A Tidy Studio

Well just for those of you who know me and might be very surprised to learn that I do tidy my studio, admittedly not very often, here are the photos of the results of tidying my studio at Krowji ready for Christmas Open Studios this weekend.  As we all know the intention is always to keep it tidy but the reality is that it probably won't stay this way so take a good look!  There might even be room for me to transfer more from home!

Christmas Bunting

Here is the bunting I made for the Christmas Bunting Workshop on 3rd December.  I decided I wanted something a little different to the usual pennant shaped bunting and so came up with the Christmas trees with Snowmen and Gingerbread men (or persons!) appliqued onto the trees.  The Snowmen and Gingerbread men could be further embellished with buttons and stitching if you wanted to.  Although you can't see all of them there are seven trees in total and obviously the bunting could be made longer or shorter as required.

This will definitely become part of my Christmas decoration collection and I hope will be displayed for many Christmases to come!

If you are interested in the workshop please contact me for more details.

Embroiderers' Guild Workshop

I had a lovely day yesterday at the Cornwall branch of the Embroiderers' Guild day.  One of our members, Hazel Matthews showed us how to cover boxes with fabric and although mine is not quite finished I am pleased with it so far and that I now have the technique to cover other boxes in the future.  The box I covered had contained Turkish Delight which my daughter brought back from Dublin, so I now have the memory of eating the Turkish Delight and a box to keep treasures in!

And here is a photo of the rainbow I saw through the window whilst I was at the workshop!

Seem to have been away from my blog for a while, sometimes life just seems to run away from me!

Well have been at Krowji for a few months now and am really enjoying my space there.  The Creative Skills Open Studio earlier in the year was great, met lots of lovely people and made some sales!  I am now looking forward to Krowji Christmas Open Studios which begins on Friday 30th November - 6-9 p.m. with mulled wine, mince pies and a choir and continues on Saturday 1st December and Sunday 2nd December, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.  An opportunity to come and visit some of the studios and meet the artists and designer/makers who are there and do some Christmas shopping as well!  When you are need of refreshment and somewhere to put your feet up you can pop in to The Melting Pot Cafe where Ben and his staff will ply you with teas/coffees, cakes and other lovely food!

Hope to see you there!

Crow Day

Last Friday Carolyn and I had one of our Crow Days but this time we went to my studio in Krowji rather than my house.  We had a good day working on our projects and this is the photo she took of me.  We may now be calling our Crow Days "Krow" Days!

Looking forward to our next Krow Day!

Krowji

Well I moved in to my studio last week and must say I am enjoying having the space in such a creative environment!  I am sharing the room with 3 other people, one of who I already knew and am looking forward to getting to know more  people who work in Krowji.  I am hoping to attend the knitting group that meets in The Melting Pot Cafe on the first and third Wednesday evening to expand my circle of knitters.

Tomorrow I will be moving my loom into the studio and look forward to getting back in to my weaving.

I will be publishing the dates I will be open during the Open Studios in June soon.

Studio at Krowji

I am getting very excited about moving in to my studio in Krowji next week where I will be part of a large group of very creative people and where there is also a brilliant cafe where, as well as serving good food and drink, they also host events.

So I will probably be spending the Easter weekend sorting my stuff out and deciding what to take initially, can't wait!

For those of you not aware of Krowji here is the link

http://www.krowji.co.uk/

I will be taking part in the Creative Skills Open Studios there in June (2nd to 10th I think) so please come and see me there if you can.

Mobile Textile Supply Shop

Having lived here in St. Ives for 13 very happy years I am aware that there are some products creative people down here like to use that  are very difficult to get hold of without buying over the internet, or it may be that you only want smaller quantities than you can buy online.

I have therefore decided to branch out and become a mobile textile supply shop which will travel to events such as Embroiderers' Guild sessions, West Country Embroiderers, Lace Days etc., with products such as water soluble fabric, tyvek, hand-dyed threads and fabrics etc.

So if you know of any events in Cornwall which you think my mobile shop would be welcome at, please get in touch and I will do my best to help.

Workshop - Upcycle Your Wardrobe - This Saturday

I'm running a workshop - Upcycle Your Wardrobe - this Saturday (21st January 2012) from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm.

Cost is £25.00 for the day.

Learn how to transform your old clothes into something new.

There are still places available - so if you'd  like to book or want to know more - get in touch now:
01736 797 122
jo.mcintosh@knitweave.co.uk

I'm running more Workshops and Craft Evenings over the coming weeks including:

• Making Buttons From Fimo
• Rag Rugging
• Papermaking
• Feltmaking

More details and dates are on my website:
St Ives Cornwall - Textile Art Workshops

Tag Tuesday

Here is my tag, the theme this week is white, which is not a colour I use a lot so it was interesting to come up with something suitable.  It's amazing what you can find in your fabric stash - silk velvet, organza and lacy fabric and add buttons and sequins.  Really enjoying being part of this.

Crazy Patchwork

Went to the first Embroiderers' Guild meeting of the new year yesterday.  Had a really great day as the session was run by one of our members, Marion and she introduced me to crazy patchwork which I loved!  Traditional patchwork is too precise for me so this technique suited me perfectly, I particularly like adding the stitches and embellishments, those of you who know me will not be surprised to know that shisha mirrors, sequins and sparkly thread appear in my work.

Here are two pictures, one is my tag for the Tag Tuesday blog and one is a piece of crazy patchwork I was inspired to start when I got home last night (luckily Saturday night television does not require much concentration!)

Mermaids

Just a quick post to say thank you to my lovely friend Carolyn for providing my new background as she knows I love mermaids!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to everyone! Thought I would start the new year by showing you the tag I have just made and posted on Tag Tuesday in order to get my blog up and running again! I will be making changes soon so keep watching!