Latest reviews

Christine Dyer reviewed: Have a Go Pottery: throwing

"Great way for a beginner to throw a pot! Mary is an excellent teacher. She is very clear and it was straight into hands-on with clay on a wheel in her Derby studio.She is a pleasant,patient teacher and , although it was my first go on a wheel, I was very pleased with the pots I made which I shall look forward to collecting after firing. Mary was great teacher for a beginner but as an accomplished potter I expect the experience would also be good for someone who’d tried wheel pottery before.I hope to find an opportunity to go again."

Maureen reviewed: The Annie Sloan complete chair makeover Workshop at La Di Da Interiors

"Hi Steph What a great day we had on Saturday - loved every minute, you are a fantastic teacher taking great care to explain each step of the process - I have great respect for upholsters now, did not realise how much work was involved, but am thrilled with what I achieved. I now have a lovely bright chair in my summerhouse which will be much enjoyed by all. Met two lovely ladies who all produced stunning chairs. A great day and a great experience. Loved the cake, tea and fish and chips, smashing! Hope to join you again before too long With thanks, M"

La Di Da Interiors & Gifts responded:

"Thank you for your lovely review. We look forward to welcoming you back on another course soon"

Lucy Smallman reviewed: Glass painting with Sarah Lewis, Wolverhampton

"What a perfect course! We all thoroughly enjoyed this afternoon full of tea, biscuits and creativity. Thank you Sarah for making us all so welcome and being so friendly! Definitely will be returning, can’t recommend it enough! Thank you ?"

Sarah Lewis Designs responded:

"Hi Lucy, Thank you for the lovely review. It was a pleasure having you all on my workshop. I am so glad you all enjoyed it. You all created some beautiful items. I look forward to seeing you all again. I will work on my tea making skills for next time! Lol! Thanks again Sarah x"

Liz reviewed: 1 day introduction to silver jewellery making - Ely

"Had a fantastic day with Jonathan last week. Jonathan was so enthusiastic and happy to share his knowledge. Learnt such a lot in a day. From having no experience at all with jewellery making I went home with a lovely pendant which has been much admired. I can't wait to have another go. Would thoroughly recommend this course."

Egle reviewed: Furniture painting workshop with Annie Sloan chalk paint

"Thoroughly enjoyed this workshop. Gives a really good insight into Annie's favourite techniques as well as tips and insight into the types of paint - specifically the famous multi-purpose chalk paint and how to apply wax properly. Anyone who enjoys DIY will enjoy an afternoon here and will definitely leave inspired and confident to experiment and restore old pieces of furniture on their own, or give one of their beloved pieces at home a colour makeover."

Elinor and Richard reviewed: Blacksmithing, bladesmithing and metal craft

"I highly recommend this course, It’s a great introduction to blacksmithing and beat all my expectations. Nigel is really friendly and very passionate about his work. We stayed in a shepherd hut which was really cosy and peaceful and was nicely tucked away in the woods. Everything you need is provided for a truely memorable weekend."

Ginnie reviewed: PickOne weekend weaving course

"Absolutely fantastic course. Most excellently planned and taught; very encouraging and positive atmosphere and creatively fulfilling."

Caroline Bartholomew reviewed: Mosaics for the home and garden

"I did the half-day workshop and it was a great introduction to mosaic making. Frances is very knowledgeable and encouraging and I’m pleased with my first mosaic creation! Most of our group did the full-day workshop and produced some lovely things (some of us went back a few days later to grout our work) and with hindsight I wish I’d done the full-day too. If you fancy spending a few hours doing something creative and relaxing in convivial company, I’d recommend you give one of Frances’ workshops a go."

Emma Kelly reviewed: Fused Glass Workshops in Tavistock Devon

"Fantastic day. Clear and patient instructions. Advice and guidance was informative and made me feel confident. Great instructor/practitioner. Lovely lunch and conversation. Warm and friendly. A wide range of equipment and resources provided. I saw this advertised on Facebook and noticed a friend was interested too! Great excuse for a birthday experience day out! I would do this again! Thank you for a relaxing, arty day. Emma"

Rosalind Sharman-Ward reviewed: Fused Glass Workshops in Tavistock Devon

"I saw this course advertised on Facebook and decided to treat myself. What a good decision! Lovely day, very calm, patient tuition. We were taken through the process step by step then given the opportunity to create a piece ourselves. We were guided and encouraged all through without intrusive overseeing. Surprised myself by making an attractive hanging. Would love to explore further. Thanks for a wonderful day."

Trisha reviewed: Silver Clay Jewellery Course

"I would like to pass on my thanks and appreciation to Yolanda for the brilliant class I attended using silver clay. It was a fantastic day, venue wonderful, amazing teacher so knowledgeable, patient, fun and opened up our minds to many different aspects of the medium. I came away with two pieces of wearable jewellery which I was amazed at... I hope to attend more of her classes in the future and will highly recommend her to my friends."

Karen Thomas reviewed: School or community group workshop

"Fabulous course - Rachel was amazing and extremely helpful."

Lisbeth and Ian reviewed: Felt Pictures-Painting with fibres - intro to 2D wet felting/felt making

"We loved this course. Heather is a great teacher - informative, friendly and relaxed. And a great baker to boot (tea and cake was happily consumed during felt making). All (beautiful) materials were provided and the two workshops took place in a small group of four and an atmosphere that felt like an evening spent with friends. We learned several techniques over the two workshops and left feeling inspired and ready to tackle a larger projects we had in mind when first joining the course. Highly recommended and we would definitely join another course with Heather."

