2018 Needlecrafts Review

2018 saw one more embroidery finish tham 2017 with a grand total of six, but some of them were definitely  more labour intensive than those from the previous year.

I had two needlepainting finishes, again from the Trish Burr 'Beginners' book.  I changed the designs slightly in each case (the shape of one rose leaf spray and the purples of the pansies) and I was flattered that my husband told me that my shading skills had improved when he saw the leaves on the pansies.  Do you know, I think he may even be right.  Both pieces ended up in special cards.

Another special card was this window 'look through' one that was my own design for our 19th wedding anniversary.  She didn't have windows like this, but the garden was my idea of what mum's could be like when we'd finished renovating it.  Unlike a few of his cards to me, which contain photo collages of the previous year (and are great!), this one was meant to be a year forward.  Of course, the garden didn't develop to this point, but it was a fun project anyway.

I can't remember who got this card with the ribbon work in, but it was a kit from Crafty Ribbons.  It was quite hard work to stitch and I had to pad the backing in order to make it an even finish (the ribbons bunched up behind somewhat), but I thought it came out well.  I have a red one somewhere.  Poppies, I think....

This last project was these two lavender bags below - one for me, one for my mum.  To be honest, I have no idea where they are now.  Seriously, you can tell I've gone through the change in recent years as my previously flawless memory is annoyingly patchy!

Moving on to knitting, which is all adult garments this year, but still rather lacking some decent photos - or any at all of two projects.

Above is a Brett Marble Chunky cable knit I sized up from a girls' pattern and wear myself.  It's all acrylic, so it's good for mid-seasons rather than winter.

The one you see Sir modelling here is wool blend and this type of yarn has come to be a personal favourite.  It's King Cole's Tweed Chunky and it's 25 or 30% wool and is machine washable.  Both warm and easy care.

Both of the above ended up with sleeves slightly too short, but Sir doesn't mind as he says it's more jacket length and looks good with a shirt.  Later in the year I made him a matching scarf in double stocking stitch, which he gets good wear out of in the very cold weather.

I also did a new black cardigan for myself with simple, directional cables like the lemon baby one I did in 2017.  Again, the sleeves are too short, but it's very usable nonetheless.

This last piece was done for my late mother at her request.  During the last year or so of her life, she wore it as often as she could and loved it.  Medical visitors would often exclaim, "Oooh, I love your waistcoat!",  which was nice for me to hear.  As was her proudly explaining, "My daughter made it for me."  As you can see, it was made from oddments left over from the marble jumpers, and the edgings came from the purple jumper and black jacket that I mentioned in the 2017 review.

During this year I also ran up a couple of simple scatter cushion covers and finally hemmed a black/rose print raglan sleeved t-shirt I'd done most of at a sewing with knit fabrics workshop from the previous summer.  I'd put it off so long as I'm not good at sewing in a straight line, but I finally took myself in hand, but my double needle stuff in order, drew a line on the fabric as best I could and got on with it.  It waggled only once - right front and centre, where the dip actually looks like it could be part of the design!  

Look out for 2019 next Monday.

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2021

A ribbon card to share

A few years ago, in a fit of needing retail therapy whilst I was unhappy in a former job, I went to the Crafty Ribbons site and bought a few of their cut price, end of range kits, some of which I've already featured on blog. This was the last remaining one and the design left me feeling that I could really understand why it had been discontinued.  For one, the design isn't that exciting, but that's nothing compared to the poor choice of background colour - dark green and purple on black!  How they sold any is beyond me, but I got one and tried to make some improvements. 

Naturally, the very first thing was to dump the black background.  This is both an easy thing to do and made necessary by the fact that they always seemed to give you the very smallest scrap of fabric possible to work on - the sort of size you can't fit into a suitable hoop without troublesome mounting with other fabrics etc.  So, that's easy to lose.  I had another go at painting a background for it.  The first time I tried, I did the greens in too 'yellow' a tone and so the rather blue-ish colours went poorly with it.  This time I made sure the tones were all relatively blue themselves, even though they faded a lot more than I expected (again!) by the time they'd dried.

I also jigged around a tiny bit with the design, but I don't think I made any real improvements there, especially as I'm no expert in ribbon work and really only know one or two basic concepts.  What do you think of the finished item anyway?

I like this sideways on view as the light has captured the sparkly elements of the organza ribbon nicely, which is a photographic treat as one normally doesn't get to see such detail.

