Christmas dates & 2017 workshops

Hi folks,

As usual, despite having had four decades of experience of how the calendar works, the Christmas period has snuck up on me.... not great when both my kids and at least five other relatives have birthdays at this time of year.

Hopefully you're a bit more on the ball, but if you're not one of those highly-organised types who has every Christmas gift wrapped up by September 1st, I thought I'd let you know where to find me and DoodlePippin (in the run up to my traditional Christmas eve nervous breakdown).

Plus, a bit of news, some dates for polymer workshops next year, and lots of pretty pictures!

Events and exhibitions

If you're local to me (Reigate, Surrey) in the next couple of months I'm doing a range of gallery shows, exhibitions and fairs including:​​​

- 7th November to 4th December - I'm part of a Surrey Guild exhibition at the beautiful Bourneside Gallery, 1 North Street, Dorking.

- 12 November: Reigate Crafters' Market, St Marks, Alma Road, Reigate. 1pm - 3.45pm

- Sat 19th and Sun 20th November: The Lightbox Gallery in Woking, open from 10.30am to 5pm both days.

- Fri 25-Sun 27th November. Jeweller Aileen Hamilton's Open Studio, 26 Whitepost Hill, Redhill.

- 30th November: Ashtead Christmas Market, in the Ashtead Peace Memorial Hall (KT21 2BE). Starts at 7.30pm.

- 2nd December, Hawthorns School Christmas Shopping evening, Hawthorns School, Bletchingley, Redhill RH1 4QJ 7.30-10pm.

- 17th December, Reigate Crafters' Market, St Marks, Alma Road, Reigate. 1pm - 3.45pm.

- Friday 2nd-Sunday 4th December: I'll have some pieces at award-winning pewter artist Fleur Grenier's Open Studio in Angmering. Ask for more info if you're interested, as I'm not 100% sure of arrangements yet

10th to the 24th December: 'Gifted' in Guildford Guildford House Gallery, 155 High Street, Guildford, GU1 3AJ

Regular venues: The Surrey Guild of Craftsmen gallery shop in Milford in Surrey (ten mins drive from Guildford) usually has the biggest selection of DoodlePippin pieces including bangles, pendants and necklaces, earrings, cheese and butter knives, cake slices and cards.

It's a fab shop and a great place to buy direct from the maker, including ceramics, felt, stationery and cards, all sorts of beautiful jewellery, turned wood, and hand-woven items.

I also have a selection of jewellery at the excellent Royal Exchange Theatre craft shop in the centre of Manchester.

And lastly, I keep meaning to add pieces to my Etsy shop but have yet to find the time to do it... hoping to be on top of that early next year.

Commissions: If none of these suit you and there's something specific you'd like, please do say! I'm very happy to take commissions.

I'm currently working on all sorts of butter knives, cheese knives, cake slices, bangles, handles and various other projects for people who've asked via email.

Most of them will end up getting posted, which adds a bit to the cost but not much.

Workshop dates:

I've just finalized dates for next year's polymer workshops at Hobbycraft in Crawley. I LOVE teaching - we always have a hoot and everyone makes the most amazing pieces.

Unfortunately, the cost of everything seems to be going up - especially clay, petrol and raw materials like silver and jewellery 'findings' - so I'm sorry to say that for 2017 adult workshops will be £36 and kids workshops will be £22 per person. I hate putting prices up, but these still represent really good value for money when comparable adult workshops cost £80-£100 elsewhere.

I've also introduced - by popular demand - a couple of 'intermediate' sessions, aimed at those who have done the beginners class already, and would like to learn some more sophisticated techniques such as the all-important Skinner Blend and perhaps some 'mokume gane' or 'mica shift' techniques.

I've also decided to cut back on my teaching programme a little, to allow me to focus on meeting demand for studio work and commissions. So if you're tempted to give it a go (and you should be - it's fun!), book these dates while they're still available.

Dates and times are:

* Saturday 21st January - Kids: Sorry - already FULL

* Tuesday 21st March - Adult beginner: 10.30-1.30 * Sunday 14th May Adult beginner: 1-4pm * Thursday 22 June Adult intermediate : 10.30-1.30 * Wednesday 19th July Adult beginner : 10.30-1.30 * Sunday 17th September Kids : 10.30-12. * Friday 27 October. Adult Intermediate: 10.30-1.30

Other news....

I finally moved into my new studio after a lot of effort and expense, and it is fab - huge and very light and lined with storage. I still haven't unpacked properly, which means that I can never find anything and it is taking a while to get used to having more than one bin... the old shed was so tiny I could reach it from everywhere!

Press: I'm going to be featured in Making Jewellery magazine! For those of you who've come to my workshops, I've written a tutorial for Making Jewellery magazine which describes the millefiori techniques I teach (with 15 photos) which is due to come out in their February issue - and I'm going to be in there as a 'designer profile' too - so check it out if you want a refresher.