Absence note, treats and sketchbooks

In true teacher form I am going to get in my absence note first! I am so sorry that I haven't been around much of late, i am feeling very ignorant and rude as I have recieved a blog award from Trisha and haven't acknowledged it yet. I will do when I get 5 Trisha I promise and I am very flattered. The reason I have been away in the depths is that after my interview and success with the Deputy Head of Faculty job, my boss got a promotion and so argggg, I have another interview tomorrow for the Head of faculty job. Now I KNOW I am not going to get it, but it is worth a try! The other man in our Department has been a manager on the pastoral side for a while and so will certainly get it but I have to show willing. So think of me just before lunch being put through the mill again!

Now I have some photo's of my pieces at the exhibition, not on mirror this time.



Turned out well I think, I am pleased with it!

Now for my TREAT - Look what I won! I got this amazing rint and a fridge magnet from the gorgeous Paulette Insall, her darling son picked my name from a rather over brimming bowl! I love her, isn't she lovey!

I have been trying real hard to finish my skethbooks and samples for C+G level 2 before I start the level 4. I have been surfing looking at how others deal with their sketchbooks and thought I would show mine to all those who find this part hard, so you have something to give ou an idea of how I do it. This is from my Industry unit.

Paper cuts
Design ideas for the cuff.
Well hope you enjoyed and there is only a week and 3 days of our term left so past then I will be getting STUCK into textiles work!

Look what I bought!

Look what I got! I went shopping with my Mum today and came back with this impress rolling mill, and it is fab!
I got straight to embossing some aluminium, with lace from the bottom of net curtains and flocked wall paper. I LOVE it and I am going to have a ball playing with it!!!!!! Who's jelous??? I think it is a bargain at £20.

My arch for Pam

Here is my arch for Pam, a little belated as it should have been for July. She asked for relics as her theme, so I searched the Museum of Wales for ancient treasures. The circles and 2 slashes came from the hilt of a dagger and the spiral shapes are from Cup and ring markings in stone. I used inspiration from Lynda's WOW tutorial. I foiled a piece of felt and embellished it with organza over the top. I embellished heavily from the back to get the buff colour of the felt coming through to make it look older and more corroded etc. I used the soldering iron to cut away the cirlcesand the slashes and piece the holes.
I loosey gathered up osme silk but didn't do this very acurately. I love how this has turned out.
I free machined the cup and ring shapes and added a tassle and beaded edging. I am peased with it, just hope Pam is now!
I forgot to ask, so have come back to add this. I may have accidentally signed up for the level 4 in stitched textiles! I was wondering if anyone has done it and how hard it is! I know it is going to be hard and with the new job, even worse. But in Wales trainging is substadised, also school will pay, plus I would be able to teac C+G at the end and Enid is letting me skip level 3 since I don't want to do the history part, and Enid is due to leave at the end of this course. So many ticks in the box I couldn't turn it down. Any advice you can ofer would be greatly recieved!

Get your cuppa now!

Right for the photo fest! Get your cuppa, sit back and enjoy the amazing work of the group of lifelong learning students at Gorseinon College, Swansea, Wales. As apposed to my last post this will not be a quicky! Now al good posts should begin with some eye candy, but Lesley took this literally! Here is her lovely box of choccies for the design element colour, this is for design not textiles. You have to click on it to have a look, zips, paper beads, rushed fabric etc all make up the choccies, good enough to eat!


It was so short on space Chris' parasol was hung up, all hand stitched daisies. Estyllt's medical hanging is there too the left too, both lovely!
Again for design these are a collaboration of the students work, mine is the flower. They were tiny little slides we made with cellophane and sequins and all sorts of other things, then photographed and manipulated, and printed onto acetate.


This was an awsome piece from a glass student, sorry if this is yours I don't know your name, but what a glorious piece of work. It is all bubbly, and of course a glass handbag - such fun!
Embroidery had a cross of hanging space - too small realy, but packed with gems!

and because I knew you would want to see the cactus! Again sorry don't know the artist's name she is not in my class.
The next part, mine are here. Love Robi's slashed and rusty looking bolsters! and Paulines hanging on the far right.

This is Sue's festival blanket, got to love the colours! Sue is doing level 3
Now to mine My sketch book with my tonal piece, hlaf photocopy half drawing in pencil.

