I’ve been nominated for an award!

I’m so excited that a kind Dottie Crafter has nominated my Studio for an award!! The Dottie Crafter Studio in Wheathampstead has been nominated in the BEST ART SPACE category in the Muddy Stilettos Awards 2022 (Herts & Beds). I would love it if you could please vote for me by May 20th. The top 5 with the most nominations will go through to the national finals!! Thank you x

How to vote:

1. Follow this link https://herts.muddystilettos.co.uk/nominate/art-space

2. Enter your email address to receive a voting link

3. Visit the email sent to your inbox and click the ‘Vote Now’ button

4. Choose the ‘Best Art Space’ category from the list shown

5. Type ‘The Dottie Crafter Studio’ in the nominee text box, and ‘Wheathampstead’ in the business base text box

6. Press the ‘Submit your Nomination’ box to nominate The Dottie Crafter Studio for the Best Art Space in Herts and Beds!

Thank you! You can share your nomination on social media to help me reach the regional finals!

The Village Pop-Up Shop

Tuesday, 11 May to Sunday, 23 May 2021
Wheathampstead,
AL4 8BB
Welcome to the first Village Pop-Up Shop!

Together with lots of other lovely local artists, and curated by the wonderful Robyn, we have opened a pop-up shop on the Wheathampstead High Street this week!

My cards and artworks are available to buy along with lots of other locally made art, jewellery, clothing, homewares, biscuits, kids products, prints and loads more. Hope to see you there!

Find out more here or follow on Instagram @villagepopup

Dottie Commissions

I’ve been really lucky to have been asked by several people to create bespoke works of art for them recently. This has given me a chance to get creative and explore my own art in the Dottie Studio while my lessons are on hold.

My most recent commission was for a three-panel canvas. Here are some pictures showing the start of the commission, the work in progress and in situ. Thanks so much to Kym and Rosie for commissioning this 3 panel painting xxx

My first main commission was to create a Fortnite canvas as a birthday present. Here are some pictures of the development work and the final piece.

I’ve really enjoyed creating these art works and getting messy in the Studio!

Please get in touch if you would like to discuss a commission x

Autumn term

We had a lot of fun in our reduced-sized workshops in the Dottie Studio over half term. My Dottie Tweens took part in tonal drawing, pop art celebrity portraits and acrylic painting.

We also had fun in my day time adult classes playing with my new technique of lino printing…. and starting to think about Christmas card designs already!

Finally, I really enjoyed teaching Duke of Edinburgh participants new art skills – everyone got to choose their favourite Dottie craft including lino printing, graffiti canvases or appliqué cushions.

Fun with lino printing

I’ve been missing my classes and my lovely Dottie family enormously. To keep me busy during lockdown, I’ve been making some handmade lino printed cards (blank inside) with various designs; florals, bees, birds, doggies and Wheathampstead village scenes.

Do you need any cards for special occasions? They are £2.50 each or £10 for five. They are 7×5″ size and individually wrapped with an envelope. Happy to deliver locally. Also on sale in the Wheathampstead Post Office and Vanstone garden centre in Codicot.

Looking forward to seeing you all again soon. Stay safe x

Spring Market (29th March)

I’m really excited to announce that I’ll be running Easter wreath-making workshops at the Wheathampstead Spring Market !

The market is being held on Sunday 29th March from 10am to 4pm in the Wheathampstead Memorial Hall (AL4 8AY) and The Reading Rooms, High Street (AL4 8AA). Booking for the 10.30 am workshop is essential – please get in touch. Cost per person is £20 and includes all materials.

There will also be lots of lovely markets stalls selling a range of locally hand-made items plus St Helen’s primary school are running the Spring Cafe. Entry is £2 for adults.

More information is available on Facebook @villagepopup @thereadingroomspub and Instagram @styleitbeautiful.

Look forward to seeing you there! x

* Christmas 2019 *

A big thank you to everyone who supported me during my first Christmas at the Dottie Crafter. It was lovely to meet lots of new crafters and to help even more people to discover the joys of being creative!

It was a crazy few weeks making three different types of festive wreaths. We made rattan wreaths at the Wheathampsted Playgroup Ladies’ Night;

we made fabric rag wreaths at the Dottie Studio;

and for the first time we made fresh foliage wreaths at the Wheathampstead Pop Up Christmas Market.

Watch out for new ideas for Christmas wreaths in 2020 as I’ve got the foliage wreath making bug now!!

Wishing all my Dottie Crafters a Happy New Year x

Summer 2019 at the Dottie Crafter Studio

Wow – what a great summer holiday we had! The Dottie Studio was buzzing all summer with different creative activities, workshops and parties.
Creating graffiti-inspired canvases was one of the most popular activities with loads of children taking home their own fabulous artwork for the bedroom walls! Here is some of the amazing work in progress:

And here are some of the brilliant finished pieces:

We also had fun up-cycling denim to create funky noticeboards:

We learnt to make small bags which my lovely Dottie crafters decorated with loads of beautiful designs:

Two budding fashion designers crafted their own waistcoats/bags:

We also made these lovely tie-dye cushions:

Finally, there have been several birthday parties with lots of creative, hand-made, going-home presents!

First Dottie evening classes

We recently started our first adult evening classes in the Dottie Studio. At our first session we sketched and painted some gorgeous flowery designs:

I had great fun getting ready for the second week – a batik workshop – the ladies had to ’embrace the splotches’…!

..and they really did – look at their beautiful work below.

This was a beautiful hand embroidered batik by Jennie.

Last night we were felt making:

With some fabulous final designs: