Latest reviews

Jane Stubbs reviewed: Natural soap & cosmetic products workshop

"Had such a lovely day with Julie. There were 5 of us in the group and we were all made to feel very welcome with a cup of tea/coffee on arrival. The location was easy to find, parking was easy to locate and the cottage itself was a charm. We all had our own space where all the equipment and our first set of "creative" ingredients were laid out ready. To begin with we were made a soap load using the liquid soap method. Julie went into great detail, explaining the different methods of soap making before we moved onto creating our own soap scented with uplifting grapefruit. There were various colours to chose from, all natural, and lots of different embeds and embellishments to choose from. I went for poppy seeds and calendula. I was very pleased with the final result, which cut into 5 bars of soap. From there we went on to make a lip balm, body scrub, body butter, bath bomb and bath salts. Julie provided all the pots and labels needed and we were handed instructions on each to take away with us. The lunch we had was wonderful. It was a shame that Covid prevented the "afternoon tea", but they picnic hamper style box we each had was lovely, with sandwiches, cake, fruits, and a pastry along with a mug of tea. All in all a fabulous day. I would definitely recommend and will certainly be looking to take part in some of the other courses run by Julie."

Hannah Emerton reviewed: Taster pottery throwing lesson (various dates)

"What a lovely way to spend an afternoon. Jack was a delightful tutor and I even managed to make 3 pretty even looking pots.....rescued once or twice by Jacks skillful hands! A great introduction to using a pottery wheel. Will definitely do some more"

Bill Good reviewed: Beginners 1-day 1-2-1 woodturning workshop for 1 person

"The level of tuition was exactly right - clear, well explained and the right pace. I was pleased to learn so much and come away with pieces that looked good. The facilities there are good, with a good light lunch and pleasant surroundings too. I'd readily go back for more, but wondering how and where I can put kit of my own! Many thanks to both."

Blended Monkey - pottery - woodturning - green woodworking - pole lathe - throwing responded:

"Hi Bill, Thank you so much for a lovely review and we're glad you had a great time. If you do manage to find space, please keep in touch around your progress and shout if you have any questions or issues. -- Simon & Louise"

Ian reviewed: "2 Crafts in 1 Day!" pairs - woodturning & pottery experience

"We decided to give each other as a Christmas present 2020, the 2 crafts in 1 day course, wood turning and pottery with Blended Monkey, managed to book it in July. I have done woodworking which is not the same as wood turning and have never done pottery, my wife had not done either. The day started on time at 10am and ended at 5pm with one hour for lunch at 1pm. Enjoyed both, good teaching in the wood turning and we both manged to produce the set piece of a honey spoon. Also, good teaching in the pottery, three styles taught hand formed, slab and wheel. The wheel is the hardest one and found the slab the easiest or more productive style. We await the outcome of our pottery efforts when they have been fired. Lunch was provided which provided a relaxation and chance to chat, with the hosts Louise and Simon. Overall, I would recommend this Blended Monkey course, regardless of skill level."

Blended Monkey - pottery - woodturning - green woodworking - pole lathe - throwing responded:

"Thank you for your review Ian :-). It was lovely having you and Ann in the woodturning workshop and pottery studio. You both produced some fabulous pieces and Simon and I enjoyed your company. Your pots are drying nicely and will be biscuit fired shortly. I'll let you know as soon as they are ready."

Shirley Scott reviewed: Silver Clay Jewellery Workshop - Beginner - 1 Day - One to One

"What a fantastic day. I learnt lots of techniques in a wonderful environment and had all the help and support I could ask for from a wonderful lady. I would not hesitate to recommend this course. I knew nothing and came away feeling I had achieved a great deal, with two pairs of earrings that I made, and the skill and enthusiasm to want to make more."

