My Amazing Craft Class People

After a horribly stressful day yesterday (non work related things) it was a tonic to go to the craft class and have a wonderful evening with the ladies. We had a healthy turnout, lots of cakes and tea and a good old chinwag! One of these days they're going to come in and tell us to pipe down for fear of disturbing the neighbours!

Our theme was ACEOs/ATCs and we started with a good look at some of my work, as well as Xena's wonderful collection that she brought along. Some people wanted to play with the materials I took (and boy did I go crazy with that - we could have spent a year working on them and not used up everything, but better than running out!) and some were interested in an introduction to watercolour techniques. It was brilliant to share my love of watercolour and have folk dive on in there for a good old play around. There's much interest now in a class devoted solely to watercolour, so I've put that on my list.

I have to say, it's truly inspiring to spend a few hours with people who want to create. I feel recharged after a class, despite the tiredness! That's mostly my own fault though because I spend so long preparing and gathering materials to take (as I've droned on about before). We also all have such a good chat and a giggle, they're a smashing bunch to spend time with for so many reasons.

We have an age range of 17 to 60+ regularly attending and I think everyone takes something from it, whether it be the picking up of ideas or just a bit of socialising and confidence building. One lady told me last night how nervous she'd been about coming because she didn't think she'd be able to keep up, but I won't have that kind of talk. It's my job to make sure that absolutely everyone who joins us, whatever their ability, can do something to be proud of and go home feeling that they've made an achievement. It might be something as simple as using rubber stamps or sewing on a button, but it's always a progressive step for them. This is why I take so much kit, to make sure nobody is ever left out.

So, on to our results. I only managed to get photos of the ACEOs, not the other work that was done. Also, some work had vanished by the time I got the camera out, because people were already swapping their work. How's that for success? Trading their pieces like seasoned collectors. Fabulous!