known for a show out side the NEC. The foot fall yesterday was up 20%!!!!! I haven't had a chance to get off my stand apart from dashing out to deliver my daily lecture and then dashing back to the stand - we are absolutely exhausted and there a 2 more days to go.  I will make a point of going in early tomorrow to take some photos of the show but here are 2 you might enjoy.. I have to pass the handmade chocolate stand on the way back to my stand - it would be rude not buy some of their delights as I pass by - Sorry Lee!!! Champagne and Baileys truffles - OMG - DIVINE! I will do a sensible blog tomorrow . . . . . . x Hello Ooana!!! x Hi Carol - is this big enough? x x

 The 'crashed' newspaper, Bondaweb and Solufleece What! not MORE newspaper - Yep!!! I'm afraid so . . . . I have had a chance to catch up with some work and try some samples I have been wanting to play with. Today's task was to try 'crashing' newspaper with Solufleece. I do it all time with fabrics. (For step by step photos and full instructions go to the Solufleece page on www.nid-noi.com) To crash fabric or newspaper you need to layer from the bottom up -  1 layer of Solufleece,  2 layers of Bondaweb off the baking paper your top fabric/newspaper Layer everything up and stitch 'tram lines' about the width of the foot of your sewing machine apart through all 4 layers. You can experiment with different widths and maybe trying wavy lines once you have done your first sample. Being VERY careful not to burn yourself in your excitement - Steam your sample until it shrinks up or 'crashes'. This can be done wi...

Newspaper faux chenille book by Jen Henley My happiness is now complete - someone has sent some of their own work to me to show you - well done Jen!!! Wonderful though all my samples are, it is much more interesting to see what other people do with these techniques. This is the email Jen sent -  Love your Facebook page. Re your post about faux chenille, I have attached some photos inspired by you. Love your new book and the faux chenille with newspaper really appealed.   I had a stash of newspaper used for ironing off soya from fabric.  It had been painted with Koh-i-Noor (using a wide brush and the whole palette, lovely mucky colour). Followed your instructions and machined the newspaper onto a base of painted Vilene Spunbond/Lutradur that I had lying around. Was ecstatic with the finished piece and turned it into a book cover, using faggoting stitch to join the edges of the spine with a natural linen thread. Decided that the book needed home made paper...

 old painted and dyed newspaper layered with polyester organza Well who would have thought that old newspapers would cause such a stir??? I have had several emails and a couple of comments about yesterdays blog. All asking for more images of the faux chenille - so here you are my lovelies. Faux chenille is a technique I taught on Experimental Textiles. Experimental Textiles was a four year course that I wrote and taught for 10 years and stopped teaching a couple of years ago. I will be teaching a shortened version starting next May in Redditch, for more details go to - http://inkberrowdesigncentre.co.uk/node/1471 There are many tutorials on the Internet and more usually using natural fabric, but basically you layer at least 6 layers of Fabric/Newspaper, stitch tramlines or channels down the entire piece and then cut through the top 5 layers making sure you DON'T cut through the bottom layer. Easier said than done with newspaper. I back mine with dyed craft/pelmet Vilene. You...

  old painted and dyed newspaper layered with painted Bondaweb to create a firm surface on which to stitch and print  It is always good to write new courses and stretch yourself (and your students). I have been looking forward to teaching A New Starting Point - a workshop based on using old painted and dyed newspapers as a base for just about anything you fancy but including stitch and print. The surfaces can be layered to create samples firm enough to make into boxes or vessels. This should be a very exciting course which could lead in many directions.  I will be delivering this 2 day course at Moor Hall, Bobby Britnell's workshop in Newcastle on Clun, Shropshire SY7 8PH , we could do with a few more students - if you know of anyone that might be interested - do forward this blog to them . . . . .  As well as layering newspaper with painted Bondaweb we will be experimenting with faux chenille using newspaper - another great opportunity for an unusual background o...

Here I am back home again sitting in a sea of mess and carnage . . . .  I MUST tidy up my house!!! I seem to have been teaching and travelling for months - I now have over a week at home - Whhopppeeeee!!! I have a huge amount to catch up with but if I work steadily at the list, I should get to the bottom of it by the time I leave for the Exeter show. One thing I must do is buy a new washing machine - sigh! The joys of domesticity . . . I was booked to deliver a lecture on Monday afternoon and a one day Scrumptious Spunbond workshop on the Tuesday. There was such a long waiting list for the workshop that we had to arrange an extra workshop for the next day. I had a rather traumatic start to my trip to Marlborough - no car!!!! Luckily the A.A. man pointed out that I had hire car cover on my policy - why do I always panic and not think clearly???? it was a bit of a rush getting to the car hire place in time on Monday morning to collect the (much smaller car than my Vo...

6 of the 7 lovely ladies on my course last week enjoying the sunshine on the terrace at West Dean As the title of the course suggests I wanted to incorporate design exercises into this 4 day workshop which may then lead onto more considered samples as we worked through the 'Hot Textiles' processes. Here a few of the exercises the students worked through on the first day. * We then worked through most of the 'Hot Textiles' techniques, half the group had never painted Bondaweb so we started with that. This lovely sample was decorated with the background paper from the Bondaweb. These 2 samples were created with Vilene Spunbond and pelmet/craft Vilene with Bondaweb on the back, cut with a soldering iron and ironed onto more pelmet/craft Vilene.    75 gm Tyvek layered with polyester organza,machine stitched together and then zapped with a heat gun.   Layers of polyester organza machine stitched together and then zapped with a heat gun These wonderful Tyvek...