H-anne-Made

Anne Brooke's blog is moving...

2016-03-12T20:35:00.001+00:00

http://www.annebrooke.co.uk/#!Another-amazing-day-in-Garstang-with-Linda-and-Creative-Threads-workshop/sngo0/56e4683d0cf210a43866f96f

Hello everyone
Firstly I would like to thank you for supporting me following my blog. This year has seen the creation of my new website and I am in the process of moving my blog over there too so everything is on one place.
The link above will take you to my latest post and I hope you will continue to take a peek and see what I have been up to in my H-anne-MADE world.
Once again thank you for all you support and I hope to see you soon
Anne xxx

Stitched Collages in Garstang...at least the rain stopped

2015-12-06T20:17:00.000+00:00

Thank goodness the rain stopped and everyone made it to Garstang for my second workshop of the weekend.This workshop focuses on my stitch collage technique and everyone produced some lovely work. We enjoyed a lovely day, birthday cake and catching up with everyone.

Thank you ladies and if anyone adds more to their collage I would love to see a photo.

Love

Anne xx

Fabulous day....despite the weather

2015-12-06T19:08:00.001+00:00

Well what a lovely way to spend a very wet and windy day,in Garstang, back with Linda @Creativethreadsworkshop and a stitched collage box workshop. Thank you so much to the ladies that braved the weather but I am sure you will agree the work they did was fabulous.
Here are the ones that got finished on the day...

These lovely piece didn't get finished in time and the ladies wanted to do more work on them. Hopefully I will get photos of the finished pieces which I will post.

Thank you ladies for a lovely, if wet and windy ay

Anne xx

Here is an update...sorry it's been so long

2015-10-17T20:13:00.001+01:00

Sorry it has been a while since my last post. Things have been busy and here is a snap shot of whats been going on...

ART IN THE PEN
Another good year turning a pen into a mini gallery for the weekend. It is always a lovely atmosphere and always lovely to see visitors that come year on year. It was nice that it didn't rain this year and was a fun weekend.

from this...to this...

SPURN POINT
Well I have lived in Yorkshire all my life and this is the first time I have been to Spurn point. It started out as a day out of all of us and we loved it so much we came back for bank holiday weekend. It is a truly un-spoilt stretch of coast line on the east coast of England. Spending the day walking, playing and collecting 'stuff' kept us all entertained. Even the BBQ on the beach was lovely. The girls even went swimming!!! We will definitely be back.

...even on the beach workbook-ing continues...

POPPIES @YSP
We had a lovely day out at the YSP to go and see the Tower of London Red poppies. I think it was lovely that the poppies have gone on tour so that everyone could see them. I didn't expect to get so close that you could touch them but you could. They were breath taking coming up out of the lake onto the bridge.

YARNDALE
Back to the pens in Skipton for a yarn-y weekend. Another fantastic year meeting friends, old and new. It was so busy I didn't really get chance to have a look round but everyone said how good all the pens were. I suppose it meant I couldn't spend too much but I did buy a large felted pebble from Lindsay Tyson..yummy

Workshop with The Ribble Creative Stitch Group

2015-10-17T19:13:00.000+01:00

I have spent this weekend with a lovely group of ladies, first at a talk on Friday night and then today at my stitched collage workshop. We have spent a busy day creating some beautiful stitched collages. Here is a peek at what we got up to...

...here are some of the pieces before stitching

...and the the stitching brings it all together.

...take a closer peek

Thank you ladies for a lovely weekend

Anne xx

P.S. If you would like to book on to a workshop or book me to come to your group please email me about availability...hannemade@gmail.com

A day out with the Blackpool Embroiderers guild

2015-06-20T21:57:00.001+01:00

I have just returned from a lovely day with the ladies of the Blackpool Embroiderers guild. We spent a busy day creating some beautiful stitched collages. Yet again everyone created a unique piece of work. It is always a joy to see the transformation of a collection of ripped and torn pieces of paper into a beautiful picture.

