COMMENTS

Hiya from the land of awful face ache, yep its back again & with a vengeance.  Some of my very lovely C & G students are / were nurses & have sorted out my pain relief.  So I am hoping for a bit of relief.  Think it might need a trip to the Doctors & dentist in a couple of days if it doesnt go away

Remember in the GIVE-A-WAY EVERY comment gets an extra chance of winning.  Am on 68 followers now so only 32 to go.  Will I ever get there????? I really hope so.

Here is an image of one of the projects that you can make in the TRANSFORMING WITH TRANSFERS workshop.  This workshop is on Introductory offer until 1st October.

Remember that I went shopping a couple of face aches ago.  These were part of the naughty shop in Olney

Used the Smooch for the first time the other night on Lutradur & **LOVED** the effect.  More exploring I think is needed  -  but when to get the time

This was cheap shopping number two.
Look at the silly little finger painters what fun, great for mark making.  The ribbon with the holes already in is fabulous and I bought off white in the hopes of colouring it myself with transfers.  The gold metal sticky things will make great highlight embellishments.
I bought a Stazon black refill, actually wish I had not as I messed up my fingers & the desk by splurging (oh what a lovely word) it all over the place.
I into metal work at the moment so the pliers were an essential, but today I saw a better pair grrrr.  See the lovely silver leaf, I want to try using it with paper clay
There is also a curved incribed dangly thing & a huge roll of cheap double sided tape.
My husband has retuned from a shop today with lots of containers with lids that snap together for a pound for 2,  I just need to put things in them.... hee hee do you do that, get a stroage solution & then not fillit up straight away.
Am in the midst of filling up folders for the 4 new C & G courses, starting.  How lovely to have new classes beginning, all the exciting things they will make & learn.
Today it was my year 2 machine embroidery level 3 students. wow oh wow they bought in such wonderful items to knock your socks off.  What a talented group, what a very lucky tutor.
Off to flake out as feeling a bit spaced out with the pills, actually a bit lalalala, hope I am not like that tomorrwo, perhaps I had better go and eat, I can smell toast, maybe if I dip it in tea (ok sounds disgusting, remember I cant eat chewy things) then I can have some...hmmmm

Oh before I forget have made the links all work now, thanks for the heads up x

Remember to leave comments x

BLOG GIVE-A-WAY

Hi
The half price sale is now over.  The workshops up now are on Introductory offer until 1st October.

The details of the blog give-a-way are on the side bar & the heading, so I wont go on and on about it.  I would love 100 followers, seems you are a true blogger if you get to 100 followers & I would love to be in that 'family'

They are really good prizes & it is all for FREE

TRANSFER MINI WORKSHOP
Well I dont know what happened to my 23 pictures but Picasa eat them & then uploaded a whole repeat lot of previous photos, so now it is stuffed with repeats.
I am so cross

To finish your mini piece.  Transfer your coloured sheets to the Pelmet Vilene & use as a background for stitch.
Cant show photos as have lost them

Hope you enjoyed learning a little about Transfers.  The workshop TRANSFORMING with TRANSFERS is on Introductory offer over at http://shelaghfolgate.bigcartel.com/, where lots of  instructions & ideas can be found

Must get on wth lesson planning, sitting at the puter gives me a stiff neck !!!!!!

MARK MAKING & ready for stitch

Hi
Had a wonderful evening with my new group AFFINITY last night, using PROMPTS to create individual special little pieces. 

TRANFORMING TO TRANSFER WORKSHOP IS NOW LIVE on http://shelaghfolgate.bigcartel.com/  Introductory offer is just 10 quid (British pounds) for a week then it will go up to its normal price

Only one day left of the HALF PRICE SALE then gone........

Three New workshops will be added called TASTER TECHNIQUES & they will be at a special introductory 5 quid (British pounds) for a week
You will get a TASTER of some CITY & GUILDS techniques that I teach.

BACK to this weeks FREE mini workshop

By now you should have transferred your paper onto your Pelmet Vilene

Oh dear Picassa has gobbled up my stage by stage photos

Be back later when I have done another piece to show grrrrrrrrrr

TRANSFER

Hiya

Have your papers dried?  Remember this will not work if they have not.

