Christmas street decorations in Granada 2012. Well the rain has stopped in Brighton - for at least an hour now! Blimey it's been wet. My thoughts are with those of you who are still struggling with having been flooded for the second or even third time. The sun is shining as I write this, it is a treat to write this looking out at a bright blue sky - long may it last!  I am off to France later today to stay with good friends and share New Year with them. Like most of you I have been thinking back over the past year and planning for 2013 . . and 2014 Gulp!  x 2012 Started well for me as I was in Spain staying with my dear friend Brenda Killigrew who runs The Old Needle Works in Redditch where I teach my ExTex course. We visited Granada at New Year and visited the Alhambra. It had been long been a resolution/need of mine to visit the Alhambra and thanks to Brenda we spent a wonderful day there. Cordoba is next on the list. Brenda has a house in Spai

Sorry - I couldn't resist showing you how beautiful the sky is here in Spain this morning . . . . . I love the pale berries on this tree. x  Murcia Cathedral at dusk Brenda, Keith and I went into Murcia last night to watch The Three Kings Procession. Today is Three Kings Day, a bit like our Christmas Day. We had a great night and I never tire of taking photo's of the Cathedral - it is SO beautiful . . . . .  My images of the procession are not the best as it was dark, but hopefully you can get a flavour of what it was like. There were marching bands and all kinds of floats and most importantly - sweets and toys being thrown  to the children. It was all very exciting. The Spanish certainly know how to put on a good show . . . . . I love sitting outside in the evening and watching the world go by - it is not something that Brenda or I do a lot of when we are back in the U.K. Once we are up - we are at work! I fly home tomorrow night ready

A collage of dyed newspaper, painted Bondaweb, transfer foil, net, machine stitch and a fab piece of squashed metal by Carolynn McMillan Christmas is a great time to make and receive cards. I thought I would share two that I received - I just love them. Carlolynn McMillan lives in Canada and we have been emailing for a while trying to sort out which of the Pellon products in Canada and the U.S.A.are similar to the ones I sell. We have swapped parcels of goodies and I think I prefer all the 'pelmet' Vilene interfacings that I sell as they are smooth. The ones that Carolynn sent me are bit rough and pock marked. However I am sure there must be a larger range available so I will investigate. Carolynn also sent me some 'Reemay' which looks very similar to a fine to medium weight Vilene Spunbond. I need a chance to play with it to see if it reacts in the same way. I am waiting to hear back from Carolynn to see what she thinks of all my samples . . . I posted mine a

  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.castanea-craft-courses.com I

The Tulip Tree ( Liriodendron tulipifera ) in full flower - quite stunning, just one of the many specimen trees in the grounds One more post about Denman College. www.denmancollege.org.uk It is a very beautiful place to work, learn and play! Denman has it's own new website which will be continually updated over the next month or so. Although the college is the home of the W.I. all the courses are open to the public - MEN and women. You don't have to be a member to enrol on the courses and enjoy the whole Denman experience. The grounds are stunning and well kept with plenty of areas to explore in any spare time you have. They look good throughout the year. Amongst many attractions I love the long flower border and the lake. looking across the grounds to a beautiful group of trees one of the gorgeous flower borders one aspect of the lake with its well established trees and surrounding planting There are usually several courses running at one time at Denman and on the l

Another Place - installation by Antony Gormley on Crosby Beach The Liverpool show was great fun and I enjoyed meeting up with those of you who came and said hello! Being in Liverpool was a great opportunity to spend more time at one of my favourite places - Crosby Beach. Wendy Dolan and her husband Rob were at the show as well so we spent a evening on the beach together. It has been wonderful to see Wendy so often this year, we are going to make time to see each other more often rather than just seeing each other a shows. My good friend Brenda Killigrew was also doing the show promoting our courses for Castanea www.castaneacraftcourses.com and she joined us at the beach.   Brenda nearly being blown away (she's only little) - making contact with one of the sculptures amazing jellyfish washed up on the beach When we all arrived on the beach we very soon became aware of hundreds of jellyfish that had been washed up on the beach, I have never seen so many of these creatures