I got back into the screen printing workshop yesterday, having missed a week and boy was I chomping at the bit to get there.

One of the wonderful things about study of any description is the fantastic new possibilities that arise as a consequence. It sounds obvious, but having not formally studied for many years I had forgotten that and started the Screen Printing Course thinking I knew what the sole end result of doing it would be - to be able to print fabric.

But by the end of Lesson 1 this thought had been shattered and so many more possibilities had already started filling up space in my head.

I knew that screen printing was widely done on paper, it just hadn't entered my psyche that that would be something I would be doing with it.

I think I have mentioned before (just the once or twice) the excitement of discovering new skills and the potential of what to do with them, so when I went in yesterday I wanted to spend some time seeing where this would take me.

I was playing around with my Tweet design on paper and am really pleased with the end result. As I said, this has really taken me by surprise, the fact that I'm interested in doing this, and am thoroughly enjoying trying new things and taking skills I have learnt to a different place.

The trouble is, life often feels too short and it's hard enough to fit in all that we need and want to do without adding to it. But, let's face it, I've never been one to put ideas and projects to one side.

This will consequently mean that my shop will have a new section to it...paper goods...of which there is one item currently in it, but hopefully it won't be too long being it is filling up nicely. In the meantime, this sole item can be found right here...

Rather than have all yesterday's prints sitting around doing nothing, I wanted to sew some up to get a feel for how the designs I'd done were working. The designs I did were too large for pouches but were perfect for a cushion.

And because the designs were A4 they looked best for a 30 x 40cm cushion.

I love how they've come up. There are possibly a couple of tweaks here and there that I want to do in the design, but on the whole, considering they are my first proper real screen-printed produced item, I am over the moon.

Having now done these, it has really helped order my mind in what I want to produce and keeping things cohesive. I'm going to slow right down (yeah, yeah, heard it all before) and keep things simple.

In the meantime, these first original one of a kind screen printed cushions are right here...

Today was the last day of my Screen Printing Course. Ordinarily it would be sad at the thought of a course being over, but not this one. Having completed the course I am now able to screen print whenever I want. You can not believe how much joy this is giving me (although if you've been reading my posts on screen printing over the last few weeks, you've probably got a pretty good idea).

I was a little bit nervous about this week's lesson. Remember my disasters of last week? And then everyone was telling me how much harder it is to print on fabric. Printing on fabric is obviously my main raison d'être for screen printing and if I'm having problems before I even get to the fabric stage, what chances do I have of succeeding?

Needless to say, all worries and concerns immediately evaporated as soon as I got going. Maybe it was the anticipation of disaster. Maybe it was the fact that I knew i needed full concentration today. Maybe it was the fact that some of the processes (making screen, printing technique) were becoming a bit more natural, leaving me able to concentrate on today's new aspect.

I'm not going to worry too much about what made it feel right, but enjoy the fact that it did.

I brought with a variety of fabrics to get a feel for how printing worked on the different textures. I wasn't sure I'd make a good print on linen, being causer and less smooth than cotton, but the linen I'm using at the moment is fairly close weaved, so this didn't seem to be as problematic as I'd envisaged.

The shirting worked a treat. It's very smooth and takes the ink beautifully. I'll be using these fabrics quite a bit.

The Klona cottons worked a treat too. I'm going to need to play around with colours however as even thought the pale blue took beautifully on the brown, the pink came out a little bit murky. Whereas on the white the pink was lovely and vivid.

I chose designs today that I could experiment various styles to see how they come out on the fabric. I wanted to play around with the font stamps I have, so included both of those. I also wanted to see how intricate detailing would show.

I think because I had such little expectations today, the results have thrilled me even more. I'm learning what works and what needs changing. I've booked to go in again on Monday and looking forward to playing around and experimenting some more and then, my friends, I'll start to get my mind ordered as to producing pieces that will actually be used.

This is just the beginning...

Tomorrow sees the finishing touches being completed for BCTF.

Or should I put it this way - tomorrow MUST see the finishing touches completed, as Saturday I head over to Harrogate to set up my stand.

I probably won't be around again until after it's over, so I just wanted to say thank you for all your lovely comments of support. I really do appreciate your support and encouragement and I hope I can report back that you were right and it all went well.

I am a tad nervous...

In about 10 days it's the British Craft Trade Fair and less than 10 days ago I signed up for it, which gave me at the time less than 20 days to prepare.

Quite a mountain I'd say.

One reason I hadn't decided to go before now was all the personal stuff going on here and to be quite honest the whole timing completely passed me by.

Having made the decision and been accepted (again - as I did show there a couple of years ago) it's been all systems go.

I'll be there with my Take Away Craft Kits, with a couple of new ones added, as well as various accessories that I have been working on this year.

There's going to be an emphasis on hand-printed fabric to go alongside the items I already produce and it's this that I am most excited about showing and having on my stand.

Since I was accepted last Monday I have been working like a maniac to get all the work done, so that next week I can focus on the stand itself. One of these days I'll get into the rhythm of doing regular trade shows so that it all happens as a matter of course, rather than being a starting from scratch each time.

