An update and a new project...

I have just had the most horrible week...I travelled by plane back from the UK where I had been celebrating at my daughter's baby shower weekend and where I had had a lovely time...however, on the plane there seemed to be so many people coughing, sneezing and spluttering that when I woke up on Tuesday morning I thought I had been hit by a bus! And so followed the most awful week where the coughing left me so exhausted...today is the first day I actually felt well enough to get up and dressed.

 I have discovered a fantastic Australian artist called Tracey Fletcher King who has a project called cuppa with friends...she invites people to send her photos of their cups, however plain or fancy they may be and she draws one a day...it's a brilliant idea because everyone has cups or mugs around and it's a brilliant discipline to draw something each day...often it's the thought of what to draw that prevents us from getting our pens and pencils out...so here's my first drawing...I know that it's not perfect by a long way but it's a start and hopefully as the days pass and I draw more cups and mugs I will improve.....the shadow forming a heart on the side of the mug was what caught my eye and made me want to draw this one...

Bye for now 

Sue xx

Six hour Altered Art Workshop...

Today I travelled a couple of hours south to La Marina, invited by the lovely Nadine to teach an Altered Art workshop to her weekly craft class ladies. I made an album from a Jaffa cake box enhanced by sprayed pages with pockets and loads of techniques. They learned about distressing, perfect pearls, gesso, Dylusions spray inks with and without templates.....add in a touch of cinnamon Stickles and a few embellishments and I left them with a lovely momento and a head spinning from overload.....six hours is a long time for those more used to a genteel two hour class where they make a couple of cards.....my workshops are anything but genteel but they are good fun.....

I loaded the car with the kits.....

This is Wendy, Nadine and myself while we were packing away after everyone had left.....I met Wendy many, many years ago when she had her own business making and selling templates....it was good to spend time catching up.....

The ladies all seemed to enjoy themselves despite me working them so hard and making their poor heads spin!!!

Bye for now

Sue

Woohoo...I'm back.....

Today is a very important day for me. Today I signed the contract for the sale of art y facts craft studio and shop and so after seven and a half years of serving customers six days a week and teaching four classes a week I am officially retired...to do what instead who knows but I am looking forward to finding out...

The new owner Inga is young and energetic and has some lovely ideas for taking the shop forward while continuing art y facts tradition of supplying good quality products with wonderful interesting classes...I wish her all the luck in the world.....

A well known artist Seth Apter - http://thealteredpage.blogspot.com/

challenged people on Facebook to show their studios in their working state so here's mine...mess and all!

I am kitting up for a workshop I am teaching on 15th October here in Spain and as the products en route from USA are held up at Customs in Madrid I am getting all the die cutting prepared in the meanwhile.

Here's a view into the studio from the garden.....

This is my desk which looks out over the back garden and pool.....

This is my die cutting station...

This is my butchers block with the card stock, beads, etc.....

Beneath are crates of papers and photos awaiting scrapbooking...

Right, that's it for now.....I'll be back again very soon to update you further

Bye for now

Sue