Inspired Velvet with Angie Hughes, by Colouricious, price 17.99 available from www.beckmanndirect.com

Angie has a definite style and works with velvet, paints and stabilisers to produce unique works of art. She shows so many techniques in her layered textiles. Use paints, foils, sweet paper foils and organza to create depth in your work. Every process is fully explained. This is a good tutorial for learning different techniques and finding out how they work on velvet.

Inspired Recycled Reborn DVD by Colouricious, price 17.99 available from www.beackmanndirect.com

The team at Coloricious, together with Marilyn Pipe must have had great fun making this DVD. It includes many ways to make old, worn out fabrics into something new. It demonstrates various techniques to dye, burn, stitch and so on. I love Marilyn’s rag bags – you do not even need thread or needle to make these. Jamie even comes up with a way to transform tea bags into a tea cosy. Find ways to use all those left over bits of cotton, thread and even dishcloths with holes. An inspired way to make new fabrics from old.

Inspired Textile Techniques DVD with Marilyn Pipe, published by Colouricious, price 17.99 available from www.beckmanndirect.com

This is a brilliant introduction to many textile techniques including rusting fabric, using recycled fabric, distressing and layering. Each technique is demonstrated and examples shown. Suggestions are given for using the techniques. I really enjoyed this and would recommend this DVD to anyone interested in textiles.

Inspired Block Printing DVD with Jamie Malden, published by Coloricious. Price 17.96 available from www.beckmanndirect.com

This one hour long DVD slowly takes you through a structured approach to block printing with pre-made blocks. The printing is mainly done on top of commercial fabrics although there is some mention of creating serendipity fabrics – wiping your hands and blocks on a piece of white cloth. Some finished projects are shown at the end, but there are no instructions for these on this DVD.

I felt that the processes shown were simple – how to print in a row, half drop and so on. References were made to colour theory without actually giving real examples of colour theory. The tint process did not work well because jamie used all her white up on her first colour, so there was none left to mix with the subsequent colours and the tints were affected.

This is useful if you do not know how to use a wooden block or print in a row. It also includes shadow, mirror and freestyle printing. A very basic introduction to block printing but as with all the Inspired series, very enjoyable.

The World of the Lindisfarne Gospels DVD, published by the British Museum. Price 19.99, available from www.beckmanndirect.com

This DVD is part of a British Library series and is narrated by Dr Michelle Brown, Curator of Illustrated Manuscripts at the Museum. It begins with view of Lindisfarne Castle over those intriguing huts now used by the National Trust. We here monks chanting. Immediately one feels the atmosphere and remoteness of Lindisfarne.

The Gospels are introduced with images of the book. This DVD tells the story of the gospels, what they are, how they emerged and the people behind them. The story is fascinating, informative and well told and researched. We gain insights into this period of history through artefacts and manuscripts. We visit St. Cuthbert’s tomb in Durham Cathedral. We are given to understand the symbolic references of the work, which would have been well known at the time. These references are cross cultural. This is a wonderful insight into the Lindisfarne Gospels in a historical context and I enjoyed it very much.

Inspired Embellishing Level 2 DVD by Myfanwy Hart, produced by Colouricious, price 17.99 and available from www.beckmanndirect.com

Myfanwy is back with more ideas for using your embellishing machine. As with Level 1, she’s thought of new ways to use the machine. If your embellisher is stuck in a cupboard, or not being used to its full potential, I highly recommend this DVD. Discover which fabrics you can use – it’s much more than you think, then find out what to do with them. Inevitably, working with inspiring ideas, always leads to other discoveries.

Inspired Transfer Paints DVD with Mary Gamester, produced by Colouricious, price 17.99 from www.beckmanndirect.co.uk

All these Colouricious DVDs are a pleasure to watch. Not only that, they are also very instructional. The chapters allow you to work at your own pace to achieve results. Mary Gamester ably takes us through the processes of transfer printing techniques on textiles. She discusses everything you need to know. Lots of inspiration for textile and mixed media artists. There’s always something I have not thought of, so I have learned so much from my sets of Colouricious DVDs.

Printing & Patchwork with Jamie Malden & Mary Gamester DVD, produced by Colouricious, price 17.99 and available from www.beckmanndirect.co.uk

A simple introduction to block printing and how to use it in patchwork. This DVD also includes an excellent guide to colour theory and encourages you to make your own colour reference book. Mary Gamester demonstrates how to use your printed fabric in a number of patchwork methods from a simple journal cover to a crazy patchwork tea cosy. Excellent and easy to follow.

Talking Threads Series 1 DVD, produced by Colouricious, price 24.99 and available from www.beckamnndirect.co.uk

This is not cheap but it is worth it as it gives access to the inspiration and thought processes behind the work of nine creative artists. Names that you will recognise from the Inspired series of DVDs from the same production team and more. It includes the work of Jill Kennedy – a silk painter who makes this art look so easy; Gilda Baron a textile artist who creates landscapes; Di Wells with her fantastic quilting methods; Kim Thittichai who burns and heats fibres; Fay Maxwell who shows us how to slash material – an Elizabethan method with a contemporary twist; Linda Miller with her free stitch machine embroidery who shows us how to make a badge and draw with your needle; Myfanwy Hart introduces a simple way to dyeing fabric; Anne Griffiths talks about devore, dyeing and stitch techniques and shows us how to use soluble fibres for a scarf fringe and Angie Hughes works with foils on velvet to achieve remarkable results. Throughout each artist is interviewed about their influences and background and how they work. They give some interesting pointers as to their artistic working methods. Outstanding is  Anne Griffiths whose sketchbooks are amazing. They then each demonstrate a technique – sometimes this is a finished product, sometimes just part of a technique. The DVD finishes off by visiting Missenden Abbey and the Festival of Quilts. This is a fantastic introduction to many textile techniques.

Inspired Lutradur DVD with Ineke Berlyn, produced by Colouricious, price 17.99  and available from www.beckmanndirect.co.uk

An excellent introduction to lutradur and its many uses. From painting it to making a lampshade and box, to burning it and creating little butterflies as embellishments. 10 chapters with clear and easy to understand instructions.