A beautiful sample of Vilene Spunbond CS500 that has been backed with Bondaweb and then cut with a soldering iron. The cut shapes are then ironed onto more Vilene Spunbond. It is Wednesday - halfway through my week at Ballarat. There are 16 tutors teaching groups of students all over Ballarat Grammar School. We all are having a great time and working hard. We have an afternoon off today so i am catching up on the blog and then I will have a snooze - I need to re-charge my batteries - I am still not quite right - the drugs help a lot though!  my girls painting acres of Bondaweb I have a FABULOUS group of students, they are very patient with this strange women from the U.K. who shouts orders at them - they are starting to get used to me . . . . The ladies are working very hard and are excited about working with products that are new to them such as Decovil, Tyvek and Spunbond.   The girls working in the textiles studio   Just Bondaweb, painted and then iro

   The beach at Ocean Grove. On Good Friday Gillian and Tony took me down to Ocean Grove Beach and their family beach house. They had arranged a barbecue for the whole family. I was made very welcome and we had a wonderful feast - after that we went for a walk down to the beach. It is an amazing beach, even on a dark afternoon.   The magpies down here are very beautiful with very striking markings - this magpie posed for me on the sign for the beach. They have the most wonderful warbley song A surfer braving the waves   Tony and Pepper striding out.  Although it was a dark day the beach was very beautiful. x I am now in Ballarat - all the tutors have arrived and we have set up our rooms ready for teaching. The students will be arriving this afternoon and we will have a short session with them this afternoon then there will be a market where we can all sell our wares - I will be selling my brooches. We start teac

 Hurrah! and lashings of ginger beer! My first course in Australia 2012 is full - there are still places left on other courses so if you are one of my Aus followers - check out the website fibrearts.jigsy.com/fibre-arts-at-ballarat-2012. I am so excited, particularly as this will be a new workshop combining newspaper with Vilene Spunbond and painted Bondaweb . . ooohhhHH!!!! It's going to be GORGEOUS.   old dyed newspapers layered with painted Bondaweb and gilding flake with STITCH, don't die of shock, I do get round to stitching sometimes . . . .   old dyed newspaper decorated with foiled Hot Spots!and Yes! more stitch  There are still places left on my workshop for ContextArt Forum in Katoomba in the Blue Mountains 4-DAY Workshop: HOT TEXTILES – NEW SURFACES FOR STITCH ( from Mon afternoon April 16 th to Friday noon, April 20 th 2012). Come and discover what Kim has been experimenting with in the past 2 years since she first graced Australia shores in 2010 to work

My wonderful group at Ballarat in 2010 I can now announce my courses in Australia next year. They have been launched in Australia so it is my turn now. You may think it a little odd to be advertising my Australian teaching on my blog but have you ever seen the traffic on my blog via the green Feedjit box on the left hand side of the screen? If you click on the small link at the bottom of the Feedjit box real time view , you will see a lot more information. I find it fascinating. Nearly half my hits come from Australia - So Hello! Australia. Greetings Donnie, Ruth and Dale . . . I will be arriving in Melbourne around the 1st of April having had a week to recover from my busiest show of the year - Fashion, Embroidery and Stitch at the NEC. Fibrearts - Ballarat I am very excited to be teaching for Glenys Mann again for Fibrearts Australia, I had such a fantastic time last year, was so well looked after and met some amazing tutors - two of whom I will be teaching with again next year

Anyone who is self employed, particularly in my line of work knows we have to book our work quite far ahead. Whilst it can seem you are wishing your life away, it can also be good to have something exciting to look forward to. I have just signed the contracts for Fibrearts Ballarat Australia and the Creative Fibre Festival in Blenheim New Zealand in April/May 2012. I have also had confirmation for the Fibre Festival in Anchorage, Alaska for March 2012.  my gorgeous girls at Fibrearts Ballarat April 2010 I am SO excited about going back to teach at Ballarat - watch out Donnie and Ruth - Yeehhaa!!!! This time I will be concentrating on 3D structures using all the Hot Textiles techniques. It should be great fun and by then we should have some new products to play with. What will make my happiness complete is that Mary Hettmansperger will also be teaching that week. We met this year when we taught together at Ballarat and Orange. She is FANTASTIC, it will be wonderful to see her again. G