EDITOR Describe yourself in five words or less. Loud, a rogue, crafty, impatient. Describe your worst attempt at craft. Oh hell’s bum, there are so many … I can’t choose! In the 1980s I was into T-shirt painting, and I had to throw them out when the cat had walked on one lot while the paint was wet. Thinking back I realise how horrendous they were – but I used to sell them at the markets and do really well at Christmas time with them! If you could master one new skill, what would it be? Clairvoyance. What's your favourite project that's been featured in Handmade? At the moment I like the gingerbread men I made for Vol 23 No 10. Describe your greatest creative achievement.   Decorating my house at Christmas time ... it changes every year – particularly as I acquire new things and it’s hard to fit them in. How is your home decorated? It’s very eclectic! I have some country things thrown in with some shabby, some bright and bold – and some rustic. French-provincial too! It’s a bit of everything. A lot of my furniture was given to me so I have new and old mixed together, like old chairs with new covers on them. I even have a dark blue tartan lounge with a shabby throw on it. You name it, I’ve got it – and I love it all! What is your favourite colour and why? I have several favourite colours. I like wearing purple or pink, and for decorating I like Wedgwood blue. As for designing, I choose pastel hues but I can’t resist country colours as well. Tell us about your earliest childhood craft memories. Learning to knit on pick-up sticks with horrendous orange wool when I was five years old – it was the ‘70s after all! My grandmother was left-handed so the process was difficult! I made scarves for my dolls and teddy bears. What's the best handmade present you've ever received? The craft staff at Express made me a quilt when my brother passed away several years ago. It was one of the most touching gifts I have ever received. Everyone made a block for me, and wrote a message on the back. I still get all warm and fuzzy every time I see it. Tell us an unusual or surprising fact about yourself. I like to dip McDonalds fries in chocolate thick shakes. I can do weird things with my tongue and I once got offered 27 camels for my hand in marriage! What is your motto in life? If it is to be, it’s up to me! Describe any ‘what was I thinking?’ purchases. I have so many spending faux pas – but a glaring example was when I was 15 years old. I owned a shiny, metallic-looking, burnt orange jumpsuit and I wore it to a Blue Light disco. It was the most awful thing ever – I can’t believe I wore it. I was looked at all night – but not for the right reasons. What music do you listen to while you work? Nice and quiet type of stuff like Guns ‘n’ Roses, AC/DC, Pearl Jam, Queen, The Who and George Thorogood. I love my blues CDs and I adore John Lee Hooker. Then there’s my ABBA, ‘70s disco compilations, ‘60s compilations, ‘50s rock and roll stuff. And it all goes perfectly well with a glass of pink champagne in hand, darling! Any amusing anecdotes you’d like to share? Oh to pick which one? Let’s see do you wan to hear about the day I machine-stitched my finger to a quilt and I had to cut the thread and un-pick the stitches? Ouch! Or, something silly like when I was 18 I started making board shorts, and I couldn’t understand why one leg was always longer than the other. It was 10 years later before I realised I’d been sewing the wrong pieces together – so they never quite fitted properly. I’d made and sold hundreds of them in the meantime!