Gifted Crafts Company responded:

"Thank you for taking the time and your lovely comments. Such a pleasure. Take care. Rach x"

Lynnette reviewed: Paper Making - Hand Made Recycled Paper

"My friend and I had a lovely time making decorative paper with Wendy. She supplied a nice mixture of dried flowers, glitter (eco), papers, seeds and even tea bags to make our individual sheets. Friendly, informative and a lovely couple of hours. We each made five different pieces and were given the molds to take home to continue crafting. Would definitely recommend."

Felicity reviewed: Small needle felted animals or pictures

"A fabulous morning spent making a lovely unicorn. Despite my ambitious ideas Barbara was helpful, friendly and enthusiastic. Thank you for a lovely morning!"

Feltworld - Creative Arts responded:

"Thank you and well done for jumping in with both feet and creating an intermediate cute unicorn :-) . I do hope that you continue with needle felting. Barbara"

Amy Jones reviewed: Small needle felted animals or pictures

"Excellent course. Lovely small group. Made to feel very welcome."

Feltworld - Creative Arts responded:

"Thank you Amy. Your bird looked fabulous, I hope you get the needle felting bug and continue with needle felting. :-)"

sue o'regan reviewed: Ashes to Glass Heart Sun Catcher (9cm)

"I found the customer service for this piece so refreshing. Crissy was very flexible and understanding when making this item for me. I will be buying from her again."

Owen reviewed: 2 Day Axe Making Courses

"We had a great time on the 2 day axe-making course. The guys were great teachers, being patient, supportive and encouraging and always happy to help. And most importantly fun - we were all friends within hours. A really good experience!"

Margaret Everley reviewed: Stained glass weekly classes in Sheffield (South Yorkshire)

"I have been attending these courses for quite some time now and can thoroughly recommend them both for the tuition given by Martin and Kate and the atmosphere generated which is usually one of friendly, happy calm in a Covid secure workshop. During the last course Kate was not only helping the beginners to develop their skills but also keeping an eye on the rest of us and giving help, advice and encouragement where necessary. Looking forward to returning in September."

Erin reviewed: 1-to-1 Beginners Leatherworking Workshop

"A fantastic day where you get to play and experiment with different leathers and leather working techniques. She has taken some the mystery out of the how things are made and how you can get creative using leather. I now feel much more confident using this medium and cannot wait to see what future ideas she has for courses in the future! I will definitely be going back for more workshops in the future. Thank you very much Pipa!"

Margaret Everley reviewed: Introduction to fused glass (1 day) in Sheffield, South Yorkshire

"Another enjoyable, fun day and at the end the excitement of waiting to see how the pieces turn out.Martin is excellent at putting people at their ease and giving them the confidence to try their new skills and develop their ideas so there is always a mixture of new comers and returnees - like me!"

Kellie reviewed: Rucksack in a day workshop

"This was my third workshop with Rosanna, this time my fiancé joined us to make 'his & hers' rucksacks! We love the fact we’ve made something unique & learnt skills for future use. We thoroughly enjoyed the day, choosing the canvas, leather & the templates definitely made things easier. Rosanna is a great teacher and was always on hand, especially with some of the tricky sewing, which the sewing machines handled with ease. If you like crafting, the opportunity to learn from a great teacher, to use great materials & take away something unique then book yourself on this course, you won’t be disappointed!"

Rosanna Clare responded:

"Thanks for a lovely review Kellie - so glad you enjoyed it ?"

Sarah Wallis reviewed: Wooden mechanical toy (automata) making

"I spent last Sunday learning about automata and making a ‘grumpy fishing cat’ (at least he was grumpy the way I painted him!). It was the most fun I’ve had in ages, and I loved rediscovering how much I enjoy working with wood to create something, and yes, you do make everything from scratch, learning new skills as you go, so a great sense of satisfaction at the end. Understanding how a simple story can be told through the use of various mechanisms to produce the desired effect gave me a better appreciation of the fascination with automata; I can see how it becomes addictive. This is a brilliant course to do, with so many different creative elements to it. Stef is a calm and patient teacher, reassuringly attentive to the safety aspects of using the various power tools, very encouraging throughout, and delightful company. I can’t recommend this enough. Thank you Stef for a thoroughly enjoyable day!"

