2 new pieces of textile art work       Phew!! Well, that was a whirlwind of a month or so. What with visitors staying and getting my new work ready to hang, it has been none stop.  It has been wonderful to finally have visitors to stay now that Shannon, my local airport, is opening up. More flights are being added every month, it is very encouraging. However, there was the added irritation of the studio door coming off it's rail and smashing that really didn't help.  I really didn't need this . . . Groan! It is very handy having large sheets of farm plastic stored in my big shed. The boarded and secure door. It can be locked. A local builder has kindly boarded the door so I can still use it, but is does make the studio very dark. Which is an issue when I am filming or doing a live stream. Any of you that watched the live stream I did for Vlieseline on Saturday will have seen what I mean. If you haven't seen it yet - hop over to the Vlieseline Freudenberg ...

 This is a new range of work for me - I am very excited.  It will be shown in the gallery that I am sharing with Susan Chapman. People and Places - stand number M11.  Well we are nearly there - The Fashion, Embroidery and Stitch Show is looming ever closer. www.fashionembroidery.co.uk/birmingham We will be setting up the show on Wednesday and will be open to the public Thursday 17th - Sunday 20th March.  One of the features of the show is the Vilene - now Vlieseline Workshop. This is something I organise. We have some fantastic tutors this year. www.fashionembroidery.co.uk/birmingham/workshops     Please book spaces on my stand L22. There are 10 places per workshop, per day. 1 workshop per person each day and it is first come, first served - so run from the door to the right hand corner of the show and join the queue. 10.30 BUILD UP BONDAWEB With Tina Francis Painted Bondaweb has been used in Textile Art for some time; in this ...

 My new stencils - Are now sold out. The stencils are based on one my sketches of a shell I photographed on Moreaki beach on the South Island of New Zealand. The shell is tiny - my sketch is much larger than life size. I had decided to sell the stencil packs at my next show - Fashion, Embroidery and Stitch at the NEC next month - they will be £15 for a pack of 3. My new stencils are laser cut from 350 micron mylar and can be used for all sorts of applications. This post is showing you how to use them with KK Glue but they can be used with paints and sprays just like any other stencil. KK Glue - a very fine glue powder. The bottle has a screw top lid so you can return any surplus powder to the bottle. This retails for £5.9 0 for 50g.  KK Glue is washable up to 40 degrees but when using with transfer foil, the transfer foil is only washable up to  30 degrees.  There are holes on one side of the cap for sprinkling, the other side...

Layers of Tyvek layered with polyester organza, machine stitched together and then zapped with a heat gun. This has been a very whizzy week, this will be a brief post. The Fibre Forum with Tafta Inc at Geelong is a hysterical, amazing and wonderful event. There are so many people involved, we have had an amazing time so far - we have even got some work done.  I am teaching a 5 version of Hot Textiles, this includes experimenting with painted Bondaweb/Vliesofix, Tyvek, Lutradur/CS800 and the heavier interfacings, S133 and Decovil 1 and Decovil 1 light. Here are a range of corsages made from Tyvek. . .           This is how they start . .     . . . and how they finish, with a bit of TLC from an iron, baking parchment and a soldering iron. And we layered 3 sheets of 75gm Tyvek with polyester organza, machine stitched together and then zapped back with a gun to create some fabulous textures. and we made ...