I have a 20k allowance to be checked in and my hand luggage won't be weighed. It is NEVER all going to fit in ! I don't know when I will post again as I will be hopping about a bit down under but I hope to post at least once a week. I fly tonight - aarrghhhHHHHH! Next time I post I will be in Australia - Blimey!  Amazing isn't it?

  The Divine Ruth Issett and the very wonderful Susan Chapman larking about on the Art Van Go stand. Ruth was demonstrating on the Art Van Go stand on Saturday and Susan's stand was opposite.  The lovely Mr Mead from Art Van Go  www.artvango.co.uk - we all ate so much ice cream during the show - it was clotted cream ice cream with real fruit and candy floss . . and honeycomb . . and raspberry pavlova . . . . and chocolate . . . and lemon crunch . . .  and toffee fudge and so many more. Over the four days we did our best to get through the flavours by having two scoop cones. The vote down our end of the show was that the lemon crunch and honeycomb were the best. I will be teaching a 3 day workshop - The Journey, inspiration for art and design May 24th - 26th and another 3 day workshop  - A new starting point August 29th - 31st in their lovely studio. I will also be holding a mentoring day on the 1st September for any ex students who wis...

Bobby Britnell and Viv from Art Van Go eating the delicious ice creams we are all addicted to at the show. So many flavours to try and only 4 days to try them  . . . . We had another really busy day today - I didn't have time to get off the stand to take any photos, I will go in early tomorrow and take some.  It was great to see Bobby Britnell demonstrating her brilliant techniques on the Art Van Go stand www.artvango.co.uk - she is SO talented and runs fabulous workshops at her beautiful home in Shropshire. www.bobbybritnell.co.uk I don't get to see Bobby often enough but will be teaching my 'Print, Paint, Stitch and Play' workshop in her wonderful studios August 14th - 16th so I will be able to catch up with her again then. I love doing this show as so many of my friends are here and you always meet new and exciting artists as well, we work very hard but we do have a good time too - hence the photo! I will show you more tomorrow x

This is just a quick post - it has been a very busy day. This show is SO good, such an amazing collection of textile artists, college stands, textile groups and so much more - I am so lucky to be there. It has been a great opportunity to catch up with friends that I haven't seen for a while - Claire Muir is one of them. Claire's work is stunning - she creates the most beautiful corsages, headpieces, fascinators - what ever you need. Most of Claire's work is for weddings and special occasions and made to order. I was mesmerised by the exquisite work and the way she had displayed it on her stand.    This is free machine embroidery in stunning form. For more information about Claire go to her website http://www.clairemuir.co.uk/index.asp .

Beautiful textures and subtle neutral colours plus an interesting collection of shapes . Well the stands are up and we are nearly ready - Jayne and I will go in early tomorrow to finish off. We came back to our guest house at 3pm and we were both so tired we fell asleep. We have just got back from having dinner in the local pub and are now packing up product in our respective rooms. Jayne is cutting up CS500 Spunbond ready for her workshop tomorrow in her room and I am rolling up single metres of Lamifix in my room. It is an annoying job as the Lamifix sticks to itself but I sell a lot of it and it is a fab product, so it is worth it. I am very lucky that Jayne has been able to take time off work to help me on the stand this year, she is an ex student who has turned into a great friend - she knows what I am like - and she still speaks to me!!!! I couldn't have managed on my own, I am still very tired and trying to keep the neuralgia under control - I have never taken so ma...

Kathleen Laurel Sage's first experiment using a soldering iron with Vilene Spunbond CS500 - she has now developed a very exciting new workshop. This time next week we will be exhausted after the 3rd day of Fashion, Embroidery and Stitch at the NEC. F,E and S as it is known, is one part of a three part show. It is the more creative and mad side of the show with all the college stands, the amazing fashion shows and of course - wonderful textile artists and the best traders. The two other parts of the show are Sewing for Pleasure which includes all the beautiful dressmaking side of textiles and then there is Hobbycrafts - all the traders you could possibly desire to supply your every need. There are free demonstrations and workshops and lectures and some stunning displays. It is going to be an amazing show . To find out more go to - http://www.ichf.co.uk/fashion/ I will be running the free workshops again on the Vilene Workshop stand no Y01. We have an exciting list...

One of Sarah's layered samples to show the students the kind of thing she was after! You may remember a post from the 8th of June last year where I told you about the amazing work that Sarah Patterson and her students were doing at Portsmouth College. They had created a range of fabulous dresses out of bin liners based on 'The Little Black Dress' or 'LBD' here is the link if you missed it - LBD - Hot Stuff Sarah and her students have exhibited the collection several times and have now created something new - and they will be exhibiting it all on stand no N16 at Fashion. Embroidery and Stitch next week. The work is based around Brighton .  Little felt maps of areas of Brighton a detail  experiments with synthetic fabrics, stitch and a soldering iron  a beautifully observed stitched sketch of the Royal Pavilion on layers of net and felt a simple experiment with layers and stitch - FAB!   These stunning headpieces will also ...

Fabulous shoes decorated by Helen McKenna Well I made it back from Glasgow on Monday, I am very glad I went. Everyone was very supportive and helpful without making a fuss, particularly Wendy and Rob Dolan. It was great to be surrounded by so many friends. If I had stayed at home and had had to cope with the new round of delights from the shingles I would have been very miserable indeed! The show was very busy and everyone I spoke to seemed to think it was the best show we have done at the SECC. Jennie Rayment was across the way from me and kept an eye on me all four days bless her, she was very busy as she was doing a 'Quick and Easy' workshop everyday and also featured in the fashion show - what a star she is. Jenni had only just returned from teaching in Spain for Castanea where I will be in October - Oh how I wish I was there now . .  http://castanea-craft-courses.com/ Val Hughes was also at the show show demonstrating felt making and her beautif...

I forgot to take a photo of the stand before I left - so here is one I prepared earlier - at Bluewater in February. Well I'm here in Glasgow and not tooooo worse for wear! I drove up as far as Carlisle yesterday and then onto Glasgow this morning. I had the stand more or less set up by 3pm so came back to my Travelodge for a snooze. It was great to see so many friends at the show. Wendy and Rob Dolan are here, we are off to see 'The Artist' tomorrow night. We are staying in the same Travelodge so Wendy can look after me - bless her, she is such a good friend. Isobel Hall, Jenni Rayment, Val Hughes are also here, amongst others. Cardonald College has the stand next to mine and it is looking good. The college are hosting the fashion shows over the next 4 days and they promise to be brilliant. I love coming up here - we always have a great time, everyone is so friendly. It will also be good to catch up Kathy Troup on The Embroiderers Guild stand, we don't of...

  One of the book covers made on Laura's workshop using melted plastic bags  I need your help - I need to contact Laura Manning whose students work I featured on the blog last year. I have very cleverly lost her email address. If you are reading this Laura could you email me or if anyone knows Laura could they pass the message on?   I have some very special friends - I could hear the postman trying to force something through the letterbox and low and behold it was a parcel from Chris Gray of Mabon Arts  https://shop.mabonarts.co.uk/ (Chris is teaching one of the free workshops at Fashion, Embroidery and Stitch) . I roared with laughter when I opened the parcel - I know Chris only sent me these packets as they would be good to melt, nothing to do with the contents . . . .  the card was FAB too - Than you so much Chris!    Decovil lite dyed and then decorated with some of my newspaper samples. The whole sample was then co...