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Beth Allen (AUSTRALIA)
With a mother who was a great
inspiration to her, Beth says she has
been doing some form of handwork
all her life. In particular, she likes
making little things that will bring
a smile to the face. She lives in country New South
Wales with a most supportive husband and a helpful
German Shepherd. Beth claims to have lots of ideas -
it is just a matter of translating them into reality. |
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Tanja Berlin (CANADA)
Tanja is a graduate and former staff
member of the Royal School of
Needlework. At the school she
became an expert in various
techniques of embroidery as they
applied to restoration, conservation and commission
projects. Now living in Calgary, Canada, she teaches
widely and maintains a website of her embroidery kits
and designs. She has had numerous embroidery
projects published in Country Bumpkin publications. |
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Avril Ambrose de Havilland
(AUSTRALIA)
Although she originally trained as a
pharmacist, Avril's embroidery
hobby soon took over and she has
accumulated extensive experience as
an embroiderer and teacher. Born in Australia, she
gained qualifications at the Royal School of
Needlework, the London College of Fashion and the
City and Guilds of London Institute. Now closely
involved with the Embroiderers' Guild of New South
Wales, she is the writer, coordinator and assessor of
the correspondence course in Goldwork Embroidery. |
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Gail Doane (UNITED STATES)
Gail was born and raised in Canada
and now lives just outside Salt Lake
City, Utah. Mostly self-taught, she
is detail oriented but prepared to
'break the rules'. A self-described
heirloom sewing addict, Gail brings to the classroom
30 years of experience, having dressed seven children,
and now an ever-expanding number of grandchildren,
in beautiful heirloom clothing. Her work first
appeared in Australian Smocking & Embroidery in
2000 and Inspirations in 2008. |
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Sue Barrows (AUSTRALIA)
As a teenager, Sue sewed her own
clothes under her mother's
direction. Once she had daughters
of her own, of course she wanted to
smock. Sue is now a member of the
Smocking Arts Guild of America, teaches various
forms of embroidery and her designs have been
published in several needlework magazines, including
Australian Smocking & Embroidery. |
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Angela Dower (AUSTRALIA)
Angela says she has always loved
painting, drawing and designing -
using threads as if they were her
paints is simply an extension of
this. She has taught art and craft
and worked in advertising for a major Melbourne
newspaper. Now living in Geelong, she teaches at
home. Angela has contributed projects to
Inspirations, A-Z of Embroidered Flowers and
A-Z of Ribbon Embroidery. |
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Christine P. Bishop
(AUSTRALIA)
Based in Adelaide, Christine is an
experienced embroidery tutor,
author of books and articles, judge,
assessor and lecturer. She has
studied embroideries and laces in Italy, England,
Cyprus and Athens. She is particularly interested in
ensuring the continuity of almost forgotten techniques
and styles of embroidery, teaching over 30 of them,
from beginners to master classes. |
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Elizabeth Elvin
(UNITED KINGDOM)
Elizabeth is a specialist in goldwork,
silkwork and ecclesiastical
embroidery. She began her training
at the Royal School of Needlework
in 1961, where she became Head of the Studio (then
known as the Workroom), and later Principal for 18
years. She has overseen many important commissions,
taught and lectured throughout the United Kingdom,
Canada, the United States and Australia. |
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Helen Eriksson (AUSTRALIA)
Helen has owned her own
embroidery business for some
years, holding classes in her home,
as well as interstate and overseas.
Her work has been featured in
numerous embroidery magazines, including
Inspirations, and she has written a book, 'Ribbon
Renaissance, Artistry in Silk'. Helen has developed
her own style and technique so that her work can be
instantly recognised. |
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Jan Kerton (AUSTRALIA)
In 1988 Jan gave up work as a
Speech Pathologist to teach
smocking, heirloom sewing and
embroidery and opened her shop
'Windflower Smocking'. In 1996
she moved the focus of her business to mail order.
