Latest reviews

3 May 17'

Hayley reviewed: Beginners Hand spinning - 'From fleece to fibre’ - at All in a Spin

"I can't speak highly enough of this wonderful workshop and Dunja's superb and patient teaching. As a complete novice, I didn't think I'd get very far on a one- day course, but leaving there with my hand-spun skein of yarn was so satisfying and inspiring! I learned so much in a short time, but it was also very relaxed and soothing. The surroundings are also beautiful. I highly recommend this course."

3 May 17'

Mark and David reviewed: One day welding course: an introduction

"Two of us had an excellent day with Julian who is a really friendly and welcoming person who immediately put us at ease with the new tasks of learning the basics of welding. First we discussed what we wanted to obtain from the day then we spent a short time going over the theory of the different types of welding technologies and techniques. Then we spent a very enjoyable day with lots and lots of hands on practical training that was always explained in a clear and understandable way. We covered all the basics of MIG welding and spent a little bit of time on ARC but we both feel able now to confidently go and buy our welding machine and set to mending and making stuff. Overall a very enjoyable day and I thoroughly recommend the course. I plan to rebook for another day to cover GAS welding."

3 May 17'

Tony Tanner reviewed: One day welding course: an introduction

"I recently attended a one day "Introduction to Practical welding "course . A wonderful day!!! Julian is a very interesting person with a very friendly and relaxed manner who makes you feel very welcome from the outset. He has a fascinating mix of creativity and craftsmanship and is dedicated teacher as well as an artist /craftsman who was totally committed to ensuring that by the end of the day I would have a good working knowledge of MIG and "Stick" welding and sufficient ability to embark on creating metal sculptures in stainless steel. The course is individually tailored to fit individual students goals and after about an hour of introductory theory, the rest of the day was spent in practising different types of welded joints.I practised for hours ,learning to join metals of different thickness and profile in different ways, but interspersed with regular tea breaks which made for a great learning experience. Although the course was scheduled to finish at 5.00pm it was 7.00pm by the time I left as Julian was determined to help me make the most of the opportunity! I left feeling inspired and determined to put what I had learned to good use as soon as possible. The course is great value for money as well as a very interesting learning experience and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to acquire a good basic level of welding ability in a short time."

3 May 17'

Toni Pickering reviewed: Knitting workshops in Leeds City Centre

"Ann is a friendly, welcoming, informative teacher who was not only great at the job in hand so to speak, crochet, but was great company also. The 2 hours provide a great starting base/practice time for the skills that Ann teaches you and the surroundings of the tea room are fantastic - staff were friendly and the loose tea I chose was fantastic. This course is excellent value for money and would recommend to anyone starting to learn crochet. Thank you very much."

3 May 17'

Ian McIntyre reviewed: Plaster mould making for slip cast ceramics with Ed Bentley

"I worked with Ed on a research project as part of my doctorate studies with Manchester School of Art, York Art Gallery and the British Ceramics Biennial. I have a number of years experience in ceramic design for production but Ed's industry know-how and refined model/mould making skills were exactly what I needed to visualise and test some of the ideas. When I hit technical sticking points and needed a soundboard he was passionate, enthusiastic and jumped straight in. I'll be working with him in the future for sure."

3 May 17'

Judith Clegg reviewed: Weekend Workshop and Retreat - Curvaceous Railfence

"Course/teaching- thought this was a good project as it was achievable in the time and also involved revisiting basic skills and learning new ones. Sheena coped admirably with a mixed bunch of students. Her good humour never faltered and she had time to help each of us especially at crisis points! Sheena manages to instil confidence and "can do" attitude in her students, a rare quality indeed."

2 May 17'

Andrew Hazlewood reviewed: Blacksmithing for Beginners - Full Day Forging for One

"I went on this course with my son and had a really enjoyable day. We both got a lot out of the course and Chris was a great teacher, explaining and demonstrating as we went. Would recommend."

2 May 17'

Cat Oliver reviewed: Two day stained glass workshop - lead panels or garden sculpture

"I have now been on two of Gigha's courses - one for Tiffany glass making Christmas decorations and the other for stained glass lead panels. Both days were brilliant, I learnt new skills on each day, found it to be a challenge but enjoyable. Gigha's instruction is excellent - she's very experienced with stained glass and has a really nice way of teaching people. The lunch is good too and the location is beautiful. Thanks Gigha, I will hopefully be back!"

2 May 17'

Katie reviewed: Pottery making party in lovely seaside studio

"My friend and I had a wonderful day and learnt a lot about working with clay. We both love the things we made and felt very looked after by Jenny in her beautiful Studio and home. Thank you Jenny"

2 May 17'

Cressida Downing reviewed: A fabulous introduction to fused glass - one day course

"A great day that's been really well thought out. We started with introductions (including to the studio dog - Boo) and plenty of hot drinks (available throughout - good range) and then Siobhan told us about how fused glass works and how the various different techniques produce different effects. We got straight in to a small piece (bit of a trial run really), it was definitely not as easy as she made it look! It was a lot of fun though and i ended up with something that looked more or less what i had in mind. We had a lovely fresh buffet lunch then got stuck in to a bigger piece of our choice in the afternoon. There were plenty of different colours to choose from, and a lot of help as needed. Siobhan has a knack for pushing you past your comfort zone slightly which is actually exactly what you need. I would recommend you come with a vague idea of what you want to do - although there are plenty of books and inspiration all around. We got an email with the images a few days later - it was great to see how they all turned out and i'm looking forward to getting the finished pieces soon."