I've already got the next small stumpwork piece prepared in the hoop for embroidery, so look out for that starting soon!

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2013

A Little Ribbon Embroidery

I've had a couple of Crafty Ribbons kits in my kit drawer for a while now and have been meaning to get them worked up.  However, when looking at the designs, I couldn't help but feel that the best hadn't been made of its potential.  This is the 'original', what do you think?  You get a small square of black fabric to work it on and, yes, it's plenty big enough for the design, but really nothing like big enough to put in a hoop.  In fact, although this is my fourth kit of this brand, I've never once used the fabric supplied in the package owing to its over small size.

I decided that the first thing to do was to create a new background and, as I had three small projects in mind that I wanted non-plain backgrounds for (including another kit by CR, the colour choices for which make me wonder how they could bring themselves to put it into production....), I decided to have a go at a bit of painting.  Below are the materials I thought I'd use, meaning to do natural, landscapey sorts of things with them.

And below again are the materials I actually used!!

This is what the piece of fabric with the three painted sections looked like when wet.  Notice that I wet the whole area I wanted to paint first so that the colours merged and spread out well on the fabric. 

And this is what it looked like dry - considerably lighter.  As you can see from the tubes of paint photo, I've used watercolours and I really should have remembered how much lighter they dry.  Having said that, I didn't really mind the change too much as I've made the mistake of having an over-poweringly painted background before.  I also learned that Sap Green' dries with quite a hard edge (as does Permanent Rose to a degree) - something to look out for another time.

The middle of the three was the one intended for this ribbon piece as I wanted to give the impression of a pot of flowers in a yard with a wall/fence (the brown-ish colour) and some greenery (the green spots dropped into the brown whilst still wet), on a paved area (the grey at the bottom).

The embroidery itself took around an hour and, as it was done in evening light and was a quick stitch, there are no WIP photos this time, but here's the finished piece, mounted in a card and looking a lot nicer, I think!

Do you agree?  I do like the general design and love the plant pot button - in fact I'm planning to get hold of a few, probably from the Crafty Ribbons booth at the Harrogate Knitting and Stitching Show, presuming they'll be there.  So that part was good, but I think the black background, to say nothing of the awful slightly blurred and totally 'flat' photograph on the kit was a big no-no.  Not surprisingly, I got this as part of a sale on their website - discontinued kits.

PS, In case anyone's wondering what's planned for the other two painted backgrounds, the simple answer is nothing.  I found the green on the left hand one just too vibrant and felt it didn't go with the ribbon piece I had in mind and the right hand idea just no longer works for me.  I was going to do a small sampler with a crazy quilt appearance as a support for my catch-up on TAST.  I still quite like the idea, but don't think this one worked and so will consider trying another one soon.

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2012

Belated WIP Wednesday

I've finally decided to properly join in Sharon B's Work In Progress Wednesday, although my first post is a bit late as it's Thursday here, but, if you live on the very westernmost tip of Alaska or somewhere else on the eastern side of the International Date Line, I'm home and dry!!  Anyway, the idea is to post on a large WIP or WISP (work in slow progress) on Wednesdays so that there is a sort of weekly 'report back' support and motivation.  I suppose it's rather like a Weightwatchers weekly weigh-in for stitchers!!!

OK, less of the nonsense talk and more WIPs, (the current state of which is always on my 'Current Work In Progress' page.).  I've nothing to report on two of them, but here's the current status of the Cross'N'Patch 'Sunshine and Flowers' sampler after I pulled out a part I'd mis-counted (not concentrating properly) and then re-housed the whole piece in a 14"x11" frame as opposed to the former 17"x11" one, which I was finding just too long to manage comfortably.  I think that awkwardness also slowed down progress as it's hard to get yourself going on an unwieldy piece.

And the Brazilian 'Rolled Roses' piece.  As you can see, I've done two more roses.  There were three, but I had to pull one out, it looked so bad!  This photo has been edited to show the outline of the whole piece as well, so you can get an idea of what's coming from it and how much is left to do too.

What else have I been doing?  Plenty of reading, of course, some lesson preparation as I now have two private students coming to me for Mandarin Chinese lessons and I've begun work on an exercise book to help people get a firm grip on Mandarin sentence patterns and so on, which I'm trialling on these two ladies!  So, that takes up a fair bit of research time etc. as well.  And would you just look at my desk!  I was sorting out my embroidery ribbons  ready for two small card projects as well!