This allowed her to specialise in the design of
a delightful range of wool embroidered blankets
with her unique applique technique. Jan continues
to develop new kits, and run her web business. |
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Julie Graue (AUSTRALIA)
Julie has been interested in
embroidery and smocking for as
long as she can remember and
hardly a day passes that she doesn't
pick up a needle and thread. She
began contributing to Australian Smocking & Embroidery
and Inspirations twelve years ago and before long was
asked to tutor for Country Bumpkin, teaching both
smocking and embroidery. She has now moved to
Queensland where she teaches from her home. |
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Lizzie Kulinski (AUSTRALIA)
Lizzie's love for beautiful dolls
started over twenty years ago and
more recently she has discovered
the art of 'reborning' life-like baby
dolls. She now teaches reborning
and has won ribbons, rosettes and medallions at doll
shows. Deciding that these dolls needed their own
range of clothing, Lizzie put her smocking and
embroidery skills to work. An editorial assistant for
Country Bumpkin Publications, Lizzie also stitches the
step-by-steps for our magazines and books. |
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Michele Hill (AUSTRALIA)
Michele is a part-time registered
nurse, continuing to practise this
profession to 'feed her obsession'.
She discovered quilting in 1986
and has been addicted ever since.
Applique is her speciality, particularly designing
quilts with William Morris as her inspiration, and
she has won many awards for her work. As a member
of the Quilters Guild of South Australia, she has
served on several committees and enjoys being
involved with exhibitions. |
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Margaret Light (AUSTRALIA)
Margaret worked in the retail
embroidery industry for many
years. She received accreditation as
a tutor from the New South Wales
Embroiderers' Guild in 2007 and
has taught throughout Australia and New Zealand.
She is working towards an Advanced Certificate in
Research and Embroidery with the South Australian
Embroiderers' Guild. Interested in the history and
evolution of design and embroidery techniques, she
specialises in crewel work. |
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Monique Johnston (AUSTRALIA)
French born Monique emigrated to
Australia during her teenage years.
She has been fascinated with
needlework all her life, aquiring an
appreciation of fine embroideries
and rich tapestries while visiting French castles
during her childhood. Embroidery and smocking
became a passion when her third child was born.
Monique has been a member of the Country Bumpkin
team for the last fifteen years. |
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Deborah Love (AUSTRALIA)
After completing the Introduction
to Embroidery course with the
Queensland Guild, Deborah found
that it was the diversity offered by
whitework which appealed to her
most. This led to researching Mountmellick
embroidery in Ireland and the creation of works
which have been purchased by the Queensland
Museum and the Queensland Guild.
Mountmellick and Deerfield embroidery remain her
favourites. A qualified teacher, Deborah is head of
tutors at the Queensland Embroiderers' Guild. |
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Susan O'Connor (AUSTRALIA)
Susan is a long-time member of
the Country Bumpkin team, having
an editorial role for both Australian
Smocking & Embroidery and
Inspirations. Her exquisite creations
regularly appear in both publications and she has
used her extensive knowledge of whitework in her
book Monograms - the art of embroidered letters.
Elizabethan embroidery, with its distinctive
stumpwork and thread painting, is another of her
areas of expertise. Susan travels to the United States,
United Kingdom and France as a teacher for
Country Bumpkin. |
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Peta McMillan (NEW ZEALAND)
In 1991 Peta first came across a
piece of Snutki embroidery and she
has been obsessed with it ever since.
She now produces kits and teaches
Snutki as well as Kalocsa, Hardanger
and other whitework techniques at guilds throughout
New Zealand. Apart from producing two self-published
books on Snutki, Peta has had her work published in
magazines in Australia, the United States and Britain. |
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Carolyn Pearce (AUSTRALIA)
Carolyn is an accredited tutor
in Surface Embroidery with the
Embroiderers' Guild of NSW.
At their 50th anniversary Festival
of Embroidery she was awarded
overall winner for her Doll House Workbox.
Carolyn has been a regular contributor to Inspirations
for fifteen years. She is the designer of The Village
Bag and The Embroidered Patchwork Bear, both of
which feature her love of unusual stitches and
intricate embellishments. |
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Jenny McWhinney
(AUSTRALIA)
Jenny's ability to embroider
creatures of all sorts with her
distinctive form of thread painting
has made her a favourite with
Inspirations readers. An artist at heart, she studies the
characteristics of mice and rabbits, camels and tigers, and
sets about reproducing them with her threads. She firmly
believes that everyone can embroider her designs and
has a naturally encouraging teaching style. |
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Kris Richards (AUSTRALIA)
After Kris began embroidering she
developed a great passion (almost
an obsession) for bullion roses.
