Latest reviews

Chris Horn reviewed: Fusing glass - beginners - Witney, Oxfordshire

"I was given a voucher as a Birthday present as I have a real interest in glass making. I turned up at Art of Glass not knowing really what to expect. Ros was so welcoming and her knowledge and ability to teach a complete novice like myself was brilliant. I am so pleased that I have been able to have this experience and would highly recommend it. In the time, I was able to make a coral bowl and a coaster. Thank you Ros."

Art of Glass Studio Ltd responded:

"Thank you Chris for your kind review. Look forward to seeing you again in the future. Kind regards Ros - Art of Glass"

Katherine Mann reviewed: 1 day introduction to silver jewellery making - Ely

"What a great day. Jonathan was extremely professional and knowledgeable as well as great fun. We learn't a huge amount and went away with a strong grasp of the basics. The handouts were excellent and good to refer back to in the future. Lovely lunch as well. A day very well spent :)"

Rosemary Jones reviewed: Sterling silver beginners pendant making jewellery course

"I was given craft course vouchers by my grown-up children as a birthday present. My daughter thought making a pendant would be down my street and how right she was! Sarah and her husband welcomed me in such a friendly way that I felt at ease straight away. Sarah was an excellent teacher and gave me superb 1:1 tuition on each stage of the necklace making process in her delightful garden workshop. With Sarah's guidance, I learnt how to use tools effectively and safely. I designed, cut, filed, hammered, polished, satinised, and soldered the silver and in the end created a three leaf pendant of which I am very proud! Sarah has a wonderful knowledge of her subject and made the session relaxed and great fun! I'd highly recommend this course to anyone who likes jewellery and enjoys being creative. Thank you Sarah for a day to remember!"

Liz Hodgson reviewed: Fused glass art experience - no cutting required - Your own venue

"I took my 2 grandchildren of 10 & 12 years along and I wanted to have a go myself. As there was only one other child at the session I was able to try it out too. It was brilliant. Because it didn't involve cutting, but using a whole range of colours and shapes and sizes of glass it wasn't too stressful, and you could play around with shapes, colours and designs. We all thoroughly enjoyed it, and would go again. It was also very reasonably priced."

Art of Glass Studio Ltd responded:

"Thank you Liz for your wonderful review. I am so glad you all had a great time. Look forward to sering you all again in the future. Kind regards, Ros - Art of Glass"

Neil reviewed: Blacksmith Experience Day - Anvil Forge

"What a great way to spend a day! The experts (John, Steve & Spencer) were enthusiastic, very knowledgeable and the ratio of one expert per two novices meant everyone benefitted from lots of hands-on tuition. The only (minor) negative was the lack of signage inside the farm complex."

Anvil Forge responded:

"Hi Neil thanks for the review, re signage a solution is in hand! hopefully see you again ( and checkout our new sign)"

Ros Kelson reviewed: One day silver jewellery making in Worcestershire.

"I spent a marvellous few hours (it was a birthday treat) with my sister and niece making jewellery under the expert guidance of Jonathan. The location was perfect - peaceful, quirky, inspiring and fun (I want a narrow boat now!), and Jonathan was an excellent teacher - very good at explaining and showing us how to do things and very patient. (He also makes excellent coffee!). We started off making chains and charms with copper to get the feel of jewellery making and getting to understand the processes involved. After a break for coffee and cake we set about making silver bangles and it was great fun. We are all delighted with what we produced - it is very satisfying to make your own piece of jewellery. I would highly recommend this course."

Salt Way Silver responded:

"Dear Ros, many thanks for your kind words! I think we all had a good day. I was very impressed with your texturing method and hope to use it myself in the future - inspired by the footprints of the local wildlife? Good luck with your future jewellery making Jonathan"

Jennifer Lowe reviewed: Introduction to silver jewellery making workshop with Diane Lee

"Had a great day, learnt loads, really good introduction to the basics, nice atmosphere, lovely and helpful tutor. Going back to a guided workshop session very soon!"

