This is how exciting my weekend was the weekend before last...

Turns out that I am NOT a natural - much trickier than it looks, and really hard to get off your hands!!!

Loving the sun and the rain!

Hooray it is Friday, I don't have to camp in a wet field and I can at last inspect the garden with a view to getting stuck in over the weekend - my lovely Mum rocked up last weekend with lots of goodies grown by her own fair hands, so I am prioritising their transfer into my garden this weekend! In the meantime, things are popping up all over the place and looking rather good!



Panic stations!

As I am sure many of you are aware, Blogger went down big styly today - I am always of a nervous disposition in a situation like this as I am a total control freak (! ), so it was horrific seeing some lovely posts by my students disappear before my goldfish popping eyes - especially as some of them hadn't posted for a bit and this was sure to discourage them from doing it again, and I am on a total blog mission at college at the moment, so this simply wouldn't have done! It has been a brilliant experiment this year and SO valuable for future teaching, it is unreal, I am very proud of what my lovelies have achieved and hope they are too - and the personal blogs which have popped up have been really brilliant too - I love having a blog, it feels like a friend and makes me and what I do, feel, well, sort of a bit more worthwhile! I thoroughly recommend it! Anyway, all appears to be back to normal  - fingers crossed, so I can relax a bit now!

Talking of panic - the printroom continues to be a busy place and I have a few more images to share with you - ooooohhh I am even getting excited now as a few new bodies begin to print and create away!

Oh yes - PLEASE check out the Alton college textile blog - it is absolutely worth a look! http://www.textilesrus2010.blogspot.com/

Becca in action - a steam train of a printer!

....her pile of prints gets bigger and bigger!

Lottie `- sixties dresses based on hair styles and make-up, so, "let's make up and hair we go....."

I actually have very high hopes for these Lottie - so keep it up!

Miriam, the reluctant printer - but why? Jane Austen brought up to date - test prints look good to me!

A bit more from the queen of grumps - G - this one has taken a pile of collge equipment home for the weekend - so if you are reading this young lady, I am expecting many brilliant things on Monday!

Ted and Ish - apparently there is ALWAYS time to enjoy a Gu desert!

And so skinny too - so not fair - my hips expanded just seeing them eat these!

Ish, in chains - devore in the making....

Ellie, checking out the blog - shame she hasn't grasped the concept of blogging herself - ah well, maybe this post will shame her into it!



Less than a  month to go...........

Printroom panic!

8 teaching days to go and counting. Even though I firmly denied it this afternoon, I will miss this year's cohort of textile bunnies - they are a sweet bunch, even though they totally (or "totes" as Ish would say) drive me to despair! Today, was on the whole, a very productive day, although I am now exhausted from the pep talks, the colour mixing and the mayhem. As you know, I love screen printing,  but it is only pleasurable once you have accepted both its limitations in that it will almost certainly be  unpredictable and predictably unreliable - the trick therefore, is to assume that things will inevitably go wrong and that having a plan b in place is sensible. You see, it isn't just the physical printing, it's all the rubbish that goes with it - the colour mixing, the fact that there is only one me and one Brooke, so sometimes the system moves a little slower than is perhaps desirable, and at this time of year, the lack of space, quickly depleting supplies and frayed nerves, not to mention the onset of warmer temperatures makes the whole experience excruciatingly miserable if you are not naturally of a happy disposition! My evenings are slowly becoming print workshops and it appears that without even trying, I can reduce any student to tears by simply standing next to them.... well girls, I am afraid that a certain amount of manning up needs to happen if you are to survive! In the meantime however, some fab prints developed today - so here's a bit of a sneak preview - shows will be up in a month.........YIKES!

Nancy getting serious - it's all about the flock...

Nicole - becoming an expert!

Nicole - shoe shop branding - all her own drawings - not just a pretty face!

Even though one might describe G's mood as being on the stroppy side today, she has already produced some great prints - these are so marketable and again, all her own images, nothing pinched off the Internet in my classes thank you! She has a very sophisticated sense of colour and form, and when she puts a lid on the temper tantrums I would imagine that what she finally produces will be exquisite, but err, don't tell her that I said that will you!

Finally, if only everyone was the cheery and happy go lucky printer that Becca is, I would have a very easy life - she is also totally fabulous and so close to being the top blogger of the year too!

So, like I say, 8 days of studio time to go.........

Wet weekend.....

Aside from the incessant climbing and the general mess that Ivan (Mr Bicknell) appears to generate at home and more often than not, leave for me to clear up (but I know I'm not alone there, as most men are the generators of disarray in our homes aren't they?!), there is also another annoying aspect attached to my lovely husband's life, which naturally manages to cause me some grief - D of E. The Duke of Edinburgh silver award is currently being overseen by Ivan (Mr Bicknell) at college and the time of year for getting the boys and girls out into the open air is upon us once again, which means I get dragged into the camping side of things as one of the responsible females needed to make up the adult party - fine, but why oh why did he have to choose the only weekend where the heavens decided to open and then well, not actually close again! Two nights of near on continual rain doesn't do much for a girls beauty sleep you know!

