Saturday, November 30, 2013

Last international trip of the year….

My last trip this year was to the fabulous Bikuben store in Norway.


 Of course Mini Me had to come along and explore...



The lovely owner Ellen had manage to make the classroom in an empty store next door to hers which was a fabulous space. Bit of a panic when we couldn't get the electricity to work, but Saturday got off to a fabulous start.














At the end of a long but satisfying day, I left Mini Me in charge of the equipment.


Ellen was putting the finishing touches to the cleaning up


And Ali the Elf was creating a fabulous storage place for all her organising.


Sunday dawned all too soon and we were off again.


He he, look at this the whole class and me, silently engrossed in drawing the couture.






Even Ali was concentrating hard, she didn't notice me even when I was this close.!!


I seemed to cause a bit of a stir every time I ventured outside, not quite sure why!!




At the end of a long day teaching and packing up for the return journey, isn't it fabulous to get into a hot bath and comfortable bed?

That's if you can actually get back in the room.!!


Well its been a really adventurous year, where I have travelled the world to teach in umpteen places. I have flown thousands of miles, packed and unpacked cases more than I care to remember, taught so many wonderful women each with their own story to tell, seen the inside of hotel rooms more than my own bedroom, been patted down so many times in airports that I now look forward to it and I have had a blast. Its hard work, its tiring, its a strain being away from home and family and I often wonder if I am getting too old for all this malarky, but I wouldn't change it for the world.

Thank you each and everyone of you who I have met along the way, You have all enhanced my life and reassured me that it is all worthwhile.

To all of you, I salute you and raise a glass to 2014 and the next adventures.

In the mean time , I won't be resting on my laurels… I have classes to teach in my own studio, oodles of samples to make for CHA, preview classes to sort, dresses to make, dancing to be danced and most of all time spent with the love of my life, the gorgeous Maisie Lilly..


As tomorrow is the 1st of December I will be once again participating in Dressember. Nothing unusual there as I don't wear anything but dresses, in fact its all I own…But I will be wear a different dress each day and  documenting them here on the blog and on the Dylusions Facebook page. Why don't you join me ??

Enjoy xx

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Here we go again….

This weekend was spent in the company of some wonderful women in Denmark. I was teaching at a intimate retreat organised by the lovely Charlotte.



My elf this weekend was the fabulous Bezzie Su and we quickly took charge of proceedings.


For some reason Mini Me had a bit of a face on her…


So we let her play in the countryside.


Su got all excited when she discovered fill your own teabags…




Saturday mornings class was so full of promise…



...until I started to demo the inks. Cue unimpressed face !!!


The Danes keep their buildings so hot that the dry temperature was not exactly conducive to good blending. no matter what I tried, the ink was drying before it hit the page. After a lot of trial and error I had to open the classroom doors to drop the temperature, freezing everyone out in the process..!!! Not that it was cold, as you can see I was wearing a sleeveless dress, and even then I was roasting.

After class we went into town for a meal and Su casually dropped into conversation that she wanted to go to Netto!!! Yes you heard me NETTO..!!!

Cue another totally unimpressed face.

 

It doesn't take much to make her happy.


Result… bagged ourselves the last two unicorns.




We ended the day with a couple of traditional Danish cups of tea.


Sunday dawned bright and early. We couldn't understand why everyone was standing. Then I found out I was supposed to sit first, oops.


ooh look the sun always shines on the righteous, snort !!


Su quickly improvised with a door hanging.


Today I was ready for the indoor heat and  cooled the room temperature right down.



As you can see I was too hot but the chill was setting in for the Danes.


I love this photo…. coats, scarves, miserable faces…



But alls well that ends well…


 No Anja you can't come home with us…it will be too cold for you in my house…lol.


Thank you to all the students for putting up with the strange way Dylusions reacts to your weather and for bearing with me while I thought on my feet and came up with solutions. It was an unforgettable experience, lol.

mahoosive thanks to Charlotte for hosting the event and looking after us so well.

I'm sure we'll be back for round two..!!

Enjoy xx

Quote of the Century


"You are an extraordinary woman.


How can you expect anything ordinary to happen to you"


Louisa May Alcott