On top of that, I've taken up knitting for the first time in almost 30 years!  A Chinese friend is having a little girl in November, so I thought I'd have a go at some baby knits for her.  This is how far I've got with my first one - the back, both sleeves and the left front.  This is, I think, the first time I've done a patterned knit like this (the bit with the decorative holes) and certainly the largest piece I've ever done.  Only one more piece to do, then it's on to the challenge of picking up stitches around the edgings etc.  I've borrowed a good beginners' book from the library to help.

I remember when I was a little girl, my mum, who was quite a prolific and accomplished knitter, gave me scrap ends of yarn and some basic needles and I used to knit very simple woollies for Sindy/Barbie dolls which had contrast trims and often had lurex knitted in with them (so, like Kreinik Blending Filament), and then sell them from the back of our car at the classic car rallies we used to go to.  They were quite good family occasions and little girls would sometimes buy them from me.  I was quite an astute businesswoman at age 11, wasn't I??=)

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2012

TAST 2012 - Week One - Fly Stitch

When I saw the ideas and examples Sharon had put up for the first stitch of the TAST 2012 re-run, I was immediately inspired with plenty of ideas.  I also got out my two stitch guides and found enough variations to fuel the creative process further and, soon afterwards, came up with a design plan for my first TAST sampler. I know that most of the notes didn't show up well, so I must remember to use pencil in a better contrasting shade if I want everyone to be able to read what I've written!

Like Jules (whose wonderful dandelion seed head worked in fly stitch you absolutely MUST see!), I plan to do a doodle pad type stitch sample, then try to work it up into something pictorial.  I can't promise that I'll always manage the pic, but I can try and at least got off to a good start this week.

Here's the quick test run of the stitches to make sure I'd got them sorted worked with scrap ends of no.5 pearl cottons on a piece of rather stiff 14ct Aida (that there was no chance of my using for anything 'polished').  The first few are just plain fly stitches, then a few with longer tails, then a few twisted fly stitches.  The second row shows a rather open worked fly stitch leaf (which does not work well on Aida) and then two rows of fly stitch filling.  This is done by working a row of regular fly stitches with the tops of the Vs touching, then working the next row upside down with the bottoms of the Vs joining and the securing stitch being made over the pair of touching stitches.  This filling spoke 'fence' to me.

First I painted some habotai silk to give the relevant colours to the background.  I made the mistake of putting the whole thing rather too far to the right of the hoop.  It would have been better to have been more central.  Still, I soon realised both the error and that I couldn't really do anything about it, except to ditch that piece and start again, but although I found I had more habotai than I'd feared, I'm still not up for wastage.  It was good to try silk painting again, even though I found it a fair bit harder than I'd remembered.  Need more practice, I know and having more fabric than I thought means that I can try this kind of background again soon.=)

So, here's the finished fly stitch pictorial piece.  Most of the stitches are some form of fly stitch, except some stem stitch for the foreground roses and, of course, the ribbon work (although you can work fly stitch in narrow ribbon to good effect).  The peach flowers are just straight stitches in ribbons, and the roses are spider's web roses.  Let me know if you want to know how the latter are done as they're easy, quick and effective.  The grass tufts are individual twisted fly stitches and the rose leaves are worked in closed fly stitch.

On the whole I'm happy with the piece.  The bit I'd most like to change (and could have if I'd been up for a lot of un-picking and re-stitching) would be to work the fence in a narrower gauge of thread.  I feel it's far too prominent, although the basic idea etc is OK.  Even with that, I'm pleased with this first week's work as I've been able to use fabric colouring again, I've designed something completely from scratch with little more inspiration than the stitches themselves and I worked it completely freehand - no pattern transferred to the silk.  Oh yes, and I really know fly stitch and a few variations of it quite well now!!

What's that just about the roses?  Well, of course it's a FLY!=)

© Elizabeth Braun 2012

Simple ribbon work flowers

Here's a small ribbon embroidery design that I did about 2 weeks ago (and have only just worked up the courage to edit and upload all the photos!). I took plenty of in-progress shots so that it could be a little bit of a tutorial. The design is one that is no longer in production, 'Garden Gate' by the UK company Crafty Ribbons. I bought it in an end of line sale about 4 years ago, but they do have some nice ribbon embroidery kits still on offer. Nice designs and good instructions.

