Vegetable Gardening with Julia Parker will cover all aspects of what to plant now for both a late autumn harvest and planning ahead for Spring and Summer next year.
Including herbs, vegetables and flowers, Julia will give advice and demonstrations of what and how to plant and where.
Having worked with Alitex Greenhouses giving online tutorials throughout lockdown, running her own vegetable garden design business and having co-authored a gardening & cookery book for children, Julia is confident, enthusiastic and wonderfully encouraging to the novice and green fingered gardener alike.
So, if you, like us were tempted by tomato growing, basil breeding or potato picking during our long summer at home, come and learn the top tips and insider guide as to how to make your plot (even more) productive!
This workshop will take place outside, under cover, safely and socially distanced. There will be access to toilets, hand sanitiser and masks will be available, if required.
Includes homemade refreshments and goody bag.
This course accommodates 8 people.
Find out more about Julia Parker and the other workshop leaders.
During your workshop, Hayley Farrelly, from Bramley Pottery, will take you through the process of making a matching pair of bowls in two different sizes with a patterned interior and decorative rim.
Once your bowls have dried she will fire them in her kiln and then glaze them for you in a celadon colour of your choice.
The bowls can be enjoyed every day; the glaze is food safe so can be used for serving food.
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, your pottery can be collected from her studio in Ballinger, or they can be sent in the post.
Please bring an apron to the workshop and Hayley will provide all the tools you need to make your pottery pieces.
This course accommodates 6 people.
Find out more about Hayley Farrelly and the other workshop leaders.
In this workshop you will discover how to take fabulous photos with your smartphone.
We all walk round with a camera in our pocket these days and imagery is everywhere, so join us to discover how to stand out from the crowd and get the best from your phone.
The workshop will include taking photos, how to enhance them, lighting and composition as well as external apps and discussion about what you do with your photos afterwards.
This workshop would be perfect for business owners and those bloggers who use Instagram and Pinterest etc to promote their business as well as the casual photographer.
Jenny Kaye is a professional photographer and will share her hints and tips for creating stunning imagery.
This course accommodates 10 people.
Find out more about Jenny Kaye 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.
Join local Bucks based tea experts Mark & Giles, the spoons behind Two Spoons Tea Ltd (named after the tools of their trade, their tasting spoons!) to discover the story of tea from bush to cup.
They have over 50 years of combined expertise as professional tea tasters, have travelled extensively in the wonderful world of tea to hone their craft and tasted more than a million cups between them!
The masterclass is interactive (tea tasting will be involved!), informative and fun.
Do you know just what goes into your daily cuppa? Hear the stories, passion and expertise behind our daily brew – the second most popular beverage in the world after water.
You’ll also get to make your very own blend to take home.
This course accommodates 10 people.
Find out more about Giles Oakley, Mark Lawson and the other workshop leaders.
Lampshade Making with Katrina de Toney of Lampshade Parade on Thursday 25th May. During this 3-½ hour 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.
Katrina will provide all tools, equipment and materials required to make your drum lampshade.
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 10 people.
Reels – the Superhero of Social Media!
Do you keep hearing about reels but not sure what they are or how to use them? Using video and reels will help you reach new audiences, get your business seen by more of your target audience and drive sales online.
Learn how to master reels (and not have to sing or dance! ) and unlock the potential of Instagram.
In this workshop, with Kati Noakes of KN Comms, you will cover:
You will leave with a reel ready to post and a ton of ideas for more reels to do at home and you will also take home a step-by- step guide to refer back to later.
And most importantly, you will leave far more confident about creating reels and content that will be game-changing for your business.
Although this course is new to Studio Portobello, Kati has run many successful courses before. Read a glowing review from a previous workshop!
”Kati Noakes is a powerhouse of social media expertise. Not only does she have an enviable grasp of the complexities surrounding the various online platforms and knowledge of how to use them effectively but she can communicate that knowledge in a way that is concise and straightforward. This is not the first social media workshop I have done but it is the first where I have come away understanding precisely what I need to do to get social media working for my business properly. Once I have mastered the basic/intermediate level I will definitely be going back for an advanced session. The beauty of training with Kati is that she is on hand in the weeks after the session to help with any glitches and she has a genuine interest in watching you succeed. Highly recommended.” – Gail Fogarty Photographer
This course accommodates 10 people.
Find out more about Kati Noakes and the other workshop leaders.
In this workshop you will discover how to take fabulous photos with your smartphone.
We all walk round with a camera in our pocket these days and imagery is everywhere, so join us to discover how to stand out from the crowd and get the best from your phone.
The workshop will include taking photos, how to enhance them, lighting and composition as well as external apps and discussion about what you do with your photos afterwards.
This workshop would be perfect for business owners and those bloggers who use Instagram and Pinterest etc to promote their business as well as the casual photographer.
Jenny Kaye is a professional photographer and will share her hints and tips for creating stunning imagery.
This course accommodates 8 people.
Find out more about Jenny Kaye and the other workshop leaders.
This interactive workshop will start with a discussion of the importance of colour in our homes, touching on the subject of colour psychology and how it affects our everyday lives.
Moving on to all participants working up a mood board to fulfil either a fictional brief or to help you with designing a room in your own home, as you prefer!
The morning will end with a brief discussion of how to solve a particular interior design problem that you may have. You are welcome to submit a photograph of a room in advance.
This course accommodates 6 people.
Find out more about Charlotte Reynolds and the other workshop leaders.
Wendy
I had such a good time today. Thank you so much.
Although Julia is clearly a very talented lady she makes gardening sound so effortless and I loved her ‘ have a go’ attitude. Very inspiring.
Debbie
Thank you so much for this morning, I really enjoyed myself. You had put so much thought into getting everything to be COVID compliment, which I’m sure is all extra work.
Julia I thought ran the course brilliantly, she was so informative and helpful, even to a complete novice like myself. I’m really looking forward to putting into practice all of the things we covered.
Norma
Thank you very much indeed for the wonderful morning. It was so enjoyable and inspiring!
Julia was so knowledgeable and enthusiastic, it was impossible to leave without feeling ready to learn more about gardening and growing edible things.
You were the perfect host as always and made us feel so welcome. Your coffee and cakes were such a treat. It was very kind of you to copy the recipe for the delicious Raspberry and Pine-nut Bars – I will definitely have a go at making them! Kit was great company too and his ginger plant was amazing!