My book at the back for industry.
The cover of Chris'? book I think!
Another section of the display. My bookwrap on the plinth with the lamp. Love Lesley's on the left again, on the coal industry, all layers of organza and machine stitch. Sandra's is the lord's prayer in welsh and english, every letter stitched, cut and reassembled. The piece hanging from the twig is Grace's and it is a piece of fabric based on bark, it has the word texture on it, it is crunch and yummy!
I don't know any of these works except Sue's festival blanket.


My metal and industry!

My paper quilt for true colours
My slide
My design pieces for 3D form, based on the life of a welsh miners wife.
My canvases for Ellie's illustration

Hope you enjoyed seeing these pieces, it was fun!

Just a quicky!

There will be lots more to show later from my C+G class but I am snowed under with work and deadlines so for now this is my offering, my industry inspired jewellery. It is embellished felt, with fibre in form foil. with automatic eyelet stitch onto orange organza, blasted back. The washers are painted with nail varnish and the strips are copper mesh and silver foil painted. I love how they have tuned out and my Sister Sian's magic closure means I can put them on myself! They were a little difficult to photograph on the mirror!

I'm out from under my rock!

Hia all, and can I start by thanking everyone for their good wishes and congratulations on my promotion. I already have a pile of things to do!
Anyway, i am out from under my textile rock! I have made and finished my jewellery for C+G but I did a stupid thing and didn't photograph them before handing them in, but I wil get a pic in th private view on monday. We are moving buildings next year (that's if I carry on???) and as we need new equipment we are all making ATC's to sell. Here are my offerings.
The next thing I am working on is my calendar girls card. We are half way through, and it is getting harder, but I decided to use the method I learnt at Sandra's workshop, using aqua bond and snippets of organza and fleece. I layed up triangles of organza over a twirled fleece centre. Then FME'd
Then the background, well since Angie Hughes' workshop I have been dying to try a FME style called "Drunken wiggle". I have done it here in a lime green perle, as cable stitch.
I was going to blast this back but I quite like it now.
I have also had some amazing post today. A lush scrunchy card from Jan. She sent me the awsome Hand stitched ATC below too as part of the series of lotteries we are having on TC.

Don't you love them.I do! Thanks Jan.

Well did the vibes work?????

Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I got the job I wanted!!!!!
*** addition*** I applied for the job of deputy head of faculty in my school so deputy of the Design and technology department! Pay rise and career development!!! Thanks so much for all your kind words and thoughts. I don't know if it was collective thought but it worked so I don't question it too much!

Cuff nearly there....

Well I am nearly there with the cuff, admittedly I am not happy with this one and have started mark 2 but I learnt loads! I think the tonal values are not different enough in the embelished felt and the silver foil strip, and even though I love the texture I am in the process of utting together mark 2 including copper for the strip intead of the foil. I love how the organza worked out, it keeps the eyelets in shape and gives the back of the felt a lovely contrast and smooth finish. I may wear this one to the exhibiton and meal after if it doesn't go into the show. I still have the fastening to do, but in consultation with my little sis, I am going to go for a wire crochet or needle weaved ring to close it off as per the amazing cuff she made me!

Thanks too, to all of you who have wished me luck for tomorrow, if vibes from over 6 countires help I am sure I will be all good. I am going to picture you all straining to send me thoughts just before I go in and I am sure I can't fail! Mine is about 10.30 am BST (GMT+1) so think away!!!! Love carol T

Nothing like pressure!

Well there's nothing like pressure is there! I do so make like hard on myself! On monday I have a job interview for a promotion at work, and so, af if the pressure and self doubt that comes with this is not enough, I also have to get something finished to show in the exhibition for the end of C+G. I realy need to get something done as this is the second year of my Level 2 (I think that's Part 2) and although Enid is letting me complete by the end of August, and I may go onto level 4, I might not either so I feel I should have something in there! Now I have been dithering about this jewelery and automatic stitches thing long enough. So crunch time, I decided on what to do. I have used my felt that had been foiled and embellished, a la Purple Missus! Then I used solvy and the automatic stitches to make a lacy edge.
The two on the right unravelled a little too much for me and so I added a piece of organza to the last one so I can burn back the edges. I think this is going to be the way to go! So I am chuffed. They are about 1 1/2 inch square and now I have to get this done by........ wait for it....... Thursday. Yes that is a week today.
The next thing to add to it are these, penny washers. About an inch in size. I have painted them with nail polish in a lovely colour called Fantasy island! And this is my sample so far.....
So here we are, hopefully this is going to work out. God knows I haven't got time to mess about! I plan to blast it the weekend. Hope everyone is having a fun week.

