Beryl Taylor's Workshop this weekend

Well, I was up in Muscoda, WI at Valley Ridge Art Studios for a workshop. It is the only workshop I am taking this year. If you ever get up to Valley Ridge, it is really worth the trip. Let me do my plug for them (which I don't get anything for). The venue is very, very nice. It is in a farmhouse setting. You can stay at the main house, if you want. The actual workshop building is self-standing. It is a large room with coffee, fridge, snackies, things to shop for, bathroom, and individual tables. Everyone gets their own folding art table. There is usually a limit of 14 people per workshop. There is a lot of space so you can do your thing. The view is very breathtaking. Lots of rolling hills in the area. Make sure you get the lunch that they offer with the workshops. The salads and desserts are YUMMY! They are very generous with food and drink there. Kathy and Bill are very friendly. Kathy takes the workshops and works on things when she can.

http://www.valleyridgeartstudio.com//default.asp Link to the Valley Ridge website.

Kathy always gets quality instructors there. The bookbinding and metal classes are awesome.

Okay, back to my workshop. If you know me, then you know that I don't take a lot of workshops any more because I don't like to pay money and not learn much. It is too expensive nowadays to pay money just for some time to play. I am very selective in workshops this year. I only took this one. I have Beryl's book and was curious about how she did things. The class was very informative with lots of fun little tips and stories. It went slower than I would have liked, but that is a problem in all the workshops I take. I work really quickly and don't think about it too much. I actually played with Polished Pigments and worked on something else in between what we were doing. I understand since instructors need to pace themselves with the rest of the class. Now, Jean, who was also there, she actually make a lot more stuff than I did!

I learned how Beryl makes her stuff pop. I sewed on seed beads and played with a glue gun. I actually don't use sequins but can see their uses now.

Beryl was a very good instructor. She was very patient and went around answering questions. She showed us little things that we could do. She did not push how she did something on us - which I hate. Making the fabric paper the way she does was fun. I have been doing it a slightly different way. Her art pieces are fab. She shared all her supplies. She had a couple of really good stamps - like I need any more.

I have attached my finished piece to this post. What do you think? I am very happy with it. It took awhile to sew all the beads on. I did like that I took some time and sewed each one on. I did a lot more detail work during this workshop than I normally do. She also showed us how to do the puffy little hearts that you see in her book. It is quite easy. If you click on the pict, you will see a more detailed view. This was a fun workshop for me.