First we have the gate design itself worked in plain old backstitch and the spiders web inserted using straight stitches of varying lengths.

Here you can see how to 'thread up' the ribbon. Using a normal embroidery needle and a co-ordinating colour thread, go in and out of the ribbon alternating edges. The thread should already be coming through the fabric at this point really.

Gather up the ribbon into a little flower....

...and secure with another stitch just next to the flower, making sure the stitch is hidden underneath and that any scrappy ends of ribbon are taken to the underside as well.

Moving on to the leaves and this time you thread the ribbon through a chenille needle (about size 20 should be OK, depending on the width of the ribbon). When you make the gathered flowers, you just need to cut enough ribbon for each bloom. With the leaves, you can cut enough for several as the ribbon will go in and out a few times before getting tatty.

A simple straight stitch creates a nice looking leaf.

The add some more straight stitches, this time in stranded cotton or coton a broder to create the impression of grass and some French knot flower centres and this part is complete.

Moving onto some larger blooms to be created in ribbon stitch. Again, thread the chenille needle with enough ribbon for a few petals and come up through the fabric. Go back down, not beyond the ribbon, but through it to create the folded back look....

...that you can see here.

Add in a few more to create full flowers, some straight stitch leaves and also French knots using white ribbon as a flower centre and that completes this side.

Here's the full thing shown slightly at an angle so you can enjoy the three dimensional aspect to good effect. This piece was then mounted into a card.

Hope that's been of interest to some of you. I'm no ribbon work expert, but a number of folk do come here after searching for 'ribbon embroidery', so I thought a picture post would go down well.=)

I haven't been doing much stitching of late thanks to yet more bugs and nasties (I've come to conclusion I'm a germ goddess and the dratted things love me and want to nestle close....), and I'd like to get some mending and altering done soon, if possible, so as to clear the decks (literally!!) for more interesting things later on.

© Elizabeth Braun 2011

Stumpwork and Ribbon Embroidery - Where Does One Start?

Apart from those searching for my blog by name, most of the searches that bring visitors here seem to be connected to stumpwork and/or ribbon embroidery. Although I'm no expert in either, I thought a post on some resources for both styles might be useful to some.

First up - STUMPWORK

By far the most common websearch enquiry I see on my Analytics stats is for stumpwork wire, so if that's brought you here, let me help you at once and say that what you need is florists', cake decoraters' or beading wire, usually 28 or 30 gauge and you should be able to get it from any shop that deals in supplies for those crafts as well as generalist stores like Hobbycraft in the UK, Michael's in the States and so on. I ordered mine from Surbiton Sugarcraft, who do packs 50 paper covered wires in green and white, which will last for a good long time. Jilly Beads also here in the UK also does a fantastic collection of wires in many colours and gauges.Those closer to it, may prefer to look at Jane Nicholas' site, where she also sells wire of this sort.  The non-covered wires are usually to be 28 gauge and paper covered ones are 30.  I bought a pack of different coloured (silver, copper, pink and blue) beading wires from a discount bookseller and a small reel of green from an art shop!  Google search and you will find a retailer near you, I'm sure!

So, I hope that helps anyone needing wires for their work. If you are here for that, please leave me a link to your blog or photo album so I can admire your pieces.=) Finding blogs and bloggers who have an active interest in stumpwork (i.e. actually do it, not just admire it) is not easy.

The question I often see asked on stitching groups etc is how best to go about learning the basics etc. Whilst many experienced stumpworkers frequently share their favourite book titles, my advice is the same here as it is with any new technique that seems rather challenging to you: Get a kit and start with that. It's best, in my opinion, to get something that will talk you through the whole process plus provide you with all the materials you need for it so that you're not having to spend a fortune or drive yourself nuts trying to track down specialist items. OK, the most common things to look for seems to be wire, as above, but there are often beads and other things needed that you may not have to hand, or have in the right size or colour. These days, many of us are on a budget and it also, frankly, works out much cheaper to get a ready-made package in and work from that than to source umpteen new items yourself. This is especially important if you want to take your first tentative steps in any given technique and are not sure you'll take it on on a large scale.  Kits also make great gifts for a friend you feel is interested and, of course, to hint about for your next anniversary present....=)

Which brings me to another point about your first project(s): Make it simple. I know most of us have done it, bought a kit or set up a project that we loved the look of and would be delighted to be able to do, only to have it honestly outface us and paralyse us at the outset. I learned from experience that it's best not to set oneself a professional level project as a first attempt! So, try a small to medium sized design that you like, but that doesn't have to be the design of your life. Leave that one until you've more skill and confidence.

