Long Eaton Carnival

Last Saturday, 25th June, four of us from the Art Room headed down to West Park to the Long Eaton Carnival. The Carnival started at 11am and to begin with things were quiet due to the weather....

Once the sun came out though, so did the crowds and our stall proved very popular. Below are a couple of the staff, Gary and Amy, enjoying the calm before the crowds descended.....

It was lovely to catch up with some of our regular customers but just as great to meet so many new faces. There were a variety of craft activities on offer, felting bangles, painting a pot and fabric painting glove puppets or dolls. All the activities proved equally popular with the carnival goers and we were thrilled when we added up our takings and realised we had raised £106! Thank you to everyone who came by to say hello and have a go at one of our activites.

Look forward to seeing you at next year's Carnival.

Josie, Kate, Gary and Amy

Quilling Guild Workshop

On June 11th, I held one of the Quilling Guilds quarterly workshops at the Long Eaton Art Room.  A varied group with different quilling abilites attended including two newbees, who were all soon quilling away merrilly.

My wonderful assistant Diane provided good advice and helpful hints to all the attendees. This inspired several of the throng to take on the challenge of the suggested activity, making a quilled brooch and some amazing examples were produced, from a filligree effect to one brave attendee making a replica of the strawberry badge example.

A great time was had by all, fuelled by lots of tea and coffee and my homemade treats. Here are some more photos of the colourful pieces produced on the day.

 The next Quilling Guild workshop will be held on 10th september, all are welcome. For further information on the workshop or quillng, feel free to drop in and chat to me at the artroom on thursday evenings between 6pm - 9pm. or contact me by email at cas31078@msn.com.

Cas Whitworth , local Quilling Guild representative and Long Eaton Art Room volunteer

Derbyshire Open Art Exhibition at Long Eaton Art Room

As part of the May Bank Holiday, down at the Art Room we had a free art exhibition. Four local artisans took part, all working in different and unique ways to create some stunning works of art. There was a good turn out for the exhibition and lots of positive feedback about the pieces on display.

Josie Harrington was selling her handmade ceramics and homemade jams and chutneys (which proved popular as they all sold out). Mary Graham was there with her unique knitted wire and porcelain jewellery. Helen Hallows was selling her distinctive collage pictures and ceramics. Claire Roberts brought along her unusual photographs and portraits.

The visitors who braved the storms for our open studio enjoyed a variety of exhibitions and many stayed to have a go at one of the craft workshops on offer or just to enjoy a cup of tea and a cake. Helen ran a design a tile workshop, Josie did a needle felting workshop and managed to teach and convert Claire! There was also a spinning demonstration courtsey of Mary Graham, Mary also did an impromtu crochet teaching session for Helen.

All the exhibitors sold some of their work and we even recruited a couple of new volunteers.

Here are some photographs from the exhibition for you to enjoy, if you were able to come along thank you for your support and if you couldn't make it then hope to see you next time.