DianeLeeSilver responded:

"Thank you Jennifer not only for your kind review, but also for your company on the day. I'm so glad you had a good time & look forward to seeing you in a supported benchtime session. I'm looking to put on just a few eventing sessions during the Summer. Thank you again Diane"

Pam Hansford reviewed: Needle felting - woodland creature or bird, or other small animal: (beginners+)

"A really enjoyable course. Sally is an excellent teacher and has a great sense of humour and is very patient. We all made a mouse ? I thoroughly recommend this course."

Craft Workshops responded:

"Thank you for coming to the course - it was a productive and friendly group. Look forward to seeing you on some other courses soon :)"

KC Constantine reviewed: Oak stool making experience - rustic carpentry & green wood work

"First course I got for my partner was the stool making, based on my partners experience and the excellent hand crafted stool he produced and the whole experience of being taught by a true craftsmen who is a mind of information and and is of a wonderful disposition, I decided to purchase the Bench making day for my adult son who has never put his hand to this sort of thing before,working as a manager and with a very busy home life with three children, time to just lose yourself in this craft for a few hours was the best experience of relaxation albeit physical but totally rewarding work to produce the most amazing Bench which is pride of place in my sons garden waiting to have its very own area to sit proudly in. Cannot praise Ian enough for the way he is in his patient and informative teaching manner, my son thoroughly enjoyed his experience (especially as I'd arranged it as a surprise for them both to be working on something together) and he was amazed at how it took him away from the rat race for two minutes and has learned a valuable pratical new skill and is already thinking of what he could do next. In short, give this course a try, you wont regret it and you'll have a life long memory of a wonderful day making something in the traditional way with excellent tutelage and be very proud of your work. Truly worth every penny."

Alyson Burton reviewed: Introductory pottery wheel throwing taster sessions

"Excellent course and, as a complete novice, I learnt so much. A really enjoyable, relaxed day with fabulous tuition. Lorraine made us very welcome and was a fantastic teacher, helping us all achieve lovely end products. There were enough wheels for us all to use them at the same time and a very generous allowance of clay. I can’t wait to do another session and plan to return again soon."

Chris jackson reviewed: Blacksmithing for Beginners - Full Day Forging for One

"I had a fantastic day with chris. Chris was able to suit my days lesson to my own skill set, i made a pair of tongs which was a lot of work and chris taught me a lot of tips and tricks and is very knowledgeable about his craft. I will definitely be booking another class. Thanks chris your a badass!!"

Laura Johnson reviewed: Advanced Sewing Machine Skills with St Ives Adult Learning

"This was one of the most useful courses i've ever been on. We went back to basics learning about different needles, threads and feet for our sewing machines and their different uses. We had enough time to practice what we were taught and experiment with everything the tutor brought with her. I will definitely be looking out for more courses by Pamela again."

Adult and Community Learning responded:

"Thank you for your kind review, Laura, we are glad that you enjoy Pamela's courses and can confirm that we will have a couple of new ones available in our new programme - St Ives Adult Learning"

Jenny reviewed: Cotton Scarf Painting

"Fantastic course! Charlotte is amazing, really friendly and helpful. We learnt lots and came away with a lovely new scarf and a new passion! Well worth doing and great value!"

Su Ticehurst reviewed: A fabulous introduction to fused glass - one day course

"Fantastic way to spend a day. Tuition was clear but not dictatorial. The atmosphere was friendly and supportive. And you pick up your creative results and just want to go and do it again."

Mark Hughes reviewed: Introduction to Spoon Carving

"Thank you Chris for an unforgettable day... Chris has a relaxed but informative approach to the day. With lots of axe and knife work during the day, Chris would ensure that we had breaks not only to rest our tired hands and arms but also to enjoy being outdoors. With the frontier stove keeping the water hot for tea and great company we all chatted, chopped and whittled our way to making our first amazing spoon! Chris is exceptionally knowledgeable and always happy to answer any questions. With many years experience he is a wealth of information. Must also mention that the lunch of homemade vegetable soup, chunky bread, cheese and grapes was fantastic and that the cake for our afternoon tea was delicious. These little touches change the day from a great day to a fantastic day. Thank you to Chris and him Mum for a very memorable day."

