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Hello everyone ! I hope you have all had a good Summer despite the mixed weather up and down the land . The conkers we could not resist picking up off the ground beneath the chestnut trees the other day , even though our Grandson was not with us , tells us that this Autumn is here yet again just like the 59 previous ones Richard and I have experienced . First of all , Looking back , I have had some wonderful years since discovering needle felting and have been fortunate to have been asked to hold workshops at some lovely venues across the North of England . Like so many things in life things just happen and holding workshops was not something I'd have considered or thought I'd have the confidence to do . I remember my first one, I was asked by Susan who was running a local gallery where I sold my first needle felted creations , we made mice, my Daughter came along to join in and support me. I was invited to do a talk for a local women's institute group assisted by my Father in Law who set up a laptop and his screen for me to illustrate proceedings . I do remember I was very nervous at the time and didn't do much talking! It was when I made the first Herdwick doorstop and put it in the gallery that the workshops really started. Then there was Annie, at Quirky Workshops , again suggested by Susan and there the workshop calendar became quite busy doing Herdwicks , followed by the hare which became just as popular and other characters were introduced along the way . As well as being a lovely venue at which to work, the trips to Artison enabled us to extend our stay some times at Masham as a half way point to visit our family including Grandson of course . These were my regular venues , but I also did some nice one off bookings and not forgetting Shirley over in Fangfoss in the East Riding , who attended a couple of my classes at Greystoke . She actually has a lovely venue herself , and I was invited to do several workshops over there in the famous Rocking horse yard studio. My next talk went so much better at a meeting near Skipton, my confidence was much better by then. Which brings us to the present . In my news letter last year "Looking Ahead " I outlined the reasons why this year could see the last workshops , and I have just returned home having completed the last two , which were also the only ones of the year and were held at Artison Thursday and Friday last. It was great to get to see Sue and Gaynor who called in on Friday before we left , to see the ducks made in the class and say goodbye . It's all change for them too as they move on and hand over the reins to the new team . Thank you to Joe and Elise who were the new hosts for my last two classes . I was pleased to get to meet them , and can see that Artison has been left in safe hands , We wish them well going forward . The future ? We felt on ! I intend to continue with the Etsy shop and making things myself for the gallery occasionally with Richard . I do like putting kits together and may do more with the video tutorials . It is a little like doing the workshops, as I still get lots of feedback from customers and fellow needle felters to let me know how they got on with their projects which is much appreciated. It won't be the same without the interaction and friendly banter of the workshops though, I can still be contacted via the website or email of course, I have plans to meet up with some ladies at a future date and look forward to a catch up. We also intend to try and fit in with our Daughter and family's busy life when we can and spend time with our Grandson who is growing each time we see him and also keep fit with our fell walking whilst enjoying the wonderful views from the summits. It has been such a pleasure to have met everyone over the workshop years and I'm sure our interest in the craft will keep us in touch in future. I will continue to post this news letter occasionally with any updates. I will say goodbye for now , and leave you with some photos . Very best wishes .  |
