Latest reviews

Mrs Cunningham reviewed: Textiles of Japan & the Festival of Quilts

"Fantastic trip and I will definitely go on another holiday with Stitchtopia. Arrangements were excellent and the support for everyone on the tour was brilliant. I was very impressed with the content of the tour and the way in which Lynn and Mandy checked that everyone knew the plans and had made decisions for meals. They changed their plans in order that our needs were catered for. Amazing and lovely people!"

Mrs Prance reviewed: Textiles of Japan & the Festival of Quilts

"Once in a lifetime trip - I thought - but now want to go back! Everything was above expectations. From Mandy being with us to Yuka our Japanese guide, travel and hotel arrangements plus all the places we visited and experiences arranged for us. Many wonderful memories. The whole trip was excellent from start to finish."

Dr Hill reviewed: Textiles of Japan & the Festival of Quilts

"Trip to remember! Whenever I had a question, someone was always at the end of a phone to answer it. There were no difficulties with booking or payment and everyone I contacted was friendly & helpful. There was a good combination of sight-seeing and textile experiences. We went to places and had hands-on experiences that we could not have arranged for ourselves had we been travelling solo. Mandy was an excellent organiser and facilitator and our local guide was knowledgeable and very helpful. I’ll never forget the kimono museum and the quilt festival itself was quite astonishing, more so than I expected, and a wonderful finish to the trip."

Jane D reviewed: Ceramic sculpture for all abilities in Kent

"Having had no previous sculpture experience and considering myself to have no artistic ability, Brenda’s classes turned out to be one of the most relaxing and enjoyable things I have ever done! Brenda is a very gentle, intuitive and generous teacher and enables participants to create lovely personalised pieces in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. I thoroughly recommend her courses."

Brenda Burgess Arts responded:

"Thanks so much for your kind remarks Jane and I look forward very much to seeing you at Godinton very soon."

Mrs Davies reviewed: Textile Treasures of Vietnam

"Fantastic, Fantastic, Fantastic. No more needs to be said. Everything was exceptional. Could not have been bettered."

Mrs Scorgie reviewed: Textile Treasures of Vietnam

"The tour was well organised and researched. The guide was full of interesting information and he was very friendly and helpful. The accommodation was of a very high standard as was the food. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole trip. Thank you."

Mrs Jeffcoat reviewed: Textile Treasures of Vietnam

"Everyone was very helpful - I booked the land package with Arena and booked my own air travel as I was going onto Australia after the Vietnam tour. Arena, even arranged a driver and guide to pick me up and take me to the airport at the end of the tour as my flight was 3 hours earlier than the group who were returning to London. A well arranged trip with outstanding experiences. The specialist, Pat who accompanied us was great fun and made the trip worthwhile. Our local guides were outstanding. This is the second trip I have done with Arena and I will definitely book with them again."

Mrs Everett reviewed: Textile Treasures of Vietnam

"It was a wonderful experience. Everything was timed to perfection and the group I was with were excellent travel companions"

Mrs Mote reviewed: Textile Treasures of Vietnam

"Very well organized, the local agent had everything off to a "T". Group was the right size, leader was good."

Vikkie haines reviewed: Quilling for Mother's Day with Learn to be Crafty

"Fantastic learning course , delightful ideas for chocolate and sugar cake topper ideas"

Sarah Fowler reviewed: Corset making: Victorian / Beginners

"What a wonderful two days. I'm still buzzing from learning a new skill, meeting some lovely new people and meeting and learning with the lovely Lisa. Patience must be her middle name!! Will be back when I can ;)"

Esther reviewed: Introduction to candle-making as a business

"Wow! Jo really knows her stuff! Thank you for an amazing day I am in love with everything I got to make and bring home! X"

Kerry reviewed: Corset making: Victorian / Beginners

"Brilliant course! Thoroughly enjoyed, it so much fun and Lisa is great :) Thank you Lisa!"

Peter Bilton reviewed: Make you own fan bird

"Excellent day with Steve, great tuition, everything provided in a warm and friendly environment. Would strongly recommend for anyone wanting to pickup basic carving skills."

Emma Watt reviewed: Bookbinding and sketching workshop at The Arienas Collective in central Edinburgh

"Superb course by Cass. Loved the materials used and how it’s transformed into an amazing hand bound book. Love mine so much!"