(I can't find the stitched photo of this beautiful piece that is going to become a book cover)

Please send me a pic of it finished so I can add it to my blog.

An added bonus is the drawing on the back...

A massive thank you to all the ladies I had a lovely day

Anne xx

Here is a look at my new work and it's development

2015-05-19T19:31:00.000+01:00

It all started with a walk on the canal with my girls one evening after work. It is a busy time of year at the moment with all the exams and exhibitions so after a busy day and leaving work to be greeted by a lovely spring evening we decided to go for a walk and get some fresh air. As usual I was soon on my own on the path as the girls explored the woodland between the canal and river. Wondering what they were up to I went to investigate only to be greeted by a spring time wonderland and the inspiration I was looking for.

Out came the camera phone (what did we do before modern technology) and I began to capture the flora and fauna. As I did ideas began to spin around my head and that evening I began to get my ideas down on paper. My doodling developed into a collage with planned stitching doodle on the top.

The doodle progressed on to 2 small sample collages that are still works in progress. As I was working on these pieces I found a blank canvas in my studio so began to put together a larger version of these pieces. I had wanted to go back to including fabric in my work and during my clear out discovered some vintage fabric in a lovely lemon yellow that was perfect for the flowers in my image. So the next piece of work began to take form.

Well to add to my inspiration I was lucky enough to go on a Frances Pickering 2 day workshop with the Halifax embroiderers guild. It was a lovely two days and I decided to continue with the image I had created. Introduced to new ways of working the little embroidered book came to life.

I loved the printing technique that we used and as my lasted work involved printing on paper it seemed a logical development to my own practice. As I had started including fabric in my work again I loved the idea of printing and creating my images this way. So an evening of printing was called for.

I have had in my mind for a while the idea to create a large piece that is worked into more than I have before. I began to collage and stitch the back ground and then played around with the printed flora I had created. The colours were more vibrant than my previous work but I really like the effect. It became clear I had to build up the layers so began with my beloved dandelions, a mixture of papers that were free machine stitched over the top.

Playing around with the composition I decided the bluebells were a little too much and clashed with the colours too much. I gradually added the printed elements, again free machining as I went.

Then as with any process I hit a brick wall and decided I didn't like the piece...typical after so many hours of work. I decided a beak was call for and after and coffee and current teacake I returned to add some more plants in the gaps The final layer of machining again returned to one of my favourite plants, Shepard's Purse and I began to fall in love with my piece again.

Now began the time consuming hand stitching so I got myself comfy in from of the telly and began seeding and section of the background. After 3 hours it was time for bed and the seeding began again in the pub waiting for my daughter. This is the piece as it stands at the moment.

At this point I like to take a break from a piece so I can come back at it with fresh eyes. I know I want to continue hand stitching the piece and possible adding some linen buttons like the ones on my book. Not sure yet whether to paint them or not. So watch this space or follow my on facebook or instagram to keep update with 'Spring on the canal'

Love for now
Anne xx

Over on the Wirral

2015-05-09T18:53:00.002+01:00

A fab day with the ladies at the Wirral Embroiderers Guild.We were very busy producing some amazing stitched collages. Here are the collages before and after stitching photos. Some ladies wanted to do a little more work on their pieces and I will be excited to see what the final pieces look like.
Thanks to all the ladies for a lovely lunch and a fab day. I hope to back in your direction again soon xx

Sew Creative day 2...Print, collage and stitch

2015-04-10T21:22:00.001+01:00

Another busy day in Norfolk in the Sew Creative studio. The ladies were busy printing, collageing and stitching their lovely hangings. It was like an adults playschool with paint flying everywhere, paper blowing in the breeze and the busy hum of sewing machines...proving to be a lovely day.