What about designs in books and magazines? I think they're great for most people, especially if they have a little experience. Those who buy that style of magazine are often keen and fairly accomplished embroiderers anyway with sufficiently plentiful resources so that they don't need to buy everything from scratch. However, I would still go with the kit idea to start with (there are kits available for some book and/or mag designs). See how you like it, then have a go at something a little more challenging. After that, you may even want to move on to working one or more of your own designs, but I wouldn't recommend that as a place to start to anyone but the most confident amongst us. I would say that I've reached a fair skill level in several styles, but I still feel extra 'aware' when I'm working my own design and not as confident of the outcome.

There are a few distinct styles in contemporary stumpwork and they tend to be seen in the work of the few prominent stumpworkers the world boasts. Probably the best known would be Australia's Jane Nicholas, whose style is pretty much what I like - lots of wired flowers and insects and tending more towards realistic interpretations of nature. A totally different style is worked by the UK's Kay Dennis, who does a good deal of figurative work and loves needlelace. To the best of my limited knowledge, Ms Dennis' work seems closest to the traditional stumpwork style, creating whole pictures and including plenty of people in them.

Moving away from pure stumpwork, South Africa's Di Van Niekerk has become well-known for her combination of small, simple stumpwork elements with ribbon embroidery and Australia's Alison Cole has pioneered some stunning work combining quite realistic stumpwork with goldwork techniques and has published two books on the subject already.  (There are, of course, several others who haven't published books, but who produce kits and designs such as Kelley Aldridge, Julie Anne Designs (available at Willow Fabrics and direct from her on e-bay) and so on.)

I own books by all four of the above ladies and you'll find a wealth of interesting information, resources and kits and supplies on the sites. Clicking on any of the names will take you straight there. Knowing a little of what each artist does in the stumpwork field may help you in making a decision on whose books to buy.

Another personal favourite when it comes to books is the 'A - Z of Stumpwork' by Country Bumpkin's team. Although I can only see myself actually working one or two of the designs, (and maybe some small elements of some others), this book scores in my opinion by the almost 40 pages of step-by-step photos of the stitches, wiring and beading techniques used in raised embroidery. For a good reference work, you couldn't do better than add this title to your stitching shelf. When it comes to designs that I would be likely to work in their entirety, I'd go for Jane Nicholas' books and you can get kits of all the needed supplies through her site. I don't think I'd try working her pieces as a beginner though.

What are the main advantages of stumpwork? Well, it's an incredibly impressive style and you'll create things that will stun your friends and that you can be truly proud of. There are a range of different styles within raised work, so there's no need to feel constrained by a set method and, although kits and some materials need looking for, i.e. you won't find stumpwork kits on the shelves as easily as you'll get cross stitch or needlepoint, they can be sourced on-line, at specialist embroidery shops and also at needlework shows and fairs quite easily.

Disadvantages? It can be quite a fiddly style to work and thus also rather time consuming. It's also a fairly advanced technique and, whilst I wouldn't want to actively discourage new stitchers from having a go, it does help to have a fair background in flatwork etc. One or two of the larger beads and moulds needed for certain designs can also be a bit tricky to find.

Moving onto RIBBON EMBROIDERY

This is something I have much less knowledge of, but it's something that brings a fair number of visitors, especially from Malaysia and the Far East. I've only worked a couple of small pieces myself and also a few small elements on band samplers etc have been in ribbon work.

Again, if you're looking for somewhere to start, I'd recommend the same place as with every new technique - get a kit and try with that first. Ribbon embroidery kits aren't that easy to find and one of the few places I know in the UK that deals with ribbon work to any great degree is Crafty Ribbons who I've met at several stitching shows and bought a few things from. The books I have on my shelf are by Ann Cox, who has a lovely style combining ribbon work, simple embroidery stitches and outside elements, such as painted backgrounds etc. Her website also sells kits and supplies. I also have a book combining quilting with ribbon work to make sweet bags etc, but that's the Chinese translation of a Japanese book and so won't be much use to many readers here!!!