They have now become her
signature style of embroidery and
are included in most of her designs, stitched in her
distinctive palette of subtle shades. A regular
contributor to Inspirations and Australian Smocking &
Embroidery magazines as well as many other Country
Bumpkin publications, Kris has worked in the kits
department of Country Bumpkin for fifteen years. |
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Jane Nicholas OAM
(AUSTRALIA)
Jane has written five books on
stumpwork and gold embroidery
and has contributed widely to
journals and magazines. Jane was
awarded a Churchill Fellowship to further her studies
in stumpwork in the United Kingdom and in 2005
was awarded the Order of Australia Medal for her
'services to hand embroidery as an artist, teacher and
author'. She teaches in Australia, New Zealand, the
United States and Canada. |
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Alison Snepp (AUSTRALIA)
Alison Snepp has been a freelance
embroiderer since 1981. She has
lectured and taught classes around
Australia, New Zealand and the
United Kingdom, and has
published numerous articles and several books.With
a particular interest in embroidery from different
cultures, such as Indian, Greek and Uzbek, she has
accumulated fascinating collections and enjoys
sharing this interest. |
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Karen Torrisi (AUSTRALIA)
Karen received a Queens Trust
Grant for Young Achievers to study
Haute Couture Beading and
Embroidery in Paris in 1999.
Her creations are internationally
known and include commissioned work on gowns
worn by many celebrities and she has also worked on
commissions for stage shows. She is the author of the
book 'The Art of Making Hand Beaded Bags' and now
beads exclusively for selected designers and costumiers. |
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Heather Sterling (AUSTRALIA)
Heather discovered Japanese
embroidery fourteen years ago at
the South Australian Embroiderers'
Guild and was so inspired that she
travelled to the Japanese
Embroidery Centre in Atlanta to become an
accredited tutor. Later she became a qualified
Japanese Beading teacher. Heather is passionate about
Japanese Embroidery, and the silk and gold work
designs taken from the kimono. She has her own
business teaching at home and interstate. |
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Di van Niekerk
(SOUTH AFRICA)
Born in Pretoria, Di grew up in an
artistic home where, from an early
age, she was involved with many
crafts.While her own children
were small, she started teaching quilting and
patchwork from home. She now owns two shops in
Cape Town, has written several popular books,
produced DVDs and developed a range of kits based
on her technique for embroidering designs printed
on fabric. |
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Louise Spriggs (AUSTRALIA)
Although she originally trained as
a graphic designer, Louise now
spends her time embroidering.
She enjoys teaching a wide range
of embroidery techniques,
including beading, stumpwork, ribbon and bullion
embroidery. She is a regular tutor at Country Bumpkin
which she finds very rewarding.
A keen smocker as well, she has had projects
published in Australian Smocking & Embroidery. |
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Lyn Weeks (AUSTRALIA)
Over the past 30 years Lyn has
designed and stitched hand
embellished baby clothes
commercially, changing her focus
to teaching in 1990.
Lyn has participated in the activities of several
smocking and embroidery guilds, published articles in
Australia and the United States, designed a range of
garment patterns and published a fine machine
sewing manual. Throughout these years she has
always enjoyed studying with other teachers. |
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Yvette Stanton (AUSTRALIA)
Yvette is an accredited tutor with
the Embroiderers' Guild of New
South Wales. Her particular interest
is whitework embroidery and she
loves sharing it with others. She
has written 'Elegant Hardanger Embroidery',
'Merezhka' and 'Mountmellick Embroidery: Inspired
by Nature', and has her own business, Vetty Creations.
She regularly contributes to Inspirations magazines
and books. |
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Jenny Brown (AUSTRALIA)
Having trained as a Home
Economics teacher, Jenny also has
a Design Degree in Illustration.
She finds her drawing skills help
her greatly in designing
embroidery projects. She has taught both adult and
children's classes at Country Bumpkin and has
contributed to Inspirations. |
