Happy Birthday to Me

Yesterday was my birthday and I'm now an ancient 55 - how did that happen - where did all those years go?  Anyway shouldn't agonise over that I did enjoy my birthday weekend even though the snow made the journey home yesterday afternoon a rather long one.

I booked to go on a weekend workshop at the Silver Thimble workshop situated between York and Malton and is at the Station House right by the railway line between York and Scarborough (though it is no longer a station). I'd also arranged for us to stay over at the Beansheaf Hotel on Saturday night just the other side of Malton and it was just as well as there's been some snow fall before we went and more during our stay.  There was more snow during Sunday after the workshop and with Christmas shoppers in York making their way from the city it was a long slow drive along the ring road to the A1.

Anyhow the workshop was taught by Pat Archibald on Ghost Images of the Orient, which is her method of using sheers and nets on a fabric background to produce "ghosting" images as seen here
if you look below the kimono to the Moon Reflections 1 & 2.  I chose a fan design to work on and this is my in progress here, the front image being darker, the middle being more faint and the top one you may barely see taking in the perspective of the design.  It was great workshop and has given me some ideas to work on my wall hanging.

When we stayed at the hotel we found this on our bed can you guess what it is?

It was a small dog made from a bath and a hand towel - never seen that before! After a lovely meal in the evening, we went out to more snow! But it was sunny and a lovely scene from the hotel. 

When we arrived home I found some postcards amongst my post to wish me happy birthday.  If you have been following my blog this year I have taken part in a Birthday Postcard Swap and mine is the last birthday this year.  So these are from (clockwise from top left) Ruth, Barbara, Claire, Carole, Janet and Plum.

I'd also found another black and white card, this time from Jacquie, which got me wondering why had I got 6 cards when I'd only sent out 5 and found that a one of the ladies from the other group in this swap had sent me one - so I've promptly put my spare black and white card in the post to here - good job I had actually made 6 cards.

The above cards are from Benta, Carole, Jan, Jacquie, Annette and Avril. They're a lovely collection of cards too.