A Grand Day Out with Mrs Bertimus

 

Way, way back at the start of April I heard a rumour (I think it was on Facebook) that a couple of last minute spaces had appeared on a day workshop with the lovely Mrs Bertimus, at Hope and Elvis.  I mentioned it to my sister, who said "why not?"  And so, one Saturday morning in April we headed up the Motorway to take part in a day of "Stitchery Pokery".

Mrs Bertimus welcomed us all with a teacup of gorgeousness, there's mine, up above.  Then she gave us a little introduction to herself, her art and what we were to do that day.  We heard about image transfers, and machine stitchery and general stitchery pokery stuff.

 

 

Then we were free.

Free to delve into the boxes and cases and baskets of goodness that Louise has around the edges of her fabulous studio.  

 

 

Free to mooch around Louise's personal studio space.  

 

Free to look at the work of previous tutors, Jessie Chorley, Julie Arkell ... 

 

...and Mr Finch.  To name but three.

 

We could look at and be inspired by Mrs Bertimus' own work.  

 And we could chat to and learn from the lovely lady herself. 

 

One of the themes of the day were Mrs Bertimus' Nanas.  Some lovely ladies of a previous era, all dressed up to the nines, probably for a grand dav out.  They made an appearance on our name badges and on lots of the pieces that we all made.  I think some snuck into my bag and came home with me.  Naughty Nanas!

 

These are the pieces I made on the day.  Using image transfers, on blocks, and hand stitching and machine embroidery fabric pieces.  So many new skills and techniques.  I love a good workshop!! 

 

There is a little bit of a corner shop set up at Hope and Elvis.  And this dusty, spider webby, complete with dead spider and a broken handle, little brown case had to come home with me.  Under my self-imposed thrifting rule - "I'll regret it if I don't buy it" rule, it was a must buy.  Helen and I also had to buy a few pieces of blanket to continue our stitchery pokery.  Mine is heading towards being a needle case, with the machine embroidered bird adorning the front. 

 

And there you can see the replacement handle that I made for my little case - and the case is just the right size to hold my fabric scraps for the stitchery pokery yet to come.

 

At the end of the day Mrs Bertimus had us all put our pieces on one big table so we could look at all of the pieces that had been made.  Helen and I put ours out together, her two are at the top, and my four below.

And there we have it, a grand day out with Mrs Bertimus.   If you get the chance to play at Hope and Elvis - take it.  And if Mrs Bertimus is there?  All the better. 

And a last word for Mrs B herself - If you find yourself wanting to go thrifting in Birmingham.  The kettle will be on, and the biscuits will be out!

Technical hiccup

I´ve been having a few technical hiccups around here with my poor old blog. But I'm persevering. And should be back soon with plenty of pics and the story behind  that pretty teacup up there.

The day I met Tim

 

Ready for the second installment of this year's crafty adventures?

At the end of the summer, my sister, Helen, and I were lucky enough to spend a morning with the very lovely Tim Holtz, (and a few dozen others!) making this tag book.   It really was a dream come true!  I mean, Tim Holtz! Showing us how to ink, and distress and assemble.  And he really is as nice and friendly and smiley as you've ever heard.  

As well as leaving with this gorgeous little book and a head full of ideas and inspiration, each delegate left with a stencil (from his new range), a distress stain and paint, a distress marker, a book of his fragment word stickers and a mini stamp set.  All of which we had used and shared around our table during the class.  Tim also gave us some extra "things that money can't buy" - as he described them.  Which were a Tim Holtz messenger bag, a signed copy of his second book and an apron - which we also got signed!

As I mentioned in my last post, we met up with Kaz Hall again, as she was also there, helping Tim with his class. And in another installment of Helen and I living in "a small world", we ended up sharing a table with a couple of ladies who we had previously met at our local crop.  One of whom will make an appearance when I tell you about another of our adventures! Till next time.......

Tag, you're it

 

Back  in the summer, I went with my sister on a day of workshops organised by a local stationery and craft shop.  Helen sold it to me as soon as she said that Kaz Hall of The Little Shabby Shed was going to be there, teaching with Dylusions.  

This is the tag that Kaz taught us, using Dylusions and Perfect Pearls for the background, and some of Dyan Reaveley's stamps.  

I'm not sure I entirely agree with the words.  I'm usually ready for an adventure.  Which is what Helen and I had when we met Kaz for the second time this summer.  But, that's another story, for another time!

On a Roll

So, in the last hour, I have...

• Finished the cover for my Learn Something New Every Day folder
• Designed (ha ha) a sketch for each page - hopefully this will make it easier to do each page. I won't have to think about a new layout each day
• Done Day 1
• Done Day 2
• Done Day 3

I have gone with the idea of using up my stash. So, I'm using a binder from Paperchase (a birthday present back in April), the cardstock is Papermania from a couple of years back and the papers are a Basic Grey set I bought earlier in the year. It's a Christmas set - but just my sort of colours, and I don't think they look too Christmassy, and I really don't think I will use them all up at Christmas...

The pics aren't great - taken on a really gloomy day, about 15 minutes after any reasonable light was around, as there were no batteries charged for the camera when I was ready...


Oh, and I had some "help" from Charlie


back soon...

1st September 2009

Ok, so I didn't actually manage to post yesterday about what I learned on the first - are you confused as well? But, I have a reason - or excuse.

After a day at work, I picked the girls up from home, dove to Ikea, and spent five (yes, five) hours there. Then drove on the motorway in torrential rain, to finally get home at 10 pm. Then I had to go to look after my Mom and Dad's cat and house. Not bad, as reasons (excuses) go, is it?

So, I haven't actually done a page yet, or finished my cover page... But, I have a plan! I will be able to catch up at the crop on Saturday! As well as decorate a post box for my friend's wedding...

And, what did I learn on the first?

"Teenage Daughters love you, when they want a lift home, in the rain."

back soon...

Learn Something New Every Day

So, I've signed up for my first ever on-line class, Shimelle's "Learn Something New Every Day"...

I've got some cardstock, some papers and some embellishments ear-marked. Now I just need to work really hard in class - and learn something new every day!!! Not really a problem, I know I learn new stuff all the time... The problem will be my utter lack of organisation, and taking the time to identify what I've learned - but that's one (or two) of the reasons I'm taking the class.

This is day one - and I think I know what I've learned today - but, the day's not over yet, and there could be something even more important to be learnt.

Not to put even more pressure on myself - but I'm also aiming to blog what I've learned, each and every day in September.

See you tomorrow...

Edited - something else I've learned today - how to add a blinkie...