We had a fabulous day and I would like to thank Barbara and Steven for looking after me and the ladies for making my 2 days so enjoyable xx

Easter weekend off to Norfolk

2015-04-07T18:01:00.002+01:00

What a lovely Easter weekend and to finish it off I went to Norfolk to run 2 workshops for Sew Creative. A lovely shop situated in Wroxham Barns, a converted farm that has a number of shops, cafes and children's activities, in fact a full day out for the family. My hubby tagged along (2 days cycling for him) and we had the joy of staying at Overcliffe Lodge enjoying sea views and the most amazing breakfast I have had. Fed and water for the day Barbara picked me up and we headed out. The attic studio is a lovely place to work and once the ladies arrived we began creating our stitched collages. Everyone had a fabulous inspiration image to work from and the translation into a stitched collage was amazing. The ladies worked hard all day fueled by coffee and lunch producing some lovely work.
These are photos of the work before stitching...

...After stitching...

All tided up and ready for day 2...Print collage stitch :)

Grassington Embroiderers guild workshop

2015-04-07T17:33:00.003+01:00

Well it was a day of all weathers,,,, snow, hail, rain, wind and sunshine, to mane a few, but myself and my friend Jane made it to the rugby club in Grassington for my workshop. Once everyone was settled in and warmed up with a lovely cup of coffee we made a start. As usual the work produced was very different and fabulous. The ladies worked really quickly and before I knew it the day was over. Again here are the photos of before (I only got a few) and after. I hope some have time to finish them as they have an exhibition coming up and hopefully some of the work will be there on display.

My workbook booklets

2015-03-29T19:37:00.002+01:00

Well, as you know I have been working in my workbooks for a number of years now and run workshops on starting yours.As a number of people have said they can't get to my workshops I have created 2 booklets (so far) on starting your own book.
I have hand drawn / written the booklets and they run along the same theme as my own books. They are available via my folksy shop.

WORKBOOK 1

WORKBOOK 2

Includes a mini concertina book for you to make and work in xx

Print, collage and stitch

2015-03-28T20:08:00.003+00:00

Well the weather outside is awful but myself and 6 ladies were busy working in my studio today creating some wonderful stitched hangings. As the rain lashed down we were busy printing, ripping and stitching. The perfect way to spend a rainy Saturday I am sure you will agree.

Garstang stitched collage

2015-03-28T19:52:00.003+00:00

Sorry this post is a little late. I had a fab time in Garstang but was totally shattered hen I got back. Again some fantastic work was produced by the ladies, even Linda had a go making a lovely card for her mum as it was mothers day.

I took photos of the collage stage as I think the transformation once stitched is awesome. I hope to be back in Garstang soon and I hope you like the work xx

Before stitching...

...after stitching

Thanks again to Linda for organising the weekend and the yummy cakes xx

Print Collage Stitch with Creative Threads in Garstang

2015-03-14T19:05:00.000+00:00

A massive thank you to Linda and her fabulous pop up workshops. I am in Garstang again for a lovely weekend of textile loveliness. First on the list is Print, Collage and stitch. A day printing and stitching to create a mini wall hanging. Again the ladies produce some fantastic work and willed on by Linda's baking all created a totally individual piece of work.

Not much else to say except check out the Creative Thread workshop page for more workshops coming soon xx

I will let the work speak for itself...

Amazing day with Preston Embroiderers Guild

2015-03-07T19:06:00.001+00:00

Another early start and this time I was heading back over to Preston. On arrival the ladies were already setting up the hall ready for my workbook workshop. Once the meeting was underway and the announcements were over everyone gathered around my portable studio. I have been working in my workbook for 4 years now and began by sharing some of the work out of my own books.
We began with the scary white page...

Once the scary paper had gone and everyone was busy we began experimenting with stencils, rollers, stamps etc.

After lunch everyone had the choice of turning their practice sheet in to a book or to jump in and start their own workbook. Developing techniques covered in the morning and I introduced other elements during the afternoon to vary and add to the pages. Everyone worked really hard and produced some fabulous work.

