Winter walk

Snow and ice

A couple of wintry images




Lots of fun to be had in the snow if you keep moving. We've had a great time with assorted GCs this Christmas keeping us on our toes. Seems strange without little voices and wet wellies in the hall ....

Early pressie

A lovely pressie made by my BIL who is visiting from Nottingham with my sister. I had asked if he could make a spoolholder but didn't expect one as lovely as this! His hobby is woodturning and I'm sure there would be a demand for these! Thread provided by me!

A bit of glitz

Thought I would try the aluminium foil on the embellisher. This is felt, Fuse FX, aluminium foil, embellished, then voile and wool tops added with further embellishing. The foil breaks up quite a bit but still shows through.





The second was a background of black felt with some glitzy fabric embellished on top.
Getting into a festive mood!

Taster

I've been trying out some of the ideas in Lynda Monk and Carol McFee's free taster workshop "Out of the Cupboard" found here.
The colours don't come out very well from the scanner but they give an idea of the effect and how they can be used.



This is alcohol inks on aluminium foil with tissue paper bonded on top with Fuse FX then stitched with a backing of felt. Acrylic wax added when finished.



Crumpled aluminium foil with silk paints and Moonshadow mist sprayed on, then tissue paper on top with a coating of acrylic wax.




Aluminium foil with bronze foil bonded with Fuse FX. These are just a couple of the ideas - must try some more out.

Another big adventure

Today a few friends and I completed the last 10-mile leg of a prayer walk along the Northumbrian coast from Tynemouth to Berwick which we started a year ago. The weather was kind to us and we finished in sunshine on the bridge across the Tweed at Berwick.


The coastline is beautiful ...





... and the town of Berwick , which has changed hands 14 times I think between England and Scotland and has been the scene of much bloodshed, looked splendid in the afternoon sun. Difficult to believe that so much contention took place here.

Our big adventure

This week we packed our bags and took a 5-hour train journey to see part of the family near Bristol. It has been years since we took a long train journey - much more "modern" than the older trains. Even the toilet looked like something out of Dr. Who! So we smiled and clapped our way through dance performances and nativity plays and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Musn't get our bus passes mixed up with our rail cards ... thanks S and C for a great few days! Looking forward to catching up with the other 4 GC now.

C and G friends

Today I went for a christmas meal with some friends who had done the same C and G embroidery courses several years ago. Sadly the course is no more, nor is the building where it was held; the nearest courses are in Durham, too far for most people who want to do the course to travel. We just did it just in time; a few years later and this blog would probably never have existed as a result! Not that there has been a lot to show for it lately although I always have something on the go. So a day tinged with regret about what the region is missing out on but good to see friends again. The meal was excellent - made and served by the catering students. Relieved that some courses haven't disappeared.

Every cloud .....

Book covers

Although I thought this blog would be mainly about textiles it hasn't worked out that way as other interests keep poking their noses in! But I have made a few things this week, mainly book covers. Here are a couple of them -


The first one is made with "fabric paper" which was then quilted. The second has some embellished felt together with voile and foil, then burnt back, with a fme motif. The next one I made with chocolate wrappers (the smell was delicious! I get some strange looks when I swoop down on chocolate papers after someone has just eaten a choc! You have to be quick!)



Off to learn some more tips at the Camera Club tonight - another steep learning curve! but fun.

Harbour sights

I don't think these would pass muster at the Camera Club but they caught my eye and might end up as textiles!

All change

It's been a busy week since the last blog - lots of new things happening, like helping to get a new pink (pink!!) bedroom ready, taking part in a craft fair, joining a camera club and meeting new people. Today was a bit different too -


- not the usual sunday lunch (this one's for you Stu!), followed by a jaunt in the hills between Alnwick and Rothbury -



- followed by a quick visit to a garden centre -



How smart are these? Somehow they remind me of frogs ...

For all our heroes

A bus ride

Another bus ride to Newcastle with HO to see -




- some pavement barriers .... no, only joking, but I did like the colours and pattern.






- We went to see the Norman Cornish exhibition at the Northumbria University - his sketches and paintings recall a bygone era of mining and pit villages. We rather fancied buying one but the prices started about £8000! Instead we made do with some library books from the splendid Newcastle library which is due to be officially opened by Wor Queen tomorrow.

Bartering books

A visit to Barter Books ("one of the largest secondhand bookshops in Britain") left our bookshelves somewhat lighter - we came away with only one as a result of the "barter" but still have cash in the drawer so to speak. It's always a delight to go to this old railway station in Alnwick even if it's only to sit in front of the real fire with a cup of coffee and browse.



After that a quick visit to Morpeth station which yielded some peeling paint - a possible future textile?

Taking time to smell the roses ....

.... and hydrangea!

More hidden places

Clutching our bus passes, a friend and I caught the bus to Newcastle to go to an exhibition of photographs by Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen called "Byker Revisited" in the Side Gallery. This exhibition of portraits and landscapes comes 40 years after she came to the north-east to make the first photographic documentary of Byker. We still have the original book of photos so it was really interesting to see this "update" (and scarey to think how many years have passed!).

On the way to the gallery we found some hidden stairways, only a few of the many near the Tyne Bridge.

Back to explore some more one day!