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Gift Vouchers Now Available
It’s been one of those years, not a lot has gone to plan.
I had every intention of arranging some workshops at the studio, but it never happened! Aware that Christmas is a approaching at breakneck speed, and that some customers have had classes bought for them as gifts, I have now set up a page on the website where you can purchase vouchers for a range of workshop days. Click here for details: GIFT VOUCHERS
I am hoping that this new Paypal button works okay (you don’t need a Paypal account, you can pay on a card without one) – if you try it, and find a problem, please get in touch, whilst I am going through the teething process of setting this up.
We’ve also got our Open Studios down at Shed 2 in only ten days time! Oh dear, I best get a wriggle on, the brush and dustpan out, and shake off the fluffy duster. Who knows what I will find under the mess…
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Restoration Project
Through the local arts/networking group that I am a part of, a call was put out for someone to help with a stained glass window restoration. The requirement was for a painted roundel, three of the same design to match a fourth original as part of a building restoration project.
I contacted the architect, Doug, to say that whilst I couldn’t do painted windows, there might be something we could do, so we met, he brought me one of the original broken windows, took some clear photographs of another, and off we went.
It took some time and was a steep learning curve, but as well learning a lot about this particular project and the processes involved, it’s given me some ideas to work with in the future.
I believe the original windows are silver stained, which is something I would like to learn how to do, but for now, I did this with some technical wizardry and lots of experimentation!
Here’s the original now in-situ 
A slightly blurry snap of one of the restored windows. A stained glass artist did a lot of this work, I only did the beehive image by the way! 
Two of the beehives I did. 
And an overview of the room -
The Glass Forth Bridge!
Well, that’s what it’s felt like I was doing!
This weekend, I am running one of my glass decorating workshops over at Burton-upon-Trent, so I have spent the last few days, collecting, scraping, washing and drying what seemed like a never ending supply of jam/coffee/sauce jars
There’s potentially a LOT of visitors to this event, and it’s a drop-in workshop so I have no idea how many people might want to have a go, so I have to be prepared in case everybody does! I am loathe to risk running out like I did one year within the first hour….
Next week, I will be doing it all over again with Sun-catchers, so between washing and drying glass jars galore, I have been bending wire hangers and cutting endless rectangles of glass for fusing in the kiln this week.
I do love offering these workshops though – it’s lovely to see the children who always enjoy having ago, some get so absorbed and are wonderfully creative in their designs. Best of all, it’s popular with all ages – a few weeks ago, I stood in at Haywood House, a respite care centre in Nottingham for their craft sessions, and almost everybody had a go, including the patients who don’t usually get involved. Then again, who can beat a bit of stickering and colouring in?
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The Joys of Sharing Studio Space
There are lots of benefits to being in shared studio. A lot of makers, especially those who work from how, will sometimes talk of feelings of isolation and sometimes getting stuck in a rut.
Personally I’ve benefited enormously from being in the shared and open environment of Shed 2 Studios for the last three or so years. I haven’t had those feelings of being all on my own (very often). There’s nearly always someone to bounce ideas off, share cuppa with, allay your worries, help you lift that heavy item. Sometimes simply discussing an idea with someone helps get the mojo flowing again. And of course, there’s a wide skill set to draw upon when you need advice or assistance, technical support, etc as we’ve always tried to find a balance at the studio of different types of makers, artists.
It was all change at Christmas at Shed 2, as Rachel, Nic and Adam all left for pastures new. I wasn’t sure how it was all going to pan out, and well, I don’t always like change.
But what has happened especially with new members Holly Booth & Ewan Mathers is a whole new hive of activity. As photographers, the main use of their space is for photo shoots – sometimes that might be products, and sometimes it involves people. There’s now a new hustle and bustle often at the studio, like yesterday, when I popped in to check on the kiln and discovered a clothes rail full of some gorgeous fun printed fabrics, the communal area had been turned in to a hair and makeup studio with a model, a makeup artist and a designer here for a shoot. Debbie has already blogged about the fun she had.