Simon D reviewed: Wood turning courses in the Midlands

"I will repeat much of what other reviews have already said, Mark provides a great atmosphere for learning, questioning, practising and drinking tea. A relaxed approach where no question is considered too silly or left unanswered. Having inherited some turning equipment that I took with me, Mark helped me to understand how to use what I had as well as showing me how my turning will be so much easier and better with some small improvements, and perhaps one or two larger investments as well, the most important thing being that I have some options for pursuing this hobby at a pace suitable for me. A long day that passed very quickly, worth every penny, and Mark's follow up of internet links for resources arrived early the following morning. Fabulous service, thank you."

Ruth reviewed: Full day mosaic workshop for beginners - Meriden, West Midlands

"I have been inspired and I’m now hooked on mosaics. What a wonderful creative day, great company, lovely food and superb expert guidance in a beautiful setting. Nothing was too much trouble for Anne she was generous with her time and equipment. We all came away with really lovely mosaics and I will definitely be returning for a top up Thank you Anne!"

Flowerpot Mosaics responded:

"I hope you are pleased with your pot, I’m sure it will look fabulous in your garden. Anne x"

Angela reviewed: Introduction to silk painting - workshop at The Mulberry Shed

"This is an excellent course! It was easy to find as my satnav took me to the entrance of her driveway with plenty of roadside parking available. Sheila herself is very warm and welcoming and her studio is full of silk scarfs, paintings and beautiful examples of her work which is inspiring in itself. With a much appreciated pot of tea and biscuits all round, Sheila first explains the difference between dyes and paints, the types of silk available for painting and how to steam fix at home. She also showed us some examples of the techniques which we were able to try before swiftly moving on to our first practice piece. We then had a choice of whether to paint ourselves a scarf or a picture. There were plenty of designs to help us choose and we were helped every step of the way with Sheila offering plenty of good tuition for our own individual styles in a very relaxed and friendly way. She is an excellent teacher! Sheila fixed, washed, ironed and tissue wrapped our masterpieces and posted them on to us within a few days. For me, Sheila has taken away all the confusion about the types of paints and equipment as I have wanted to try silk painting for several years and has given me the confidence to buy a few basics to get started at home... a brilliant course for beginners and improvers and very very inspiring!, Thank you Sheila.. I'm loving my new hobby!"

Richard O reviewed: Wood turning tuition, New Forest, Hampshire (1 day) (2 people)

"A nice friendly course with close attention to abilities and needs. The instructor, Graham was excellent at adding elements as he identified abilities of the student. Lunch was also very nice. The location was stunning. all in all a very wonderful day. I came away wishing to try more on my lathe. Well done Graham."

Karen reviewed: Improvers Hand Spinning - Next Steps in Hand Spinning - at All in a Spin

"A relaxed and interesting day providing just what was needed to move my spinning on to the next level and address a few bad habits picked up along the way! It was great to understand a bit more of the theory behind spinning and to get some hands on experience of different techniques and fibres. Can't wait to put it all into practice."

Alison reviewed: Free-machine Embroidery Workshop with Dawn Ireland

"A most enjoyable workshop. Dawn was a really helpful and inspiring tutor."

Selina reviewed: Full day mosaic workshop for beginners - Meriden, West Midlands

"What a fantastic day! Anne is the most wonderful host and teacher. In her bespoke garden studio, she is generous with her knowledge and supplies. The day just flies by. I cannot recommend highly enough. Lunch was superb and topped off with afternoon clotted cream scones - heaven! I shall definitely be returning for another workshop, thanks again Anne!"

Flowerpot Mosaics responded:

"I hope you love your robin and star. Well done, they’re beautiful x"

Amy reviewed: Traditional Saddle Stitching with Armitage Leather

"So very thrilled with my stitching improvement after completing the 3 day Stitching course!"

Jade Barber reviewed: Taster Pottery Session

"I had a lovely day learning how to make a pinch pot, a tealight, and make a pot on the potters wheel. Joan was very welcoming and knowledgeable. I really enjoyed the course and can’t wait to go back!"

Wendy Waind reviewed: Two day dry stone walling course for beginners in association with Dry Stone Walling Association of Great Britain

"I was bought this course for my 70th birthday as my sons told me I was forever telling them when they were young and we were out in the countryside, it was something I'd like to do!!!! I've had to wait a while, but it was worth it!!!! I was a little apprehensive as I have arthritis in my knees and didn't want to let anyone down by not pulling my weight. Well, I couldn't believe what we achieved in two days!!! It was a great team effort lead by two very knowledgeable and enthusiastic leaders. Their explanations and examples were easy to follow and help was always on hand if required. I would highly recommend this course to all ages and abilities and I would like to be involved in more projects"

Vijaya and Rav reviewed: Beginners Pottery Day Course

"My wife and I attended the Potter’s wheel throwing for beginners. What a brilliant day, we didn’t want it to end! After a warm welcome we ventured into Mathew’s studio. Mathew is an excellent teacher. He gave really clear instructions on the wheels and we were soon centering the clay ourselves. The pace of the course was really good. Really good fun and lots of banter with Mathew. With both me and my wife on a wheel each, we got quite competitive, we pushed each other along. By the end of the day we had pots, bowls, jugs and some more bespoke pieces shall we say. We even got a chance to turn some partially dried pots too. Looking forward to seeing the fired pieces in a few weeks’ time. I would definitely recommend this course to anyone looking to try out throwing on a pottery wheel."

Mary Zoeller reviewed: Needle Felting - 3D Cats

"A fantastic class. Wendy was a friendly, patient teacher and we had a lovely afternoon making these little cats! The whole class achieved a great result with their cats thanks to Wendy's tuition. Very relaxing and enjoyable thank you."