Fiberpaperarts workshop

Well it was the second Saturday of the month yesterday so it was workshop day at Fiberpaperarts. This is the name of the group of ladies from my college, who also have a yahoo group here. If you live in the south Wales area then join up it is a ot of fun. Yesterday was a playday, we regularly have some experienced tutors, such as Angie Hughes, Enid Davies and we are having Christine Benson next year but yesterday the founding members, Christine and Sandra did us a cheap day, which was a kinda stashbuster. The second half of the day for me was with Chirs, she did some texture using up old lace . I used up some horrid old ribbony trim stuf that has been in the stores for a guzzilion years, and just look how my piece turned out.
I think it needs a focal point but I love it! So will be working on it now to make a focal. In the morning I worked with Sandra on bonding. We worked on bondaweb sandwiches. These were delicate little trappings between painted bondaweb, burning back or not. Really lovely.
Here are mine, love the foil on the bottom right, that one bears more work. The bottom 2 pics aretraping using aqua bond. This is a cold water dissolvable that has a gummed side and this stops things moving around. I had never used it before but it was really easy to use, shame it is soooo expensive. Here's the front
And the back.
Wel it is father's day here in the UK and i can hear movement upstairs so Daddy must be waking up from his lie in, time for Ellie and I to go jump on hi I think! More on recent work later!

Look look look.....

Look what I got!
I got a lovely cuff, crocheted in embroidery cotton, my favourite! In Red and grey and silver and I love it!!!!!! and where did I get it, well my lovely lovely little sister Siani. She has only fairly recently started crocheting, but by god if that girl puts her mind to something boy does she master it. I love this cuff and I want to know how, so she has promised me a dummies guide! (By the way how good do my nails look! Glad I pinched the nippers High school musical nail varnish now!)

Also I have complete my hand stitch lottery ATC for Zoe. The lottery paired me with Zoe again poor thing! I used my first ever piece of felt made at a workshop in school that my good friend Sandra came and did for me. I love these colours, and I am pleased with my card. I got Herringbone stitch in the lottery.

More book progress

I have made a start on the front cover and here is the story so far.....

Don't forget to post your guess for my Music interpretation a coupe of posts back to recieve a gift!!!! Love carol T

Very excited

Well Lynda has got me all excited about my industry unit again, I have been dabbling but not really making a dent in it so i played with some half embellished surfaces today and added misty fuse and Fibre in form foil I have been harbouring. I followed the recipy given in her WOW article. The backing for this is a piece of cotton painted with fabric paints.

This one is kunin felt.
Now this is what has really worked well is I have been annealing copper since the course I went on with Enid my lecturer and so this is a copper diamonds with acrylic rinting over it. The lighter diamonds are kitchen foil made into a fabric paper and painted in multiple layers of paint, incuding some stewart gill metallica which puffs up a little and looks really crunchy and corroded!YEY!
I am playing with cuffs for this unit and am supposed to be using automatic stitches but they are not doing it for me. I need some time to sit and play. I will probably use them to join component parts using solvy eventually. I am back on the horse anyway, having hardly touched fabric for about 3 weeks!
Cosing gambit, setting up the first spread in Ellie's book. No detail yet, except the castle.
But it is building!!!!!!

Competition on Textile challenges

Textile challenges June challenge is to interpret a piece of music and then to take it into a piece of stitch. This is one I did recently.I love my group there are such a lovely and giving group of ladies, so inspirational. We are coming up to our third anniversary soon, I am lucky to have had such a sterling group for 3 years. I had such fun doing it and so I set the girls on TC a competition to work out what piece of music it is an interpretation of. Well I thought it has been a while since I had a give away here so here is your chance. Leave me a comment with your guess for this piece of music and I will send you a postcard and maybe some other goodies, if more than one get it right I will draw a name!

On another note I wondered if you have seen Lynda's article on WOW. Wel wow is the right word, go check it out it is a fab article and well worth a read. I so want to be Lynda when I grow up!

I wanted to say a massive thank you to all of you who have commented over the last few weeks, I have had some lovely comments and these have really been valued. I have been feeling a little insecure of late and so am very glad to hear from you all. Love Carol T