****Love in a Walnut ****

Well it's only Tuesday but nevertheless I am in awe at the generosity I have experienced just in the last few days  from friends and family. First I get a huge basket of fabulous veggies from my neighbour. Discovered the delights again of my Pyhsalis or Cape Gooseberry plants with their paper husks, they not only taste good but are so beautiful to look at. The walnut above gave me it's heart when I split it :)

Next I popped into a friends for a coffee yesterday and came away armed with a huge amount of barlotti beans, another beautiful plant with it's red and green streaks and a sweetish flavour with a smooth creamy texture. Just so happens that my girlfriend also gave me a jar of Sticky Hoisin sauce so I came  home with dinner almost sorted. Couldn't help but think the beans would make a great necklace or bracelet and then had to slap myself and get the dinner sorted.

Then my daughter presented me with a  beautiful long two toned blue scarf that she hand dyed up at Chateau Dumas where they held  a days course on woad dyeing. I love it, so looking forward to wearing it. I have added a link for  Bleu De Lecture as if your not aware of the plant that produces this amazing colour and
 it's a fascinating read, have a look at what she does with soaps,paints and more.

The best bit is yet to come no disrespect to the above for their fabulous gifts. My son and family are coming tomorrow yipeee!!! for a week, many cuddles and kisses will be shared, haven't seen them for 8 months, so a big catch up is due. I am a very happy and lucky girl.

****Millinery Masterclass with Dillion Wallwork- Chateau Dumas 16-23 July 2011****

MILLINERY MASTERCLASS: 

Total Beginner Level with Dillon Wallwork

16-23 JULY 2011

Those who enrol on our beginner’s millinery masterclass also get the opportunity to visit the local international hat festival, Estivales du Chapeau, which ends on the evening of Monday 18 July. With its numerous stalls, catwalk shows, exhibitions and hat design competition, the festival is an inspiration to anyone interesting in hat-making. The festival is the perfect place to pick up ideas for hat designs and the visits we plan to make on the first two days will really help you to prepare.

As a beginner you will be guided and supported at every stage of the hat-making process by Dillon Wallwork . In his role a Design Director for Philip Somerville, Dillon oversaw the production of millinery for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and Diana, Princess of Wales as well as other high profile clientele including Joan Collins, Jerry Hall and the Begum Aga Kahn.

"A fabulous week with so much fun! The food, accommodation, activities, picnics and candlelit dinners were all wonderful - not to mention the millinery course!" Suzanne from NSW, Australia.

All the skills and technique required to make hats in felt, sinamay and straw are covered during the five days of full-time tuition. Through daily demonstrations and discussions you will learn about every stage and become both competent and confident with the basic techniques of blocking, brim wiring and trimming.

 Dillon is a patient and thorough teachers whose warm and pleasant manner generates an enjoyable and productive workroom atmosphere. You’ll leave this course with a basic grounding and all-round knowledge of couture millinery and a familiarity with the millinery terms, materials and stitches. You can expect to complete at least two hats during the week in a choice of sinamay, straw or felt.

The Essentials

The price of 1400Euros (non-participating partners: 950 Euros) includes:

•7 nights Chateau accommodation and all meals
•5 days of tuition for 7 hours a day
•Transport to the Festival and hat factories
•Craft kit with scissors, needles, etc
•Use of equipment and all foundation materials
•Felt and straw cones and capelines, sinamay by the metre, petersham and other materials are available to buy at the Chateau


The workshop will run with a minimum of 8 and a maximum of 12 participants


A 25% non-returnable deposit wil secure your place with the balance due 8 weeks before the start of the workshop.


We take Visa & Mastercard
To check availability please email: enquiries@chateaudumas.net

Travel

Chateau Dumas lies one hour north of Toulouse city centre and Toulouse Blagnac international airport. Many trains a day also run to Montauban and Toulouse from Paris. We offer pick up service at Toulouse airport or Montauban Station for 30E pp each way. Alternatively there are trains to the local station (Caussade) where we can pick you up for free.






