July 2008                 General Course   

My goodness, it seems such a long time since I updated the site.  We have just finished our first course since April - a general one, much enjoyed by us all.  Especially me.  I had come back from our 6 weeks in Latin America feeling really under the weather, having been ill for about 5 of the 6 weeks.  This course was just what I needed to put me back on my feet, and it did just that.  6 of the course members were regulars at Tickhill and we had 2 new ladies who booked last year at Miniatura and who really didn't know what they were coming into, never having been to a miniatures course before.  I believe it's true to say that, judging by the requests for the dates for next year, they all enjoyed the course as much as Steve & me (not forgetting Peter of course, who once again did us proud with his evening meals). 

I am often asked what people can do on a general course.  Well, the answer is, as ever - it's your choice - you can do almost anything you please.  This time, Elaine & Chris brought back their gorgeous house to work on.  It is absolutely stunning - please look at the pictures - and both Elaine and Chris work meticulously on it and it shows - the outside is almost complete so they will be moving on to decorate the already electrified inside shortly. 

Sylvia is attending the wizard course in October and she had designed a room, or tower in which to put her wizard.   The room is 5 sided with an arched front and Sylvia did all the walls in Paper Clay which was very impressive, and she then went on to make a lovely illuminated bookcase, using all the power tools which she hadn't done previously.  Such an achievement - Sylvia was so please with her results.

Ann brought along her Tudor house which we started last year but prior to working on that, she did my ruined doorway.  Again, Ann's doorway was fantastic and although it was based on mine, turned out to be her own interpretation of it and as such gave her great satisfaction.  The doorway is a 2 day project so Ann had lots of time left to carry on with the house she started last year and made great progress on that too. 

Karen did her version of my 1/24th back yard scene with the washing line.  The walls in the scene are done with stencil and Karen particularly enjoyed doing that as she had never done it before and it looks so impressive when completed.  I think she enjoyed doing the rest too and her scene looked super in the end - including the knickers and socks on the line!  The night sky gives a certain depth to the scene although Karen did wonder why on earth people left their washing out on the line at night!

Heather brought her gorgeous kit from 'In Some Small Way' called 'Picket Hill'  It is a really gorgeous kit although it is quite frightening to see how many parts there are in it.  Heather had started to put things together and was really methodical in how she approached the building of the house. The pieces are all beautifully laser cut and fit together so well but I must say that Heather showed how patient she is in following the very detailed instructions painstakingly so that the pieces went together beautifully.

Our new ladies were Janet and Pat who both did the cat alley with night sky.  Neither Pat nor Janet had been on a course before although they do belong to a few mini groups.  Did they enjoy themselves?  I am sure they did - they were so pleased with what they produced and it was a joy to see them both participating in techniques they had never done before, so skilfully.  Again it was interesting to see the differences in their scenes as they both added little personal touches.

It is always good to have new members here at Tickhill and to see how the groups get on so well together, sharing laughs but also helping one another along when I am not around.

If you wonder what you could do on a general course, then I hope I have given you some ideas but remember, if you have projects at home which are unfinished because you got stuck and couldn't complete them, or maybe you haven't had time to work on them at home, bring them along - I get so much enjoyment out of helping people over their difficulties and it is so satisfying for you to go home with your projects completed rather than seeing them sit in the attic for 10 years with no hope of them being put on display as an example of your achievement.