Thoughtyou might like to know that Julie Arkell has a lovely little exhibition showing at Wilton's Music Hall in London - with some new and wonderful 'crow' pieces, and some pictures. It opened last night and will be on display for a few months

If you're in the area- do drop in and have a look, and have a drink at the wonderful Mahogany Bar

Wilton's was the setting for the recent Stephen Poliakoff series on the BBC, and is well worth a visit anyway if you are in London

https://wiltons.org.uk/

BON JOUR MES AMIS

Hello Violets!

Sorry for the long delay - yet again in blogging. 

You may remember when Jo was doing her bird project I made this little birdie, the Lesser Spotted Tattered, with the crazy red eyes .......

Does it still sit on your desk Jo?

Last week, from Tuesday to Sunday I was at Les Soeurs Anglaises with Becky, Jone and Oolie for a few heavenly days of R&R.  More posts will follow from us all about our makes and the fun we had - it was a truly uplifting, inspiring few days that we shared in the lovely studio L'Espace - many, many thanks to Katie and Mike letting us have the use of the studio and rooms for our stay.

Amongst some things I took to finish off was a donkey brooch I made whilst on the second Hens Teeth workshop at Weston Park, near Stafford - I cant recommend Viv's workshops enough,
its such a great day out, sewing in a lovely 'hice' in lovely 'grinds' with a great bunch of women each time - and as if thats not enough, theres cake!  Here is the finished brooch ....

I just posted my second lot of haberdashery brooches and another little paper mache donkey -  on tinkeringbythesea.blogspot.com - please take a look.

Hope everyone is well and happy!  Taylor, sorry not to have been in touch since West Dean, its been a crazy busy time as you can imagine but I did enjoy the time spent with you on Julie's course.  Im getting back on track and have sent a bijou treat for you home with Jone so expect mail soon.

As soon as I have sorted out pictures will post my french finds and the things I made last week and Im sure Becky, Jone and Oolie will be doing the same.  We thought of you in France.

Love to All

xx Di

WHERE DID LAST YEAR GO??

Hello Violets!


Happy New Year!  Hope you all had a fabulous Christmas.


I'm getting very excited about my first workshop of the year!  In about 10 days I'm off to West Dean to do Julie Arkell's paper mache workshop!  Yes again!


Last year you will recall, I made these figures:

I had a great deal of trouble dressing them as they all had limbs all over the shop and it was not nearly as easy as I had imagined!  I got little Iris, finished before Christmas (the little figure with her arms in the air) and have made some progress with 'Bless', the figure above in a shawl:

She still needs a bit of work but is pretty much there.  

Given my experience last year, this year I have decided to try more sculptural projects - which need no dressing!  I have a few ideas to conjure with and will post when I get back.

Very exciting too, I will be meeting Taylor! I'm so looking forward to having a Pantry Violet to work with.  I'm also looking forward to being in a workshop with Julie again, And seeing more of her lovely work - which I now truly appreciate!   

Here is her collection from last year ...............

Love to all

xx

Di

NEWSFLASH! Stitching Super-Heroine in Undercover operation!

It was a grave and serious situation...

Word had got out that the inchies were soon due to leave Sweden, and were headed for Wales. An imminent sense of peril and dread began to sweep across the crafting community....

Would a crime against craft be committed?
Would the inchies project fail at such an early stage?

Would something...someone...be able to save the project?!?! But who?!?!

The crafting community called...and our Super Stiching-heroine answered!
Catching the first train she could, she headed into deepest, darkest North Wales....

Hours of hard tutoring began.....Would Clare ever learn to thread a needle?!!
Alcohol was consumed...Reference books were consulted...but try in vain it seemed....
Miss Arkell had met her match!!

AT LAST - PAPER MACHE & WEST DEAN

Julie Arkell's paper mache course at West Dean was all I hoped it would be and more .... finally, I got to try my hand at papier mache and Im really pleased with the results ....

Show and Tell .......................... Getting ready ............... Little Duck Pull Toy

The method Julie taught us, an abridged version of her own due to drying times, was fast and allowed us to produce quite a lot of work quickly. By the end of the first day we had figures well on the go - built and with a first coat of newspaper. Day two saw us applying what would be our final coat of paper and Day three was finishing up and dressing the creatures before the show and tell! It was both exhausting and exhilarating with not a minute to spare. We worked all the time, stopping for breaks, lunch and dinner only and back to the studio at night, finishing between 10 and 11pm. It was a great group of women, all encouraging each other and completely focused on the production of our creatures!

Day One ...................................... Day Two ................................Day Three

I'd encourage everyone to take this course - its truly amazing how much you can produce in realitively little time. My clothes as you can see are rudimentary - it could be two days longer giving plenty of time to make outfits for the creatures but I will take my time and create their clothes and will post as they are completely finished!

Our Creatures ............. Julie, Danielle and some bemused visitors!

As you can see, there was a massive amount of work produced in barely 3 days and we were all completely captivated by our creatures and the work of fellow students.

love to all ... xxdi

Les Soeurs Anglaises

Missing you all SO much. The house, (even with the eight or so people who arrived for Jancis Robinson's weekend a few days ago) seems SO quiet!

Anyway, here are a few photographs to remind you of Julie's workshop at the beginning of the month and I shall be posting the rest on Facebook and FlickR in the next few days.

Don't know when Im going to get a chance to sit quietly in my studio and do some stitching, but keeping an eye on this blog is a continual inspiration! Keep up the good work........