New samples by Margaret Beal. Well we have had two great days so far at the SECC in Glasgow and we expect to be even busier tomorrow. It is great catching up with friends and meeting all the interested visitors.  I haven't seen Margaret Beal for a while so it is good to catch up with her and hear about her new book that is out this year, which I totally forgot to ask the title of - Duh! Margaret on her stand. Helen McKenna has a very colourful stand full of recycled delights. Helen's new recycled felted dress full of strange and unusual delights . . . Pat Archibald had a beautiful stand full of beautiful quilts and sparkly delights. Caroline Earl is local girl and it is so good to her again. Val Hughes is here with her beautiful felted pieces and an amazing felted dress.   Wendy and Rob  Dolan are here too, I seem to Wendy at more shows around the country than at home and we live in the same town! We are both always tr...

Beach huts on Seaford beach front. I had a rare weekend off this weekend and spent a lot of it at my sisters in Seaford. We had a great time together with lots of food and drink and a good walk on Sunday morning in the freezing cold. These modern beach huts line a section of the front and are very cheerful. I have been trying out some techniques for my workshops at the NEC this month. I will posting more information next week. I want to show how versatile the Decovil 1 iron-on interfacing is and one way to work with it is to texture it. At the moment I am using 5" texture pockets which aren't really big enough. Sissix were bringing out 12" texture pockets but they still haven't materialised. If any of you know of any 12" pockets I would be grateful if you could let me know. I cut an 'envelope' style bag out of Decovil 1 with my Big Shot Pro die cutting machine.   I then foiled the sticky side with transfer foil. ...

  Transfer printed satin covered with hand knitted wire embellished with hand stitch - by Sally. It is sad when a long course comes to an end - it is also a time to celebrate all the hard work of the past year. Friendships have been made amongst the group that I hope will last for years to come.     Sally stitching in to the sample above.   We started off with eight students and lost two along the way through broken bones and pressure of work. I am hoping that Liz of the broken bones will be picking up the course again some time this year and hopefully Emma will feel more able to work with the group as they go forward into new ventures.     Claire and Shaun appear to be working hard but were definitley feeling slightly hysterical and mucking about. Claire blamed the caffeinated tea she drank at lunchtime for her extreme fit of the giggles. (Claire normally drinks decaffeinated). Heidi working hard on her wall piece. ...

  The Freudenberg Vilene stand at the NEC. Whew!! Well that was a weekend! The show was on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. It was VERY busy on Sunday and then less so as the show went on. I enjoy working at the trade show. It is less frantic than the usual consumer shows that I do. There is an air of calm as all the visitors wander about the show meeting their contacts on different stands and doing deals. Everyone is very smart and tidy. My job was to demonstrate the more unusual techniques that you are all familiar with using Vilene products on the stand and also running the retailer workshops for Vilene. This involves teaching a forty five minute workshop every day for twenty retailers. The workshops were a bit manic - I think I tried to do too much . . . We were foiling on to my new loves Decovil 1 and Decovil light. We then printed onto the Decovil light with acrylics and the excellent Colourful Thoughts multi surface paints from Craftynotions. www.craftynotions.com Thes...

A melt in the middle chocolate pudding with vanilla ice cream and delicious chocolate sauce. It has been pointed out to me by a certain gentleman in the Portsmouth area that I have been rather remiss in my posting duties. It can be difficult to find the time and then wifi to post on the blog when I am travelling, particularly when I am doing a show. I hope this one makes up for my silence. I got back from the Manchester show yesterday after calling in on a few friends on the way. The show was held at Event City just opposite The Trafford Centre in Manchester. I haven't known SUCH a busy show for a long time. I am used to busy shows, but this one was bonkers! And they were such lovely people, I don't think they get many craft shows of the ICHF (International Craft and Hobby Fairs) calibre in that area of the country. My lectures were full every day with standing room only, I wasn't sure how busy they would be as I have never travelled to that area before. I need...