The sun did come out eventually though and everyone managed to bask in it for a bit and dry out their very soggy tents!

I did have a bit of time to myself at the end of the weekend though to finish my cushions - and ta daaaa - here they are!



Doom and gloom.

It was a miserable day at college today - nasty things are on the way it would seem, following a BIG official presentation from the lady in charge  - cuts left, right and centre in order to preserve our financial health, there is a deep feeling of unease about the place, everyone wondering if they will have a job in a couple of years time - will I? Who knows!

I imagine my days of an advanced practitioner are numbered, which is a bit of a shame, but I have learnt a great deal over the last year so I can't complain, a lot of things have been introduced to me and as a result I think my IT skills have certainly gained in sophistication - I am certainly no longer afraid of technology!

Anyway in the meantime I have a little gem to cheer us all up - I challenge you not to smile!

Weekend antics....

So "he" is away AGAIN, must have been something I said huh? Ivan (Mr Bicknell) has left me to my own devices yet again - just as well that I'm resourceful isn't it!! So this is what I've been up to... Saturday morning, off he goes with his ropes and bags of crisps, ready to scale some craggy crag or other with his comedy miserable friend Stewart in the Peak District at stupid O'clock. I languish in bed for a while struggling to stay awake so that I can enjoy the cup of tea he has thoughtfully left for me before it ebbs into stone coldness - and begin formulating a plan for the next 3 days, helpfully being pushed about by our bossy boots cat Sniff. Scratch, the other one, is checking out the weather from the window sill and advising me on what I should wear in accordance with this.... So here is how things panned out - a trip into Farnham for some fabric, cushion pads and piping - except it appears that one can no longer buy ready covered piping and I am going to have to cover it myself - oh great - the young rather laddish, but surprisingly and impressively knowledgeable chap in Freelance was rather unimpressed by my intention to cheat with this, but, life is far too bloody short and needs must! If you haven't guessed, it's cushions for me this weekend - not curtains (I hope), although some of ours do need replacing.....  I also honestly tried too not to look in the sparkly clothes shops, but I am sadly programmed to do so and might have picked up a piece or two for the summer - but shush - don't tell Ivan (Mr Bicknell), as I am not supposed to be spending money I haven't got...... A quick pop into Waitrose allowed me to pick up some of my favourite goodies (- brilliant that we don't have this particular supermarket in Alton as I would be broke - but there is talk of one....) and begin the spread of a Facebook rumour courtesy of Ellie Lyver - I tell you if you want to get info around fast and have it taken notice of - use Facebook!

Alongside the cushion development I also went to see 3 Harold Pinter plays at the Phoenix Theatre in Bordon - yes really - as a friend of mine was acting in them - I had received a very desperate text pleading with me, as shall we say, sales hadn't hit the roof! I went along with her folks - my neighbours, Sue and Roger, and I can honestly say it was an absolute blast - oh God, on so many levels! Post theatre I shared a late supper with Sue and Roger, and as usual, didn't say no (even though I knew I should and already consumed a few glasses of wine at the theatre and one of Rogers's deadly G & T's) when the brandy came out and I suffered for it all day yesterday! Being roused at 11 am by Ned suggesting afternoon tea was the only thing that actually got me out of bed! Always lovely to see Ned, Michelle and Merryn (who is growing at a rate of knots), Ned has a big summer birthday coming up - another 40 victim, so talk turned to this, when I suggested that maybe a surprise wedding might be in the offing too they were suspiciously overly dismissive - now wouldn't that be nice? And, ahem, about time...... 

Ohhh I watched the first two parts of exile too, on the BBC, does anyone else think he is rather nice? Not as lovely as Mr Tennant of course though, who I, providing my tickets are legit, will be seeing in Much ado about nothing on the 4th June! Another naughty purchase - but hey, why not - I am taking my Mum, although for some reason, she wasn't half as excited as I was when I told her!

The collection - by Harold Pinter

Laura Dymock - star actress!

Earl Grey, scones and Jam - not great for the hips, but I have 5 aerobic classes planned for this week, honest!

Birds, birds, birds - of course!

Fabric, and cushions and piping and binding, oh my!

Ready to iron down...

.....but which colour goes with which?

Ironed and printed and ready to sew...

Sewn and ready to go....

Two down, and out of time, watch this space....

I am a bit tragic in that whilst swapping bobbins for different coloured threads for the machine, I noticed how pretty and stripy they were - so here are some bad photos!

Oh! How did he get there?!