Busy,Busy, Busier!

Okay, so I thought I was busy a couple of weeks ago but hadn't anticipated the Christmas madness!  I hadn't taken into consideration the fact that I have set up my own workshop at home called The Make It Room and how much of my time it would take!  I'm using my front room which we don't really use and it is the perfect setting to hold my felting and other workshops.

I have already run a few workshops and the other Saturday Andrea Neale ran an Art Clay Silver Beginners class and I then held a felting workshop with the same ladies, all very successful.

Our friend Jo has also had a double session workshop teaching us how to make sugar flowers and then colour and make them into a spray, a class we will be running next year!

Out of the blue, I had a very nice call from Etholle George from BBC Essex asking if I would like to go in and chat on her radio programme about my Hylands workshops and Christmas crafts.  So on Tuesday 22nd November I went along to the studio, armed with Christmas makes and spent a really pleasant hour with Etholle and a very interesting Interior Design tutor from Writtle College.  It was lovely to go in and talk about the things that I make and to be given the opportunity to go in again in the future.

On Thursday last week, I went along and demonstrated feltmaking to the lovely ladies of the Essex Handicrafts Association who were very enthusiastic about needle felting and wet felting, they all had a go and had some very good results!

On Saturday, a few of us went along with Make, Do & Mend to the Made-It Market at the Guild Hall in Cambridge. I taught four workshops, felting twice and crochet twice as well as having a stall with all our handmade things, my daughter Jess held the fort all day on the stall and made lots of sales.  It was a fantastic day but very tiring.

The next day was the Essex Art and Design Show at Hylands House, the Hylands Artists all had some work on display so my stuff went straight from Cambridge into the house!  It was a very succesful day with lots of visitors to the house and park.

A few weeks ago I decided to have a shopping evening at my house, especially in The Make It Room, this was Jess's idea so a few of my friends came along with their lovely makes, and we had a house filled with very jolly Christmas shoppers drinking mulled wine and eating mince pies.  It was more successful than I could have imagined, a real house full, more like a party and I will be repeating the idea perhaps around mother's day so as not to over-inflict myself on my very good friends!

So on next to our Christmas Coffee, Cake & Craft on Saturday at Hylands followed by our big Christmas Fair on Sunday 4th December at the Stables Visitor Centre and Hylands House. Come along and visit us upstairs, entry is free and there will be carol singing and mince pies and lots of lovely individual hand crafted items for you to buy for gifts.

Hope you can make it!