My little Christmas village

Hello there my blogging friends - hope you are starting to enjoy the preparations for Christmas.  I am definitely in the mood now and started making just one little house for a swap, then I got carried away and I can see this collection growing over the next few weeks - they are so addictive!

Just the right size to tuck a few little treats in too.  Think I'll have to get started on the cards soon though they won't be as much fun as these have been.  Thanks for stopping by to see me.  Margie x

A double dose of craftiness .....

Things may have been quiet around here but I certainly haven't!  I've had two crafting workshop weekends in a row and learned soooooo much in the process, my head hurts (in a good way!)

The first was at Art From The Heart in Harrogate with Kaz Hall where we learned some amazing techniques, getting very inky and painty in the process and finished off the session making a fantastic album.

Here's mine and you can see just how many different techniques we were shown which I'm really looking forward to trying again at home.

Next came my 3 day textile art workshop at Oxford, courtesy of a WI bursary I won which included the residential course as well as my travelling costs.  This was with the wonderful Marilyn Pike who does classes as Rainbow Silks and her enthusiasm was inspiring.  We worked late into the evening and between the 9 participants, produced a grand total of 29 books - each a keepsake in its own right.  We even hand-dyed the pages inside and, with a bit of help, I conquered my fear of the dreaded sewing machine - yay!

Here are my books and I'm so proud of them, I can't wait to show my WI ladies next Monday.

The book cover at the back is made from crumpled magazine pages glooped (technical term) and waxed so they are as pliable as material and the button fastening covered in the same way.  The material cover on the left of the pic is made from tiny strips of fabric bonded and stitched onto a piece of denim (from an old pair of jeans) and the cover on the right is made from the leg of the same pair of jeans folded over and covered with torn strips of fabric and shiny magazine pages.  I love that one which has a pocket at the front as well as the pages stitched inside. 

I feel so priviledged to have had these two weekends of crafting heaven with such great tutors and to have made some new friends along the way.  Hope you are all well and enjoying some wonderful crafting time yourselves.  Thanks so much for popping in to see me.  Margie x