Spring has Sprung

When we walk out from our back garden we are fortunate enough to step out into a beautiful conservation meadow which is home to a huge variety of flora and fauna. I always think that it acts as a wonderful barometer of the seasons and I know that when it looks like this...

Covered with literally hundreds and hundreds of delicate little cowslips...

Then Spring has finally arrived

A season of longer, brighter and warmer days that feel hopeful and optimstic. It makes me feel that anything is possible.

And as an added bonus there are several clumps of these too, as well as all the cherry blossom.

On a completely different note, I have a request from a friend Carol.... She used to be friends with a lady called Cha Ching Dawson who lived in East Hanningfield, Chelmsford where she was doing her City & Guilds (I assume in embroidery). Cha Ching moved to the Cambridge area to look after her elderly parents who have since passed away, but Carol has unfortunately lost touch and would dearly like to make contact with her friend again. If any readers know Cha Ching could you email me (via my profile on the side bar) and I can pass on Carol's details. Thank you!

Hooray!

Thank you for all your comments and emails over the past week or so. I do usually try to reply by email where possible but have been a little lax about this recently. I've been busy... in between writing blog posts I've been finishing off and tidying up my Professional Practice module which has now all been parcelled up and sent to my tutor... nothing more do do except wait for results... hooray! It feels good. Thank you too to all my new Facebook fans... after this post my number of "likes" doubled in 24 hours... another hooray!

With some extra time on my hands, my love affair with this book continues (and I'm not the only one as Monica will testify) and my most recent bake has been these hazelnut praline muffins.

Admittedly not the prettiest of muffins but what they lacked in good looks they made up for in taste.

And with a tasty morsel of Nutella in every one they couldn't fail to please. Hooray to whoever thought of putting Nutella into muffins!

What shall I bake today I wonder?

For Mums

To my Mum, to Stewart's Mum and to lovely Mums everywhere...

Happy Mother's Day!

(I've been wielding my scalpel again)

Postman's Knock

A while ago I mentioned that I was taking part in a postcard swap... well the swapping has begun! There are twelve bloggers taking part and every other Friday we have to send a postcard to the next person on the list until we all will have sent and received eleven postcards. We each have a chosen theme and we have to make our postcards, using any media we choose, to the recipients theme.

My first postcard was for Cathy whose theme is "Tea"... and this is what I made for her. An embroidered teacup on an Alice in Wonderland collaged background.

My theme is "Concealment and Revelation" and this is what arrived in the post for me this morning from Jane. A collaged paper jungle scene...

But when you pull back the vegetation, look what is revealed.

This rather wonderful tiger.

And on the reverse, the poem by William Blake. Thank you Jane, it's lovely! I can't wait for the next swap!

You can see pictures of the other postcards on the Postman's Knock blog.

Beautiful Stitches

A few weeks ago I showed this rather loud cushion that I'd made as a sample for a class. The class is a machine embroidery group who meet every week on a Tuesday afternoon at The Letchworth Settlement. I've been teaching the class for the past three years and some of the ladies have been with me since the beginning, some for only the past year, some come, some go, some are beginners and some are very experienced stitchers. It is a lovely relaxed class where students can work at their own pace.

The cushion was made to demonstrate the range of stitches that can be achieved with machine embroidery and the class spent several weeks trying out the various techniques to get them as perfect as they could. Then using silk fabrics and applique they had to choose their own projects to demonstrate their stitching skills. Not everyone finished by the end of term but here are those who did...

Margaret made a gorgeous casket.

Jenny made a box to hold fabric postcards.

Jan made this luxurious silk wrap, where the detail on the reverse was as beautiful as the front.

Thelma made a luxurious velvet scarf.

And almost but not quite finished, Jean made a beautiful little purse.

I'm sure you'll agree, they are all absolutely gorgeous. We don't meet in the summer term - holidays and gardens take priority - but we will be back at the Settlement from September... with a couple of vacancies should you wish to join us. Beginners most welcome!

Fans and Friends

Look at these gorgeous goodies that popped through my letterbox yesterday. Threads and yarns in the most glorious jewel colours all the way from Western Australia.

All I did to deserve these was to become a Facebook fan of The Thread Studio and by sheer coincidence I was fan no. 500. So Dale sent me this lovely parcel.

As a result of this, I have been prompted into starting my own business page on Facebook. I didn't even know what this was until a couple of weeks ago, but it just so happens that as part of my Professional Practice module I have been investigating the nature of various social media as a way of marketing and promoting one's business. I discovered it is possible to set up a business Facebook page that looks just like any other personal page on Facebook. (I realise I am probably very slow off the mark here!) I can post pictures, change the status, write on the wall etc but the big difference is that it is available for anyone on Facebook to see - you do not have to be my friend! It is a way of letting a wider audience know about my work, forthcoming exhibitions, new classes etc. The idea is then to get "fans" or "followers" who will then receive Facebook notifications when I change my status or add something new. And if you are reading this, all you have to do is scroll down the sidebar and press the "like" button on the Facebook icon to become a fan of Gina Ferrari Textile Art. You do not need to be my Facebook friend and I do not need to know any of your personal details...

So, please be my fan... and when I reach a significant number of fans or followers (unlikely to be 500) I might just have a little giveaway too. Perhaps I will make something from the lovely parcel of goodies that came from Dale. (These threads and yarns are available to buy from The Thread Studio)

Of course as well as providing virtual friends, fans and followers, social media has introduced me to some very real and lovely friends over the past couple of years and on Monday I spent a delightful few hours with Emma (plus a little Pebble), Val and Julie and came home with these beautiful Muscari from Emma's garden. Even five years ago I would never have thought all this would be possible and I find the whole idea of social networking facsinating. (The jury is still out on Twitter though!)

Can I Tempt You?

Mum and Dad came for lunch and Ben (eldest son) came home and cooked us all a superb fish pie. So the occasion called for a special pudding yesterday... a butterscotch pecan cheescake... A dense creamy filling full of chopped pecans, topped with a butterscotch sauce.

It was the first recipe I'd tried from my new book - picked up at a bargain price when I'd popped into the supermarket for a few bits for dinner during the week on my way home from work.

It certainly won't be the last recipe I try. I have never seen so many gorgeous looking cakes packed into one book.

I'm not sure we're going to be able to eat them all. Fancy coming over for tea? (Not much of the cheesecake left though)