Felted flowery freaks

Whilst we were preparing to yarn bomb the Nailsworth Festival I started felting a couple of larg(ish) flowers to attach to the railings. Now I'm still something of a felt 'virgin' but I wasn't about to let that put me off. I started making a blue sweet pea and when that went wrong turned it into an iris. It still wasn't working but it WAS starting to resemble a viola. The upshot - a mega distorted pansy. I then decided to try a hibiscus. At least this time the finished piece does resemble a hibiscus flower. Am I put off by? Not likely - it has simply made me more determined than ever to experiment with shapes and colours. If you fancy having a go, Sophie Buckley does needle felting workshops at Mother Goose in Nailsworth  (01453 298725) and at Prema in Dursley (01453 860703).

Classy glass

The reason I haven't blogged recently is that I've been busy with numerous classes and workshops. Thought I'd share this one with you. A group of friends decided it would be fun to have a go at Stained Glass and, as we were coming together from all directions, Bristol proved to be the central point. So we booked a one day beginners course at Stoke Lodge Adult Learning Centre. For just £36 plus materials (approx £9) we each of us managed to complete our very own butterfly or dragonfly. It was VERY full on. We learnt design preparation, glass cutting, grinding, copper foiling, soldering and finishing. We all finished up with injuries (entirely self-inflicted!), but ultimately we were incredibly proud of our finished pieces knowing that we'd made them entirely by ourselves. In September Caroline Lambert is running a 10 week course at the Subscription Rooms (01453 760900) for £75 plus materials and there's also a Summer School at SGS Stroud running for 5 days from 14-19 July with Ruth Adams at a cost of £299 including materials - I guarantee you won't be disappointed!