Free Classes, an Exhibition and Standing in the Bath

I can't believe that it has been two weeks since my last blog (shades of the confessional). The excuse is that I have been working almost non stop on the free classes, which begin on Monday.

I wanted them to be more 'joined up' this time so I've planned a more structured course where techniques used at the beginning (working with silk paper, water-soluble paper and other bits) will expand and gather pace. I'm also going to make sure that samples from each lesson can be used in the next.

I've had such fun with embossing powder - set myself to find a way to melt it that doesn't need a Melting Pot or a ladle. It works - see below.

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The detail below is from a piece that mixes silk paper, silk carrier rods and 'flaps' of water-soluble - great for texture.
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Don't forget that the classes are free to anyone who has purchased the book Mixed Media: New Studio Techniques from any source. If you haven't got a copy head over to http://www.d4daisy.com/ and buy one.

The free on -line classes build on the book's techniques and we will have a Yahoo group where we can chat. My co-author Isobel Hall and I will pop up and chat, too. Isobel is in Australia just now with a dodgy dongle but she will do her best to keep in touch with everyone doing our lessons. Hope to meet up with old and new friends on Monday.

Having become a little stir crazy with all this studio work, Clive and I went to the Pat Hodson Exhibition at Walford Mill in Wimborne, Dorset today. I must confess I hadn't heard of her and her work is fabulous. Do get to the exhibition if you can - it's on until February 27. I'm not going to tell you a lot about it because I immediately decided to review it for the March issue of Workshop on the Web. The reviews are always in the unrestricted part of WoW so have look on 1st March http://www.workshopontheweb.com/.

Here is a view of the gallery.

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But you need to see the work 'up close and personal', as you can see from the detail below. She uses text in wonderful ways, very fresh and innovative work. It takes a lot for me to go 'Oh Boy' but we were really bowled over by it and purchased two of her delightful little books.

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I have also managed to get out and partake of food and drink. An evening treat at Pizza Express to celebrate grandaughter Lauren's seventeenth birthday (needless to say, the present had to do with a course of driving lessons).

Yesterday was a trip to the seaside to go to Urban Reef - a laid-back cafe bar on the coast at Boscombe. Good company, a glass of something bubbly (I wasn't driving) and lovely fresh mussels.

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I hear you wondering about the bathroom. Well, three days of plastering, plus layers of plaster dust later - we have a bath. I like showers but there are times when only a bath will do. We crept in and tried it out, trying not to splash the new plaster.

What can we be doing in the pic below? Standing in our new bath on tiler Justin's jacket to make it go down one thousand of a millimetre at one end so he could tighten a bolt. I've heard of precision but is this a little over the top?

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Hopefully pics of the finished room will soon follow. See you at the classes.

The Roman Pavement

Thanks for all good wishes everyone.

Julie - having your bathroom in bits does increase the need to pee - one of Newton's laws, I think. We do have a shower room, so are not too deprived.

So glad you have sold your house, Diane. The floods are awful in Queensland. Liz, who designs our d4d books, lives near Brisbane. Luckily she's on a hill and not directly affected but she says that, even where they are, the mud is terrible. Such awful scenes of flooding all around the world.

The work continues

Smudge is being a great trial to Martin Plumber and Sparky Gordon. At first they were charmed by his dog-like qualities - he runs up to greet them and wants to talk to them all the time. Now it has rubbed off a little as, however hard I try to keep him out, he is always under their feet. He's been a pain from the start - this is me trying to empty a bathroom cupboard that is full of cat.

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Wanted to take a couple of photos of the 'before' but Martin had whipped out the huge, ugly corner bath that took up so much room.
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There were three layers of tiles, the last layer stuck firmly into a sand and cement mix. Good thing we booked a plasterer. Interesting patterns emerged, including this Roman pavement. It was like an archeological dig.

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And here's the throne! I wonder what it looked like with the geometric tiles on both wall and floor. Migraine material.

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In view of the state of the walls, I think it will be at least a couple of weeks before we get to the 'after' pics.

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Never mind - here's a sign of spring, below. I have a new pocket camera - a Canon Ixus and I'm delighted with it.
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Look at this macro shot - I hate photographing beads. This one is from an article on beaded beads by Heather Kingsley-Heath which will be in the next issue of WoW.

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And that's without any practice, straight out of the box.

I am actually doing some work for the classes. Shutting myself away is the best way to cope, I think. It's wonderful to have lots of electric sockets at worktop level. More news soon from the home front. Keep the comments coming - I need the support!

Wired and Re-wired

Happy nearly new (slightly used?) year. My blogging attempts have been frustrated due to the fact that no sooner had the old year moved out than the electrician moved in. So we are half way through the rewire and our lights are no longer lethal. We have been spending our time rushing around the shops looking for wall lights, spotlights and bathroom mirrors with shaver points. Exhausting.

Next week, the sockets will be done and the bathroom begun (luckily the electrician and the plumber often work together and they assure me that it will work). I'm thinking of leaving home. All our time will be spent making tea!

Back to things of a stitchy nature. Emma http://emma-alittlebitofeverything.blogspot.com/ who won a birdie brooch asked me how I made the background for the birdies - she thought that it might involve intricate work with printer and tissue but I have to confess that it was this stamp. Sorry - the pics are not good - I'm not back in production yet so it was taken in the dark with the iphone.

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I took a very weighty sheet of watercolour paper and tore off bits around the edge to reveal the layers. Then it was stamped with the words, using a black Distress Ink Pad. I then used a lighter Distress Ink Pad, rubbing it over the paper, especially the edges. When dry, a little metallic wax highlighted the torn layers.
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I also have a script style stamp which is in French. Most impressive until you translate and realise that it says, 'Thank you for your letter of the ......'. Not very romantic.

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Thanks for all the lovely good wishes. Busy Lizzie - I so love my handy postbox and sometimes pop across the road just to give it a little pat on the head.

Carol - I drive Clive mad in just the same way. He now gives me warnings, telling me that it's getting complicated and we both need to watch so that our combined intellects can be applied (we share a brain cell these days).

Welcome Lynda - good to meet you.

Thanks so much Ellen for the praise of the book. So glad you like it. I'm having a lot of fun putting the first class together - it will be a mixture of Isobel and me. I'm working on the image, below, together with water-soluble paper and silk paper and embossing powder. I expect to go live with the classes towards the end of the month - watch the blog or the d4daisy site. www.d4daisy.com.

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For those who don't know what I'm wittering about, these are free on-line classes for folk who have bought the Mixed Media: New Studio Techniques book. We have a Yahoo group and chat and play and show results.

Will be back next week to escape from the hell of the bathroom - might even give you a quick flash of the tiles (if I can find the camera).