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It’s always the same – where did January go? Although this year I can admit to having decorated my bedroom, which is something I can attribute to that ghastly month. Now almost back on track I’ve started by adding more silver clay dates, which can be booked here. Silver clay is a wonderful way to create a unique piece of treasured jewellery in a fraction of the time it would take with traditional silversmithing, the silver is hallmarkable so no need to compromise on quality. It’s great fun to come with a friend and I offer a discount on the price per person if you do so. Classes in Colchester, dates to suit if those on here do not! Email me for more details.
Once again time has flown by and what was supposed to be a regular blog post is now a couple of months behind. In my defense we have been having a fabulous summer visiting umpteen castles, fighting dinosaurs, crafting, camping and having adventures. Then year 6 kicked in (first trip away from home, 11+, secondary school visits). Finally this week I feel like I am getting back to my to do’s to do list!
Photos from recent classes
Flamework – making glass beads classEnamelling classNeedlefelting class
So I thought I would start by sharing the news that I am now a calendar girl – in case you’ve missed the announcement and red carpet affair! I am really delighted to announce that my work was successfully submitted and I am now Miss December in the new PMC Studio Calendar 2019! Here’s a sneaky peak but don’t worry all work is appropriately dressed! 🙂 Copies can be obtained from The PMC Studio …or I think it might be available with an order if you buy your silver clay from them.
Speaking of calendars
Sssshhhh – Christmas is coming….
As it is getting to that time in the year when people start thinking about presents…oh yes! I just wanted to remind you that I offer craft courses vouchers, so if you are stuck for a Christmas present idea… you can either book on my website, or contact me directly. Either way I will send you a personalised gift letter with details of the chosen class and how to book a date to suit. Or perhaps you’d like to suggest to someone what class you’d like to take…
Classes are available in the following crafts – prices vary depending on whether you are booking a class for 1 or 2 but range from around £55 for a half day (Felt or Encaustic art) to £125 for a silver clay rings class. Do email me regarding prices.
Silver clay: Beginners. Rings. Using Syringe and silver sheet clay
Enamelling: Beginners and Further techniques, including cloisonne
Flamework beads: Making glass beads. Beginners and follow ups including sculptural animals.
Encaustic art: Beginners
Feltmaking: Wet felting. Needlefelting or both.
I can also do a general gift letter detailing what is available if you aren’t sure what a person would pick – I can do shorter taster classes if necessary.
What’s coming up at Curly Girly Crafts
I have a busy few months coming up with weekends virtually all booked here at CG Crafts until Christmas. Below are details of venues/classes with some availability.
If you live in the Sudbury Area I am teaching Enamelling on Sunday 21st October at Simply Handmade – book here
I will be helping the Guild of Enamellers again at ExCel during the Hobbycraft show in November – I think it runs from 15th to 17th November and I will be there on Friday 16th, come and say hello – the 30 minute taster session is only about £5!
Saturday 24th November and Saturday 15th December are currently free for students to book a class – get in touch if you fancy a Saturday class in any of the crafts I offer.
I am teaching at FSC Flatford Mill on 1st (Enamelling) and 2nd December (Christmas Feltmaking) – Booking page
I also offer weekdays for classes so get in touch if you’d like to book a date to suit – usually Tuesday, Thursdays or Fridays are best. Price per person is reduced if more than one person comes.
And finally…I am doing a little bit of learning myself this term. I have just enrolled in pottery. I’ll let you know how that goes.
Happy crafting and if you have any questions please do get in touch.
It’s still not too late to book a craft experience voucher with me for a Christmas gift – prices range from £50 upwards depending on the course and duration – all are detailed on my website. A craft experience is a fabulous gift for any crafty friend or family member, especially as they will take something home that they’ve made as well as picking up a new skill, all organised at dates to suit them.
These classes are available:
Enamelling (glass jewellery)
Flamework (making glass beads)
Feltmaking (needle and wet felting)
Encaustic art (painting with molten wax)
Silver clay (making pure silver jewellery).
Payment can be made in the following ways. You can pay online at www.curly-girly.co.uk via Paypal. I can send you an izettle invoice to be paid by card. Or via bank transfer. Once paid I will email over a gift letter detailing exactly what they will learn in a class and how to book a date to suit. Don’t forget to give me the details of who the gift is for and who is sending it so that this can be included in the personalised letter. What are you waiting for?
