Busy girls on the workshop. Sorry this is a bit late in co ming - it's been a bit of a busy week. The sec o nd w o rkshop I taught was Hot New S urfaces. It was a four hour ex p erimental workshop playing with the all the weights and colours of Vilene S punbond. The group were very keen and got stuck in straight away. We worked with layers first. A pplying painted B ondaweb onto Spunbond and then decor ating it and then zapping it. They loved the gilding flake - I don't think many of the group had seen it before.   Spunbond decorated with p ainted Bondaweb and then zapped. They were happy to play and not make anything finished. It was great fun teaching this group, they were so keen and had not had a chance to play with these products before. We were using fro m the heaviest to the lightest - CS800, CS700 and CS500. The CS500 comes in seven colours as well as white. You can see the full range here -   https://www.nid-noi.com/product/LU.php  T he gro

  Here we go flying head long into the Festive season. It's the third of December already aaRRGGHH!!!! As part of my procrastination exercises to keep me from settling down to write the book, I am sorting out my jewellery for this weekend. As part of the Brighton Christmas Open Houses, Foredown Tower is opening for one weekend and putting on a Craft Fair. There will be all kinds of textile crafts and gifts plus my sister selling her gorgeous cookies and chocolates and I will be there making a lot of noise and having lots of fun. Here are some of the new range that I have just finished -       These are all layered newspaper based.  These are my new foiled pierced drops.   . . and my new two layer foiled studs.  A selection of newspaper and foil studs. . . . and my brooches. I am very pleased with this collection - let's hope I sell a few bits as my workshop at Art Van Go didn't run this week which is a great shame. It is always

  While I was waiting for the Creative Bondaweb DVD's to arrive I made some brooches for my Open House this weekend. These are dyed and painted newspaper layered with painted Bondaweb and gilding flake - Craftynotions has a wonderful selection of colours gilding flake . You can watch me demonstrate this process on my new DVD. Have I mentioned I have a new DVD out?????? There are two video clips on the left of this blog. Having seen the clips and you are still interested - you can buy the Creative Bondaweb DVD here - www.nid-noi.com I have watched the DVD all the way through twice now and it is hysterical., I was obviously very relaxed and happy.. Jamie Malden of Colouricious who produced the film is  brilliant. Very well organinsed, calming and great fun. She made the entire experience very enjoyable and the film reflects this.  I'm off to buy some earring and brooch backs now and start putting the house back together for the Open House.  www.one2six.me.uk Hav

Thanks to not so Express TNT the DVD's arrived today rather than yesterday - aarGGHH!!! All envelopes have been stuffed and posted so you should be receiving them anytime from tomorrow to the middle of next week. Thank you all for your patience. My customers in Australia, Canada and the U.S.A will have to wait a wee bit longer - but they have been posted. I do hope you all enjoy the DVD, try not to laugh too much.   x I am making more newspaper brooches for my final Open House this week-end, I am expecting to be very busy. All the cakes are made, I just need to get on with the cheese scones now . . . . I do like a cheese scone - hot - with lots of butter . . . . mmmmm!!!! x x x

My Open House starts this weekend - aarrrGHH!!!!! Some how I WILL be ready. We have a wonderful mix of colour and texture - if you want to know more or fancy coming along for tea and cake - go to www.one2six.me.uk  Syvia Lynton  Mary Moox   Lyn Brooks    Jose Heasman  Ember Vincent Gary Smith    Jayne Routely  Kim Thittichai  Mary's Lamb Tideline Finds I'm off to clean windows, display some wonderful work, make some mince pies, hoover, display more work, stick brooch backs to brooches and FINISH SOME WORK to hang!!! x

  Independent Open House 29   - Pink Birdhouse 29 Southdown Avenue Brighton, BN1 6EH 1273 541589 clarerose.designs@ntlworld.com www.clarerosedesigns.co.uk The house is packed with lovely affordable things.  Clare Rose: Beautiful and sometimes humorous textile and felt pictures  Chrissy Smith: One-off fabric bags made from vintage and recycled materials  Jenny Sutler: Jewellery  Shirley Rose: Plants  Tina Clarke-Sheward: Victorian preserves and magnificent cakes  Colin Rose: Organic honey  Lisa Pilling: Mosaics  Kim Thittichai: Wonderful voluptuous cushions Well the first day was amazingly busy and several large pieces of work were sold as well as many smaller items, what an amazing start. I think people have realised that if they collect someones work they need to arrive early. We opened at 11am and the first rather large sale was at 11.05!!!! Boy were they keen.  The house was open and we were just about ready - Me on the left and an exhausted Clare on the right. She and

Pink Birdhouse 29 Southdown Avenue Brighton, BN1 6EH      the weekends of ~ 7/8, 14/15, 21/22 28/29 11am - 6pm   The Brighton Open Houses start this week end and I am making some cushions to go into my friends Clare Rose's house. If anyone wants to pop in and say Hello! I will be stewarding tomorrow from 11 - 6, Sunday 15th 11 - 2.30 and the weekend of 28th & 29th 11 - 6. I am no longer opening my own house as I just don't have time to get it all sorted, it is such a mammoth task which is just as well with the website crashing last week. I have been having great fun working with all my scraps and oddments of fabrics making cushions. It is such a treat to give myself time to play with fabrics and see what happens. My floor is a sea of colour, I have been wading through silks, denims and cottons and it has been wonderful. It makes such a change to be working with natural fabrics and my trusty old Bernina 707. I have had particular fun combining image transfer with