Do you love photography but find that you don’t always get the results you were hoping for? Perhaps you have a new camera but never manage to take it off Auto setting? If that sounds familiar then this course could be for you!
Taught by professional photographer Jenny Kaye, you will discover how to get the most from your camera and achieve great results. Learning about light, camera controls and composition will provide you with the tools to take great eye catching photos, whether your preference is family, landscape, product or other photography.
This workshop will be a mixture of theory and practical and you will need to bring either a Digital SLR or Bridge camera. (If you do not have a camera but are thinking of buying one we may be able to lend you one)
This course accommodates 10 people.
£58 per person
Learn to craft your own drum lampshade, suitable for either a table or ceiling light, with Katrina de Toney of Lampshade Parade.
During this course you will learn how to make your very own 30cm drum lampshade to take home with you. All the tips and skills that you acquire on the day will enable you to confidently recreate the steps at home to make more lampshades as and when you wish.
Please bring your own choice of fabric, 100cm x 40cm, all other materials and equipment will be provided.
The course is suitable for complete beginners as all steps will be carefully explained and demonstrated, along with all the short cuts, finer techniques and advice that will take your lampshade from amateur to professional!
This course accommodates 8 people.
Find out more about Katrina de Toney and the other workshop leaders.
Have you ever wondered how to create a gorgeous arrangement from the everyday supermarket flowers that you pick up with your bread and milk? Or perhaps you have an abundance of lovingly home grown flowers picked from your garden, but are at a loss as to how best to display them?
Gill Booker is an award winning, City and Guilds trained florist who will demonstrate how you can transform the cellophane wrapped bunch of nondescript flowers that are your weekly supermarket purchase into a truly stunning hand tied arrangement, ready to be displayed in your own vase.
Spend the morning with Gill as she demonstrates two different approaches to hand tied arrangements. All flowers and foliage will be provided along with coffee and homemade cake on arrival and a goody bag to take home along with your two finished bouquets.
This would make the perfect Mothers Day present, book your Mum onto the course or come along together to make her the best personalised bouquet as her gift for Mothering Sunday.
This course accommodates 8 people.
Find out more about Gill Booker and the other workshop leaders.
‘Inkspiration’ this workshop will give you a chance to explore and learn a new skill in a relaxed environment.
Judi Wymark, an experienced teacher and a practitioner of calligraphy and calligraphic art for a number of years and currently the official scribe to the Mayor of High Wycombe, will guide us in the art of Decorative Calligraphy where you will learn the skills to shape letters and create both a decorative label and a name card (perhaps as a gift for framing!), to take home with you.
All materials, paper, ink and nibs will be supplied and Judi will also have available packs of vintage nibs for sale.
You will be using ink and sharp nibs during this workshop, so we suggest that you wear an old overshirt and an apron to protect your clothes from ink stains.
This course accommodates 6 people.
Colour makes the heart sing, but how do you use it in your home to recreate the feelings that nature can inspire?
In this workshop we will explore the psychology of colour, how it affects us and how to translate that in your interior to better create a home that truly is a comfort and refuge.
Confidence Using Colour in Interiors will be a mix of discussion and a practical, hands on session, creating your own mood board to take home with you.
This course accommodates 6 people.
Find out more about Charlotte Reynolds and the other workshop leaders.
Whether the place where you live is a mansion or a studio flat it is your ‘castle’, your anchor and your life under one roof. But does it currently feel like a place of welcome and comfort or more a functional collection of furniture?!
This short course, run by Charlotte Reynolds, aims to give a fun and informal introduction to Interior Decoration. Learn the principles of making the most of the space you have.
There will be a practical workshop putting together a sample/colour board for a fictional client.
Bring a photograph (if you would like!) of a room or area of your house that you feel doesn’t ‘work’, for discussion during the morning.
Refreshments, goody bags and all materials will be provided.
This course accommodates 5 people.
Find out more about Charlotte Reynolds and the other workshop leaders.
Perhaps you have an event coming up or just want to learn a new and uncommon skill, this is a fantastic opportunity to create a beautiful hairpiece for yourself.
With over 15 years’ experience in millinery, Ellie Vandenbrekel of Ellie Vandenbrekel Millinery will take you through the process of designing and creating your very own, unique fascinator, similar to the one pictured but of your own composition.
During this session you will be making a teardrop headband fascinator; you will learn how to plan a design, how to work with a staple millinery fabric – sinamay, how to curl feathers and position embellishments and, finally, how to bring it all together.
Pre-order your base and ribbon colour – adornment and embellishments will be available on the day in an array of matching and complementary colours.
Sewing skills are essential, as couture millinery is always sewn by hand. All materials will be provided (including a box to take your finished masterpiece home with you) but you may wish to bring an apron to protect your clothes.
This course accommodates 8 people.
Find out more about Ellie Vandenbrekel and the other workshop leaders.
During your workshop, Hayley Farrelly, from Bramley Pottery, will take you through the process of making two beautiful slab-built jugs with a patterned exterior and handle.
Once your jugs have dried she will fire them in her kiln and then glaze them for you in a celadon colour of your choice.
These gorgeous jugs are multi-purpose; the glaze is food safe so can be used for serving milk or cream or use them as vases with a posy of flowers.
The pottery journey takes time, so expect to wait up to a month after the workshop to receive your pieces as this will allow time for them to dry, to be bisque fired, glazed and re-fired.
Once finished they can be collected from her studio in Ballinger, or they can be sent in the post.
Make sure you bring an apron and messy clothing to the workshop, Hayley will provide all the tools you need to make your pottery.
This course accommodates 10 people.
Find out more about Hayley Farrelly and the other workshop leaders.
What you eat can have a profound effect on your health as you grow older. This workshop, hosted by Nutritional Therapist Sue Vaughan, will look at how making the right food choices can help to increase your energy, reduce mood swings, get rid of cravings, improve your memory, reduce anxiety, and even help you to lose weight without dieting.
You will discover which foods can balance your hormones naturally as you get older, to help with PMS, peri-menopause, menopause and other female health issues, helping you to achieve optimum health at every stage of your life.
With practical tips, recipes and recommendations for what to add to your weekly shopping list, find out how nutrition can help slow down the ageing process and give you natural health and beauty from the inside out!
This course accommodates 10 people.
Jasmine
I wasn’t sure what to expect from this course as for me photography is currently just an interest, but it was just as informative as it was practical. I’ve had a DSLR for nearly 7 months and learnt more within the 3 hours with Jenny than I had the whole time of owning my camera! We had little practical task where we put the skills we’d learnt to the test. Jenny was great at giving an informative power point and being able to give everyone help one to one as the group size was manageable. I would definitely recommend if there’s any more in the future. Charlotte was a great host, and has a lovely business idea putting these courses on at her own home. We even got little goodie bags which was a nice touch! If another course appeals to me I wouldn’t hesitate to book again.