Sarah Lawrence

When I was driving back home on Saturday , there was almost every weather type you could imagine. wind , rain (of course) blinding sunshine and even thick fog! this is all on the A616 , for those of you who don’t know this  road , it is a Trans Pennine route that is a very desolate road , although well used .It takes you over from manchester to Sheffield . The views are breath -taking , when it is not foggy.

Well , the rainbows were amazing. I even stopped (as were others) to take pictures Sometimes you just have to stand and stare.

Amazing rainbow on the A616

just shows how magnificant it was against the size if the wind turbines...

Whilst i was at Abakhan on Saturday I met some lovely customers , some of whom had traveled from Ireland, and fro Angelsey!

Anyway, despite the most thunderous downpour of rain , the craft barn was ful of people.

Here are a few of the things I was demoing.

stamped image is a karantha stamp called Blossom and leaf. The flowers were then cut oot and painted with mica powder made into a paint . The colour was oyster which as you can probably guess is a georgeous pearl.The word was cut out from double sided ahesive sheet using a sizzix word and then gilded with flake.

An extended version of the previous piece .

My desk as it is at the moment.. some stuff from the last create and craft show , stars cut from hearty air dry clay, my new Pitt pens... and for those of you who have the new Craft Stamper ... the stamp I have designed for next months issue.have a look at the back page .

Have fun and craft as much as you can !

Gosh I had no idea it had been ssooo long since my last post!

And I really cannot say where all that time has gone. However I do know what I have been doing …sorting out family , being a taxi driver, but I am happy to report that my Franny has now got a  really exciting work placement and will be starting on Monday. I know that times are interesting but of all the interviews (for mainly non-payed placements ) the vast number of companies need a few lessons in job applicant etitiquette. I have finished my little rant.sorry!i did read in the paper that some companies are wholly relying on unpaid graduate placements .

Sorry back to the things that make us happy … making things.

I am at the Craft event at Abakhan in Mostyn at the weekend Sat 10th. They have a number of demonstations and I think that I will be in the Craft Barn. It is an Aladins cave of goodies! so do pop along and say Hello … and for those of you who know the venue they have a Brilliant Cafe with quite delectable tempting treats!! yum yum!so if i anm not demoing you know where I will be!

Also on my crafty travels , I will be at Inspirations in Preston.. ( Card Craft Plus  )on Sat 1st Oct…so I hopefully will see Christine and Jackie if they are able to visit.( Buggle toes)

May post some piccies later ….

I am so excited about the day I will be spending with ‘A Bird in the Barn’ www.birsinthebarn.co.uk ,they are in ChurchLane ,Colchester.It is a lovely crafty haven .

I will be doing allsorts of creative stuff with some of the craftynotions range . Why not come and say ‘Hello’ on Saturday 20th from about 10am.

Also I am on Create and Craft on Tuesday at 11am    … with crafty things and a dedicated felty show on 2nd Sept  As some of you will know I have been making felty things for over 30years !I started when I was a slip of a girl!but feltmaking is stil a arty passion even after all these years and I am delighted that Create And Craft have asked for this show .

Well , what else have I been doing ! I am afraid the aftermath of the quilt show has yet to be put away and so my big desk is awash with bits , bobs and tools and just stuff!

Also , I am doing a small craft fair in aid of Newark Hospice on Wed 24th at 6.30 at Holy Trinity http://www.holytrinitynewark.org.uk/centre/ I have made some small gift items for this .

I am glad to be back from the very hectic Quilt show in Birmingham and to be able to rest my bones in my own bed!

Middle age is upon me and I am seriously thinking that next time we go  away to an event my own pillows are comeing with me !

It was really lovely to be near Pam Stallebrass and her wonderful screen prints aswell all the new quilty pals we met.( of which more tomorrow)

Kim ,her of the green hair!  was a delight to have her as a guest on stand !  we demonstrated loads of things to do with Vylene products

www.hot-textiles.blogspot.com/ kim uploaded some images of the stand so have a look

Here are some pictures of the work from the demonstations

heavy weight vylene plus ... cut ,painted with added flake and a little bit of stella flah

flower stitched acrylic felt, zapped with the heat gun and with a layer of Gleam

will post more tomorrow…..

