... and Making a Rag Rug Brooch

As part of the Make Reading Christmas Fair, we took part in the Make a Rag Rug Brooch workshop. Here's how we got on!

... and a Stitched Textile Books Course

Jane Bonney is a fantastic local Textile Artist, who we first met on our Stained Glass Class last year. We've wanted to take part in one of her textile courses ever since, so when a date came up which we could make, we jumped at the chance to sign up!!

... and our Fused Float Glass Course

We recently went on a great Fused Float Glass Course run by Sue Weinstock from Glass Jewels in Oxford. Sue is a great tutor and a super talented artist who also exhibits her work. The following post showcases what we did and learnt on the day, using pieces from Glass Jewels' website to help explain the technical bits!

... and our Handmade Book Class

Having enjoyed our Stained Glass Class so much we always keep an eye out for the workshops and classes on offer at Maiden Erlegh Community Arts Centre.  So when we saw the Handmade Books and Journals, we signed ourselves up!

... and a Homemade Lightbox!

On our stained glass course we met the lovely Jane Bonney. She is a local textile artist and runs courses at South Hill Park Arts Centre in  Bracknell, Berks. Her latest course is Creative Machine Stitching starting 15th February 2013. Jane first did stained glass with Nicola Kantorowicz about 5 years ago at an Oxford summer school - she has since been to 3 of her week long courses. This time round, Jane was working on the above piece inspired by her love of Rome and was using a technique called Sgraffito. The shaded areas within the glass panels are painted on with a special paint, and then the light details are etched off before the pieces are fired in a kiln. Jane wanted to use a lightbox to ensure the areas she was etching were in the right places. So she made her own!

PS. If you would like to read about our DIY Light Box that helps with taking better photos etc please click here. Otherwise please read on!!!

... and our Stained Glass Class

Back in September 2012 we both booked onto an evening Stained Glass course at a local community arts centre (part of Maiden Erlegh School, near Reading, Berkshire). We decided not to do a blog post on this until we had completed our pieces (especially as one was a Christmas present!!) but can now happily show them off!