Pros and cons? Pros are certainly that ribbon embroidery is effective in reproducing flowers and is very quick to work. Whereas it can take quite a while to stitch a small flower in other styles, you may need as few as 5 stitches to create a ribbon work flower complete with leaves! Like stumpwork, it's relatively seldom worked, so many people will be surprised and impressed with your creations.

Cons are really the limited repertoire - mostly flowers, limited availability of supplies and the expense involved in building up a stash. Although you can get organza ribbons at many craft places and I've bought some great bargain colour packs at fairs, generally speaking, you don't often come across silk embroidery ribbons (except on-line) and they can work out very pricey indeed, especially if you want to get a good collection. Bearing in mind that ribbon can be needed in 2mm, 4mm, 7mm or 13mm and that it uses up fairly quickly in comparison to threads, one can envisage needing a lot of colours in a lot of widths in order to have a reliable collection that will supply most needs and having to restock frequently. Still, if money is no object, or you can find a good value supplier, then this disadvantage won't matter so much.

I hope that info has been some use to folk and that the links provided are helpful as well. As I said, I'm no expert, especially not in ribbon embroidery, but as searches for both styles bring so many stitchers here, I hoped it would be of some interest.=)
All the photos on this post are from pieces worked by myself.

© Elizabeth Braun 2011

Ribbon work 'framed'

I finally made the rose arch ribbon work into a card just a few minutes ago. It's the nearest to stitching I've done in FAR too long, I can tell you! Hope everyone likes it!

Nothing else to show or tell, beyond that I'm in the process of re-creating the Fine Embroidery web-ring elsewhere as Ringsurf have changed their entire system without any notification to members at all and the new stuff seems to be no improvement whatsoever.

Ribbon piece done!

Here's the finished piece - Rose Arch:

I think I'll mount it in a card in due course as it's the right size for that and will make a nice tribute for someone's special something or other!!! Don't know what, when or who yet though....




Here it is from the side to show the nice 3D effect that Doris so rightly mentioned.=)

Thanks for all the lovely comments etc over the last couple of days. I must refute one of them though: I am NOT talented, it's just that I have acquired some skills over the 5+ years I've been stitching. Anyone who can hold a needle can embroider, it requires little more than patience, practice and the ability to follow instructions. So, no, it's not talent on my part, just something I've learned, that's all.

I did some work with the blog labels the other day and added in some general subject ones, such as 'Birds', 'Florals', 'Butterflies' and 'Insects'. That will be helpful for visitors wanting to locate work on certain themes. It also made me realise how few floral pieces I really have and that I want to do a lot more! I'm just about to create a 'Samplers' label as I seem to have done quite a bit of that type of work.

Instant Gratification

I remember 'meeting' another UK stitcher into many types of embroidery on a newsgroup who said she did 'cross stitch for instant gratification'. I knew exactly what she meant, but in terms of results in the short term, I think hardanger and ribbon embroidery come first. So, I did some ribbon work yesterday very much for instant results! Here they are: It's not finished yet as there are some hollyhocks to put in on the left hand side, (you might be able to see a few guide marks there), but I thought I'd showcase it thus far. It's done with organza ribbons rather than silk/satin ones and is a small kit by Crafty Ribbons. They do some great small kits for folk to get the feel of ribbon work. My only criticism is that they seem to operate a 'right first time' policy on behalf of their clients - they only include enough ribbon in each kit for you to work the design and make zero mistakes!!! So, one or two of the flowers can look a bit naff!!! The gate etc is worked in plain old backstitch.

Ribbons!

<-Put in a retail therapy order with Crafty Ribbons when I was feeling peeved last w/e and here it is.

It came on Tuesday shortly before I legged it to work. I dread to think when I'm actually going to have time to work any of these rather nice little kits, but at least they're a quick stitch.=) More stash likely to hit tomorrow as I'm going to the Fashion, Embroidery and Stitch show up in Harrogate, which has Hobbycrafts next door as well. As Sir and I are being paid at the mo, I daresay I shall not feel at all guilty about spending money I really shouldn't....... But more on that tomorrow.

First Concert!

So, yesterday my debut as a violist broke forth onto an astonished world! No sound files available, but here's a close-up of me playing:

<- Here's me with my duet partner, Catherine



And again at the back right hand side of the orchestra:
Can you see me??=)

And here's the ribbonwork

'framed' into a nice card ->