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I have finally added all my course dates to the end of May to my page on the Made by Hands of Britain website.  With my weekdays about to free I am now able to offer mid-week courses as well as weekend courses and a greater variety of course length so hopefully I have something to suit more people.  And bookings are coming through already and as far ahead as May which is great news.  I am going to have so much fun over the coming months teaching more and more people the fun of glass.  Beware - it is very addictive! 

Well I am in count down to finishing with the day job and going it full time with my glass and I cannot wait!!  I cannot believe how many years I have dreamed of this moment and I am so excited.  All the hard work I put into everything last year is already paying off and I am getting loads of bookings on my courses even as far ahead as May.  I’ve already got 2 completely full courses and others that are nearly full.  It really does go  to show that everything they say in all those self help books such as Feel the fear and do it anyway really do work!  Having really started to believe in success and the real possibility that I could turn my life around and do something for myself that I love and can share with others, things are happening for real and I am starting to live the reality instead of having the dream.  So just 16 days to go before I am flying solo and then my life starts for real.  I feel like a teenager again at the moment as all the constraints that build up around me over the years without me even realising have started to fall away.  I’ve stopped worrying about saying the right thing to the right person in a corporate environment and am loving finding myself again.  I’m letting myself remember the things I’ve always enjoyed but had forgotten about.  Well, here goes for a great year and I am so looking forward to writing about it here on my blog! 

Hooray - I’m giving up the day job at last!!   I applied for voluntary redundancy and last month they said YES!!  I can’t believe the added enthusiasm and momentum it has given me knowing that this really is it.  No more life-line to hold on to - glass is the future!!  And just to make sure I don’t forget it, life has just got busier and busier on the glass front.  Bookings on courses are picking up with this month being my busiest yet and I’ve even got fully booked courses as far ahead as February 2012.  I was at Gibson Mill at the end of October for the 3 day craft fair run by the National Trust.  What a fabulous location at Hardcastle Crags and the mini-bus ride from and to the car park every morning was highly entertaining - a great way of bonding with the other designer-makers.  I’ve just given a 2 day glass fusing course which was great fun but combined with a really horrible cold has left me shattered. 

But I don’t have time to rest as I am at Essence of Christmas at Harewood House in less than two weeks and this is in a different league to the usual fairs that I do.  I’ve got loads of things to make, and lots of final prep for all the bits I need to display everything.  I’ve drawn the layout on paper, but bringing it all to life is going to be challenging in the timescales.  I applied for a mobile payment machine two weeks ago and just hope it all gets processed and arrives in time for the fair. 

My Confetti Flowers  and Hearts of Glass have proven popular in recent months so they are what I will be focusing on displaying on the walls.  I’m also going to have a display of my wave heart pendants and some of my wave trinket dishes.

But otherwise the emphasis will be on my Gift Voucher Boxes for my courses.  For each of my main courses (One Day Stained Glass, Two Day Fused Glass and Fused Glass Taster) I have a gift voucher which is valid until the end of December 2012.  This comes in the form of a small gift box with a sample of either fused glass inside or some some glass and lead as appropriate for the voucher.

But finding time to get it all done is going to stretch me!  I’ve got 4 days a week at the day job to fit in as well as a stained glass course to run next weekend and an evening class in glass fusing tomorrow night and  I’ve still got work from my students at the weekend to fuse in the kiln!  And I mustn’t forget that I have 2 kids to try and look after and a partner to entertain.  All this and I’m a Celebrity comes on to TV provide a major distraction (very sad I know, but it is one of my not-so-secret guilty pleasures in the run-up to Christmas!)  And as for my running, well that is proving somewhat difficult to fit in and I have too many quite valid excuses!  I’m just going to have to eat less mince pies this Christmas! 

Go to go - Pete’s just got back from shopping, the oven is on and I’ve got salad to make - well past 7pm, it’s a school night and the kids have not yet had dinner….

What a busy few months!  Bookings on courses are growing each month which is great news and I am adding evening and afternoon sessions for the fused glass.  I am also starting to get interest in running a mosaic course so I need to get some dates organised and get going!  Last month I was at Art in the Pen and what a great weekend that was.  I had loads of really lovely comments but the biggest complement was from a couple who bought 3 of my confetti flower pictures.  I couldn’t believe it when they said they wanted three!  Another lady bought one of my wave heart pictures which was another big boost.  It’s good to actually have some pieces that I actually like and that other people are loving and are buying.  I’ve also sold a whole load of work to Gerry at Neaversons in Huddersfield which is another big boost.  So to celebrate I treated myself to a new kiln, an introduction to Enamelling book and a starter pack of enamelling bits - it’s going to be a while yet before I get competent but it is so exciting having something new to play with!   

Last night I went to a Creative Calderdale first birthday party which was absolutely brilliant!  I am so impressed with my local council for supporting all the creative people in the Halifax and surrounding areas and this event was another great example.  I was one of a number of people who had stands to promote their work which gave me a great opportunity to talk non-stop about my favourite topic - glass.  Everyone there was interested in creativity which meant I had a ready made audience of people who wanted to know more about all the different courses that I run.  I am so used to being at craft fairs and the like which can be really long and tedious, but this event was the complete opposite.  We weren’t given a chair to sit on and we didn’t need them - the time just flew by because I was having so much fun talking to so many different people about glass.  And I bumped into so many people that I already know - my accountant, a student who has booked in for a stained glass course on Saturday, a friend from running and then lots of familiar looking faces.  A great networking event and lots of fun as well - well done Calderdale!

The last few weeks have flown by so quickly and as usual I am juggling, juggling, juggling!  I ran my first set of evening classes in June in fused glass which were great fun.  I had 1 student who has done quite a bit of fused glass before and came on my 2 day course in May, and the other student was totally new to glass.  I was a little apprehensive for my class worrying about how to teach 2 people different things at the same time, but once we got started it was great.  They each had different techniques to learn each week, but were really interested in each other’s work and fed of eachothers ideas.  I quickly realised that I didn’t need to be quite so worried about having formal instruction each week and we all finished each lesson in high spirits and feeling highly motivated and inspired.  By the last lesson they were desparate for more classes so now I’ve decided to go with “pay as you go” evening classes.  This means that I can fit lessons in around my personal commitments without having to worry about necessarily having 4 consecutive weeks and my students can fit in lessons around their own commitments and not have to fork out if they are on holiday or just want 1 or 2 lessons per month.  It will also mean that over time, they will get to have lessons with different other students which should make things more fun and interesting for everyone.

The highlight of the last month was being accepted for Art in the Pen again this year.  For some reason I was convinced that I would be turned down, so when I got the acceptance letter, I was quite stunned by my own reaction - lots of screaming, singing and dancing around the dining room!  I think we can all deduce that I was pleased!  So, make sure you all come and say hello to me in Skipton on 13th & 14th August  - http://www.artinthepen.org.uk/HOME.html 

Gen