Lesley on the left and Sue on the right This is just a quick blog to say that Sue and I have sorted out the dates for the workshops in France for 2012. We have also been eating and drinking rather a lot 'Quelle surprise'!!! Sue, Lesley and I lived together at college THIRTY FOUR YEARS ago - which is amazing as we are all only 36 - Ho Ho!!!  Sue is the proprietor of Kanagaroo the mail order company for knitting yarns and accessories. She also offers and teaches Learn to Knit workshops in France in case any of you are interested. see www.kangaroo.uk.com The holiday workshops Sue and I have thrashed out over several glasses of wine are Back To Basics workshops with a little local flavour thrown in. Follow the link at the end of this post to find out more. Because there is only space available for a small number of students I thought it would be a good idea to teach beginners on these workshops as we will all have more time together. A five night holiday in the beautiful Charent...

. . . we are working really . . This a shot of the Light Craft Room where I am teaching, it is very well equipped and Hope, Technical Support, is always so helpful and makes sure we tutors have everything we could possibly need for our teaching. We are all having a great time and I will post the work the students are developing in the next two days but now to what else is happening at Denman this week.  Apart from my course there are beading, photography and flower arranging classes going on. These are some of the beautiful displays that are being created But onto something closer to my heart . . the PUDDINGS! Teaching residential courses can be quite intense so I only teach at two colleges four to five times a year. One of the bonuses is the food and how well everyone is looked after. No washing up, no phone calls just teaching FAB students, making new friends and catching up with old ones. It' s a tough job . . . Apple Strudel or - chocolate brownies or - chocolate mouss...

the fountain in the grounds at Denman It's good to be back teaching at Denman College - the home of the W.I. This week I am teaching my workshop Extreme Surfaces for Stitch. I have 10 very keen ladies in my group, they are great fun and I will update you  all with what we are up to later in the week. At the moment we are painting up all the products, Tyvek, Bondaweb, Vilene Spunbond, all the usual suspects. Once we start layerng up I will take some images and post them.  It is very beautiful here, the main house in Georgian and the grounds are just gorgeous, there is texture and colour everywhere. I am so lucky to teach here. I took a few shots on the way to the studio after a hearty breakfast . . . . .  wonderful colours around the pond these wonderful Hostas are sitting just be the front door - not a snail hole in sight!!!!   Back to work now - just going to show the joys of painted Bondaweb - what a great job I have. will report back with more tomorrow . . . ....

Another Place - installation by Antony Gormley on Crosby Beach The Liverpool show was great fun and I enjoyed meeting up with those of you who came and said hello! Being in Liverpool was a great opportunity to spend more time at one of my favourite places - Crosby Beach. Wendy Dolan and her husband Rob were at the show as well so we spent a evening on the beach together. It has been wonderful to see Wendy so often this year, we are going to make time to see each other more often rather than just seeing each other a shows. My good friend Brenda Killigrew was also doing the show promoting our courses for Castanea www.castaneacraftcourses.com and she joined us at the beach.   Brenda nearly being blown away (she's only little) - making contact with one of the sculptures amazing jellyfish washed up on the beach When we all arrived on the beach we very soon became aware of hundreds of jellyfish that had been washed up on the beach, I have never seen so many of these creatures...

My wonderful group at Ballarat in 2010 I can now announce my courses in Australia next year. They have been launched in Australia so it is my turn now. You may think it a little odd to be advertising my Australian teaching on my blog but have you ever seen the traffic on my blog via the green Feedjit box on the left hand side of the screen? If you click on the small link at the bottom of the Feedjit box real time view , you will see a lot more information. I find it fascinating. Nearly half my hits come from Australia - So Hello! Australia. Greetings Donnie, Ruth and Dale . . . I will be arriving in Melbourne around the 1st of April having had a week to recover from my busiest show of the year - Fashion, Embroidery and Stitch at the NEC. Fibrearts - Ballarat I am very excited to be teaching for Glenys Mann again for Fibrearts Australia, I had such a fantastic time last year, was so well looked after and met some amazing tutors - two of whom I will be teaching with again next year ...

Well - I was in France for 5 days and put on FIVE POUNDS - so much for me losing weight, I managed to be good for the first 2 days then it all went to pot! I just love the food in France, and of course the wine. That's what did it. We were all having such a good time it would have been very rude of me not to join in . . . I can recommend a chocolate gallette for a slight to medium hangover. Lesley and Sue preferred the ice cream remedy! Sue and John have a beautiful courtyard garden and the fragrance that hits you when you walk in, it is exquisite. There is lavender, honeysuckle and fabulous roses in abundance. You may remember seeing an image of a Buddha head on a telegraph pole in my garden, It was given to me by Sue and John - they also have one (below). When we were sitting out in the evenings we heard cuckoos and a barn owl and loads of crickets, it was bliss. So peaceful  . . . The main idea of the week was for a bit of peace and quiet and to arrange the workshops for n...

  Independent Open House 29   - Pink Birdhouse 29 Southdown Avenue Brighton, BN1 6EH 1273 541589 clarerose.designs@ntlworld.com www.clarerosedesigns.co.uk The house is packed with lovely affordable things.  Clare Rose: Beautiful and sometimes humorous textile and felt pictures  Chrissy Smith: One-off fabric bags made from vintage and recycled materials  Jenny Sutler: Jewellery  Shirley Rose: Plants  Tina Clarke-Sheward: Victorian preserves and magnificent cakes  Colin Rose: Organic honey  Lisa Pilling: Mosaics  Kim Thittichai: Wonderful voluptuous cushions Well the first day was amazingly busy and several large pieces of work were sold as well as many smaller items, what an amazing start. I think people have realised that if they collect someones work they need to arrive early. We opened at 11am and the first rather large sale was at 11.05!!!! Boy were they keen.  The house was open and we were just about ready - Me on ...