There are a huge number of benefits to getting involved in arts and crafts, for adults and children alike. Whether you want to meet new people and form new friendships, boost your creativity, or just take some time for yourself to look after your mental health and wellbeing, crafting could be just the thing you need. But which sort of crafting do you want to try? Or, perhaps, which sort of crafting do you want to try first?
At Coastal Craft Collective we offer a huge range of workshops, each focusing on a different and exciting form of crafting. Whether you’re a complete beginner or you’re just looking to hone your skills with an expert teacher, there are plenty of workshops to choose from. In this handy guide we’ll go through some of our most popular workshops and what you can expect from them when you book your first session.
Lino printing
Lino printing is one of our longest running workshops, and remains one of the most popular ones too. Suitable for beginners and more experienced crafters, a lino printing workshop is a creative and fun way of turning your images or ideas into printed pictures. You can bring drawings or ideas with you, or you can wait to be inspired in the room!
Using specialist tools (all provided by us) you will learn how to cut your design into a lino tile, and then choose from a wide range of inks and paper to make beautiful and unique prints with it. Cutting a design into your lino is an immensely satisfying and meditative process, and seeing the fruits of your labour materialise before your very eyes when you come to printing is nothing short of magical.
If you like the sound of that, we also have a new workshop; two colour lino printing. As the name suggests, this workshop lets you print in two colours from your lino. After printing in one colour, your teacher will guide you through the process of cutting new sections of your lino out to allow you to print in a new colour, adding more depth to your pictures.
After a lino printing workshop you will go home with multiple prints of your design, ready to decorate your home with or give out as homemade gifts!
Cyanotype
Cyanotype, otherwise known as sun printing, is a process which uses UV light to make striking and beautiful prints. In these workshops you will be provided with specially treated watercolour paper along with a selection of leaves and flowers to make prints from, although you are more than welcome to bring your own materials along to use. Dried or pressed flowers, leaves, seeds, or even lace or string can all make gorgeous and one of a kind prints.
Simply by arranging your item on the treated paper and exposing it to UV light, you can walk away with a beautiful cyanotype or sun print. And don’t worry, you don’t have to rely on it being a sunny day; we have a UV lamp available to use if it’s cloudy.
Sea Glass Jewellery
In a sea glass jewelry workshop you will be guided through the process of making a beautiful necklace or pendant out of sea glass. If you have some sea glass at home that you think would make a lovely piece of jewellery, or if you fancy a trip to the beach to look for sea glass or pottery washed up on the sand, you can bring this with you to the workshop. Alternatively there will be a selection of sea glass and pottery pieces available for you to use too.
You will learn how to use lead free solder and sea glass to create totally bespoke pieces of jewellery. You can make your own accessory to wear with pride, or a meaningful gift for someone special. Either way, a sea glass jewellery workshop is a great way to get creative and make something beautiful out of something ordinary.
Stained glass
At a stained glass workshop you will discover how to make a beautiful stained glass decoration for your home. You will learn every step of the process, including cutting the glass, grinding the edges smooth, copper foiling and soldering. At the end of a half day workshop you will have created a gorgeous stained glass decoration from textured, coloured glass, following a template from our wide range of designs. It may sound daunting, but you will be led through every step by an expert teacher as part of a small group, so it’s perfect for absolute beginners.
We also offer full day workshops in stained glass for both beginners and people with some stained glass experience, as well as sessions specifically tailored to people looking to improve their existing stained glass skills. There really is something for everyone.
Lampshade making
In a lampshade making workshop you will create a simple and elegant drum lampshade, covered in a fabric of your choice. You can choose your favourite fabric from a selection on the day, buying your piece for £3 or £4, or you can bring your own fabric with you if you like. We recommend a simple cotton fabric to start with, and you will need a piece that’s 65cm by 24cm.
We also offer a workshop to make a string of lamp shades for fairy lights. These fairy light shades workshops provide everything you need, including the fairy lights themselves, but again you are welcome to bring your own fabric along if you have something particular in mind. You’ll need a piece of fabric that’s 50cm by 50cm. This workshop is great for decorating your house all year round, or you could make some special Christmassy shades ready for the festive season.
Driftwood Creations
These driftwood creations workshops are just what you’d expect; they help you to create something beautiful out of driftwood! All the driftwood you need will be there ready for you to be inspired by, all collected from local Devon beaches. Or, if you’ve found your own piece of driftwood that you want to transform, you’re welcome to bring that too.
Maybe you have visions of a driftwood heart for your wall at home, or a boat, a wreath, an animal or even a Christmas tree? Putting together a driftwood tree is perfect for all kinds of festive seasons, but also for all year round. You might come to the workshop knowing exactly what you want to make, or you can wait and see what inspiration strikes in the moment. Your teacher will also be on hand not only to help you come up with ideas for what to create, but also how to go about creating it. A driftwood creations workshop is the perfect place to let your imagination run wild and really get creative, creating something that you’re really proud of and having lots of fun doing it.
Crochet
Crochet is always a popular choice if you’re looking to get crafting. At Coastal Craft Collective we have workshops for beginners who want to learn the basics in a friendly and supportive atmosphere, and also workshops for people who have some crochet experience already and want to develop their skills and learn new techniques.
As well as these crochet workshops we also run two social crochet classes; Crochet and Coffee on the 2nd Sunday of every month, as well as knitting, crochet and craft club every other Tuesday morning. Knitting, crochet and craft club is great to work on your crochet and knitting projects and get some tips from experts, but you can also bring along any other crafting projects you want to work on in the company of other crafty people. These social sessions are perfect for expanding your social circle and making new friends whilst getting creative.
Macrame
After lots of requests from crafters, we now also offer macrame workshops! Our macrame plant hangings workshops teach you how to make a beautiful macrame plant hanger to hold a plant pot. The workshops work to a standard plant pot size of between 14cm and 20cm, but if you have a particular plant pot in mind you can bring it along to make something that’s the perfect fit.
You’ll learn all the skills you need to make your very own macrame plant hanger to take home with you, or to give as a gift to your green fingered friends!
These are just a few of the most popular workshops we have on offer, but we have lots more to choose from too. You can have a look at our website to browse through all of our workshops and see which one captures your imagination first. If there’s a craft you really want to try which we don’t currently offer as a workshop, please do get in touch and let us know. As with our new macrame sessions, if there’s lots of interest we might just start up a new workshop!
For more information on any of our workshops, or for help or advice on which to choose, feel free to get in touch with us. We’d love to hear from you.