At the end of a very busy day we had a gallery session to admire everyone's work. I would like to thank everyone for making me so welcome. I had a lovely day and am looking forward to coming back in 2016.

Mad March Challenge

2015-03-03T20:44:00.001+00:00

I decided to set myself a challenge to work in my sketchbook and kick start this years development of my work. So I have decided to try and work in my book for 30 minutes every day for a month...hence the Mad March challenge. This has coincided with the publication of my first booklet on working on your workbook (available on my folksy site). I will post some pictures on my facebook page of my progress and every few days will post here in a more detail.

DAY 1

For day one I decided to start off fairly simply and chose my favorite water soluble pen to work with.

Not really sure on what to do I started with a border and wrote about the challenge. After drawing some more boxes I began to doodle patterns in the boxes. As I worked I realised they would make good hand made stamps so continued to design 8 stamps.

DAY 2

On a Monday I wait at the local Rock climbing place while my daughter is climbing. So I got a basic kit together and decamped to the Pub that is linked to the club (only for a coffee of course) and got Artist block again AHHHHHHHH

I had a look in my bag and had the waste from the reinforcement rings I have used for my booklets. So I stuck these in and began with writing again. I then started doodling one of my favorite seed heads and slowly the page began to pull together. This time I expanded the amount of equipment I used. A mixture of text and doodling always works well especially when you fit the text around the doodling.

DAY 3

After suffering from artists block I decided that the focus today would be creating some background pages that I could then work on over the next few days. I had put together the mini rolling pins I designed on day 1 so decided to use them. I choose 3 colours to work with and added bubble wrap to my collection of equipment.

I began painting sections of the bubble wrap and printed the edges of the pages. Then using one of the rollers I added further detail to the page.

When I work I always have a sheet of paper to clean my rollers and stamps off on.This usually ends up being an interesting piece at the end and can be used in your book at a later date...so don't throw it away.

After embellishing with other stamps I finished the first double page and decided that as I had all the equipment out I may as well do 2 more.

...next pages

So I now have 4 pages ready to work on. This is a good idea as sometimes the blank page can put you off and make your mind go blank.

Hopefully I have inspired you to have a go in your own book. If so I would love to see your work and if it is ok with you, post here on my blog...

Have fun

Anne xx

Parbold stitched collage workshop

2015-02-07T19:20:00.000+00:00

After another fabulous day with a group of lovely ladies some fabulous work was created.

Again I was amazed at the diversity of the work that was produced. Ranging from a lovely Hare to the seaside. Again starting with everyone's stash of paper we began ripping and cutting to create some colourful backgrounds.

Once glued down the details were created and attached to the background. After lunch we rearranged the room to create something the Great British Sewing Bee would be proud of. The fabulous humming of sewing machines started and the magical transformation of the collages began.

After an afternoon of sewing and then some hand stitching and embellishment we were ready to have a look at the work and I am sure you will agree they are fabulous.

ps here is my sample from the day to xx

Happy New Year 2015

2015-01-07T13:12:00.001+00:00

Well another year over for H-anne-MADE and what a fantastic year it has been. I have been to some fabulous shows Woolfest, Art in the pen and Yarndale and met some wonderful people.

The workshops from my studio have gone well and are booking for this year really quickly. You may notice I am not doing as many workshops this year as I want to spend sometime developing my own work as I have so many ideas flying around my head and would like some time to work on them. So look out for new work appearing this year.

I have a number of things planned for this year and I am hoping to attend a number of shows this year so I hope you see you soon xxx

Workshop with the Snape Textile Group

2014-11-30T19:54:00.000+00:00

After a drive up the A1 on a grey autumn day I arrived in the village of Snape. At the end of the village green stood the village hall where I was to teach my stitched collage workshop.

