As we were using newspaper we also created faux chenille. The course title was Print, Paint, Stitch and Play! It is a new course and the group at Bobby's were wonderful guinea pigs!  I drove up to Shropshire on Monday and on the way stopped off in Ledbury to see Angie Hughes for lunch in her new flat. Angie is a great mate of mine but because we live so far apart we only really see other at shows. It was great to have the chance of a couple of hours together - we had a lovely lunch and had good old catch up. We are hoping to have a 'play' weekend in Brighton in the not too distant future. Angie's website is angiehughes.com Then it was on to Bettws-y-Crwyn and Bobby's studio at Moor Hall - it gets very twisty and turny and then the roads narrow - ooohhh!!!! Don't like it! But it is worth it when you arrive - it is SO beautiful. The views are remarkable and the farmhouse is old and surrounded by a lovely cottage garden. The studio is light and bright

  Alpaca and silk tops with painted Bondaweb and layered newspaper ready to stitch.   I hope you all enjoyed the Jubilee celebrations and that those of you that were involved in street parties didn't get washed away . . It is wonderful to have a few days to just relax and let ideas arrive. When I was in Blenheim, New Zealand, for their Creative Fibre Festival I picked up some beautiful Alpaca and silk fibres and started to play with the fibres and painted Bondaweb unsupported - I don't mean me feeling lonely, I mean not on a background. Having started to stitch into the pieces I felt the need for some kind support but nothing too heavy that would detract from the beautiful fairy like qualities of the fibres . . . and low and behold I was asked to test a new self adhesive water-soluble product. It arrived this morning and is just the thing I needed and it washes away quickly with no residue - Fantastic. Once I get permission, I will let you all know the name of it.  

 The 'crashed' newspaper, Bondaweb and Solufleece What! not MORE newspaper - Yep!!! I'm afraid so . . . . I have had a chance to catch up with some work and try some samples I have been wanting to play with. Today's task was to try 'crashing' newspaper with Solufleece. I do it all time with fabrics. (For step by step photos and full instructions go to the Solufleece page on www.nid-noi.com) To crash fabric or newspaper you need to layer from the bottom up -  1 layer of Solufleece,  2 layers of Bondaweb off the baking paper your top fabric/newspaper Layer everything up and stitch 'tram lines' about the width of the foot of your sewing machine apart through all 4 layers. You can experiment with different widths and maybe trying wavy lines once you have done your first sample. Being VERY careful not to burn yourself in your excitement - Steam your sample until it shrinks up or 'crashes'. This can be done wi