Hello - I'm back...

And I've got a tan LOL. 

Have a look at the photo below and see if you can guess where we've been for the week.

Well - it's St Ives. 

We had a great time - fantastic weather too - hence the tan (well perhaps not so much of a tan than a shade more off white than normal). So the next few weeks I'm afraid you're going to be bored rigid with photos and what we got up to.

We started the week with a walk about the history of St Ives and later in the week a walk and talk about the art of St Ives. They were really good.

As you can imagine lots of art in St Ives a large number of very well known artists such as Patrick Heron, Ben Nicholson, Alfred Wallis and of course Barbara Hepworth.  We went to the Barbara Hepworth Museum and I took a few photos. I hope you like them.

See you all soon.

Hello

Hello all,

Hope you're well. I'm enjoying the sunshine - I hope you are too.

 So here's a photo I took on an early evening walk earlier this week.

See the sunshine reflecting on the lake.

And I am doing some sewing too. I'm making slow progress - but I'm really enjoying it. I'm rediscovering old stitches I haven't used for ages.

I'll be back soon.

World Book Night

Well - Saturday was World Book Night.

I was lucky enough to be selected to give away 48 copies of 'Cloud Atlas' by David Mitchell.

The books were specially printed - as you can see below.

I had a very nice evening sat in the pub - with great people - giving out books and having a drink. It really couldn't have been much better

I'm pleased to say I've managed to give all of my books away. 

If you weren't lucky enough to pick up a book on the night -keep your eyes open as the idea is that they're circulated once people have read them.

Now I'd hate to think you thought I spent all my time in the pub - handing out books. So below is a combination of fabrics I've put together to use as the basis for an exercise using different stitches. As you can see I've used the fabrics I dyed the other week. And the threads too. So keep watching and I'm sure you'll see how I get on.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Dyeing Day

Hello all,

I've had great fun this morning. Been dyeing and am very pleased with how it's gone so far.

So here is my attempt at graduated dying from Magenta to Ultramarine.

And this set runs from Bright Turquoise to Golden Yellow.

 And I've been very good at making sure I keep a record too. So I've noted the colours and how they've been mixed. I also brushed the colour against the notes and I've added a square of fabric to ensure I have a record of the colour achieved. 

As i had some of the dye mix left I made another plastic cup up and added some threads that have been wound onto plastic cotton reels. I also added some manufactured printed fabric too to see how they turn out.

So - next time I'm sure I'll be able to show you the results. 

Hope to hear from you all soon.

Preide & Prejudice - a lovely day...

Well - I had a great day yesterday with some lovely ladies celebrating a good friends birthday.

We spent the day eating cake, drinking tea and watching Pride and Prejudice. The proper one from the autumn of 1995.

Yep - and here's a picture of the lovely Colin.

It was a real treat to spend time with such lovely people and watch such a great programme. 

I'm very lucky.

Finished!

 YAY - finished

I'm really please to have finished this. It's not exactly as the one we were shown on the class - but it is in the style of. I've really enjoyed doing something different. Beading wasn't something I'd really done before - but I'm pleased with the finished piece and would certainly include it again as embellishment.

 And here is one of the altered books I'm working on. The cover (above) and the inside pages (below).

I won't be able to show you anything else on this until I get it back - completed - at the end of the year.

As you've probably guessed the theme is 'The Celts'. I'm intrigued what others will some up with.

Hmmm. I need to find something else to make now....

Progress

 So - I hope you're all well.

As you can see I have made progress with the beading and I hope to have it finished next week. I've enjoyed working on a different scale.

And I've also found time to paint some papers. I used good quality lining paper and Brusho paints. I'm rather pleased with the results.

I'll let you know what I make them into.

I've enjoyed the sun this morning. I managed to get into the garden and hack back the buddleia. It looks a lot more open now. Still lots to do but I thought I'd spend the rest of the afternoon having a play with a few things I've got on the go.

Hope you're all well and hope to hear from you soon.

Free Book - really?

How often do you get something for free these days? Not that often - generally there's a catch. Well - I have something to give away - and so do 19,999 other people. Between us we have 1 million books to give away on World Book Night - Saturday the 5th March 2011. 

I'll be giving away 50 copies of Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell at Ye Olde Red Lion in Market Bosworth between 5 and 7.

So if you can't get across to see me look out in your local area for events.

Hope some of you will be able to make it.

Another class

 

Hello all. Hope you're all well and haven't been blown away in this ridiculously windy weather.

I had a lovely day yesterday. A great class with Viv Denscombe at Lutterworth with the Embroiderer's Guild members. If you have a look on her site at latest news there are some photos of her work. The one we were aiming to complete was called Allotment BR and is the first photo in detail. I had a great day and tried lots of new things. I can assure you it will turn out something like the photo.

And here is a photo of the first snowdrops I've seen. I really hope this means Spring is really on its way.

Hope to hear from you all soon.

Day out in London

Hello all.

Apologies - but no photos today. But I can tell you about the exhibition I saw yesterday in London at the V&A - Imperial Chinese Robes from the Forbidden City. It's very reasonably prices at £5 and well worth a visit. The detail on the gowns and their quality was really superb. I can only imagine how many hours work it took to produce the gowns - couching on gold thread.

I had a great day and managed to limit myself to only buying one book - it details the work of Charles Harper. He specialised in drawing birds and although they're stylised they're really amazing to look at - great movement and texture. If you look you this book via this link it shows you a number of his pictures. The book, Charley Harper's Birds and Words, is a real work of art and has so much to look at.

I'm also trying to make progress with my altered books - still very much out of my comfort zone. I'll let you know how I get on.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Busy busy

 So - hello.

Aplologies for not having posted at the weekend. So to compensate it's a bumper blog today. Lots of photos.

So first is the progress I made with Thermogauze - I concentrated this time and managed not to burn it. Still quite a bit of work to do - but at least this first part is ready to go.

Last Thursdya DH and I both went to The Beetroot Tree for an open evening and managed to decorate a spoon each using alcohol inks and beads. For those of you who know DH and me I think you can guess which of us made each one.

 And as I'd booked Monday off too I went back for a 2 hour session in the morning and tried my hand at mixed media on a canvas. It's getting there but I still have a little bit of work to do. It was a great morning and a great way to try new techniques.

 And here is a cushion I made for a friends birthday - it was a little bit late - but she was really pleased with it.

And below is a little bit more progress with my altered book. I've just painted it with gesso and will be adding a coat of red acrylic with some gold added. I've no idea how this is going to turn out - but that's the whole point of trying new things.

And for the very cheeky ones who look at this blog - you can all me maam in future as I'm now the Queen of Comedy. Yes Miranda Hart won 3 Comedy awards.

Take care all and let me know what you've been up to.