Wonderful West Bridgford!!

Just had a great two day Summer School...

...making books with the lovely ladies of West Bridgford EG :-)

Piccies...piccies....and more piccies!!

Thanks for inviting me back!!

X C

East Midlands Region Summer School

Here are my samples...

...really looking forward to it all!

Three days of creative happiness :-)

x C

Moving on....and starting something new...

I've been feeling pretty-bloody-awful over the last few days...

...and haven't been able to focus/concentrate because of "things"...

...but, despite the fact that I still feel like I've been punched in the guts...

...it's in my own interest to get-the-hell on with other things that have more immediate importance to me.

So...

.....the moving on bit of the title is with my Hmong (de-coloured) book...

...with the decoration of pages now in progress...

And the starting of something new part...

...is one of the punchneedle panels in a new book to be entitled "Homespun".

I'm sticking to traditional patterns...

...and working in a single-twisted fine Geelong lambswool yarn (that i work very close indeed).

With so much uncertainty buzzing around at the moment...

...it feels good to have some things remain exactly the same as they have for a long time :-)

Hope you all have a good week...

x C

Lavender and Lace book finished!!

It's been a while...

...but with Easter hols...

...and various lurgy-bugs in between...

....I've finally finished this Lavender and Lace sample...

...all ready to show the lovely ladies of the Gwent Embroiderers Guild on Saturday.

Hopefully they'll be inspired!! :-)

The two final panels were done...

(I'm making quite a lot of use of cutting dies lately...)

...and put in their own places...

It looks lovely...

...and is so nice to hold in the hand...

x C

Happy New Year!!

 I wanted to make sure that I did a blog-post on the very first day of 2016.....

.......and will try to post a bit more regularly than I did in 2015!! :-o


As I said back in December, I have had to make some decisions and choices....

...and, that being done, I can now look forward to the rest of the year without the stress that I would otherwise have had.

I have received some very supportive emails from some very dear friends both in the UK and further afield.You know who you are and I love you all!! X

I have made some plans too...

(for 2017)

...a new body of (exhibition) work to be accompanied by a book.

The subject area (very close to my heart) is, of course, OLD ....... and WEIRD!!

I will give snippets when I can....

Nuff said....

...here are the piccies I promised.

My latest finished tri-fold book....

...Laurel Burch Embracing Horses...

I have had these fabric panels in my stash for quite some time and it feels really good to have used them at last!

...and the colours make my heart glad :-)))))

Love to you all.....

x C

African Dancers - final sample for the Summer School!!

Well...

...it's been a bit of a scrabble...

...trying to finish off a "STITCH" article...

...and my final sample tri-fold book for the Summer School.

But it has been done!!!

Just a sneak peak...

...so that you can see how much FUN I've been having :-)

(I'll post a few more piccies when I get back home again.)

x C

Excited!!

Postie arrived this morning with a beautifully written envelope...

...from the organiser of the Yorkshire & Humber EG Regional Summer School.

All the final details were enclosed...

...including a list of the 16 lovely ladies who will be in my classes...

..NEXT WEEK!!!

Apparently a number were at Stitching in the Dales last year...

...so we will be re-newing friendships...

...and it is SO nice to see familiar faces again.

I seem to be developing a bit of a "following" !! :-)

We'll be making some gorgeous books...

...and playing with print blocks, paints, fabrics, sequins, beads...

...and whatever else comes to mind or hand!

Really looking forward to it...

..and now to South West China!!

I've been booked to do a workshop with a group in Monmouth in October...

...so that a lovely group of ladies can have some serious fun...

...making an art book with Hmong designs :-)

So....

...I have started to make some panels...

...using my Colouricious print blocks. .....

..printed onto cotton and manipulated tissue...

When we were away in Shropshire a couple of weeks back, I got some Hmong embroidered apron straps from Textile Traders in Bishop's Castle.

I think I'm going to use this little panel in my sample book...

...it is soooo delightful!!

..

Happy Tuesday people!

x C

...a different kind of Medieval....

Yesterday I posted some pictures of my new "Medieval Inspirations" sketchbook...

...today you are being given images of my latest tri-fold book...

..."Medieval Tiles #2".

It includes designs from floor tiles...

...some manuscript illuminations...

...and diapering patterns

This is another sample for my class at the Yorkshire & Humber Regional Summer School next month.

(It's coming around at great speed!!)

I'll post some of the finished book when the glue is dry! :-)

x C

Indian Adventure (1) - Tri-Fold Book Workshop Sample - Finished!!

At last the sample book is finished!!

After many hours of stitching and embellishing...

...followed by glueing and painting...

..."Indian Adventure (1)" is done...

...ready for it's first outing with Lingen Stitchers next Monday. :-)

(This would normally be at least a 2-day workshop, but I'm sure I can get them far enough down the creative path that they can finish off at home afterwards! :-)

I've used hand-dyed calico...

...printed with my very favourite Colouricious wooden print blocks...

...and, as you can see...

...the results are just lovely!

(Well I think so anyway!)

Finished off with some of my hand-made "Lava Beads".

I'm running this workshop over a weekend "Chez Moi" in July.

That one is already full...but I will run another one at some time, along with another Medieval Tile one... so let me know if you are interested.

x C