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Last night I went to a Creative Calderdale’s 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 eachother’s 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 students, which should make things more fun and interesting for everyone.

Should you be interested in attending one of my courses please don’t hesitate to get in touch

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

Last week was very exciting for me - the Halifax Courier published a full page feature all about me and my glass - how exciting!  I emailed a press release a couple of weeks ago about various activities I had planned for the month of May as part of Craft & Design Month.  I wasn’t too hopefull of any interest so was very surprised and pleased when I got a call from Diane Crabtree first thing the next morning asking to come round the next day with the photographer to do a feature!   The feature was published last Wednesday and anyone wanting to read it should got to my website http://www.wickedgencrafts.co.uk/index_files/Page827.htm. 

There was a certain degree of embellishment which made it slightly embarasing to read and a few comments at my day job the next day when a couple of people were genuinely surprised that I was still there given what was said in the article.  All part of the fun of being famous!!  And the feature did actually result in some additional business for me in the form of a lady who came round on Sunday to buy a window hanger and actually left with 3 plus a bowl.  So, now I need to think of following this all up with more local advertising and marketing.  Busy, busy…

May already!  This means it is Craft & Design Month and everybody should be in the mood for learning something new.  I have open studio sessions and glass fusing tasters to add to my usual courses so am going to be having a busy month.  This started today with a visit from the local newspaper who came to interview me and take lots of photos of me and my glass - very scary and very exciting.  The Halifax Courier will be doing a full page feature on me, my courses and my glass next Wednesday so fingers crossed this should generate lots of interest in my courses over the next few months.

Should you be interested in attending one of my courses please don’t hesitate to get in touch

Last weekend I had another fused glass course with three excited people full of enthusiasm for fused glass and what fun we had!  Two of my students were on a weekend break courtesy of their husbands who contacted me way back in December about a Christmas present for their wives.  Away from all family comitments they were both great fun all weekend.  My third student was a teacher who wants to introduce her students to glass fusing.  With so much enthusiasm I tried to give them as much information as I could about all aspects of glass fusing - I probably over-did it but when you have such an enthusiastic audience it is hard not to get caught up with all the enthusiasm.  At lunch time on both days we managed to enjoy the fabulous sunshine which finished off an excellent weekend course. 

My next big task is to get details of my courses posted up everywhere so that my courses get busier.  I had a fully booked stained glass course last month which was great news but now I am struggling to find my courses on internet searches which is impacting my course bookings for the next couple of months.  So much for being a glass artist - I seem to spend most of my time on the internet doing sales and marketing activities and web management!

Should you be interested in attending one of my courses please don’t hesitate to get in touch

Oh scary, scary!!  I’ve just got back from my first ever radio interview and over half an hour later I am still feeling totally wired by the whole experience.  The interview was to talk about my glass work and my courses and was with Geoff of Phoenix Radio, a local radio station in Calderdale.   I was totally prepared in terms of questions and answers for the topics I wanted to talk about but it was still  really scary doing it all live on air.  

What a busy week I’ve had - the radio interview was just one of many things over the last few days.  Last week was the BCTF in Harrogate which was good to do with lots of great feedback on my work, but so, so tiring.  I had Wednesday to recover before heading back to the day job for a 2 day stint before the weekend.  No rest here though as I had a stained glass course on the Saturday which turned out to be a really great day.  Just the one student, Anthea, but she came prepared with lots of sketches of the sort of thing she wanted to produce, the size of the window to be filled and her inspiration had come from the photographs on my website of my own front door.  And to top it all she had arrived with a supply of home-made cup-cakes.   A brilliant day and we had lunch in the garden as it was such a sunny day.

Sunday was supposed to be a day of running for me as I am getting really behind on my marathon training, but the 16 miles didn’t happen.  Instead I spent most of the day updating my website with all the activities planned for the Craft & Design Month of May in preparation for the radio interview today.   It’s amazing how what you think is going to be a quick activity turns out to be most of the day!

And as if I don’t already have tons to keep me busy, the Stainland Lions beginners course starts today so much of this morning (after a quick trip to gymnastics with Zachary) was spent getting all the final bits and pieces ready for the start of this evening - oh why did I volunteer to be the beginners captain this year when I knew I was already really busy!

And then tomorrow it’s back to the day job which is a day trip to London, meaning a very early start and a late finish and being totally knackered -well more than I already am if that is possible!

But some good news - by some total miracle that I am not going to question, I actually passed my grade 8 piano exam!  It’s only taken me 6 years since I restarted lessons (plus the 19 years since I originally passed grade 7) and despite having a total breakdown in all 3 pieces I have passed.  I should feel pleased but it was such a disaster of an exam I don’t feel that I’ve finished on a high.  When I mentioned to my piano teacher that I was considering re-sitting it, she sounded a bit horrified - I think I’ve stressed her out enough over the past few months.

At least I have Wednesday afternoon free, so I will try and do some running and maybe even have a rest.  Thursday afternoon is going to be good though - I have my first session with a life coach followed by a business mentoring session with Calderdale council.  These should both be great for keeping me highly motivated and making sure that I am doing all the right things to make sure that my glass efforts are a success. 

And then that takes me to the weekend when I have my next course - 2 days of fused glass with 3 excited people - hooray!

Should you be interested in attending one of my courses please don’t hesitate to get in touch