“I am a retired graphic artist and spent much of my working life designing toys for Chad Valley, toffee tins, picnic ware, packaging and advertising. My mother taught me to sew and for much of my early life it was a necessity to make clothes for the children and myself. I always enjoyed knitting, embroidery and patchwork and for many years entered a quilt at the Festival of Quilts.

Getting a computer changed my life!

I discovered a whole new world of computer art, Photoshop and Illustrator and best of all the internet! Suddenly, it didn’t matter that travelling across the globe was not an easy option, all these wonderful sites were at my fingertips and the opportunities to learn and try my hand at new crafts were limitless.

There are so many inspirational felting sites to visit and learn from, so far two of my favourites are http://www.andrea-graham.com and http://www.elisvereulen.wordpress.com both of whom have wonderful organic designs. http://workingwithfelt.ning.com has opened up a connection with like-minded people who are willing to freely share their experience and skills. My horizons are limitless!

I still love to draw and have rediscovered crochet and knitting and of course there’s blogging. If you would like to visit my blog www.2smart-clothencounters.blogspot.com there is a link to my flickr page which shows a wider selection of the stuff I enjoy doing. So far I haven’t thought to sell any of my work.”

A real shame that Sheila doesn’t sell her work but please do stop by her blog and leave a comment. I’ve only featured the felt work here but Sheila’s ‘doodles’ are also beautiful.

We used; net vegetable bags, throwsters silk waste, cotton wool, recycled plastic fibres, crystal organza, muslin, hessian and ropes from old blinds to create the textures. As usual, the ladies were enthusiastic, creative and supplied me with a fbaulous lunch. My thanks to you all.