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Chateau Dumas Workshop Winner Announced for 2011

Delighted to announce that the winner for the Chateau Dumas Workshop giveaway 2011 is Louise Giordano. She will be joining us in the Festive French Country Workshop.
Congratulations Louise and really look forward to meeting you at the Chateau.  Here is a taste of what's in store for Louise.

 FESTIVE FRENCH COUNTRY WORKSHOP

with Anna Corba and Ros Badger



9-16 OCTOBER 2011

From gorgeous handmade presents to original designs for tree and home decorations, this rewarding and well-planned week of joyful creativity is the ultimate Christmas holiday workshop led by British textile expert Ros Badger (http://www.rosbadger.com/) and US paper artist Anna Corba (http://www.annacorbastudio.com/) both authors of successful books.

Drawing on Anna’s expertise in crafting with paper and Ros’ skill with textiles and found objects, you’ll be inspired during this innovative workshop to make a variety of unique pieces to keep or give to friends and family. You’ll discover the unexpected value of ordinary objects and how easily they can be turned into desirable pieces, and how scraps of vintage textiles and notions can be upcycled in new and interesting ways.

Projects lined up for this madly creative week include journals, notebooks, tags, garlands, cards and keepsakes made from vintage and new paper which is enhanced and embellished through tea-staining, collage and beeswax glazes. The fabric-based activities will range from fabulous Christmas stockings, advent calendars, bags of all kinds and charming gift ideas from pincushions to tea cosies and more.

Handmade gifts for friends and family (and original ideas for wrapping and presenting them), tree and home decorations and delicious recipes for holiday entertaining are all part of the week. Patterns, templates and instructions guide you at every stage, helping you to progress quickly through your projects with Ros, Anna or one of the assistants always on hand. There’s even a recipe book for you to take away with you with festive drinks and scrumptious snacks from around the world.

Sessions take place in the large, well-equipped studio which is stocked with a full range of materials, many of which are included in the cost of the workshop. There is an assortment of tools and equipment from sewing machines and irons to and eyelet tools and glue guns for your use. Additional materials are available to buy and some of the creative projects will cost extra.

No special expertise or experience is necessary to take part in this workshop.

The Essentials

The price of 1450Euros (non-participating partners: 950 Euros) includes .

•7 nights Chateau accommodation and all meals

•5 days of tuition for 7 hours a day

•Transport to the market and hat factories

•Basic materials and use of equipment

•Some creative projects will cost extra

The workshop will run with a minimum of 8 and a maximum of 14 participants

"A Feather in Our Cap" Chateau Dumas Giveaway Workshop 2011

People think I must be a skilled milliner because of the three hat-making classes I organise every year, but the truth is I wouldn’t know where to begin. Fortunately, though, I know a Man Who Can! Enter Dillon Wallwork, a milliner who oversaw the design and production of headgear for HM Queen Elizabeth and Princess Diana amongst others and who has been the millinery tutor at Chateau Dumas for the past three years.  He’s even designed a hat for Kate Middleton."

Dillon is that rare thing. An accomplished and talented milliner, a patient and thorough teacher and an all-round nice guy – funny, charming and down to earth.


He’s often assisted by Adrian Howard who is the in-house milliner at Fortnum and Mason and the two together make a superb double act. I love my millinery weeks at Chateau Dumas, as much for the fun and laughter as the glorious hats that people make from felt, straw or sinamay. It’s so good to see people return and this year we have 3 budding milliners who’ve come back for a second to learn with Dillon.

So why millinery? Chateau Dumas lies at the heart of France’s hat-making region and it seemed an obvious workshop to run. Simple as that! There are three hat factories locally (among them Europe’s largest) and the very sweet International Hat Festival which takes place every year in July. We shall be taking our students down there again this July to soak up the atmosphere, gather ideas and encourage the inspiration to flow.

Hats off to Chrissie for inviting me to write about millinery at Chateau Dumas. Our prize draw will soon be over – Like to win a place on Dillions Millinery?

