Foiled and engraved Decovil 1 cut with a Big Shot Pro die cutting machine to create a heart shaped box.   Hello, Yes! I know I have been quiet - did you enjoy the peace? I have been fighting with finishing the manuscript for my next book and getting samples made for the shows that start next week in Manchester. The manuscript is with my publishers (Hurrah!) and I have a few samples to show you. I love teaching and meeting new students - and old ones! Claire Pain was a new student last year on my Foredown Tower workshops. She was great fun and fitted in well with the usual slightly bonkers ladies that attend my workshops.  I love working with people who know how to have a good time. Decovil 1 and Decovil light pre-coloured and foiled and then engraved by Claire on her laser cutter . We were talking in class and Claire mentioned she had a laser cutting business, well, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I have been looking for someone to work with who understood

  The Divine Ruth Issett and the very wonderful Susan Chapman larking about on the Art Van Go stand. Ruth was demonstrating on the Art Van Go stand on Saturday and Susan's stand was opposite.  The lovely Mr Mead from Art Van Go  www.artvango.co.uk - we all ate so much ice cream during the show - it was clotted cream ice cream with real fruit and candy floss . . and honeycomb . . and raspberry pavlova . . . . and chocolate . . . and lemon crunch . . .  and toffee fudge and so many more. Over the four days we did our best to get through the flavours by having two scoop cones. The vote down our end of the show was that the lemon crunch and honeycomb were the best. I will be teaching a 3 day workshop - The Journey, inspiration for art and design May 24th - 26th and another 3 day workshop  - A new starting point August 29th - 31st in their lovely studio. I will also be holding a mentoring day on the 1st September for any ex students who wish to spend the day d

Slip covers for the books that were pictured on the blog yesterday.  Decovil - new iron-on interfacing, dyed and then decorated with layers of newspaper, painted Bondaweb and gilding flake. First I was girly - and now I am being dainty - very unusual for me. I have managed to finish 2 book covers and make some more jewellery. I seem to have sold most of my first batch. The cover on the left is finished with acrylic wax and the one on the right was covered with a sheet of Lamifix gloss, hence it is shiny and wipe able. Lamifix also comes in a matt finish if you don't want your work looking tooooo shiny. Here is the dainty part - I have been drilling my jewellery pieces to make them into longer earrings with the tiniest drill bit. I have now managed to get it down to a fine art AND remember to breathe.    Layered newspaper and painted Bondaweb ironed onto Heavy Pelmet Vilene Plus  www.nid-noi.com then cut to shape on a die cutting machine. My lovely fr

    Decorated newspaper ironed onto heavy pelmet Vilene plus and cut to shape with a die cutting  machine I am just packing up the car ready to leave to teach at Denman College  www.denmancollege.org.uk for the next couple of days. I will be teaching my Hot Textiles 2 workshop to a small group that I first met on Hot Textiles at Denman at the end of last year - they are coming back to play. We should have a wonderful time as they already know the basics. We will be able to move fast and cover a lot of ground, I am very excited - some FAB work should be produced. I'm going to take my heat press and die cutting machine in case the group want to try any of the my newspaper processes with painted Bondaweb.   Decorated newspaper brooches . . .       . . and more . . .  I will report back as we go along - we should have a great time in class - and then of course there is the food  . . . .  the beautiful grounds . . . . sigh! what a way to start this years teach

Bonded layers of Vilene Spunbond CS500 It is SO good to be home - the washing machine is going full pelt, I have so much sorting out to do and the cleaning . . . I left the house in a bit of a mess and surprise surprise - the fairies haven't been in - so will have to attack the cobwebs too - but I am home, for at least a week. Big sigh - wonderful! Domestic goddess? Possibly not! The second 2 day workshop at Inkberrow Design Centre was Hot Textiles. This is a more basic workshop to teach the safe creative use of irons, heat guns and soldering irons. It was great to have 2 days to spend extolling the wonders of Vilene Spunbond, Bondaweb and Tyvek.         Some of the excellent decorated painted Bondaweb samples. The Bondaweb has been decorated with (from the top) transfer foils and Tyvek, threads, glitter and gilding flake, sequins, gilding flake and transfer foil, skeleton leaves. To create these layered applique Vilene Spunbond samples - pre dyed

I had hoped to post this earlier but the key board o my laptop keeps missing 2 letters, however I dot want to wait until the weekend when I get home as I will need to tell you about my exploits here in Redditch - see if you ca work out which ones they are . . . . . spell check will sort most words but . . . .   Good luck with reading this. I am still o the road. I have just finished 2 x 2 day workshops at Inkberrow Design Centre ad have take over one of the studios to spread out everything I need for filming my new DVD o Thursday.. I will keep the words brief as the missing letters will drive you mad. We were using dyed ad painted newspaper with painted odawe, gilding flake ad heat transfer foils to create surfaces o which to print ad stitch. We also ironed the decorated papers onto a heavy iron-o interfacing ad cut boxes. We had a wonderful time at Moor Hall ad I will e teaching a 3 day workshop there ext August. I am