amazing layers by Mary Campbell - layers of zapped Vilene Spunbond and craft/pelmet Vilene cut with a soldering iron The students produced some amazing work on this 3 day workshop at Art Van Go www.artvango.co.uk there many different levels of experience in the group but everyone got on really well, sharing materials, experience . . . . and chocolates . . . . Beautiful textures by Tracey Fordham, layers of zapped Vilene Spunbond and ployester organza applied to a painted Bondaweb background More zapped Vilene Spunbond embellished with French knots and stab stitch. This lovely sample ended up on the cover of a sketch book. I was particularly pleased with this sample by Phillipa Hamilton, it is the best piece of work I have seen so far that manages to incorporate and disguise textures Tyvek - stunning! Close up of Phillipa's sample another sample by Phillipa, this time layers of heavy Tyvek and polyester organza machine stitched together and then zapped with a heat gun.

layers of Vilene Spunbond cut with a soldering iron and bonded onto craft/pelmet Vilene Today was the first day of a 3 day summer school at Art Van Go www.artvango.co.uk Having established that most of my 12 students are absolute beginners I decided to start right at the beginning with decorated painted Bondaweb and sampling Vilene Spunbond - looking at different edges. some of the girls learning how to use the soldering irons the once tidy gallery are at the back of the studio, the floor covered in glorious colour painted Bondaweb ironed onto black cotton, decorated with Hydrangea petals and Artichoke heart seeds a combination of craft/pelmet Vilene cut with a soldering iron and ironed onto more craft/pelmet Vilene the same again - Fabulous design . . . .    The girls left exhausted at 4pm, they had painted, bonded, soldered and zapped all day - they produced some fab samples. Tomorrow we will be layering, using sewing machines and zapping back.  Now it's off out to dinner

  layers of Tyvek and polyester organza machine stitched together and zapped back to reveal different layers with a heat gun When you teach at Art Van Go there is no shortage of supplies, there is a vast range of paints and dyes and products - everything is on hand. Viv and Kevin and their glamorous assistants are always lurking somewhere nearby if there is anything you have forgotten, and I usually have! The main objective of this workshop was the safe use of heat tools and identifying and using appropriate materials and products. Most the first morning was spent painting up the products, learning how thick to apply the paints. This may sound incredibly basic but it is the most important part of the process. If you paint your products with very thick paint the products won’t react to heat. The paint will create a barrier. It is important to use water based paints as oil based paints and media will give off fumes The only product where it doesn’t really matter how thick the paint is

students painting up products I always enjoy teaching at Art Van Go , www.artvango.co.uk we are all SO well looked after. Fresh coffee and tea on tap with biscuits in the morning and chocolates in the afternoon. But I suppose you will want to know about the work! Hot Textiles 2 is the follow on workshop from Hot Textiles - funnily enough! The main idea of these workshops is the safe and creative use of irons, heat guns and soldering irons. Although my book Hot Textiles was published back in 2007 these workshops are still my most popular.  We were working with Vilene Spunbond, Tyvek, pelmet (craft) Vilene, Bondaweb, painted and plain and polyester organza, all the usual suspects. I also included Hot Stuff Sheets and Lamifix. As followers of this blog will already know, I have a passion for old painted and dyed newspaper. The faux chenille technique with newspaper was also tried out in this workshop to great success. It is featured in my new book and judging by the reactions from m

  this stunning Houseleek/Sempervivum graces the front terrace of the villa Because of worries about the threatened Spanish air traffic control strike and illness we were a small and exclusive group. This meant we could get through a lot more work, it was a great luxury. It is unlikely to ever happen again so we all made the most of it. The timetable was -  Monday am - Market Monday pm - Studio Tuesday - Studio Wednesday - Studio Thursday am - Studio Thursday pm - Tapas lunch in Murcia than a guided tour and shopping! Friday - Final day in studio and 'show and tell'. Working in the studio during the week - As with all of my workshops we had to paint all the products before we could use them. Of course being in Spain that was no hardship, everything dried in record time. We painted up the Bondaweb and Tyvek with Colourful Thoughts paints from Cratynotions www.craftynotions.com These are high metallic paints that stay really bright even when you need to water them down to pai

Wow! What an amazing group. I was booked to deliver a lecture on the Saturday afternoon and a workshop on the Sunday in the local Darby & Joan Hall in Cottingham. The hall was packed on Saturday with a vibrant group of ladies of all ages. The lecture was well received and I was fascinated to see how the group was run. I am used to travelling around the country to Guilds and private groups and it is always interesting to see how things are organised - or not! This has got to be the most organised, friendly and possibly largest group I have encountered.  The group was started in 1982 by a C and G embroidery group with some of the original member still attending  The group were about 30 strong and have grown to 136 members. The E.Y.E.S. group also have an 'Eyelets' group for 5-10 year olds and a 'Highlights' group for teenagers. It was an absolute joy to meet everyone. some of the group working away in the workshop The workshop was Hot Textiles and we had a larger