See  http://www.chateaudumas.net/ for details of the courses. Please leave your prefered cousre in the comment box of the blog to enter the giveaway – the winner’s name will be announced on 1 April on the original blog post here  http://bit.ly/hDCR2S .

******"State Of The Art" ****** Chateau Dumas Giveaway 2011

When I see a finished painting I’m often mystified as to how the artist got there so I was delighted when painter Joan Lawson sent me these stage by stage shots of her “Walk to the Chateau” painting.

Joan is teaching two painting classes at Chateau Dumas this September and I can’t wait! Maybe you’d like to win a place in our Chateau Giveaway? Thanks again to Chrissie for inviting Joan to reveal her painting methods here.

This sketch gives me the basic composition as well as the tonal structure. Interesting to work out the perspective of the building in the background. I like the slow lazy approach in this image, you don't want to enter the painting too quickly! I love working in red pastel pencil on this rough paper.

I washed raw sienna over the entire canvas and began to block in loosely. Not sure about the blue/pink sky though. Keeping the colour strong in the foreground and soft in the distance, but I'll need to think about placing the warm/cold blues to enhance the distance.

Blocking in a little more solidly now, I'll keep the colder greeney blues to the distance, and put the warmer ultramarines and purples to the foreground. I definitely prefer the yellow sky! I must keep the distant trees soft...

I just need to strengthen and darken the foreground with some lovely reds, and put foliage on the tree to the left. It helps me to think of the muddle of foliage on the right as overlapping flat shapes, like flats on a stage set.


Thanks, Joan, you make it sound so easy!


Lizzie


Like to win a place on Joan’s Painting workshop?
See http://www.chateaudumas.net/ for details of the courses ( sorry 18-25 September is full). Please leave your prefered cousre in the comment box of the blog to enter the giveaway – the winner’s name will be announced on 1 April on the original blog post  here http://bit.ly/hDCR2S .

Rags to Riches in the Chateau Dumas Giveaway

“I never knew you could have so much fun with an old tea towel” commented one participant on our last Reinventing Vintage Textiles workshop at Chateau Dumas! Upcycling is a key element of the week and you need a good nose for unearthing market bargains. The French word is “chiner” – which we might translate as to dig, trawl or rummage for antiques.

Amazingly, 19th century hand-loomed cotton and linen sheets as well as the classic red-stripe tea towel are still available in French markets and can be bought for just a few euros. Okay, they might be threadbare in parts and have a few cobweb-fine darns but that just adds to their beauty, and the hems and seams are a masterpiece of tiny Liliputian handstitches. It’s easy to discard the sections that are too far gone and upcycle the good bits into bags or cushions – and this is where Ros Badger , the tutor, really shows her skills.

It’s always satisfying to incorporate a hand-embroidered initial into your work – the French traditionally used red thread to embroider their initials. (I probably shouldn’t admit to this here because it makes me sound a bit obsessive, but I have a collection of 35 nineteenth century linen convent nightdresses each handsewn and with different initials).


There’s always a lot of excitement on woad-dyeing day as virtually everything ends up in the vat – even teddy got the blue treatment last time!

Chrissie’s asked me to tell you about our painting workshops next, but if your desire to join a Reinventing Textile workshop is really needling you then register your interest in the comment box at the bottom of this blog (just say which creative workshop you would like to attend from any of those on the Chateau Dumas website http://www.chateaudumas.net/
You can Like us on facebook for more information too http://www.facebook/ChateauDumas.  Prize draw for one free workshop place on 1 April – stay tuned for more info and the final result!

Thanks Lizzie and don't forget to leave a comment  here or on the original post   http://bit.ly/hDCR2S  for your chance to win a workshop place.  

**** Fantastic Chateau Dumas Workshop Giveaway 2011****

Last October Chrissie and her daughter Terri came to our Reinventing French Textiles workshop at Chateau Dumas, our beautiful 18th century chateau and 22-acre estate in southwest France.

