Where did I ever find the time…

…to go to work every day!

I thought I might miss the companionship more than anything else but the phone seems to be ringing constantly and the days just race by. I’m having a whale of a time. No serious housework managed as yet although I have been doing a fair bit of home baking – a bit of a novelty at the moment which I am sure will soon wear off. :)

And what else have I been up to?

I have been frantically trying to get prepared for the Fashion, Embroidery and Stitch Show at the NEC later this month, details here. I will be teaching free workshops, with all materials provided , organised by Kim Thittichai and alongside some really wonderful artists. This is what we will be creating in my workshop: My workshops are scheduled for 11.15 a.m. on each of the four days and you will need to register beforehand by coming to the stand as soon as you can and putting your name down. You will find me on stand P24 (thanks Julie) where I will also be demonstrating some different techniques.

Details of all the workshops are on the ICHF website here. Unfortunately, my name does not appear under the list of demonstrators either on the website or in the leaflet as thanks once again to AOL a number of emails went astray and not only did I miss the deadline date it was by a complete stroke of luck that I didn’t miss out on the whole thing altogether! (I really must get around to changing my service provider especially as I noticed recently that my monthly charge went up by £2.31 a few months back and I was not informed – I am sure that isn’t allowed.)

Anyway, I shall be there from Thursday March 24th through to Sunday March 27th from 9.30 to 5.30 (5.00 on Sunday).

I am also really excited about this technique I have been working on, so simple yet very effective. A really rusty, distressed surface created using a layering technique. I shall be taking some of these samples with me to the NEC if you would like a closer look. Hope to see you there.

Disperse Dyes - can anyone help me here?

I wanted to do some transfer printing with disperse dyes through a thermofax screen.

I thickened the dye with a disperse dye thickener, screened it onto copy paper and it worked a treat. Left it to dry until the next day. All looking good so far. Then I ironed the print on to Lutradur. And ironed it and ironed it and ironed it – and absolutely nothing happened – except the copy paper started to turn brown with the heat from the iron!

I must admit I have had the disperse dyes and thickener for at least 7 years, possibly longer. Do they have a shelf life? Can anyone throw any light on this for me please?

Posted by R2blog . R2blog auto post for blogspot. Download at http://R2blogger.blogspot.com