Penlan Crafts responded:

"Dear Sarah, thank you very much for your amazing review! I’m glad that by building “the fishing cat” you rediscovered your creativity. You are very talented and it was easy (and a pleasure!) to be your tutor and to guide you through the different steps of the automaton construction. Thank you again! Stef"

Vicki Crawford reviewed: Introduction to candle-making as a business

"Had a fantastic time on my candle course with Jo. She was so lovely, honest and friendly and has really given me the confidence to practice and go for it! Thank you so much Jo for all your help and for sharing your knowledge with me!"

James McCubbin reviewed: 2 Day Axe Making Courses

"I did this course for my stag do with 9 other mates. The team at Friargate forge were no less than excellent, we all made our own individual axes and alongside good banter and generally the friargate team being a group of really cool guys we all got some truly excellent 1:1 coaching on blacksmithing. We all feel like we've come away with a news skills, something to keep and experience we'll all cherish. A number of us are already looking at times we can return for more. I cannot reccomenend Friargate forge, Gary and the team enough. Huge thanks Gary!!!"

Fred reviewed: 2 Day Axe Making Courses

"This course is definitely worth your time and money, for reasons you might not think... Gary and his team were attentive, enthusiastic and positive throughout the pandemic. Our booking was kept and moved, never was it suggested we cancel. As soon as it was possible, we (group of 10) had been fit in. I felt I knew him well before even meeting him. The course is absolutely brilliant value. The feeling of learning anything new is a lovely one. The feeling of learning something totally new whilst creating a beautiful, practical tool is the best. You are paying less than £20 an hour for direct coaching and tuition to achieve a goal with instant, tangible results. Machines that at first seem alien, dangerous and intimidating will soon become familiar, dangerous and intimidating. You will take a piece of metal about the size of a snickers and turn it into a beautiful axe over two days. The result will be a unique representation of two days of hard work and learning. Whilst you concentrate on how to step down, fuller, flatten, fire weld, power hammer, temper, grind and hang your axe, the most amazing thing happens - you think about NOTHING else. I forgot about covid, the state of the world, my dog, my son, my partner, my family, work, possessions, obligations etc. You focus 100% on a glowing, growing orange piece of metal that turns into a glistening axe for 2 days. In doing so, you focus on yourself. It is almost meditative. You make a sharp thing to play with when you get home but the process was, for me at least, really valuable and special. Gary and his team are clearly very close, almost telepathic. They know what needs doing next, they have a sense of who needs help next. In a place that looks like a hot, dirty, intimidating torture chamber, there is an organised harmony that is a pleasure to see. Better still, is that you instantly feel a welcomed, valued and important member of this team. The instruction is clear, very clear: "I'll stop drawing and hit stuff with a hammer; I'm better at that!" The combination of theory, demonstration, coaching, humour, seriousness and letting you loose is perfect. At no point did I feel like I would be allowed to ruin my axe yet I also felt I had a good amount of unsupervised autonomy. Odd though it is to say, even if I had ruined my axe, the weekend would still have been completely worthwhile to spend time with Gary and his team - they are that good! The course was part of a stag weekend. I can highly recommend it. If you are fed up of liver damage and being banned from whichever country you visit, try this. Once the noise and the heat of the day abate, nobody really has time, energy or ego to want to get drunk and stupid. You'll want to eat, rehydrate and process what you've been doing. Despite being hot and tired, you probably won't even want to leave. Whether for a stag, a treat, a mega corporate weekend or your mental health, this weekend will be some of the best money you ever spend. Do it."

Michelle and Tamsin reviewed: Silver jewellery making class for beginners

"We all had a very lovely day. It was very enjoyable to learn some new jewellery skills. As four beginners we were expertly guided in a safe and fun environment. The pieces we created are stunning and the level of detail we were able to achieve was amazing. Would absolutely recommend!"

