Day 1 in Nottingham

The first day in Nottingham began with registration. Luckily (for me) Helen, Irene and Jacqueline were all in Group A so with the addition of Ciska we had a ready made table.

First session was with Alison (UK) and she showed us how to do Mica Shift. I had some of my old cake icing cutters with me so I used those to cut out some shapes. The ones above show some of the shapes in closeup so that you can see the shifting pattern of the Mica.
These are the total number of shapes I cut. Despite looking as if they have raised areas the shapes are actually very flat. It is a shame that the photographs do not show up the actual Mica as it is lovely.
Alison had a lovely necklace on with different beads using the blue and green clay we were working with. Below are the "beehive" beads which I think look as if they have twisted rope around them. In the foreground are some small plain round beads but these look quite good when you see them because of the mica shift. The long looking fingernail is another bead which we were shown but there were lots of others which I did not get around to making but hopefully will do before too long.
After Alison's session we had lunch. I expected some sandwiches but no - we had lots of choices - salad, grated cheese, jacket potatoes (real - not microwaved), baked beans and chilli to choose from. Great ... but not if you were planning a meal at the Railway and Nelson later.

Then it was time for Natalia's session. Natalia works with nature and so she showed us how to make organic beads. Unfortunately I have no photographs of her finished work as I tried to make them too small and it did not work out - but watch this blog - I have one half completed and am determined to come to grips with at least one of the beads. I do have some other beads which I made in her class but until I get the others completed and made into a necklace I am not going to show them.

All too soon it was over. Time to pack up and make our way back to our various hotels. Ciska came back to ours and we all ate together, had a few drinks and a chat before wandering off to our respective bedrooms. A great day was had by all.