Hand cut leather embellished with felt, beads, machine and hand stitch. I am alternating posts between The Knitting and Stitching Show in Dublin and my last two workshops that were both newspaper based. Even you, dear reader, can only take sooo much newspaper! The work that I have selected to show you is what either fascinated and inspired me, or just tickled my fancy. There were some fabulous artists exhibiting at the show but I can only show you so much - so this is my choice. The work of the Irish graduates was a delight and two of them are featured here - the other - a graduate from the U.K. is also featured.  Amy Brannigan's work is very intricate and is based on lace patterns and the Irish Coastline. Leather is either cut by hand or a laser cutter to create beautiful layers and voided areas - a beautiful lace.    The work is reminiscent of seaweed washed up on the beach with all kinds of encrustations.   Laser cut leather encrust...

 The lovely Laura Strutt polishing off 2 puddings - no not really - we shared.  I have found a fellow dessert lover!!! Whoopppee! The Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace was amazing, very busy indeed. I have a new job - promoting Vilene products at various shows around the country. As you can imagine, it is a great hardship - not!!! I have been working with these fabulous products for many years as many of you will know. Laura Strutt and I will be doing all the Twisted Thread shows for the next few years and one or two others .Laura is a very clever girl and is into all manner of crafts as well as working on magazines and is the author of the Haynes Sewing Manual. We get on SOOOOO well together. Whilst the shows are hard work - great fun can also be had.  Laura showing how to use the Quickscreen Triangle by Vilene. The whole point of us having a stand at the shows is to help you all identify which Vilene products you may need for your area of...

  My dear friend Brenda and I at the Mexican party on Saturday night -  (They are stick on moustaches - not our own!!!) After a wonderful week being a student at the TSG (Textile Study Group textilestudygroup.co.uk) summer school in Newport, Shropshire - I drove down to Redditch ready to for the weekend.  It was the third weekend of my Experimental Textiles course at The Old Needle Works. The plan was to look at positive and negative space and to paint colour wheels.  After having a look at all the homework the girls had done in the previous month we got straight into decorating white cartridge with wax crayons. This is a wonderful 'play school' type of activity where you don't have to think too much. It is a great way to ease into the weekend.     We were going to colour wash these masterpieces with procion dye powder and water on Sunday. The wax resists the dye. Then it was onto the main event of the weekend - Colour Theory!!!! ...