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Showing posts from 2010

Christmas Twinkle!

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We will all, no doubt, succumb to the call of chocolate and other delicious naughtiness over the next few days. My favourite treats at the moment are Magnums minis, I can hear them calling me from the back of the supermarket as soon as I walk through the doors . In all my years of researching packaging for heat distressing the wrapping on these ice creams is the best so far. I just love the golden and brown tones that all merge together. If you buy mini ice creams you don't feel SO bad. The boxes are wrapped in a large sheet of gorgeous brown wrapping and then each ice cream is individually wrapped in more beautiful wrapping. Fantastic! I am sure that most of you reading this will already be aware of these delights but just in case they have passed you by, I thought it my duty to share this with you. Most food packaging can be textured with an iron just as you would Tyvek (see page 70, Hot Textiles). Place your packaging in between two sheets of baking parchment and iron LIGHTLY

Speaking of Ginger Beer . . . !

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  I am having a weekend off and even though it has snowed we managed to get out for a walk. We stopped for a coffee in a lovely sunny cafe and while we were reading the menu my eye was drawn to the ginger beer float. I haven't had an icecream float for years  . . . . when was the last time you had one? I hope you are all coping with the run up to Christmas and that the snow isn't causing too many problems for you all.  X

Finished!

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Hurrah! and lashings of ginger beer! I've finished the book. The first draft has gone winging its way to my editor. Oh the relief!!!!                           The book is about layering textiles and here are three of the images that have inspired me in the past months. I am hoping the book will be published ready for The Festival of Quilts next August, but it will be a tight schedule, so fingers crossed. I have had to remove the heat gun from the nid-noi.com website as it has been discontinued, I am hoping to find a replacement at the trade show in February. I will let you all know when I have found one. A 300 watt versions will work - but they take time, and if you are like me with the attention span of a goldfish, you want your heat gun to work fast! I can now get on with putting my house back together after our best ever Open House. I am looking forward to a weekend off  . . . . . and away . . . . Ho! Ho! Ho!!!  x

Nearly there!

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It's 6am and dark outside. The words are flowing now and I have already eaten TWO  pain au chocolat. I am SO naughty. I seem to need lots of treats to keep me going, why is it only bad carbs will do when you are under pressure? I can be slim and gorgeous next week Ha Ha!! once the book has been delivered. So - this blog is supposed to be about promoting Hot Textiles - not books and snow.  The sample above shows dyed lightweight pelmet vilene (green) and Spunbond CS700 (brown) cut with a fine tip soldering iron and bonded onto Spunbond CS800 (blue). If you want to iron on your intricate cut outs, make sure you iron Bondaweb on the back of your products before you cut them. You can leave the backing paper on or take it off when you solder, it's a personal choice. Don't forget your baking parchment on top and underneath and of course, you need to be soldering onto a ceramic tile or similar. Right back to writing - keep calm and carry on . . . . . No Richard, I haven'

pain au chocolat and coffee . . . .

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  do you dunk yours? The snow was washed away on Friday night by very heavy rain, it was a miracle. We went to bed with thick snow on the ground and woke up on Saturday morning to virtually no snow at all. We now have freezing fog, which is very beautiful in the garden decorating all the different textures with white lace - but deadly on the roads. The change in the weather was very timely for a busy Open House weekend. I was particularly pleased this weekend as I sold a large piece of work of my own for a change. It always does my confidence a power of good to sell something - it also helps my groaning bank balance!  . . of land, sea and sky '. . . of land, sea and sky' was created on two 'L' shaped canvases by layering hand dyed silk tops onto similarly dyed heavy pelmet Vilene plus and 'knocked back' with toning painted Bondaweb. The whole piece was then painted with acrylic wax to seal the surface. The piece can be hung as one solid work or slightly sepa

. . . . be careful what you wish for . . . . . !

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. . . . . . well that will teach me to say I have never been anywhere cold before! It's minus five today but feels like minus 10. Now I know what I will be wearing in Alaska. We had another 10" of snow last night. I am well and truly trapped now. This is the view from my window. I have always loved living on top of a hill at the end of a very large cul de sac, it is very quiet with wonderful views, now I am not so sure.  Hey ho!!! I have enough food for three more days and it SHOULD clear up a bit by then - I hope. My local shop is a mile away which I could walk to if ABSOLUTELY necessary, but I don't want to fall over. Two of my friends have fallen over and broken their wrists. I had an email from one of my customers in Scotland telling me they had been in Arctic conditions for the past 9 days.  The most important thing is that we all look after each other. Keep warm and if you are bored, keep in touch . . . . I'm only writing a book . . . . . disturb me anytime 

BBRRRRrrrrrrrrrr!!!!

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Wow it's chilly! The snow has arrived in Brighton and I am trapped in my house so the chains weren't necessary after all. I am happily typing away grooving to the new Caro Emerald album - 'Scenes from a cutting room floor'. It is FAB! The book is coming along well and I HOPE to be ready for the December 10th deadline . That's enough prevarication - back to the book. I've fed the birds, cleared the ice from the bird baths, done the washing up and written and sent the nid-noi.com monthly newsletter so there is no excuse.   We have two more week ends to go of my Open House - I do hope the snow clears a bit so everyone can get to my house. I hope you are all keeping snug and warm. Hello to all of you enjoying warmer temperatures around the world - think of us shivering in our boots!!!!! x

Looking ahead . . .

