Julie Arkell! Woooo!

The excitement was palpable when Miss Julie arrived, as we had all been tea drinking, catching up, shopping (Louise's shop is enchanted methinks, every time you go back in for another 'sweep' there was somethng that you hadn't seen before!) Tunnocks munching and generally whipping ourselves into a right old frenzy for about an hour beforehand.

The work shop's theme was 'words' and Arkell-esque phrases were pinned on the wall.

Look at these beauties!

All hand stitched and made from whisps of fabrics and ephemera.

Miss Julie talked about the wonders of the safety pin and the evils of synthetic stuffing (Louise had to hide her bag before she arrived!)

We all listened, transfixed, as she talked about her magical world of little stitched villages inhabited by creatures that sometimes sat around in her studio until their names emerged, and they could be set free into the outside world.

Now I have a confession to make, I was so excited that I hardly took any photos of what we made, how rubbish am I!

Look, one measly photo of my seagull's head!

Please accept my utmost apologies!

This little character was a very shy rabbit, (I'm so sorry but I've forgotten your name, please let me know if you're reading this so that you can get the credit you deserve!)

And look at Vanessa's glorious 'tic toc watch'!

I'm now becoming giddy and unnecessary agin, so I shall share some more photos of the glorious Hope and Elvis studio next time.

Off for a lie down in a darkened room...