Graeme Reeves reviewed: Wood turning courses in the Midlands

"Many thanks to Mark for a fantastic day's tuition. Mark's patience and enthusiasm for woodturning make him a perfect teacher. Plenty of tea and coffee throughout the day and Mark's teaching abilities are second to none. Mark takes his time to ensure that you are fully comfortable with the course material, rather than rushing through to meet a pre-determined finish time. At the end of the day I was able to take home my very first bowl, plenty of reference material and a fervent desire to carry on turning as a hobby. Since the course, Mark has been more than happy to answer any questions I have regarding technique and equipment. He clearly has a passion for helping others to learn and this shows in his tuition."

Janet Harris reviewed: Introduction to candle-making as a business

"Hi Jo Well where to start, I thought it would be so difficult to make candles, but from the start you made me comfortable & confidante in the process & safety of candle making. It was such an enjoyable course it was a shame to end, you covered so much in the time allocated from wax melts to 3 wick candles, decoratios, fragrances that were so amazing & so many to choose from, even more so what we made we took home. Brilliant. So all I can say is anyone thinking of doing your course don't hesitate. Good luck for the future & thank you again for a awesome day, would love to do another course & will recommend you. Jan x"

The White Candle Company responded:

"Hi Jan, oooh, I've only just seen this. Thank you for such a lovely review and I'm so glad you had fun. Hope you've managed to light your candles and have started to enjoy them. Do remember to pop by if you're ever passing! Jo xx"

Elaine reviewed: Kate Morrell willow sculpture courses

"My friend and I had a brilliant day with Kate. There were 6 of us in total and all got on really well with plenty of humour. Kate is a brilliant teacher who asks what we'd like to make and what would be realistic! She demonstrated everything as many times as needed. We all were going at our own pace, supplied with plenty of drinks. Dave provided lunch which was lovely and attention paid to allergies. Whilst we sat eating lunch Kate went round to each piece of work to tidy up/strengthen so when we went back to our piece we could carry on knowing that it would be ok. Kate's garden is gorgeous with her cats, dog and hens around. We all left amazed at our achievements and hooked on a new hobby thanks to such a great teacher who instilled her love of the craft to us. Well worth every penny! Thanks Kate and Dave"

Jenny Bates reviewed: Dry stone walling course Lancashire/Yorkshire/Manchester/Leeds/Sheffield/North West

"Fantastic! I really enjoyed the course, even more than expected. The whole process was mindful and I found it therapeutic as well as having the satisfaction of building a wall! It ticked all the boxes for me in terms of being outdoors, being active, connecting with others and taking notice."

James reviewed: Skills - Ultimate power tools

"David put together a bespoke course for me to learn more about routing and wood turning to help me product designs. The first thing you will notice is David has the best workshop you've ever seen and if a tool isn't there it's not needed. He helped me with what I need to know and then a ton of other things I didn't know i needed to know. Not only can I now make the products I want, I can also make them quickly which i could never have done myself. I didn't mention this but I would happily paid much more fo his time."

Patricia Becquereau reviewed: Fabric printing & lampshade making workshop

"We had an amazing time making our lampshade Ria is a great teacher and wonderful person we left the course happy and with a great lampshade"

Ruth Coote / June Barber reviewed: Try Enamel workshop - suitable for all abilities

"My Mum and I had an enjoyable morning with Theresa. I had, a few months ago, made some dragonfly earrings , and today I made a pendant to compliment them, and my Mum made a beautiful tree vein design necklace. We will definitely go to another workshop in the future. Highly recommended."

Julie Johnson reviewed: Crafts in the Valley - Beginners glass fusing workshops in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire

"I had a lovely day creating fused glass star, slump dish, coaster and earrings. Cant believe we achieved so much in one day. Lovely people and excellent instruction from Melanie hope to go to the next level workshop. Cant wait to collect my creations. Thank you all for a great day in the workshop. Julie J"

Maria reviewed: Country House Crafting Retreats in rural Hertfordshire

"A pleasant way to spend 48 hours with like minded people in a room with lots of space to scrapbook The room I stayed in was close to the main craft room and was comfortable & clean with its own bathroom. The food was excellent with plenty of it The shop was handy and had lots of goodies to buy The house was lovely and the grounds were beautiful and the whole weekend was amazing. Thank you"