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Anyone who is self employed, particularly in my line of work knows we have to book our work quite far ahead. Whilst it can seem you are wishing your life away, it can also be good to have something exciting to look forward to. I have just signed the contracts for Fibrearts Ballarat Australia and the Creative Fibre Festival in Blenheim New Zealand in April/May 2012. I have also had confirmation for the Fibre Festival in Anchorage, Alaska for March 2012.  my gorgeous girls at Fibrearts Ballarat April 2010 I am SO excited about going back to teach at Ballarat - watch out Donnie and Ruth - Yeehhaa!!!! This time I will be concentrating on 3D structures using all the Hot Textiles techniques. It should be great fun and by then we should have some new products to play with. What will make my happiness complete is that Mary Hettmansperger will also be teaching that week. We met this year when we taught together at Ballarat and Orange. She is FANTASTIC, it will be wonderful to see her again. G

The Design and Technology Show

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my stand looking quite tidy from the front . . . . I have just unloaded my poor car after the The Design and Technology show. I don't think it has ever been SO packed to the gunnels. It is a 13 year old Volvo V70 and still going very strong - thank goodness. The show was great fun. My role was to inspire, help and listen to teachers who need help to create new courses that include textiles, whether they teach art, textiles or D and T. A lot of schools and colleges are developing new, more creative courses and need help with the new products and materials that are now available.  My main tasks were to demonstrate how to use a heat press for transfer printing and a die cutting machine to cut out textile shapes along with all my usual heat distressing techniques. on closer inspection - not quite so tidy behind the scenes - definitely not tidy! showing how to use a die cutting machine (Prestige Pro) to cut textiles You may have seen die cutting machines such as the Sissix Big S

My last Open House - for a while . . .

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print by Cath Bristow  Some of you may know I open my house twice a year as part of the Brighton Open Houses in May and November/December. It has been great fun turning my house in to a temporary gallery and a great chance to catch up with friends and ex students because I can be guaranteed to be 'at home'. However, my life seems to galloping along even faster than ever and something has to give - so I have decided to have a break from the Open Houses for a while.      Textile Garden by Sylvia Lynton   For our last exhibition we will have wonderful mix of talent as you will see from theses images, more can be found on our website one2six which should be updated by the end of this week - I haven't been able to get the updates ready for the ever patient and very wonderful Jayne to put onto the website, there is just too much going on. We are open for 4 weekends, November 20, 21 - 27, 28 and December 4,5 - 11, 12  from 10am to 6pm.     Raku ceramics by Ember Vincent  As

2 workshops at Craftynotions - November 5th & 6th

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  happy students in Sarah's VERY well equipped studio I was delighted when Sarah Lawrence of  Craftynotions invited me to teach 2 one day workshops at Craftynotions base camp in Newark, Nottingham. The first workshop was based on Vilene Spunbond and the second on Tyvek. The students were - Mary Kerr, Sheila Buchan, Jackie Litchfield, Cheryl Herod, Carol Devany, Janice Rose, Judith Gill, Margaret Williams, Linda Sottle, Anne Marsen, Jean Baker, Elaine Winterton and Brenda Wilkinson. Two of the ladies did both workshops and one of them came all the way from Edinburgh.   layers of Spunbond and polyester organza stitched together then zapped back with a heat gun The first day was devoted to colouring and distressing Spunbond. Sarah has developed a new range of absolutely fabulous paints and sprays that work particulalrly well on all Spunbonds and Tyvek. I have waited a long time to find the perfect paints, but I think I have found them. As some of you will know - when painting produ

Hot Textiles at Denman College October 25th - 27th

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 The Textile Studio at Denman I love teaching at Denman College - the home of the W.I.   The teaching studios are well equipped, the food is great and I always have fab students in my group. The workshop ran from the 25th - 27th and a good time was had by all. The word had got round that I like to do stretching exercises to music with my students after lunch every day to help every one stay awake and feel refreshed. I was going to leave this as after all; I was teaching at the W.I. but no, my ladies were expecting it to be part of the course. Oh we did have a laugh! The students were - Jane Bothwell, Helen Dickinson, Sheilah Edgson, Jean Harnaman, Carole Jethwa, Jeanette Lamb, Patricia Richards, Margaret Sargeant, Pauline Walker and Jill Wilson.  The workshop was fast paced to cover all the products everyone wanted to try. The students painted and dyed Tyvek, Bondaweb, Vilene Spunbond and various weights of sew-in and iron-on interfacings. These were then layered up and zapped bac

Teaching at Inkberrow Design Centre - Learning Through Play

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Some of you may be familiar with the work of Brenda Killigrew and her students at Inkberrow Design Centre in Holberrow Green, Redditch, Worcestershire . The courses run both privately and by the college are textile based - Fashion Illustration, Millinery, Theatre, Corsetry, Tailoring, Textiles and Interior Design and Soft Furnishings. Brenda puts on the amazing fashion shows at ICHF shows. If you have been to Sewing for Pleasure/Fashion, Embroidery and Stitch you can't help but be aware of the sensation they cause. In these increasingly troubled times in further education we all need to be grateful to people like Brenda who have the energy, foresight and downright dogged determination to carry on delivering top level courses. It is a thankless task sometimes and we seem to be heading for some dark days ahead!!!! Great samples from just playing with the products to see what they could do So - less of the doom and gloom and on with the fun and joy of teaching and torturing students.