Once set up the ladies were ready to get collaging. The hall is a lovely big room to work in and everyone was soon producing a wide range of images. Work ranging from animals to flowers to moody seascapes was soon emerging from the selection of papers. Before we knew where we were it was lunch time. I had no idea the amazing lunch we were about to have. Homemade soup and crumble and custard to follow. Chatting over lunch I found out lunch was the high light of the day so the pressure was on to try and beat the crumble...it would be a tough act to follow as it was fabulous.

So the sewing began...

In true sewing bee style after a count down the finished collages were ready to be seen, they were all fantastic and I hope everyone has the time to add the finishing touches they didn't get chance to do.

(sorry a couple are out of focus)

Well the verdict at the end of the day...

The day was 'better than lunch' and I can't ask more than that. Thanks you so much everyone for a fab day, lovely lunch and some fantastic work produced

Anne xx

Lovely day on my workbook workshop

2014-11-08T18:19:00.002+00:00

All set up ready for another workbook workshop in my studio. Everyone arrive and we got underway. Looking at the work and development of my books and how my own style has developed. We began experimenting with the backgrounds and getting rid of the scary white paper.

After a really productive day of layering techniques, cutting, printing and doodling we had a look at the pages everyone had created. They were all fantastic and hopefully a work in progress and everyone will continue to work on them.

Thanks for a lovely day ladies xx

Anne

Garstang day 2...Stitched Collage workshop

2014-10-19T19:42:00.000+01:00

After a good nights sleep I was up and ready to meet Linda for day two in Garstang. Stitched collage workshop today and everyone was raring to go...

After selecting a range of papers the collaging began. Again I was amazed at the range of ideas and work that began to emerge out of a random collection of paper.

These are the pieces before the stitching began...

After lunch it was onto sewing and it is amazing how different the collages look. The machine stitching really brings them together and then with further embellishments some fantastic work was produced. It was a very enjoyable and productive afternoon. Even though there was a mix of abilities all the work created was really successful.

Thanks to everyone for a lovely day, and a special thanks to Linda of Creative Threads Workshop

to looking after me and everyone today xx

My box...demo piece

2014-10-18T20:46:00.001+01:00

Here is the box I made as the demo piece for todays workshop xx

Workshop with Creative Threads in Garstang

2014-10-18T20:28:00.001+01:00

Up bright and early to head off to Garstang and another lovely weekend with Linda and Creative Threads Workshops. Arriving at the church hall ready to set up for a day making stitched collage boxes. Everyone arrive and we began preparing the backgrounds for the boxes.

Then the sewing and collaging could begin. Everyone had some fabulous ideas and slowly the boxes began to make shape. The inspiration varied greatly. From WW2 memories, a wedding day collection, the seaside to oak tree motifs everyone was busy and focused on completing the collaging ready for sewing after lunch.

Sewing machines at the ready and the pieces began to come together. The 3pm deadline loomed and we were ready to start putting the boxes together. We took photos of the boxes before and after they were constructed as the transformation is fantastic.

Time went so quickly in the afternoon and some ladies wanted to add more hand stitching later so at the moment I just have pictures of their 'nets'. When they are completed I will post some more pictures.

I can't wait to see this completed. If you fancy having a go I have a workshop next year at my studio. See workshop dates.

Right off to bed, as up again tomorrow for a Stitched Collage workshop...more pics to follow

Anne xx

Yarndale 2014

2014-09-29T07:50:00.001+01:00

What an amazing weekend...I hope you were able to come.
After a frantic set up after work on Friday ( with my lovely assistant Neve) we were ready to roll. Up and there for 9am the queues were already building. The auction mart was transformed into a yarny paradise as the visitors poured in. What a lovely day meeting some interesting people. Myself and Jane didn't stop all day. Soon it was time to head home and a well earned rest before getting back up to do it all again.
I have a few pictures of the show but not many as I didn't get a proper chance to look round. If you did I hope you bought some lovely goodies and had a fabulous time.
A massive thanks to the Yarndale team...all their hard work really paid off and I look forward to going back next year xx