Salt Way Silver responded:

"Thank you for your kind words. It was lovely to meet you and help you with your jewellery making. Impressive determination from you Tamsin! Jonathan"

Heather and Chloe reviewed: Silver jewellery making class for beginners

"Fantastic day creating our own key rings and earrings. We were total beginners but learnt so much under Jonathan's expert tuition. A great and patient teacher! Highly recommended course. Thank you."

Salt Way Silver responded:

"Thank you Heather and Chloe - Lovely to meet you and well done with sticking to your chosen designs! Jonathan"

lorna reviewed: Fun with Paints One (PDF)

"Whilst I realise this “course” is called fun with paints I was expecting at least some actual instruction. This “course” needs to express strongly that it is people who have never even held a brush before, absolute total novices. having done a small amount of painting with acrylics this was a waste of £5."

Aztec Kreative Studio responded:

"Appreciate your feed back, however was sorry to hear you where dissapointed. Have taken note and will change some of the wording. Many Thanks Karen"

Max Hogg reviewed: Creative metalwork and welding, scrap metal sculpture.

"Izzy and Felix ran a brilliant course for us today, thank you! The course was put together so well - catering for absolute beginners, but giving us real freedom and trust to use proper machinery (plasma cutters, MIG welders etc). The small course numbers meant we got one-to-one tuition on every machine. I was a bit concerned that I had been a bit overambitious in my project (a fire pit) but Izzy and Felix both jumped in to help where needed (but encouraged me to solve the more interesting challenges, like trying to weld closed a larger-than-planned hole!) I would wholeheartedly recommend this course to anyone, and will be telling everyone about it. Thank you both."

WTF Workshops responded:

"Ah Max, thank you for such a lovely review. It was great having you and Abbie with us, you both did really lovely projects and were both SO good at welding! Like, are you secretly both part time fabricators??! You're obviously very good learners...! I hope your fire pit and candle holder light up your home and bring you both lots of happiness :)"

Valerie Good reviewed: "2 Crafts in 1 Day!" 1-2-1 woodturning & pottery experience for 1 person

"Husband and I treated ourselves to a 2 in 1 day with Blended Monkey as belated birthday presents. We had a super full day. Simon and Louise are both excellent as teachers, giving you plenty of advice and encouragement and a soupçon of constructive criticism. Neither of us had done any wood turning before and I could have happily turned my piece of wood all day but by lunchtime we had made honey dippers. The workshop is a comfortable place to work and has high quality equipment and a range of safety features. At the end of the morning we had a chance to explore the garden and meet the resident cats, fish and dog. I did pottery with Louise after lunch. Louise started off with pinch pots and we moved on through slab pots to throwing on the wheel. There was plenty of clay and lots of advice. I’m looking forward to seeing the finished pots after firing. A very full day, well worth the money just don’t wear your best clothes and cut your nails!"

Blended Monkey - pottery - woodturning - green woodworking - pole lathe - throwing responded:

"Thank you for your lovely review Valerie. We're really glad you enjoyed your woodturning and pottery experience and it was a pleasure to have you in the studios. It was nice to see that you'd not forgotten some of the throwing techniques you'd previously learnt, even if it had been a while since you'd thrown. Well done!"

Ieva reviewed: Beginners Soap Making Course

"Excellent course. Full of useful information and practice. I left the course very confident and excited to make more soap bar batches. I had a wonderful time and home baked food! Paula was a great presenter and host. Thank you so much!"

Old Bexley Soap & Candle Co. responded:

"Hi Leva, good luck in your soap making journey. A real honour to have you in my course. Take care. Paula"

Rebecca Coutts reviewed: Introduction to welded metal sculpture

"We spent 2 days with Alan in June and had a great time. As a complete beginner, he taught each technique and process in detail to quickly be able to work alone, and the equipment available to use is vast. Alan is an excellent teacher stepping in to help when needed and stepping back to watch us learn. We will definitely be returning later in the year with our son"