Viv and Kevin. Starting our time in Dublin with a full Irish breakfast. Apologies for the delay in writing this post life has been a tad - hectic! I had a lovely time in Ireland. Laura and I shared a house in Donnybrook with Viv and Kevin from Art Van Go. We were there to do The Knitting and Stitching Show in Dublin. This is the second time that Vilene have a stand at this show, and after having such a good time last year we knew what we were in for . . .   Laura on the stand, halfway through setting up the stand.   It is great fun working with Laura at the shows - we do have a laugh together, we work hard too, of course!!! The Dublin show is not as busy as the other two in the UK, but it has a fabulous atmosphere and great charm. Some of the stand holders are the same but there are many more from Ireland. There was lots to see and many friends to catch up with. I always enjoy looking at the graduates showcase. There is always interesting and intriguing work to

Who'd have thought - from a pile of paper and painted Bondaweb . . . . I have just got home from three days at West Dean College a fabulous place to teach and a wonderful place to be a student. The grounds and gardens are stunning, the house is beautiful and the workshops are purpose built, great for accommodating any kind of workshop. The workshop was Reclaimed Textiles -paper, print and free machine embroidery. The workshops are very spacious. A stack of painted and colourwashed papers. We started by colour washing all kinds of papers - newspapers, old books, atlases . . .  and painting up Bondaweb. The group then launched into my 'prettys and backgrounds' technique where the papers are torn and layered several times with the painted Bondaweb. The use of sparkle was optional for a change.    Lots of luscious layers. The torn layered backgrounds were then used as background for print and stitch. Just some of S