eyes down

We had a great time trying out our hand again with some more life drawing last week, this time with charcoal and collage.  But poor Estelle... she got a bit chilly posing for us even though we were concentrating really hard to get our collages done quickly.  Our collective thanks go to the ever patient Kate Hardy for her guidance and encouragement, and to Estelle for sitting for us with such fortitude (we'll make sure it's warmer next time).

Thanks too to everyone who baked and bought cakes for the Cake Break from MS.  There was an opportunity for second helpings at our Friday coffee morning at the Create Place, just a few doors along from our evening home at St Margaret's House.  What a lovely morning.  A warm welcome, a cosy atmosphere, lots of chat and laughter between cups of tea and some truly delicious cakes.  (Jackie - I need that recipe for the delicious orange and almond cake, please!).

We also had a chance to see what the Create Place has to offer - lots of handmade goodness for sale, and a sewing class in progress upstairs with Amanda.

If you fancy it, you too can drop in on Friday mornings to the Create Place Sewing Cafe (machines for hire at £7 per hour).  Other courses are listed on the website.

More news soon on what we have lined up for you at our next meeting on 21st June.

Happy holiday weekend!

hot stuff

It turned out to be a little warm last week at our new venue, St Margaret's House. The sun had been shining, the heating was still turned on and then we had the excitement of the power point blowing up!  We are very grateful to Karim for keeping his cool when he told us about the excellent work of the London Air Ambulance Service in providing emergency services quickly to those who need it within the "platinum ten minutes" to save lives.  Good to know that we have a crack team working at the Royal London.

Thanks too to Chris Gurney who came along to talk about the work the Food Chain does to deliver food and advice to Londoners  who are chronically sick as a result of  HIV infection.  The Food Chain is keen to attract  volunteers -  to work in their kitchen, drive, navigate or help with admin work.  If you want to know more, check their website, or have a word with Niki or Veronika who can tell you more about work as a volunteer for the charity.

We're loving the new venue and expect to have made ourselves properly at home when we meet there again for our next meeting on 15th of June when we'll be doing some summer crafting.  Looking forward to it.

floribundance

Jo C ran a strict class for us this week - if you weren't testing your brain with her killer quiz then you were exercising nimble fingers cutting and trimming and primping to make the prettiest little table tussie-mussies.  From the sidelines, it was a joy to see such absorption and everybody delighted with their creations.  

We are immensely grateful to Jo who put in such a lot of work to make our evening so successful - that word search certainly kept us quiet, and you've got to admit that takes some doing.  Congratulations go to the winners of Jo's quiz - what exactly do you have to do to remove pollen from your clothes?  Can someone tell me sometime, please?  Hopefully those who attended our coffee morning visit to the Geffrye Museum this morning are now experts on the art of flowers - and a good cafe experience - and will be front runners for any more quizzing.  

Thanks also to our bakers for their flower-themed cakes and biscuits (sorry to have missed out on the lavender shortbread, Clare).  We were very pleased indeed to have raised a very commendable £38 for cake break for MS.  You'll also be pleased to learn that a might haul of your old bras made the first stage of their journey to Africa when Niki dropped them off in New Cross!  And the abandoned cats and dogs of East London should be a little more comfortable with the supplies of blankets. towels and linen we collected and have now left with the Celia Hammond Animal Trust.  All in all, it was a wonderful end to our time at Chisenhale, though we will be popping in again to help out serving tea, coffee and cakes at their parent's morning in May.  

Don't forget, next month we meet at St Margaret's.  Exciting!

april flowers

We are making the most of spring now it's finally arrived with a flower theme this month.  Our evening meeting on Tuesday 20th April will be a lesson in making a small floral display, given by our very own Jo Cass.  You'll need to bring a small jug, tea cup and saucer, tea pot for one or similar small container.  If you have secateurs or strong scissors to bring along, that would help.

We'll also be joining in Cake Break for MS, so if you are a keen baker, please bring some flower themed cakes to sell... and some spare cash if you can to buy some cakes to take home.   All proceeds will go to the Multiple Sclerosis Society.  Don't forget, this is our last meeting at Chisenhale Art Gallery - 7.30 for 8 start as usual.  Tea and coffee will be available but feel free to bring a bottle if you wish.

We're continuing with a floral theme for our coffee morning on Friday 23rd at the Geffrye Museum, 136 Kingsland Road, E2 so that we have the opportunity to visit their special exhibition A Garden Within Doors, a look at they way plants and flowers have been used in homemaking.  We'll also be able to take a look around their lovely herb garden which should be coming along very nicely by then.

Looking forward to seeing you there.