My piece "Silkie Smiles" has gone off to Ruthin Craft Centre to be photographed for the catalogue for the show "SMILE" which opens in July of this year.
I wrapped it very well, boxed and taped it all up and then watched it being loaded into the couriers van, and off it sped to North Wales. Ridiculous to feel a bit bereaved, but I did.
I shall start making the sister pieces to accompany Silkie Smiles in a couple of weeks, I have lots of ideas but I want to mull them over for a while. The sunny weather is helping enormously, because all my pieces for the show are about swimming and the sea, I automatically associate the sunny weather with swimming in the sea, so my head is literally (forgive the pun) swimming with ideas.

I have just finished an order of 4 framed pieces, one of them being a lady in her garden picking beans, a sweet piece which I enjoyed making very much. Now I have an opportunity to begin making pieces for the Craft and Design fair which is held at the Henley Show Ground, Henley-on-Thames 14th-16th May, a fair which I have exhibited at for quite a few years now, and an enjoyable fair to do.

My week of making has been gently interrupted with a trip to Dorking embroiderers' Guild to give them a talk about my work entitled "In Stitches" a kind and enthusiastic group of keen stitchers, both hand and machine stitch.
As always, after the initially shock of standing in a room filled with people all sitting and looking at you expectantly, my talk was well received and I enjoyed myself.
I always look forward to visiting groups and guilds around the country, although I always get very nervous before hand. Who knows, the group could hunt in packs or be filled with heckler's.
More often than not, the groups always hold such a wonderful collection of personalities, kind, talented, knowledgeable and always very enthusiastic and appreciative.
On my return to the studio the workshop programme for the Easter Holidays Children's workshops was well under way. The garden was filled with happy and excited children all busy making.
The sock monkey socks were unleashed to a group of young makers, and eight little individual monkeys started to appear throughout the afternoon shine shine.
Oh, the delight of making.