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Original artworks, handbags, notebooks and Christmas decorations, with a side order of poetry and photography

My Grannie was a Luton milliner (hat maker) and some of my earliest memories are of sitting with her in the back room whilst she sewed hats. My job (age three and a half) was to pick apart die-stamped blocks of silk flowers ready for her to use. I remember being fascinated by the leftover scraps of satin, velvet and paisley, and building castles and towers with empty cotton reels. And it was Grannie who taught me that you could make pretty much anything from fabric, if you put your mind to it, which meant, in due course, that I made a three dimensional fabric model of the inside of a pocket watch as part of my GCSE Art & Craft coursework, along with an embroidered dragon!

I love working with fabrics and thread - I even occasionally weave my own fabric on a small knitter's loom, and, having inherited the contents of Grannie's needlework box, I still find myself using her threads some days - though I'm still not sure what to make with piece of moonbeam-soft parachute silk that we found in there. She taught me never to throw anything away, it's amazing what you can do even with tiny scraps.

I find inspiration all over the place, and usually have a camera with me when I go out - I particularly like taking macro photos of the intricacies of nature. I'm also a writer, so always have a notebook to hand and sometimes the various threads of my creativity merge:

Something to Hang on Your Tree

Taking pieces from my workbox,
I add a skein of silk
the colour of holly berries, and delve
amongst the beads and sequins
for just the right green glass leaves,
a pinch of golden stars
and a single, perfect, snowflake.

Now I can sew;
setting each stitch with care,
each star one of wonder,
each leaf a hint of Christmas spice,
laced with the Season's crimson joy
and the sparkle of snow magic,
to create this little heart
for your Christmas tree
from me, to you, with love.

© Samantha Newbury 2005

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