I am getting there - sort of - but there's still a lot of blood, sweat and undoubtedly tears to be had first.

I recently bought this gorgeous Folklore Kokka fabric on Etsy. Don't you just love it? I really like Kokka fabrics. This is another of my faves that I intend to buy very soon.

Today I had my first sewing day for quite some time and this was waiting patiently at the top of the making pile (there is a serious making pile backlog going on right now).

As well as making these flat-bottomed pouches to gay abandon in varying shapes, sizes and fabrics, I have a new zipper pouch design that I have been working on, but I need to get that more perfected before I use precious fabrics like this. I am dying to use this fabric on my new design, but in the meantime you are just going to have to manage with this style.

And it's available right here.

Wow, how did it get to be Friday again so quickly? I am seriously concerned with how life is passing by. I have had a productive week, but as usual the week ends much sooner than I anticipate, leaving a longer To Do List each week.

It's Half Term in England this coming week, so we are taking a jaunt to London for a few days to see some friends. We haven't been to visit for a while for one reason and another and I'm really excited to be heading down to stay with our buddies.

Heading down to stay with them meant I had to make time today to take a hostess gift to take with us. They have had huge renovations to the house since we were last there (translate that to mean walls ripped down and rooms created) so I am even more excited than usual to head down.

I've been through the renovations every step of the way with Jo, so I can't wait to see if they look anything like what is in my head! One thing they have done is create a massive kitchen living area. I'm not really sure what they need to accessorise the new place, so I figured I'd take a little something this time and once I've seen it be able to do something bigger.

All I could get at this stage from Jo is it's all very grey and since they haven't set on any accent colours, I decided it wasn't my place to dictate it (although I'm obviously pushing for some yellow), so I'm taking down a couple of grey based tea towels that I hope they'll enjoy and will fit in with whatever else they decide to add.

Happy weekend to you and look forward to catching up on our return x

Here's how the conversation went with Ruby this morning, after she took a look at the Drawstring Linen Laundry Bag I designed yesterday...

Ruby: "It's nice, but...(uh oh)...I'd prefer it if it had handles...like the ones on my blue bag. Just long enough to go over my shoulder...but not too long so the bag drags on the floor"

Me: "But you like it, right? You think it works?"

Ruby: "yeeeeees...I like the lining... (phew)... but I'd still prefer longer handles...

"and the front is a bit plain. I think I'd like a bird on it...

"...or maybe a flower...

"or maybe both...

"Do you think you can do that by the time I'm home from school?"

That'll teach me to ask Madam's opinion (I'm still not actually sure I did ask, however), because somehow Ruby has managed to wangle a new bag.

As you know we've done a lot of work on the house and are thrilled to bits with it all, but when you step into the hallway, it all looks a bit grey and bare (although seeing it here makes it look rather serene) and in need of something hanging.

So, I have a plan. I have an old canvas, an old very large canvas (it's 130 x 80cm) that I want to cover and hang there.

It's going to involve a piece of my screen printed fabric, a few of these embroidery threads...

...a section of an Ebay purchase of a matching Orla fabric piece to the wallpaper in the room next door...

...and lots of my favourite grey fabrics.

I'm going to try and be really patient (I can hear you laughing from here) and plan this design carefully and take my time with it. it's a large piece, in a prominent position, so it needs to be just right. I have lots of different ideas that I want to play around with before I actually cut into anything. But I have an idea of the one I am actually drawn to.

Watch this space.

Not only was it the first day back to work after school hols today, but the first day back to work with no major event looming.

Renovations completed (bar the searching for finishing touches), Bar Mitzvah been and gone. All that leaves is time to focus on work.

Consequently I was able to finish what I started yesterday and now Manolo is off to his new home, where I hope he'll be enthusiastically received.

By the way, did you guess the colour theme?? Manolo's Mum is Argentinian, so a light blue and white colour-ways, with a hint of black was requested ;-)

Personalised commissioned cushions are now available in my Etsy store.

Here come the girls

It's been a while since I did the boys' cushions that I recently designed and have been waiting for time to do the girls'. It's quite strange because I normally find girls' ideas come much more easily. But of late I've been struggling with ideas for the girls that work for me. I'm not entirely sure why that is. Whilst there are alot more images and designs you can work with for the girls, it is actually the more striking, graphic designs that work for boys.

It could be because i'm not actually a very good artist. All the images that I thought about using, I just couldn't get quite right when I tried to draw them out. Certainly not at this larger scale. I can get away with the simplicity in my little sized card designs, but on a bigger scale, they just didn't quite work.

I am however pretty pleased with the three that i finished up with. I've got some non-animal varieties that I'm lining up for series 2, but in the meantime enjoy the little creatures that have evolved here.

At the moment they are only available from my Etsy site. But if you like the look of them, watch this space, as any day now I'll be directing you to a gorgeous blog that is doing a Giveaway for your favourite...