Well , as you will be able to see there are happy crafty ladies on my work desk this week… it is the annual day long gathering… they arrive , chatter ,craft, natter , craft and dare I say gossip and have lunch and have the afternoon to craft as they please

My Big Stamp ladies ..crafting all day .. what bliss!

However , after my travels around the country I am now trying to get sorted for the annual quilt fest at Birmingham.Some of you will know that this is the biggest event in Europe … We have our Craftynotions Stand E50, and this year we have a guest on stand ….

Kim Ttitichai who will be launching her latest book… in which I have  contributed a chapter….I will be doing demonstrations , as of course will Kim and we will have all our wonderful textile delights .Some bargins and some brand new items…so do pop along.

Then there is a quick turn around for the show on create and craft on 23rd Aug at 4pm and we have the pleasure of being asked top do dedicated feltmaking show on Monday 19th at 1pm an 7pm  as a fewof you will know I have been a feltmaker for 30years and have had the pleasure of teaching feltmaking all over the world and I still love the process.

Anyway enough of all the what I am doing …. some of the images of the pieces of art work I demonstrating on my travels ..

dimensional resist /crafters workshop stencils

Thanks to all of you who came along to see me and particularly Jackie and Christine who are the ‘Buggletoes! (see previous posts!)

more giding /dimensional resist and dotties

slightly out of focus detail .. dimensional resist and butterfly flurries template

Just got back from Colemans ……..I had a lovely time doing my thing , meeting such a brilliant bunch of crafters.

Crafty pals at Colemans Demo day

So I am now going to have my tea and put my feet up….see you all at Card craft plus tomorrow …..first person to say ‘buggletoes’  to me tomorrow ,will get a blog prize from me !!

Dave the Postman has illuded the camera for quite a while….but here he is in his splendid first aider jacket. Well Done Dave ….

Dave .. recently qualified as a First-Aider

Also ,some of my prep for my weekend of demo- ing

Prep for my demos at Colemans and at Card craft Plus.

And finally … do have a look at this link .  http://www.craftynotions.com/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Stencils___Templates_179.html

We are taking forward orders for the absolutely stunning stencils .

For those of you who were watching Create and Craft yesterday at 5pm, you will know that I was not on the show ..Dawn did say that I was poorly…well I can reveal that I will recover! I have had some  most disturbing allergic reactions to some new pills the GP prescibed. I’m not going to detail everything but I was the 1:10,000 who got all but 3 of a wide range of strange afflictions listed as severe side effects !!! I expect that some of you who are reading this will have been there ,got the tee-shirt etc……an exclusive club I could have done without joining!!

Any way, I am on the road back to normal! but still feeling a little delicate

So, you will appreciate that my creative juices are not flowing as freely during the last couple of  days.

However ,I will be at the Colemans warehouse demo day on Saturday ,and also at the Cardcraft plus event on Sunday…..so do come along and say Hello and have a look at the demos……

continuation of the doodle !

another doodle!

http://www.colemangroup.co.uk/Craft_home.htm

This is where you can find out more about the demo day on Saturday 30th July

http://www.cardcraftplus.co.uk/acatalog/index.html

This is where you can seek out the details of Card Craft Plus  and their fantastic4 day event.. I am only there on the Sunday with my good Pal Leonie

I have been meaning to do all sorts of creative things this week ..  however the life you plan never quite works out ! so I was going to do all the fabric books that I have already created in my mind! They look fantasic, but then they are probably destined to stay in my head!I have cleared away and re-organised all my paper work as well as my textile room..again it looks fantastic … but again just in my mindseye!

What I have done is generally pfaff about doing everything and nothing in particular! does anyone else go through patches like this !!

So a picture of my big work desk with the beginning of work for the show on Tuesday at 5pm on Create and Craft ( we are offering several new kits )

My desk with some half created beads made from Hearty air dry clay ...see the finished necklace on Tuesdays show!

One thing I have been doing is testing and sampling some a new range of  dyes and I have had some fun doing this … but my hands are a delicate shade of green as i really don’t like wearing gloves !!

dyed threads and fabric , these are destined for some serious free-machine work when they are dry

a doodle....

I make no apologies…..we all had a really lovely day at my Toms graduation ceremony. So proud he wore the family gown.

Me, Tom, and Fran

Tom and his pals ...he has been at school and college with these boys .....now young men.

All got exceptionally good degrees and all have jobs … what more could you ask for!

hope if you are going to a graduate ceremony that the weather is kind !