We had an absolutely brilliant week! The sun shone, we visited atmospheric country flea markets and rummaged in boxes, we made beautiful bags and gorgeous cushions in the studio and we went wild dyeing with woad in the woods. Our group of 8 was expertly led by our wonderful tutor, Ros Badger, author of craft book “Homemade” and a talented stylist (http://www.rosbadger.com/)

Chrissie said she thought the whole world should hear about our workshops – and I totally agree! In fact I’m delighted to announce here that I will offer one lucky person a free place on one of our workshops this year.

So if you think that you might enjoy a week of creativity in a luxury Chateau then please take part in our competition. The winner will enjoy a free place on a Chateau Dumas workshop, worth at least 1400 euros. It includes accommodation, all meals, tuition, trips to markets and factories (flight to Toulouse, France not included).

As well as our Reinventing Textiles, we have Jewellery, Millinery (from a milliner who used to make hats for the Queen and Princess Diana no less!) Painting, and a Festive French Country workshop. Chrissie has asked me to guest blog over the next few weeks and tell you a little about each workshop in turn – thanks Chrissie.

You can see our full creative workshop programme at http://www.chateaudumas.net/
We’re also on facebook http://www.facebook.com/ChateauDumas   you can  email me to join our mailing list at enquiries@chateaudumas.net or you can follow us on twitter http://twitter.com/ChateauDumas


A bientot, Lizzie


Thanks so much Lizzie, now does that not just get your creative juices going, but firstly let me say again a huge thank you to Lizzie for her very generous offer  and whoever wins this fantastic prize is in for a real treat.

I'm sure you are all wondering what it is you have to do to enter the competition and have a chance of winning this fabulous prize. Well, we're going to make it very easy for you.


First of all you'll need to go onto the Chateau Dumas website, look at the 2011 Creative Workshop programme and choose the workshop you would most like to attend. Then, to enter the competition, you simply leave your name and the title of your preferred workshop in the comment box at the bottom of this blog. You can add an extra comment if you like, but you must tell us which workshop you would most like to attend. Lizzie will then pick a name randomly 'from the hat' on 31 March and the lucky winner's name will be announced on the blog. What could be simpler?

Lizzie will pop in from time to time between now and 31st March to tell you a bit more about the individual workshops. You can also Like Chateau Dumas facebook page for more updates: www.facebookcom/ChateauDumas

Rules for Entry
1. Please follow my blog
2.Only one entry per person. The competition is open to anyone aged 18 years or over. Giveaway is open worldwide.
3.Winner agrees to give an interview at the Chateau and to publicity on the blog, facebook and twitter
4. The workshop place must be taken in 2011 and is subject to availability
5.The competition starts on 18th Feb and will end at midnight on 31st March
6. The winner's name will be posted on the blog on the 1st April
7. Return airfare to Toulouse and transport from the airport to the Chateau are not included (transfers available for 30E per person each way)
8. The prize includes accommodation, meals, tuition and trips. Many materials are included; some materials are extra and can be bought at the Chateau.


 

Really looking forward to meeting you at the Chateau

I Could Have Lost My Head at Chapeaux Willy's!!!

Well  to say that I was sorry to have missed the day trip to Chapeau Willy's is to say the least an understatement.   I did  however attend the textile course held in the beautiful Chateau Dumas,  but  I had to leave on the Wed  and the trip was on the Friday, still I will do it another time, definitely on my wish list. So come and have a virtual browse around with me.

Fortunately  Carolyn, a lady I met on the course did go to the hat factory,  and she  very kindly sent me some of her  pictures  so I could drool over at my leisure.

And here is the lovely Carolyn herself modelling  a Chapeau Willy hat and looking very pleased with herself!

Carolyn I might add made some wonderful things on the textile day at a speed that would leave you dizzy, from bags,skirts, lavender sachets and to many more for me to list.

 I also  discovered that Carolyn makes little dolls which she calls Fashionista Sisters and they are really  adorable, with such attention to detail and I love the outfits . Here are a few of her lovelies and if you want to see more or even purchase  go have a look at her website http://www.carrad.vpweb.co.uk/