OMAR

Our Mountain Art Retreat. I flew out to Houston to meet Diane. We had a lovely day together, went to a fabulous fabric store - I had to be very restrained as it had to come home on the plane with me. (I admit that was unsuccessful, Diane will mail some of my purchases on to me). We went to the Craft Museum and saw the 'Craft in America' exhibition. http://www.craftinamerica.org/?

Wonderful stuff and worthy of a visit.

The next morning we flew to El Paso to meet Rachel. Rachel drove us up to Ruidoso via 'White Sands National Park'. This place is incredible, with brilliant white sand dunes with buried trees, un-buried shrubs which look very strange. The shadows were amazing and we took loads of photos. The place is very peaceful and awesome to see. I especially loved the tire tracks, foot prints and animal tracks which were everywhere. See my Flickr pics for more.

We had a lovely three days crafting and chatting, loads of laughing. We made wild women (Sarah Lawrence) using dry felting, silk paper using silk cocoon strippings, we made collages for the CPS 7 day collage challenge. Diane taught me how to weave using a lolly stick loom, Rachel did some machine embroidery. We stayed up late and got up early to watch the deer and wild turkeys go by. We didn't see any bears. There was a little flurry of snow and Diane got very excited. The pic shows Rachel and Diane with the luggage we managed to cram into the car. Not bad considering two of us had caught flights!

Whilst we were out and about we came across this castle keep. I smiled at how historically incorrect it was, wouldn't have liked to be there in siege times, but there were loads of details which I found inspiring.

This one is the pulley holding the huge chain which in turn was holding up the not-draw bridge.

Rachel is queen of garage sailing and we managed to fit in a couple before we had to catch the plane back to Houston. We bought antique linens, broken jewelry and other stuff to be creative with. Diane took me to Joanns and Michaels on the way to the airport and I bought more great stuff, patchwork fabrics, neat crafty items and some fantastic buttons. I managed to stuff everything into my cases without busting the weight limits. I did have one bag searched, collecting the note from homeland security is a bit of a tradition. Now I just have to find a home for all my new stuff.

I had a great time and can thoroughly recomend going off on an art retreat. My inner batteries are all charged up and I am inspired to create.

ATC for Katherine

An Atc made using the techniques learned with Gwen Hedley.

Waggiest Tail

13 years ago we entered puppydog Katy into Scrufts, the 'unique' dogs version of Crufts. Katy won 1st place in the waggiest tail class and we have the certificate and ribbon, not that we needed it, Katy's friendliness and joi de vivre shone from every scruffy hair on her body.

Today Katy couldn't wag her tail and we had to say good-bye. We have tears and heartache and a big empty space in our lives for the little dog who gave so much and asked for so little in return - a cuddle, a walk, a biscuit,the 8 o'clock play, her 9 o'clock wee, the squishy bit in the middle of the bed...

Miss you sweetheart

Workshop with Gwen Hedley

I went to Broadlands Art Centre this weekend for a workshop with Gwen Hedley. Gwen challenged us to join pieces of fabric and paper without using stitch. We used staples, wire, sticks, gromets, paper fasteners etc to join our pieces together, then we embellished with thread and beads, but no stitching! Lots of weaving and wrapping though. I did loads of samples to try to help remember as many methods as possible - none of my pieces are finished yet. The piece on the left used grommets, paper fasteners, beaded wire and staples. The one on the right has staples, paper fasteners and tooth picks. There are more photos on flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmaemmeline/sets/72157604347506009/

Garage/studio update

What a difference a few sunny days make. My garage/studio is starting to look real at last. This is the view from the garden showing the side door and two windows. From the front it will look like a standard garage. I am looking forward to being able to make a mess with abandon.

Studio

Wow, I am getting a studio. The studio/garage will have two windows and a glass door and most exciting of all, a sink. I will be able to dye my fabric and yarn without making a mess in the kitchen. I can't wait (and neither can dh).

I will be able to play with my blow torch, I promised B that I wouldn't use it indoors, but last summer was so windy that I couldn't play.

Monday 3rd March
Day One. Colin and Ben the builders arrived. It was very cold but they worked hard until dark and by the end of the day my footings were dug.

Day Two. Daylight and my footings were full of water. Pump hired and left running all day and night.

Day Three. Footings still full of water. Water board man came and confirmed we have a leaking pipe somewhere, good news, it was chlorinated water therefore clean :) Bad news, we have to find the leak before we can fix it.

Day Four. The hole grows. My beautiful block paved driveway isn't any more. It is a pond. Broken pipe fixed. Whippee. Spoke too soon! Hole re-fills with water! Water board man comes back. "Where's the hydrant"? Works out where the hydrant should be, sends for team to dig up block paved driveway to uncover the hydrant. Raise grids, (won't replace block paving for 3 months to allow for pipe work to settle. Ergo 2nd hole in driveway.) The uncovering of the hydrants allows for turning off the water supply to our house. Pump water out of hole. Hole fills with water.

Day Five. Dig up next door neighbour's block paved driveway. Find broken pipe. Fix.

Week Two.

Day One. Colin and Ben tidy up footings, clear out soggy clay, send for building inspector to give ok.

Day Two. BI comes and he says "YES"! Colin and Ben the builders work hard all day laying cement.

Day Three. Foundation bricks are layed.

Day Four. Cold wind and rain.

Day Five. Cold wind and rain.

Week Three.

Day One. The bricks arrive.Day Two, the doorway is visible, both Colin and Ben work hard all day.

Day Three. By the end of the day I can see

where the door and windows will be.

Day Four. Pouring with rain, windy and cold.

Day Five. Bank Holiday.

This is what I found this morning. It is supposed to be spring!!!

I want to stamp my feet. I want my studio now...

lutradur book WIP

This is a book I am working on as part of the lutradur workshop. It is very much an 'in progress' as I add more pages daily.

I have experimented with painting, printing and adding printed images in various ways. Used a soldering iron instead of scissors. None of the pages are finished as once I am satisfied with the images I plan to stitch (almost certainly by machine) over and into them.

I have learned a lot about lutradur in the last couple of weeks. It is strong, malleable, easily cut but won't tear. A soldering iron is a must. The '70' is slightly transparent whilst the '30' is very. It accepts acrylic paint very well and if you don't like the effect, you can rinse it under the tap and the paint will wash off. Colour print from my hp inkjet washed off but the black left a ghost of an image. Spraying with a fixative helped with the colour print but it needed several coats to make it truly waterproof.