You now have a bundle of shall we say dull papers - but the colours do not look like the papers.

From a piece of each colour that you have - cut a small square.

From your Pelmet Vilene interfacing - cut a one inch strip off one of the edges.  The photo shows all the strips together, which is a waste of your pelmet vilene, but makes an interesting transfer in itself

SETTING UP YOUR IRONING SURFACE
A padded surface, covered with silicon paper & a spare piece of silicon paper.
An iron set onto its HOTTEST setting

Sandwich like this:  from the bottom:
1 Ironing surface
2 Silicon paper (baking parchment)
3 Strip of pelmet vilene
4 Squares of transfer paper, coloured side DOWN
5 Silicon paper

Press with your iron, keep it moving, along the strip, it will take 30 seconds to 2 minutes to transfer
Lift up a corner to check
Further instructions in more detail are contained in the new WORKSHOP - TRANSFORMING WITH TRANSFERS arriving on Saturday http://shelaghfolgate.bigcartel.com when the current HALF PRICE SALE has ended

Ohhhhh look at the colour

Remove the silicon & the little pieces
See how bright the colours are now

Tomorrow we will create our piece..... by for now

Tonight is the launch of a new group AFFINITY I am a member & am leading it for a while to get it going.  I am still a member of BOAT so could be a busy time!!

PAPER

Hi
Remember that the HALF PRICE SALE is only on until Saturday lunch time, dont miss out.

Todays 'lesson' is on Papers. Papers to use for the transferring.  You need a non-absorbent paper, such as computer paper, which I know is a bit thirsty, but is fine for this method.  The thinner the better.    There are other papers to use & these are discussed in the WORKSHOP that accompanies this mini lesson.

You also need some pots to decant your dyes / paints into, dont use them straight out of the containers, you really dont want to contaminate your stock containers.  Have extra containers, like yogurt pots to mix your colours.

Paint onto your paper with a paint brush, covering the sheets in plenty of colour.

Please note that the colour of the dye / paint is NOT the shade it will end up.  Once you have painted your papers you need to do a trial piece to see what colour each one really is.

So now you need to leave your papers overnight to dry, yes you do, it WONT work unless the papers are completely dry.

See you tomorrow.

CITY & GUILDS NEWS
I am very excited as we have filled up our courses & might be adding additional ones.  Level 2 Machine Embroidery.  Level 3 Certificate & Diploma in Patchwork & Level 2 Patchwork. These are all running, so an exciting new cohort of students to meet & hopefully to inspire.  Also the sun is shining & it is lovely & warm & I am off into the garden to veg on the bench!!

DAY1 - WORKSHOP BEGINS

HI
I would love a comment if you are playing along (I know that Lyn is) just to see if all the effort is worth it!!!

I grandly announced yesterdayPELMET VILENE.  Overnight I had a thought that some of you have no idea what I mean.  So I have dug out the REAL name.
Vilene Specialist Sew-In Extra heavy white sew-in interfacing 239.  I buy 30cm wide but it is also sold in a wider width (that sounds a bit silly :-)  Anyway this is to one to use.  Now if you can / dontwant to get it, have you a stash of really old thick grotty polyester wadding lurking about?  Sandwich a piece between baking parchment / silicon paper & give it a jolly good hot iron.  If it compresses flat - does it?  Hooray you have made your own type of vilene.  Try using a few layers together, you could use fusible web to hold them together or Supermend (which is fusible web in powder form)  You want a fairly stiff base to work on for a book cover.  There are many other types of interfacing - LUTRADUR 100 or 130, only trouble with this is that we will be using heat sources & it has a lovely tend to hole & buckle ....hmmm great properties maybe for another project.  There is Timtex, buckram etc.  Hey use what you want, but I get great results from the 'Pelmet Vilene'

COLOURING - as the PV is synthetic it loves the transfer process, cant vouch for the other products (except the Lutradur) as dont know their fibre content, but just 'have a go'
Mix up the powder according to the manufacurers instructions.  More detail is provided in my TRANSFORMING WITH TRANSFERS WORKSHOP, arriving this week on http://shelaghfolgate.bigcartel.com
If you have the paints (in liquid form already) you are all set.
See you tomorrow, when CREATING WILL BEGIN ( cant today got to go to work, 2 new courses starting, hence the early post - wish me luck!!)

