2015: The Year In Pictures...

I've just been scrolling through the past year of my blog and thought that this might just be the time for a trip down memory lane...

JANUARY:

Just a did a spot of vintage shopping at Hemswell.

FEBRUARY:

Had a wonderful time at the Daisy Moon workshop at Hope and Elvis.

MARCH:

Indulged a just a spot more vintage shopping....ahem...

APRIL:

My exhibition 'Little Paintings From A Small Village' at The Ropewalk Gallery opened.

(Eep!)

MAY:

Had a fab time teaching an 'Abstraction In The Landscape' workshop at The Steel Rooms.

JUNE:

Enjoyed a wonderful day at the Jessie Chorley workshop at Hope and Elvis.

JULY:

This was July's charity ch-reasure of the month...

AUGUST:

Visited the beautiful Cowslip Studio's Summer Fair.

SEPTEMBER:

Stitched and embellished a little suit case...

OCTOBER:

Enjoyed a wonderful workshop by Di Tinker at Hope and Elvis.

NOVEMBER:

Had a spook-tastic time with Mini Goth at the Whitby Goth Weekend.

DECEMBER:

And what a way to end the year than with the Mrs B Weekender! I had such a great time with my wonderful friends at Hope and Elvis.

Wishing you all a very happy New Year chucks!

X

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Winter Wishes...

Dark cosy evenings are just the thing for absent- minded doodlings.

I think she looks a bit mysterious, a little bit Solstice - inspired perhaps.

Wishing you all a magical Christmas time.

Many thanks for popping by my little blog, it has really meant a lot.

X

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Gratitude And Baldness...

It's that time of year for reflection and to take a minute and count your blessings.

And funnily enough I think the one thing that I am truly grateful for is my alopecia.

I lost my hair two years ago due to stress, and I am so glad that my anxiety manifested itself into something so visible.

I think that if I had developed something else I would have ignored it, and just soldiered on.

But I think that when all your hair drops out in the space of a few weeks your body is giving you quite a strong message.

Of course, when it happened I wasn't thankful at all.

In fact the first thing I thought when the doctor told me was 'great, I have a condition that rhymes with my name.'

'Hello. My name's Letitia and I have alopecia.'

And it was difficult at first when I decided to ditch the wig.

The first time I ventured out shopping, the woman at the till smiled at me in a pitying manner and whispered:

'You're so brave, I wouldn't have the guts to go out like that.'

Being British, I smiled apologetically and mumbled something as I packed my bags.

However, as I looked up to pay her I felt much better.

Being ridiculously and utterly British, I didn't say it to her face, but I giggled all the way to my car as I repeatedly said in my head,

'Well lovey,

I'm not half as brave as you wearing that frosted green eye shadow and blue mascara.

Given the choice I know which look I'd rather be rocking around Asdas.'

What I am truly grateful for is that it made me and my hubby sit down and re-assess what we really wanted in life.

We decided that we wanted to get off the Merry- Go- Round and slow down a little.

And this last year has been a really good one and I appreciate my friends and family with all my heart.

I was thinking about this this morning as a few little tufts have started to peek out of my scalp here and there, in fact I have half a side burn!

But if it never comes back I don't really care that much.

(The only thing I'm not grateful about is that now I have to shave my legs!

Alopecia without the benefits I guess!)

Hope you didn't mind me prattling on chucks, thank you for all the support and comments you have sent me throughout the year.

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas time and a magical New Year.

Lots of love xxx

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New Ideas...

I have really enjoyed experimenting with mono printing for the last few months.

(Hope I haven't bored you to tears yet!)

I have been really wanting to make more jewellery for quite a while now and these are the first cuffs I have printed and hand stitched.

I made these a few months ago but couldn't find the right ties for them until now.

Each piece will be different as they are hand printed, I'll show you my new designs soon if you'd like.

These will be for my 'Paint, Print, Stitch' workshop at Hope and Elvis in April.

Wishing you a very festive weekend chucks xxx

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If You Wish Hard Enough...

There was a girl who wanted to be a rabbit.

The others said that she was silly.

She couldn't be a rabbit.

She was a girl.

So that was that.

But the girl didn't believe them.

And she thought that if she wore her costume long enough,

and wished hard enough,

then she would become a rabbit.

And so she did.

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Christmas at Welbeck...

Last week I visited the Christmas Food and Craft Market at the Welbeck Estate.

The artists,designers and makers also took part in an Open Studios event and the whole place was buzzing with the festive spirit and general jolliness.

Hope and Elvis was my first port of call and the studio looked amazing.

There were beautiful wares for sale including the stunning creations by Miss Daisy Moon, the Hexi-Queen herself, Miss Debs, purveyor of hand curated French treasures and needle- lady extraordinaire, and Miss Louise of Sew Green Fox, 'Head Cub' of the best crafty, stitchy classes for children in the whole land.

I wish I'd taken more photos but there was some shenanigans going on when some passing minstrels came by ... (ahem!)

I also bought this treasure by a young, up and coming artist (I love how you have used the little decoupage pictures from the gift jars that I gave out during my weekend workshops at Hope and Elvis a couple of weeks ago Kitty!)

We then wandered to the Craft Market, the quality of the stalls was fantastic, here is just a tiny sample of the goodies on offer...

Bethany Walker's use of concrete and textiles was stunning.

I also discovered the mixed media work of Helen Hallows, such an inspiration...

And I saw the work of one of my textile heroes, Dionne Swift.

I had seen her work a few years ago at the Knitting and Stitching Show, just before Mrs Bertimus was born, and her fusion of art and textiles definitely inspired me.

It was so wonderful to have a chat with her and see her beautiful work up close.

And then I saw a good friend and another textile hero of mine, none other than Viv of Hens Teeth fame.

Well, I had to treat myself to one of those cuffs didn't I!

It was lovely to have a catch up and a giggle!

If you didn't make it this year then I thoroughly recommend a visit, we left with full stomachs, bags of gifts (for Christmas and for ourselves!) and hearts full of the festive sprit!

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Obsession...

I am becoming more and more obsessed with mono printing at the moment.

I think it will spill into my painting and my stitching more and more.

This little piece took me the best part of yesterday, and he put up a right old struggle from start to finish.

I had to use nearly every trick in my tool box to finish it, and it nearly ended up out of the window on a couple of occasions.

But that's fine by me, sometimes I like a good fight!

X

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