New workshops for next year

I've been teaching book making workshops for a while and I've noticed that people are increasingly interested in my personal sketchbooks and diaries. Here are my 8 most recent diaries, I think I scrapped 2004, and you may notice I didn't get round to covering  2010, it spent a whole year thrown in and out of my bag  and survived very well, which shows how sturdy my stitching technique is!

2003 to 2007 (2004 missing)

2003 to 2007 inside

2008 to 2011

2008 to 2011 inside
(and yes, I've chosen the prettiest pages!)

Because of this interest, and because I'd love to encourage others to keep journals / diaries / sketchbooks, whatever you want to call them, I'm planning extend my workshop repertoire into teaching creative journalling/sketchbooks/diaries/notebooks.

In January I've been asked to do some one hour workshops for  Organic Arts who are having a big re-launch, so I'm going to do 'nature journalling'. Click here for information about the free workshops on offer in January

I'm also hoping to tempt some friends around before then to 'practice' on them in the same way that I practised on some friends with marbling and paste papers earlier this year. I learn a huge amount from trying things out on friends, and hopefully my friend have some fun, and my official punters get a better quality of workshop as a result.
So, here is a little autumn themed book I've made as an example of what we might do on a workshop

Autumn book

 And then I got carried away and made this Haberdashery book which isn't full yet. 

Haberdashery book

This took a bit longer, sewing all those buttons and ribbons on, but it did get me to sort my button collection out.
I can see I'm going to get into making these little theme books, I've got a stash of stuff waiting to be put into more books, and they'd make lovely little presents.

Alphabet Quilt.

I've been working on this alphabet quilt all year, and I was just about to post about it 'in progress'  during the summer when the person it's for put a comment on my blog, eek I didn't realise they were reading it, so I had to save up posting about it until after Christmas!
 I  took some of the squares along on the boat on our summer trip to do embroidery on them, it was  a great way of relaxing in the evenings.

My original layout

 B is for boat, O is for owl, and C is for cat.... of course!

I had a vague plan it would be a summer birthday present, but  I realised there was no way it would be finished by then. However, I did get it finished for Christmas.

Terrible picture, but you get the idea, I was in a rush to get it in the post..

Finished quilt, backed and edged

I'd better start on next years sewing project now ...

Christmassy pictures

I know there are lots of pictures of peoples Christmas trees and decorations out there, but I've got a new computer and I wanted to have a play with it. I also wanted to show off my sweet table decorations, my tree that was a 'potted tabletop tree' from several years ago that has grown to quite a respectable size, and a really sweet home made present from a lovely neighbour

Tiny flowerpot with a potato stuffed into it
decorated with cake candles,lichen
and garden prunings

Handmade sweetie filled cones.
The sweets will be devoured
and the cones kept to decorate the tree next year

Well this has taken me ages, but I'll get faster with practice.
Off to drink more mulled wine and start (or is that finish?) eating chocolates...

I won a book.. and some shoes.

I've only entered a few blog 'giveaways' (in brackets because I'm not comfortable with the word). I only enter them on blogs I follow anyway or have recently discovered and plan to keep looking at, so I was really shocked when I won this book. It's a great book, and is really relevant to stuff I'm doing at the moment, and workshops I'm thinking of running. So a huge thank you to Sue. This is her image, and hopefully (if I have the hang of the technology!) if you click on the image you can go to her post about the book (or click on the link below)


http://suebulmer.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/book-review-alternative-art-journals-by.html

Also a huge and belated thank you to my friend up the hill who made these for my birthday. This is her picture as I've become very lazy about taking photos.

My husband ordered them for me and there was some complicated and amusing shenanigans to find out what style and colours I wanted!The final result is that I have The MOST WONDERFUL and MOST COMFY shoes ever.
I can't tell you how much I love them.
Click on the image for her blog, and I love the tiddley poms (tho they wouldn't be at all practical for a country girl like me) and I think I want some merryweathers for Christmas, or is that just being greedy?!!