Latest reviews

Anne Gadsden reviewed: Country House Crafting Retreats in rural Hertfordshire

"A truly relaxing weekend with fplenty of time for scrapbooking and catching up with friends. Pleasant location, pleasant environment, good experience"

Caleb Allen reviewed: Blacksmithing for Beginners - Full Day Forging for One

"Chris is an excellent blacksmith and a brilliant teacher, he knows his craft well and shares his skills in an easy to follow and friendly manner. We spent any time we weren’t smithing talking about the history of metalwork. I would recommend this course to anyone with an interest or curiosity in the heritage crafts. Chris is a young and enthusiastic guy with a wealth of experience."

H Clapshaw reviewed: Quilling for Mother's Day with Learn to be Crafty

"Great fun session, loved the level of interaction between both attendees and the lovely ladies running it. A brilliant idea, with a simple format and delicious refreshments. Perfect start to the weekend!"

Ros Morris reviewed: Country House Crafting Retreats in rural Hertfordshire

"A great weekend with lovely , like minded people. Great food, clean, comfortable rooms & plenty of space to work(24 hours if you want to) . Lovely historic house & beautiful grounds to walk in, if you can tear yourself away from your crafting. Everyone is very friendly & it was a lovely atmosphere.can highly reccomend it if you are a crafty person looking to get away from it all to enjoy your craft."

Roslyn Penn reviewed: Country House Crafting Retreats in rural Hertfordshire

"What a wonderful way to spend a weekend!! Crafting or Scrapbooking for 48 hours (if you want to)... The food was excellent, you certainly won’t go hungry. The rooms were comfortable. The craft rooms were spacious with large tables to work from. Plenty of supplies to keep you going and stock up on if needed. Thoroughly recommend this if you are a craft person to enjoy your hobby with like minded people!"

Lindsey reviewed: 💜 The Suffolk Silk Scarf Painting Workshops 💜 For FOUR People at The Arty Silkworm, Green Farm, Suffolk ~ Fabulously Creative

"Having never done any shibori work, or worked with silk this course was the best introduction we could have had. Ruth's enthusiasm and attention to detail, whilst giving us total artistic freedom, was brilliant and we came away with a beautiful and unique silk scarf totally created by ourselves. Ruth was very generous with all the materials used and had a huge array of beautiful colours, I was totally blown away by the way platinum looked on silk! Thank you Ruth for a lovely, educational and relaxed day, and for all the tea and coffee, will definitely be back again."

Moira Brown reviewed: Silk painting

"Well it's an absolute joy to do one of Kat's courses. She has prepared well and everything is well organised which gives them a very relaxed feeling. Great to go to on your own or as a group maybe to celebrate some special occasion. Suitable for old and young she has time to spend on everyone. There is enough guidance given but room for everyone to take it to the level that is right for them. You finish the session having made something special and very personal. Also sge gives you i nformation on how the continue the craft if you w ish to afterwards. Well done Kat"

Linda Morrison reviewed: Furniture painting workshops / Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

"I thoroughly enjoyed the course and loved being able to use the paints to see the true colours. It was great to mess about and experiment with them. This is vital with paint as its so difficult to know the exact shades that come out and what colours blend together. I would love to have more lessons on other types of painting. I feel I need some advice on the nest of tables I am painting and follow up lessons would be an advantage. I found it very enjoyable and the teacher was excellent!!!"

Julia Sutcliffe reviewed: Quilling for Mother's Day with Learn to be Crafty

"Very enjoyable morning making chocolates with my friend and some lovely ladies. Thank you Helen and Fiona ? x"

Rose Heelis reviewed: Lino printmaking in the Dales

"This was a first for me and I thoroughly enjoyed the day. Penny is a great tutor and put everyone at their ease. We were all so proud of our efforts and went home with some lovely prints. I would definitely like to try some more printing and would recommend this course if you are looking for something a little different."

Angela walklate reviewed: Container candlemaking course and wax melts with afternoon tea

"I attended this candle making course with afternoon tea on 10th of March and was extremely impressed with everything from Julie and Janet to the actual candle making, the ladies were full of information and advise, afternoon tea was exceptional and the group of ladies and gentlemen were very friendly, all making for a fabulous day, would highly recommend this. Thank you"

Angelina Morris reviewed: Natural (cold process) soap making workshop with afternoon tea

"I had a brilliant day and didn’t want it to end, I learned so much about candle making, Julie was very funny, honest and knowledgable. I will do more course with Julie In the future Thank to Janet also for looking after us"

Luke Swain reviewed: Wood turning courses

"Thank you George for my wood turning lesson, I really enjoyed it and felt like I took a lot from the day. You made the day easy going and fun. I am glad I decided to do the lesson before just jumping in on my own because you clearly have a lot of experience and knowledge that will be invaluable for my future wood turning! Thank you to you both for making me feel welcome and for lunch. Sally loves the bowl!"

