Goodness, I hadn't realised how long it had been since I last posted on here. I've had to go through the photos on my phone to see what has happened since I last wrote. If you follow my Instagram account you will have been bombarded with photos, as I've been trying to keep that up to date and try to post at least a couple of things daily. The Mother and I had an interesting time at the Bridge Arts in Uckfield Summer Fair a couple of weekends ago and I was really pleased with how my stand looked. The Friday was the opening night with music, Pimms and speeches and I sold two of my little colour burst original pieces using my PayPal card reader. I don't know what was more exciting, the sale or the first use of my card reader!!! I was happy dancing all evening!
On the second day I was hosting a mini stitchscape workshop and had previously put together some little mini kits using a 10cm embroidery hoop, calico and four slithers of fabric. I had already stretched the calico hoop so all my workshop participants had to do was choose the fabric selection they wanted, cut the shapes and start sewing!
It worked really well and encouragingly lots of people attended! (Including The Brother.) The class was only meant to last for 45 minutes but the majority of people wanted to stay on and as there was no one else booked for the big table, we overran by over an hour! I had also taken a big bag of remnant fabrics and bag of threads so everyone got stuck in and really enjoyed themselves I think. It's amazing how many different ideas people can come up with using just a few scraps of fabric. The Mother was an excellent additional tutor and very helpful at leaping between the workshop and the stand; you can see how handily placed my stand was to the big table, right next door!
One fun weekend was followed by another and I went camping with the Guides. Us leaders went up a night before to set things up so we camped for two night whilst the girls camped for one (which was enough - for them and us). Our days were full of craft, wooding, fire lighting, cooking, cleaning, coffee (for me), putting up tents, campfire songs, s'mores, hot chocolate, sunshine..... For several of the girls it was their first time camping and they thoroughly enjoyed it. One of the best parts about being a Guide Leader is seeing the girls learn new things and being the one to teach them. Watching them build a fire is hilarious and usually involves my having to go into detail about the fire triangle (heat, oxygen and fuel) and building that triangle in small twigs and building it up, etc etc. They can be very sweet when you take away the pressure of having to be cool all the time and just let them be kids.
My camping project was a hoop-full of pebbles, although I didn't manage to get very much done. They were finished off when I got back home and needed a day to recover (we hadn't slept much). My little pebbles sold very well at the Bridge Arts fair and I am building up stock before next weekend at the Kent County Show. With the size of hoop I am using (20cm) I can make eight small pebbles at a time.
I have included some more festive ones in this batch as bizarrely, during one of the hottest weeks of the year, my thoughts have been turning to projects to make ready for the festive season. It takes a long time to make stitchscapes or sort out new projects so starting early is a good idea.
I get asked all of the time if these are real pebbles, and I must stress that they are not. I am not nearly clever enough to cover real pebbles, and I don't have enough time to be combing for pebbles that are exactly the right shape and size to cover them with embroidery. I have seen other artists felt around real pebbles and then stitch on the felt but that's not my style so much.
So, my pebbles aren't toys, they are just a bit of fun stuffed with polyester wadding for you to do with what you will. They would fit perfectly in a printers tray, or you could pop a safety pin in the back and wear it as a brooch, totally up to you!
I do like this batch, and am already working on some more- it's a bit of a challenge, how many can I make in time for the Kent County Show?
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