HALF PRICE WORKSHOP SALE

RUSH OVER TO:

HTTP://SHELAGHFOLGATE.BIGCARTEL.COM

and bag a HALF PRICE workshop this week only.

I am retiring my old workshops & writing NEW WORKSHOPS

Grab it before its gone xx

24 hours

Since my machine arrived, I have had a little play & produced a few little experiments

The first one is wool blanket & wool top & tulle, all held together with the little punching machine & then quickly machined
The second one is the post from before but twin needled to give further dimension.
The small green one is wool blanket onto cotton wadding, wool tops & tulle, but no stitch yet
The bottom 2 are just experiments using cotton fabric, wadding, scrim & desk scraps, Picasa only wants to collage like this.
I have had a go with organza & it works beautifully but have not photographed yet

LUNCH out today with a friend & her granddaughter.  Went to Bee Inspired studios (where I work) to visit one of my students who had a stall at a craft event.  It was full of traders.  Mostly with beads.  I bought a little button ring, really because it fit my finger & was only a pound.
My students had a lovely stall, very tastefully laid out, with some interesting cards & pieces.  I am not sure if I want to get into the selling at craft fairs, as it seems a lot of time & effort for not much reward.  A whole day sat behind a stall does not appeal unless I am demonstrating or giving lessons.  Met up with a few students & had a fun time helping one to pick fabric for a child's quilt border.
Lunch was at The Mews Cafe & a rather nice & huge lasagna was scoffed.  The granddaughter was very good for just over a year old & made me laugh.  Thanks for lunch friend!!!!

OPEN STUDIOS
I have been to Barton Hall this afternoon which houses a collection of mainly paint artists.  There is a sculpture artist who works with metal & makes huge installations of people & forms.
I did not take any photos, was not sure if I could
I always view Angie Snelling's art.  She works with metal & braille. fascinating.  I stamped out my name in braille, this was a first for me.  I will have to try & add it to my art work.

This is a set that you can buy to practise.  I was very taken with her handouts & information packs.

The photographer Simon Loach works with human form & manipulates the image using digital software.  His presentation was ace, moody & dark & the photographs which I kept calling paintings were beautifully presented

Look at the detail on this image.  He told me that on one image he used an old battered sign & layered the nude figure (of a woman of course!!).  I thought that this image was fabulous, much prefer to see a man than a nude woman (yawn)
I was totally awed by the work of John Mcgain.  His website does not show how wonderful his visual texture paintings, beautifully presented in their frames, are

Visually stunning.  There was one (oh there had to be didn't there?) that I really wanted.  A really good price but more than I can afford.  Still it is a good day if you find something that you really want isn't it?
I had a long lovely chat with Sharon Read, her texture pieces I just drooled over.  Again beautifully & appropriately mounted, what a very talented lady, her studio was so classy.

She had some new work which was fabulous.  If you can get to the studios on one of the weekend days for the next 3 weeks then there is much to see.

I hope that you have enjoyed seeing a snapshot of my afternoon.  I may go to more tomorrow!!!! or I may just see if Mrs Muse will visit & create my own......

POSTBAG

Morning all, look what arrived via my nice postie this morning

It is a FELTING MACHINE

Yes it really is, a user friendly EMBELLISHER or SMASHING MACHINE

It costs £3.99 & includes a small bundle of cut out felt pieces (plus postage) from
http://www.ramsdensdirect.com/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=style+six+felting+machine&x=13&y=2
You can also buy it from Amazon.
So why does a teacher with an Embellisher & Hand Felting equipment, want to buy this.  Well I figurered it would be good in a classroom situation.  Very safe & very portable, & I am right !!!!!!
This is what I quickly whipped up with scraps from my desk

You can see the punch marks on this close up, I am thrilled with it, no plugging in machines, no watch out for your fingers, it can sit on my desk & I can use it to attach anything.
Get one before they all go at this price.  They have other machines as well, Airbrush, Foil applicator, gem decorator, attaching machine & silk screener.  Might have a look at those :-)
Oh and it also smashes to felt as well.
Off to play......