Mark Lamberth reviewed: Woodturning courses in Hampshire - Beginners and improvers wood turning courses - Turn British, all British lathes!!

"Had a great day with Andy turning an oak bowl. He is patient and informative and takes you through every step with helpful advice and the occasional guiding hand. I hope to return after another birthday rolls around."

Chris Davies reviewed: Natural (cold process) soap making workshop with afternoon tea

"Julie was an excellent host and tutor. Extremely knowledgeable, friendly and witty. Thank you so much, Chris"

Gail reviewed: Container candlemaking course and wax melts with afternoon tea

"We had a fun day making Candles, I would highly recommend this course to anyone. We made different candles which we took home with us to enjoy and the afternoon tea was amazing too. Plus great hand outs to take home, and since the course Julie even sent us label templates to print at home. Can't wait to get making at home now."

Gordon reviewed: Clay portrait weekends with Karin Ort

"I have just completed the portrait sculpture course with Karin Ort at Phoenix Studio and what a fantastic time! I would heartily recommend this to anyone remotely interested in Art, It has been on my bucket list for years, (I have to thank my partner Jacqueline for booking it) Why have I waited so long! now to book the next course!"

Catrina Crute reviewed: Expressive painting in a gallery adjoining an award winning tearoom

"Caroline is very patient, encouraging and knowledgeable. I have learnt so much from her over the last eighteen months and always look forward to her classes. The atmosphere is informal and relaxed and the location is perfect. This course is ideal for all, ability is not a factor."

Caroline Green responded:

"It was a pleasure teaching you and I hope you enjoyed the workshop as much as I did"

Kira reviewed: Silk painting

"Absolutely fantastic course, could not have asked for a better teacher! Super friendly and knowledgeable, Kat explained every stage in detail but also sought to maximise our practical time. Really pleased with our work and can't wait to try another one of Kat's courses. A fab way to spend an afternoon - good for the soul!"

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

"I bought this wonderful course as a birthday present for friend, and I kept it secret until we arrived. She was very excited and nothing disappointed. We both enjoyed the course enormously and couldn't believe how much we achieved in a day. Sheila provides everything - including loads of inspiration, encouragement and biscuits! My friend is very arty, while I'm not, but we both had a great time. We would love to do it again, and wear our unique scarves with pride!"

Sim Green reviewed: Upholstery and upcycling furniture and interiors

"three of us went for the day last saturday and had a brilliant time. We all came home with nearly completed projects... we will be going again soon!"

Janine reviewed: Upholstery and upcycling furniture and interiors

"I booked Lucy for an upholstery course for my Step Mums Birthday. It was a fantastic day with us all up cycling our pieces. Lucy gave excellent tuition, provided ideas, shared materials and made a lovely lunch. Working in her kitchen you get a real family feel looking out on rolling fields that create a really relaxed atmosphere. We now want to make it a yearly retreat!! I’m really please with my project too. Thank you Lucy !"

David Griffiths reviewed: Beginner hand weaving workshop - one-to-one instruction

"A most informative day, with a surprising range of information covered. I was able to ask Paivi a stream of questions, which really added to my understanding. We spent about half the time warping a table loom, ironing out mistakes which it is easy to make, which will stand me in good stead in practice, and the remaining half trying out different patterns (which I had expected to be really difficult for a beginner like me). All in all, it made me feel not such a total beginner but that "this is possible for me to get started and do." Thank you Paivi."

Lisa reviewed: Upholstery and upcycling furniture and interiors

"I recently spent a day with Lucy in her beautiful home in the Derbyshire countryside. Lucy was so welcoming, encouraging, and lunch tea and cake was lovely! I throughly recommend attending one of her workshops, to spend a day engrossed in a project with such support was so therapeutic. I am hooked and totally want to return with another project . Thank you Lucy for such a lovely day."

Jacqui Jones reviewed: Powertex figure sculpture

"What a fabulous course, a really enjoyable day! Alison was a great teacher, informative, knowledgeable and let us work to our own pace. Good value for money and I was amazed that I came away with a nice piece of work and I've ordered materials so I can play at home, it's so addictive and fun! Only downside the tea shop was busy so lunch took a while to be served and we we didnt all get it at same time. Class was delayed but we were all able to stay later to finish the pieces. Not Alison's fault so not a criticism of the course."

allison turner designs responded:

"Hi Jacqui, Thank you for your lovely review. I am so pleased that you love your angel- I hope you send me some pictures of what you make in the future- as I know you are a very creative person. The comments on the tea shop were addressed- Thank you for this feedback."