Oh dear - its been a long time!

Sorry folks!

The kitchen has been a nightmare, we are past the five week anniversary and its still nto quite finished. Its usable just a few odds and ends to do. That combined with a holiday has led me away from the creative stuff.

Anyway I am going to do something tonight honest. It may not be mymost creative but I will do something. As a start I have found my work table. It was buried with family history stuff. My mum together with BBC1's Who do you think you are? has got me hooked. I have a family tree but I want to bring it to life and find out more about everyone on it. So another think to add to my to do list!!!

My holiday was a week in Swanage. I have never been there before and I must say that it was lovely. Everywhere was fantastic and would really like to go back again and explore further. It was quite worrying when I was looking at crumbling walls of Corfe Castle or the shoreline at Durdle Door and seeing art quilts in the making. Perhaps I will try and put a photo of it up. If its blank below you know I didn't manage it!

Distractions

Yes, I have to say there are quite a few distractions. Our kitchen gets demolished tomorrow so we have been running around, getting lights, paints etc and trying to pack up the kitchen. Having lived in our house less than a year it is amazing how much rubbish you can accumulate!

We have finally decided on a paint colour, wait for it...... a sort of pinky purple colour, rather bold I know but we decided not to traditional. Now we are on the hunt for a fridge freezer. The big American one we wanted won't quite fit so we are now trying to see if we can justify the money on a SMEG retro one. Decisions decisions!!

So the demolition starts tomorrow and on Tuesday the walls come down. Then next weekend we disappear on holiday for a week to Swanage. So by the time we come back our kitchen should be finished.

So what about the crafts. Well as you can imagine not much has been happening with all that. I have now changed my working hours so that I finish at 4pm meaning i can get a bit more done in the evening. I have painted some more bondaweb this week ready for more wall experiments.

If I feel brave enough this week, and if I get chance I will try whip stitch on the sewing machine.
And of course ....Photos!!!!

Class day

After a summer break it was back to class today at the Bramble Patch. It was good to catch up with everyone.

We are holding an exhibition at the Bramble Patch in March/April 2008 and we are working on our wall hangings. Its a bit of a challenge as the dimensions for the piece are 18 x 52 inches. I am working on a drystone wall with ivy and moss growing over it and some form of 3d work. Well that's the aim. There is not a lot to show at the moment and I promise there will be some photos soon!

I am doing lots of things with painted bondaweb at the moment, I have a bit of obsession with anything I can heat or burn. I am sure I will grow out of it one day.

I also discovered some new inspiration today (thanks Leanne). I have been introduced to the world of Annemieke Mein. Her work is amazing. Her book has already left me speechless (some task). She has this amazing way of bringing wildlife and textiles to life. Having carried out a search on the internet it doesn't look like Annemieke is very active now, which is a shame as I would love to see some of her work in real life. If you hear of any in the UK let me know!!

OK OK I will put something on here

Well, I have been nagged and nagged to put something on here. To be honest I find it quite scary! I don't even know whether this will end up on the right place on the blog or even at all. I will work out how to press the right buttons one day.

So how about a little introduction. I am a muddler and have to be honest rarely a finisher, but I am determined to sort that one out.

So what do I muddle in.

Well,

I am doing an 'Exploring your creative potential' class at The Bramble Patch in Weedon, Northants. Brenda Boardman takes the class and she has been dragging me (sometimes kicking and screaming) into the world of creativity. The focus is on art quilts. More about that class as the blog continues.

I also make teddy bears, and have been concentrating mainly on mini ones a few inches high.

I have also just started to do beading and have signed up to do a city and guilds at Missenden Abbey which starts later on this year with a lovely lady called Olive Humm. I did a summer school with her in August. It will take me two years and what with everything else I have no idea how I will find time, but who likes housework anyway!

I also do little bits of dressmaking (definitely nothing finished!!) and embroidery.

I don't really want to make the post too long for now, so do check back soon, I will post some more and with photos too!!