The Arienas Collective responded:

"Hi Emma. Thanks for the lovely review. We're delighted you're so much in love with your beautiful hand-bound book, and look forward to welcoming you back again soon. Best wishes, Lynn :-)"

Rhianwen reviewed: Fascinator hat making - gorgeous spirals millinery workshop

"I bought a private workshop for mum (and myself) as a Mothering Sunday present. I could honestly not have bought a better present and we both had a wonderful day. Rachel is lovely, and we thoroughly enjoyed her company. She is very enthusiastic and knowledgeable and happy to share that knowledge We are both absolutely over the moon with our fascinators and look forward to wearing them. We will both be looking to book further workshops with Rachel in the future and could honestly not have wished for a better teacher"

Gill Czaicka reviewed: Mosaic one day workshop for adults with Caroline Jariwala, Birmingham

"I did my first course with Caroline last week and was nervous as I'm not very confident about doing things like this. I really enjoyed the day with lovely participants and Caroline was great helping each of us achieve something so different and unique. Caroline was a super host too keeping us supplied with drinks and food. Well worth it!"

Jon Briggs reviewed: Learn to carve wooden spoons, beginners and improvers

"This was a top-up course for me and really worthwhile. Dave gave plenty of individual attention in a cosy yurt. I refreshed and upgraded my understanding of knife holds and techniques, along with some facts about wood I’d not picked up on before. Lashings of tea and awesome flapjack :-)"

Gemma reviewed: Create a ceramic animal sculpture with Twisted Earth Ceramics at Ilkley Manor Studio

"I have just got back from a residential ceramics and yoga weekend at a beautiful venue in Derbyshire (led by sculptor, Richard, and yoga teacher, Hilary). The weekend was a little treat to myself and a treat it surely was! Richard and Hilary worked really well together and the balance between clay work and yoga was spot on. There was also time to explore our beautiful surroundings and to relax and chat with one another. The course was really well organised but always felt relaxed and fun. Richard and Hilary are very skilled at what they do and their passion for their art is infectious! Besides this, they are both lovely people to be around. I would certainly recommend this residential course to anyone interested in sculpturing/yoga practice or anyone simply looking for a little mind and body nourishment!"

Charlotte Hale reviewed: Photoshop - an artist's guide for beginners

"I took a 2-day course a couple of years back and it was a really enjoyable experience down at the Nature in Art museum near Gloucester. The other students were a mixture of artistic and business types so there was a good atmosphere. Using Photoshop for the first time gave us a fair amount to get to grips with so Shelly had prepared useful notes to cover the main features of the tool to help us get started and use as reference. First of all we had a demo on how Shelly creates some of her work which was very inspiring. She had also prepared some images which we could layer together ourselves to give us an idea of how to create interesting collages. We progressed to collecting together our own images and drawings to produce individual pieces of work. I was impressed by the breadth of work produced by the students and it was a nice forum for sharing ideas. In retrospect I would have pre-prepared more textures such as photos of leaves, bark, rock, fir etc. and to scan some of my favourite drawings and images to incorporate into the collages. In fact, since I took the course, it has become quite a hobby to capture different textures and build up my own library of images. Shelly is a great teacher with a warm and friendly manner and her house makes a great venue. I would certainly recommend this course - you'll love it."

Gary Pearson reviewed: Blacksmithing Introduction courses in Yorkshire and the North East

"I had this bought as a birthday present from my wife. Really enjoyed the day. Adrian, Debbie and Andy were the perfect hosts. Would definitely like to come back and try something else."

Diana Ekdawy reviewed: Easel Weasel Wednesday Art workshops - Derbyshire Peak District

"Me and my fiancé did this course and Denise was amazing- so friendly and helped us along every step of the way. Great for all abilities too as I have never been very talented in painting but with Denise’s help I was able to make a lovely painting that I will treasure. We will definitely be back!!!"

Deb Waterhouse reviewed: Needle felt workshop

"This is the second time that I have attended Louise's felting course. It was so good the first time (making a hare) that I immediately signed up for another go (making a sheep). On both occasions I attended on my own and just felt so comfortable joining this group of people I had never met before. No airs and graces, just down to earth good company and creativity with like minded people. We were supplied with all materials needed (which we also took home with us) and given that we all had the same equipment, came out with individual sheep that we could be proud of - not one was the same. Once you start putting details of faces on them, they really come to life and you can put your own character into it. We were also supplied with mugs of tea (plenty of them too) and biscuits in the morning, cake in the afternoon. I highly recommend this course to anyone wanting some quality time in beautiful surroundings with an instructor who makes it seem so easy."

Kirstie Gardner reviewed: Needle felting course with FURZIE at Trumpet Corner Tea Rooms, Ledbury, Herefordshire

"What a great relaxing fun and informative day. Michelle is a fantastic and generous teacher. The venue at Trumpet was lovely. Food and refreshments were delicious and added to the day. Looking forward to booking another day."

Juliet Caulfield reviewed: One day leather work course - small leather goods

"This is a FANTASTIC course! Jason is a highly talented leather craftsman and exceptionally patient teacher. His passion for his craft is infectious and he has created a genuinely ‘hands on’ course. Over 2 days I produced a really ‘professionally’ crafted bag that has already received several compliments! Jason has inspired me to continue my leather work as a rewarding new hobby!"