2 May 17'

Prof Chris Oliver reviewed: Two day stained glass workshop - lead panels or garden sculpture

"Great course as a novice. Gigha was very caring and responsive. I would certainly attend again. Well done & thank you!"

2 May 17'

Judy Lambert reviewed: Drawing & Painting in Springtime ....now fully booked

"I enjoyed this course immensely. It offered an excellent opportunity to explore both varied still life foliage and flowers, and outdoor landscape through the most wonderful array of materials. Beautiful quality papers, paints, pastels, and coloured pencils were all provided, and help and working suggestions to develop skills, were readily offered by Louise Adams and Mark Delf. Lunch was delicious. I am keen to know when the next course will be."

2 May 17'

Angela Haines reviewed: Chalk painting workshop with Craft My Day

"Very well presented, relaxed and learnt so much. I absolutely love the cracle glazed picture frame that I completed in the class."

2 May 17'

Jane Winship reviewed: Weekend Workshop and Retreat - Curvaceous Railfence

"I loved this course. It was very well paced with good and useful handouts. Sheena is a great teacher, very patient explains things simply and well and is also good fun. The choice of venue was wonderful too. We were fed delicious meals and were able to sew to our hearts content with really supportive guidance, what's not to like?! AND we all finished our gloriously coloured pieces. This review is for the Simple Stained Glass course."

1 May 17'

Gail Bowen-Huggett reviewed: Introduction to Green Wood Furniture Making - 2 Day Course in South Devon

"I bought this course as a Christmas present for my husband, Paul. I rang Peter to chat about the course before booking and he was friendly and helpful. Paul loved his present and couldn't wait for the weekend of the course to arrive. He was not disappointed and had a wonderful time with his fellow course-mates and is so proud of the stool he made!"

1 May 17'

Christine reviewed: Learn to Turn in the Dartmoor National Park

"My Dad and I really enjoyed our day with Chris. We learnt a huge amount, practiced a lot of turning skills and techniques under patient tuition and really felt we were in the hands of a true expert with an amazing eye for detail (particularly with regard to sanding!). There were one or two slip-ups on my part, which Chris swiftly turned into "design opportunities". (Thank you). It's a relaxed pace of course but there is a lot to remember and I wish I'd written stuff down as we went. Perhaps some 'course notes' that cover the different terminologies, equipment and techniques used would be a useful aide-memoire to take home. Would love to return for another day. Highly recommend this course."

1 May 17'

Miya reviewed: Two day stained glass workshop - lead panels or garden sculpture

"Gigha explains everything you need to know to create amazing pieces of stained glass art. Everything is provided, all you have to do is soak up what Gigha is teaching you and enjoy the day!"

1 May 17'

Elaine Cockle reviewed: Weekend Workshop and Retreat - Curvaceous Railfence

"Great course. The pace of learning was just right and Sheena was encouraging and very supportive (and patient too!). It's great to be pushed out of your comfort zone and the end results are fabulous. Great venue too. This review is for the Simple Stained Glass course."

1 May 17'

Jeremy Wyman reviewed: Group Soap-making Workshop - Soapology Studio - Nottinghamshire

"This is a really good course. The first half of the day is theory and lots was learnt. A really nice lunch with a good discussion. The afternoon was spent creating three batches of soap (and thats a lot of soap!). Lots of fun and experimentation getting different smells etc. Emma is clearly an expert and the course ran smoothly. We have just taken our soap out of the moulds twenty four hours after the course and its now drying - you get to learn all of this. We also purchased a kit from Emma that will allow us to make a batch under our own steam."

1 May 17'

Sasha reviewed: Introduction to candle-making as a business

"We had a wonderful day on Jo's course. The course was held in Jo's house which is a beautiful house in a lovely setting. Jo's is very friendly and very easy to get on with, learnt loads on this course and some great tips and made some fantastic candles. Lunch was provided we had home made soup which was delicious, Would definitely recommend this course it's a great day out."

1 May 17'

Charlotte Hitchens reviewed: Can't crochet, won't crochet?

"I booked this workshop as a surprise for my Mum as we've been saying for years that we'd learn to Crochet. Yvonne's course was perfect. Being a small group meant that we had enough one to one tuition to ensure that we'd all grasped each stage before moving on. Yvonne made sure that we all felt confident that we would be able to follow a pattern on our own after the course. It was just exactly what we wanted, great fun, such good value for money! I would highly recommend this course."

1 May 17'

Sheila Rawlingson reviewed: Drawing & Painting in Springtime ....now fully booked

"Splendid day painting out in lovely surroundings and indoors still life set ups. So nice to be painting with likeminded artist. Louise and Mark made us all very welcome and put a lovely lunch on. Look forward to the next painting day ."

1 May 17'

Sonia Jackson reviewed: Machine embroidery - stitch doodling with Julie Brand at Tigley Textiles in Worcester

"This is the second workshop I have done with Julie, what better recommendation is there than that. She is so patient and talented and her studio is beautiful, a lovely environment to learn this stitching technique. An absolute beginner at machine embroidery I came away with a completed piece that I was surprised had been done by me. Highly recommended."

1 May 17'

Will collins reviewed: One to one, One day, blacksmith course

"This course was absolutely amazing, in the space of one day Alex managed to teach me loads of blacksmithing skills. 100% recommend this course"

30 Apr 17'

Debbie hardiman reviewed: Furniture painting workshops / Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

"I absolutely loved this workshop. Nyree was an excellent tutor, ensuring we had a complete understanding of chalk paint and the paint techniques and taught us using quality products. The workshop far exceeded my expectations, I couldn't wait to get started on my many projects! Money well worth spending. Would happily do it all over again for the social side and idea exchange!"