I am always amazed at how quickly time flies, especially at this time of year. One minute we are settling the children in after the summer holidays and the next minute, the planning for our families November birthdays and then Christmas events galore…it seems only moments ago I thought I had ages to get my prototypes made for Christmas fairs…to be fair for once I have actually made some Christmas themed jewellery but never in the amount I was planning….ah well there’s always next year!
I thought I’d share a few photos from some recent classes/events with you.
Last week I taught at the beautiful Flatford Mill (Constable country), we did a full day of Encaustic art and these are some of the resulting pictures. For next year’s classes at Flatford Mill see their website.
I also helped run some taster sessions at the Craft event at ExCel London, last Friday, resulting in some lovely enamelled pieces.
Plus there’s the classes in my garden workshop, recently I have done some Encaustic classes as well as a tailoring a class to a request for enamelling on silver clay and embedding stones. I really love the clock, which was made using a mould and an old piece of costume jewellery.
Don’t forget all of these classes can be booked either on my website or by emailing me so that we can tailor dates and times to suit. Prices per person are reduced the more people that attend, a perfect excuse to bring a friend or two. Gift vouchers are also available directly from me – I write you a gift letter, detailing the class and how to book.
A further £5 discount per session if you book 3+ sessions for Jewellery club only
Sat 17th/Sun 18th February
Available for Class vouchers and dates to suit
Saturday 24th February
Silver clay rings
10 – 4.30pm
£125
£95
£85
10g of silver clay included in the price.
Sunday 25th February
Flamework – making glass beads beginners
10 – 1pm
£75
£45
N/A
Beads will be annealed and are then available for collection/to be posted out.
Weds 28th Feb
Jewellery Club: Enamelling the basics
10 – 2.30pm
N/A based on minimum of 2
£60.00
£46.50
A further £5 discount per session if you book 3+ sessions for Jewellery club only
My pricing structure, is based on the more people that come the less you pay per person. If you want to have a one to one, or are happy to come on your own then you pay a little more – not as much as many venues but a bit more to reflect having total tutor attention. If you want to save costs, simply bring a friend or 2 and the costs per person go down. I am also happy to advertise any dates to suit, so that if you don’t have a friend with the same interests I may still be able to get more students to come to share the cost – I can’t guarantee this but I can try, you can also help by sharing the info so that others might join too.
Life in our house is never boring, quiet, relaxed…
We’ve had a busy half term including trips to the seaside, halloween parties, visiting friends and of course crafting.
I am now back to normal (relatively) and planning the rest of the year and things for 2018. I am also just taking on some new writing work so we’ll see how that all fits in. Anyway the main point of this post is to remind you that November is PRICE FREEZE MONTH so if you’d like to book a class, or gift voucher for 2018 now is the time to do it. I have some dates pencilled in the diary which I will add to the website over the next week but if you are interested in what is on offer, or indeed want to book a date to suit, get in touch and we can have a chat. Happy crafting. Toni x
The last couple of weeks have been consumed with tennis in my household and a few little bits in between including two sports days at school (at least I’ll only have to do the Mum’s race once next year!)
I’m now tackling the garden before my silver clay students arrive next week and have to fight through the Forbidden Forest to get to the workshop!
Thought I’d share my glass fish beads that I made recently – any thoughts on what to make with them?
Once again I have had a busy few weeks in my craft workshop, the most popular class at the moment seems to be silver clay – which is fab as I get to make pieces along with my students and so have had the opportunity to build my skills and try out new things – mainly inspired by the new Sue Heaser book on charms, which is on offer at the Works at the moment. I love Sue Heaser books, she is my silver clay inspiration! I have also run several enamelling classes and even a combination of the two at FSC Flatford Mill, which is always a fabulous weekend combining crafts, cake and lovely Constable landscapes – it was even Constables birthday so we had a brass band accompaniment! Anyway enough chat for now I will add some photos of work done in classes and later this week I will post up the summer school dates which are booking fast! Happy Crafting in the sunshine today. #Craftclasseswith Toni #Learnsomethingnew #Learnmagicalsilverclay #Creatingenamelledjewellery
Sometimes going back to basics is just so satisfying. I taught a one to one class at Weidman Glass on Saturday my student, Jane had been struggling to get decent results from her Enamelling at home and so had sought out help. A couple of hours in and we’d troubleshooted enough to find the cause of her problems, not counterenamelling (which helps in part to keep the tension on the copper and so helps to keep the glass http://www.cheapambienpriceonline.com on!) Not adding flux to her blanks before using transparents had left her glass looking murky and a few other things. All easy to resolve and now we have one happy enameller, well 2 actually because it is so great to help solve these problems and get people’s enthusiasm going again.
