“Christmas Sparkle”: A Glass Art Workshop @ Our Crafty Place

The Workshop

Your tutor, Trisha, is looking forward to meeting you and says: “Come and spend a relaxed afternoon creating your own glass Christmas decoration or Christmas gift for someone special out of glass. In this 2½ hour session I will show you how.

There is nothing quite as magical as glass at Christmas! All the fairy lights and candles cause it to sparkle merrily. Pop a decoration on your tree; when it gently moves it will catch your eye and your focus. Stand your creation in front of a candle and it comes alive. Just glorious!

Once you have decided what to make, be it a hankerchief candle holder, tealight, free standing wave, sun-catcher or smaller-shaped decorations, you then make your design on a flat rectangle of clear glass. You can keep your creation flat such as a sun-catcher shape or smaller tree decorations, or your creation can be ‘slumped’ – fired over a shaped mould – to make a bowl, dish, tray or ‘wave’. As this a Christmas session I will be bringing just a variety of Chrismas coloured glass with me including flat sheets of glass to cut to size, cabochons, frit, and confetti. A cabochon is a pre-fired bead of glass, frit is the term for lots of small pieces of glass and confetti is thin paper-like slivers of glass.

Come and join me and have some Chrismassy fun!”

NB: the cost of the ticket includes one larger item or 3 to 4 smaller decorations. Trisha will guide you through what is possible. If you get bitten by the glass fusion bug and have time to make some more items please bring an extra £9 with you for added glass use!

Trisha will need to take your creation(s) away with her and fire them in her kiln. We will then arrange with you when to come and pick them up.

What to bring on the day?

Anticipation to enjoy the whole experience!

Specific to this workshop:

• It is essential that you wear closed shoes please, i.e. no sandals or flip-flops – you will be working with small pieces of glass called frit.
• Glass will always be sharp and even if you are taking the utmost care sometimes you may get a small cut on your hand/fingers. If you have an allergy to normal plasters please will you bring your own.
• Reading glasses if you need them.
• NB: you will be provided with all you need regarding safety, including safety googles, which must be worn when cutting glass.

We will be providing drinks and home-made biscuits throughout the afternoon.

What skills are needed?

No experience is necessary. Trisha will give you a full safety briefing. utting glass seems scary at first but it is immensly satisfying. If you can hold a pencil you can hold the glass cutting tool. You need a certain degree of finger and upper limb strength but it is totally achieveable with a little practice.

What are the timings?

This is a relaxed afternoon running from 1.30pm to 4pm.

Our purple front door will be open from 1pm so we can welcome you in, you can get to meet Trisha and your fellow crafters and grab a cuppa before you start.

What is the cost?

£45 + 94p card fee. This includes all the materials needed to make your beautiful Christmas glass decoration / gift  and Christmas refreshments during the afternoon.

How many places are available?

To ensure the quality of your personal experience, the group size is limited to 12.