Creative Courses

7 vital ingredients of great craft workshops

I haven’t been to that many craft workshops but I’ve been lucky that the ones I have attended have been fab. The ones that made me go W O W were at The Make Lounge (now sadly closed) and at Homemade London. I remember leaving with an enormous sense of achievement and satisfaction that I had learnt a new skill and had the opportunity to chat to some lovely people. I traveled home, proudly clutching whatever I had made, thinking “I made that!”

So, what’s the difference between a memorable craft workshop and a not so memorable one?

7 signs you’ve attended a great workshop

When you attend a great workshop, you should:

  1. Receive clear correspondence beforehand on what to bring, where to go and what to expect, so that you arrive feeling relaxed and ready to learn
  2. Be taught by a teacher who is patient, knowledgeable in their skill, and interested in what you do too
  3. Meet like-minded people, even make new friends and contacts to stay in touch with afterwards
  4. Learn a new skill in a relaxed atmosphere and in pleasant surroundings
  5. Get a chance to ask questions about the craft and learn some useful tips
  6. Be invited to give feedback on your experience
  7. And finally… Be offered refreshments, and if at all possible (I personally think it’s really important….)

h o m e m a d e   c a k e ! ! !

yum!

After all, a craft workshop isn’t complete without it, don’t you think?!

I consider my lampshade 1-2-1s and workshops for small groups to be all of the above, I really do. I think it’s important that people leave feeling happy, with a buzz about their new found skill, and of course full of cake and cups of tea!

Here’s some feedback from a 1-2-1 I held last week with a lovely lady called Helen (including the cake above):

“My only feed back is that you have a lovely teaching style, relaxed , friendly and not rushed.  For me, the perfect thing to do on my day off and the finale that gorgeous cake.  Just perfect!!!!”

Pictured in the photo below are Tamsin from Curious Upholstery and Libby from Elizabeth Eley Upholstery. We had a lovely time making four lampshades, including lined ones – workshops can be tailored to suit you, just let me know when you book.

You can find out more about my lampshade lessons here, or contact me for more information.

Happy lampshade lesson chez gilhoolie!
Creative Courses

1-2-1 chez gilhoolie…

I have to admit I was quite nervous about my first 1-2-1 lampshade lesson today – there seemed to be so much to get ready to make sure it was perfect, especially as I was running it from my house. I had a big checklist to work through – garden tidy, check, house clean, check, cakes baked and decorated, check, not to mention making sure I had all the lampshade bits and instructions ready, check!

121-prep
Have I forgotten anything?!

But after all that it went really well and I met a lovely lady called Lynne Sharpe who had driven all the way from Chelmsford to come and make a beautiful drum lampshade in my dining room. Lynne specialises in felt making and runs workshops in this as well as sewing, knitting and crochet. She is one of a team of resident artists at Hylands House in Chelmsford where she has a studio. She also runs workshops from her house under the name of The Make it Room. Maybe that will be me in a few years time?… (We can all dream, can’t we?!…)

Well, we had a lovely chat about work, life, craft and everything in between, while she made a lampshade from a gorgeous Amy Butler fabric under my guidance. I really hope it’s the first of many 1-2-1s and workshops chez gilhoolie – check out my workshop page for more dates or contact me to book…

Lynne's lampshade
Lynne’s lampshade