The first Heathrow group - Ruth, Chris, Trisha, Julie, Maggie, Jan and Carla.    So - to begin.  I traveled to, and toured Uzbekistan with Isha and Aahilya Holidays for a month. We traveled with 2 groups, one 23 March to 7th April and the next one 7th to 22nd April. So I had the privilege of visiting each venue and experience twice. There were 14 guest in each group. From the UK, Australia and New Zealand. They were fabulous groups, we had such a great time.  We traveled by coach, airplane, car and train. Each different type of transport offered us a different view of the country.   We all flew into Tashkent, with flights coming in from all over, it took a while for everyone to arrive. Everyone was met at the airport when they arrived and transferred to our very comfortable hotel. On the first night we ate in our hotel, a lot of the guests were tired from traveling. This dinner was important as we met our wonderful guide Khurshid. Little did we know when we firs...

Me in Registan Square, Samarkand So! I have just got back from 2 x 2 week tours of Uzbekistan with Isha Sharma and Aahilya Holidays. Well, I have been back 2 weeks. It has taken me that long to settle back in after such a remarkable time with 2 fabulous groups. I have been feeling a bit overwhelmed . .  It is a weird feeling. I couldn't believe I was there, standing in front of those beautiful buildings. And when I got home I couldn't really believe I had been. To travel to a place you have always dreamed of visiting, but never, ever thought you would, it really was a dream come true. And it looks as though a few more dreams will be coming true - Isha (owner of Aahilya Holidays) and I have planned all my trips from November 2025 to November 2026. Having spent the last month traveling together, we managed to get everything finalised. Istanbul, India, Morocco, Uzbekistan and Turkey. You can find all the links to the itineraries for all the trips on my new 'Travel' webpage...

  Stitching sequins onto the brooch Some of my readers may know that I have been testing and working with Vlieseline products for many years. I was awarded a special badge recently, created just for me. It made me feel very proud - and old!!! I have made various videos for Vlieseline over the years.  My latest can now be viewed on YouTube - https://youtu.be/QC6HGhRSRIA?si=-YPzZWcmMmirkVEn The video shows you how you can machine embroider onto Decovil 1 with out an embroidery ring. Painted and foiled Decovil 1. Red foil heart and green satin applique You don't need to use an embroidery ring when you work with Decovil 1 The finished brooch    If you ever fancy watching a few videos of me showing you various way of working with textiles and interfacings.- there are several on YouTube. Just put my name in. And don't forget - there is a search engine on this blog. In the top right hand corner. Jut type in Tyvek, or printing blocks or whatever you are interested in. There ...

The tracing of the section of the Journey It is a great feeling to have finished filming The Journey to Design workshop. And we already have students enroled and working away. I just love it.   The tracing on the right (above) is the section I took of my moth Journey. On the left are the 2 printing blocks I made from the design. The positive and negative parts of the design. I enjoyed playing with the blocks, it has been a while since I made any.   The 2 blocks and a try out on some cartridge paper I always clean my blocks with baby wipes . . . From the left - a scrunched up baby wipe for the final cleaning of the blocks and 3 of the wipes I used flat on the blocks to clean them and get extra prints. I ironed Bondaweb into the back of the second baby wipe print. Then cut away the white areas (negative space). I then peeled off the backing paper and ironed the applique design onto the left hand baby wipe. it made a great background.   I then back stitched around the applie...