Our newsletter for 5th December 2019
Well here we are in December and I am not going to apologise for starting to bring you all things festive and sparkly! It’s now or never, right?
So today’s video workshop has a distinct shine to it, but hopefully you’ll see that the method can be used all year round to great effect in your art quilts. Read on below to find out more.
But first, let’s talk sketchbooks with Linda…
If you know our work you’ll know that both of us love our sketchbooks – it’s not too much to say we are obsessed with using them. Here’s a few of Laura’s I photographed in her studio yesterday! We love nothing more than to encourage regular sketchbook practice in others too so we’ve been really pleased to welcome a a number of you to our Creative Sketchbooks’ course recently.
If you are one of those who has taken the plunge and signed up you’ll have discovered by now that the first module concentrates on working with familiar subjects using just black and white.
We believe this is the best way to understand the basic elements of design without the distraction of colour – BUT, we wouldn’t have been true to ourselves if we didn’t unleash lots of glorious colour as soon as we could.
Rest assured Module 2 includes a range of very colourful mediums and exciting techniques. It also focuses on pattern and the role it can play in creative sketchbook pages where design and composition are as important as the subject depicted.
Throughout the course we encourage drawing and painting but although we describe art materials and techniques in great detail, this isn’t an art course as such – we also demonstrate all the tricks and cheats we use in our own work to create the most interesting pages we can.
Photographs, rubbings, collage and photocopies come into their own in this module too. Anyone taking our course works entirely at their own pace and we certainly don’t want to hurry anyone on but Module 2 has lots to offer so whenever you are ready!!!!!!
And I haven’t even started to tell you about Module 3 yet which I have to confess is my favourite! More about Module 3 next time.
New on DesignMatters this week…
Video Workshop – Foiling on Fabric
Learn how to foil shapes on fabric. In this workshop Linda will show you two fast and easy methods to add some metallic gleam to your fabric. See her samples and also how she’s used the techniques in her quilts. Foiling on fabric is perfect for adding some extra festive sparkle to your seasonal sewing projects, but why not limit the glitz to Christmas? Linda will show you how she effectively used foiling in her ‘proper’ quilts!!
Ways to watch:
If you have a DesignMatters TV Membership you’ll find this workshop is automatically available to you, just click on the link above.
If you don’t have a Membership, you can purchase this workshop as a one-off for £1.50. You might like to use Classroom Credits to do this. As you know we are gradually phasing memberships out and a couple of months ago we introduced the Classroom Credit option. Many thanks to those of you who have already added credit to your accounts – we hope you find redeeming them against any of the new videos or any title in the Classrooms is really straightforward. And don’t forget, any purchased videos stay in your account for unlimited viewing!
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Classroom Credits
£10.00 – £100.00 Select options
Christmas Shopping with Max & Rosie
We always do our best to make Christmas as handmade as possible, but time doesn’t always allow us for handmade to equal homemade. So, even though we can make things ourselves, we love to shop from other makers. I’ve bought some amazing items this year, but I can’t share them with you because it will seriously spoil some surprises on Christmas morning!
My sister Frances has a few festive items left in her Christmas shop. I’m seriously tempted by this bunting but there’s only one length left! Get in quick if you love it too, it’s only £15 with free UK delivery.
She’s also got some fab small items that would make lovely gifts, like this clutch which is big enough to use as a slip case for your notepad. Handmade in digitally printed cotton, only £18, again free delivery to the UK.
Christmas Card Free Printables
If you’ll be sending greetings cards this year maybe you’ll be interested in our free printables that you’ll find on the website. We have the robin, below, and this year’s new image, the partridge in a pear tree. Both are original paintings by Linda and if you click on the images you’ll find printable versions to make your own greetings cards.
Last Posting Dates
The last posting dates for Christmas delivery from us are:
To Australia and New Zealand order by 11th December
To Canada and USA order by 13th December
To Europe order by 16th December
To the UK order by 20th December
Please order in plenty of time to be sure!
In the online shop you’ll find our new batch of sketchbooks. These are our usual favourite sketchbooks but with a jazzy gold logo on the front! We love them, hope you do too. Sketchbooks are £6 each. We offer flat rate shipping so why not add one to your basket along with the new thread sets?
Thank you for reading our news this week. We will be back next week with more! In the meantime please follow along with us via social media (the links are below) and if you have any questions about anything please feel free to email.
Love Laura
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