Get Creative

During the course of the morning, you will learn this useful weaving technique to create a large Garden Obelisk. These add instant height to any garden and are perfect for your climbing tender annuals such as Sweet Peas. This course is suitable for beginners.

Please remember to wear comfortable clothes you don't mind getting dirty and closed toe shoes.

Explore and experiment with mono printing and hand stitching to create your own (self) portrait. It is the opportunity to combine 2 different mediums to create a unique mixed media piece that is reflective of you.

During the day you will create mono print (self) portraits then combine them with fabric and hand stitch to create the features of the face. You will go through the process of mono printing and different types of stitch to create different effects. We will be using Swedish tracing paper and fabric to create our finished pieces.

It is a workshop to experiment and connect with your creativity. You will leave with test pieces and a self portrait – or a portrait of someone who is important to you.

Join Agnis Smallwood at The Ropewalk for an absorbing weekend of spinning and weaving. On the Saturday we will learn to make our own yarns using drop spindles as well as explore the Museum and learn more about how rope would have been produced on site.

Then on the Sunday we will use the yarn you have spun as well as having the opportunity to use lots of colourful commercial yarns to create your woven outcome using a table loom. You will be able to incorporate a range of techniques and weave structures as well as combining your hand spun yarn with additional yarns in a range of different colours, textures and fibres.

Participants will be guided throughout the weekend, through group demonstrations as well as one to one support. Please note that some dexterity is required for this weekend. The workshop is suitable for beginners, all equipment and materials are provided for use during the two days. Participants are welcome to bring along additional yarn/fibre to use within their project if they wish but this is not essential as plenty of yarn will be available to use.

Additional Information:

Some participants can find weaving all day quite a physical activity. Participants often stand to use the looms though sitting is also an option.

Butterflies, bees, dragonflies & flowers- be inspired by the colours & shapes of nature to create your own original stained-glass hangings.

You will learn all the techniques needed to create your own original stained glass works including cutting, foiling & soldering. Follow a design provided or be supported to achieve your own designs. At the end of the workshop, you will have at least 2 original works to gift or keep.

Suitable for beginners or those with previous experience.

These willow sheep or pigs are full of character and a great extension to random weaving with willow. Alison will guide you to make a large scale four-legged animal in willow. Some experience preferred.

Please wear clothes that you are happy getting a bit grubby and full shoes that cover your toes.

Learn various wire forming techniques and create a wonderful everlasting Dandelion Seed Head for your garden.

The workshop is a nice way to learn basic metalwork and jewellery making skills. Please note though, the technique is very repetitive, and the wire used for the large Dandelions Seed Heads needs to be relatively thick so it may be tiring on your hands, so please bear this in mind if you have any issues with hand strength.

If you're a fast worker, you can get your dandelion completed in the day, but if you'd rather take your time, you'll be able to easily finish it off at your own pace at home.

Your base structure will be made using bare iron, but you can choose what metal to use for the fluffy tips. These wires will be ready prepped for you, so you need to confirm which wires you’d like to use at the time of booking.

What lifts a piece of writing from the page? How can a writer avoid being cliched or just plain ordinary? This Workshop will aim to explore these questions, looking at how established writers achieve it and how we can all make our writing (prose, poetry or script) as effective and attention grabbing as possible! Suitable for absolute beginners and those who have written before.

Learn various wire forming techniques and create a wonderful everlasting Allium for your garden.

The workshop is a nice way to learn basic metalwork and jewellery making skills. Please note though, the technique is very repetitive, and the wire used for the large Alliums needs to be relatively thick so it may be tiring on your hands, so please bear this in mind if you have any issues with hand strength.

If you're a fast worker, you can get your allium/dandelion completed in the day, but if you'd rather take your time, you'll be able to easily finish it off at your own pace at home.

Your base structure will be made using bare iron, but you can choose what metal to use for the fluffy tips. These wires will be ready prepped for you, so you need to confirm which wires you’d like to use at the time of booking.

This workshop is an introduction to "green" woodworking. You will learn about selecting suitable timber for making a shrink pot, then preparing the timber and hollowing the pot. The next step will be fitting the base and lid, continuing with the external texturing of the pot and carving the top and finial on the lid. The shrink pot will be finished with milk paint and natural wax. This workshop is suitable for beginners.

Do you have an old stool, chair or ottoman that needs some new life breathing into? Here you will learn how to upholster an item of your choice. Lesley will be on hand to help at every stage and will have a full range of upholstery tools and materials for you to use. All you will need to bring is a piece of furniture and the top fabric.

Do you have an old stool, chair or ottoman that needs some new life breathing into? Here you will learn how to upholster an item of your choice. Lesley will be on hand to help at every stage and will have a full range of upholstery tools and materials for you to use. All you will need to bring is a piece of furniture and the top fabric.

Jaqueline Warrington, a jeweller and silver smith of many years’ experience, will teach how to make a silver flower out of a circular piece of silver sheet using the jeweller’s piercing saw, pliers and needle files. You will then make a stalk from silver wire and solder the two together. Lastly, you will make a leaf by hammering and shaping the silver and soldering it onto the stalk. There you have your flower!

Do you have an old stool, small dining room/bedroom chair or ottoman that needs some new life breathing into? Here you will learn how to upholster an item of your choice. Lesley will be on hand to help at every stage and will have a full range of upholstery tools for you to use and materials to purchase. All you will need to bring is a piece of furniture and the top fabric.

Please note we advise you have previous upholstery experience as it can be difficult to complete a project in one day.

Jacqueline Warrington studied silversmithing as well as jewellery before setting up her own business. In this workshop you will use the chasing tools to create some surface pattern. In using these kind of tools you can achieve a more controlled texture than if using a hammer. This is flat chasing using a steel flat-plate rather than a pitch bowl.

You will then make some granules from tiny pieces of silver and solder them on to the design, thus bringing some highlights to the textured piece.

Each of you will have a piece of silver 4cm x 4cm which you can cut out the earrings and the pendant from. Jacqueline will bring some copper sheet that you can practice using the chasing tools on before you commit to your silver!

Join Sue Kershaw on this workshop and create a 22cm square garden/outdoor mosaic plaque using Sue’s designs or bring along your own design. There is an exciting wide choice of materials and colours to select from. Sue will explain how to cut tiles and what works best to create a dynamic mosaic with movement and flow.

Friendly, fun and informal.

Experiment with the shapes and colours of the festive season to create your own unique glass artworks using a variety of coloured glasses, wire and solder. This workshop teaches all the basic techniques needed to achieve beautiful and original finished works, including copper foiling, soldering and finishing.