Ministry April 2017

Just got back from a fantastic weekend at Ministry of Mixology UK. This was our fifth event and probably our most successful yet - they seem to get better and better!

It was lovely to go this time as a visitor rather than a teacher, as I got to chat to lots more of the guests and see the workshops from the other side. There was also a lot more time for shenanigans!!!

We had 70 students attending and our tutors this time were Kate Crane and France Papillon, who both created gorgeous projects that everyone seemed to love.

They were joined as usual in the evening by our volunteer demonstrators - with seven 'make and takes' to choose from this time, from Mark Gould, Nikki Killinger, Dee Adams, Hannah Oxberry, Suz Humphreys, Di Oliver and my long-suffering daughter, Jade Trickett.

Mark's demo

Nikki's demo

MoM newbie Hannah's demo

Bag printing with Jade

Tags with Di Oliver

Di's chilled out demo

Printed bags with Jade

Dee's demo

Suz's Demo (yes, she is dressed as a pirate!)

Big thanks go out again to our wonderful sponsors DecoArt, Tando Creative and Stampendous, and also to the associate sponsors who generously donated to our goody bags - Decoart, Artful Days, Kuretake, Country View Crafts, and Country Love Crafts and Tando Creative.

Our fabby goody bags! (Photo stolen from delegate Mel - thanks Mel)

And as usual the shop was stuffed full of goodies for your shopping pleasure!

And finally... did I mention shenanigans??? This MoM fell around the time of Jade's birthday so Craig (AKA Creg - ask Tracy Weinzapfel) and we did the dance of the sugar plum fairies for her entertainment (and no doubt embarrassment!).

If you'd like to join us for a future MoM all the details are on our website and why not join our Facebook group where you get heads up on tickets (it pays to be in the group, because this event sold out in 12 hours and the next one sold out in just 5 hours!)

Our next announcement will be for MoM USA so keep an eye out for that coming soon!

Dare 2 Create with Tracy, Three Colour Challenge!

Before Tracy left for vacation, we decided to have a Dare 2 Create challenge one evening. We hooked up the webcams, grabbed a blank canvas and a glass of wine each and decided to limit ourselves to just 3 colours from the Media Line: Pyrrole Red, Carbon Black and Titanium White (I would argue that this is a one colour challenge as black and white are officially not colours but hey!).

We give ourselves these challenges for a few reasons: 1) to push each other out of our comfort zones, 2) to learn and discover new techniques, 3) to de-stress, 4) because it's great fun, and 5) it's a damn good excuse to chat and have a glass (bottle) of wine together, even though we are over 5000 miles apart :).

Here are our finished 3 colour canvases:

I love Tracy's canvas and am claiming it for myself when we meet up again in Chicago for The Ministry of Mixology event. (Ministry is down to its last 4 places out of the 70, so if you want to come you better get in quick! We'd love you to join us for 2 days of painting and a whole lot of fun!)

Details and bookings can be found here http://www.ministryofmixology.com

Now we challenge those of you in our private groups to have a go or if not already a member come and join the fun! 

We will award two DecoArt Red/Black/White prize packs (1 per group so make sure to upload those projects!). Deadline is September 26th…..

Head to the groups below for more info
https://www.facebook.com/groups/AndySkinnerandFriends/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/mmmtwstudios/

MoM Chicago Update - Sponsors and More!

Announcing our NEW US Sponsors

We are so proud to be welcoming a host of new sponsors for MoM Chicago, who are partnering with us alongside our Core Sponsors, Tando Creative, DecoArt, and Stampendous.

Please give a very warm welcome to:

Canson

Marvy Uchida

Canvas Corp Brands

Gelli Arts

Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazine

Painting World magazine

Beacon Adhesives

These companies have all generously donated to the event - which means our Goody Bags are going to be EPIC!!!

And in Other News

We are happy to announce that we have an awesome face to welcome everyone at registration - the lovely Nadine Schwartz.  She has been so generous to volunteer to take on this vital position for us and will be there to give a warm welcome to everyone and to help out throughout the event. 

You may be familiar with Nadine from the Craft & Hobby Association and of course she'll also be able to answer any questions you might have. Don't miss out on the opportunity to network with her!

We've secured an on-site retailer to join us at Chicago so start saving your stash money! As well as their regular lines, you'll be able to buy the products used in our workshops and items from our fantastic sponsors. Our apologies in advance to your bank balance...

Tracy and I are SO excited and can't wait to meet you all! There are just a very few places left now so if you'd like to book just click here.

See you very soon!

Ministry of Mixology April 2016

Back from a frantic but fun-filled weekend at our second Ministry of Mixology event in Coventry. I think from the feedback I've heard so far, we did even better than last time! Here's a little video of some of the highlights.

Kate Crane and I taught sell-out workshops and we were joined by a host of talented artists who did amazing demos and make & takes on Saturday evening. 

To round off the fun on Saturday we had a raffle with prizes ranging from some handmade stamps by Kate Crane to a free place at the next Mixology UK event. The event had such a lovely atmosphere and it was great to see so many happy, smiling faces and so many people making new friends and taking away new experiences.

Di and Tony ran a wonderful retail shop on-site and judging by the state of the shelves on Sunday, there was plenty of shopping going on!

Di and Myself have to say a huge 'thank you' to the amazing team of helpers and demonstrators who gave their time voluntarily to help make this event even more fantastic. Massive thanks also to our sponsors Tando Creative, DecoArt, Stampendous and Craft Stamper magazine who helped enormously to give our event added value and keep our costs down. Last but not least, thank you to everyone who came to play this weekend - events are nothing without enthusiastic and creative delegates!!!

We are incredibly excited to be taking MOM to the next phase this year as we take our retreats to the USA, starting in Chicago this October. But home grown fans there is no need to worry - we'll be back at Coventry again in November for another weekend of fun!

Ministry of Mixology 2015

I know it's a bit late in the day but this is the first chance I've had to report back on the Ministry of Mixology event that took place in Coventry earlier this month, 120 class spaces in 2 days!

This was our first (but almost certainly not last) Ministry event - a joint venture between DecoArt, myself and Di Oliver at Tando Creative. As I'm a little behind with my blogging, we've had lots of feedback on the weekend already and I am happy to say it was mostly very positive indeed!

I had a fun but furious two days of teaching an altered notebook class using my Tando Industrial Elements kit and, of course, lots of DecoArt product. I think the delegates really liked it - there were certainly lots of smiling faces around the room. What I liked most about the sessions was the variety in the finished items - although everyone followed the exact same techniques we got so many different results.

The other class at the weekend was offered by my colleague Michelle Webb (who you may know from the DecoArt Design Team), whose beach-themed box frame also went down a storm with attendees. I think this project shows off the vibrancy of the DecoArt Media paints beautifully.

Outside of the workshops, we had lots of demos plus a free Folk It! mini workshop, so I need to send out a big thank you to all those who gave of their time so freely and taught with such enthusiasm. We also had a messy table which proved very popular and a very busy Tando shop!

All in all a wonderful weekend of creativity and fun - watch this space for news about the next one (although don't nag me too much - I have a lot of show prep to do between now and January!).

I will leave you with a recap video of the weekend.

And finally some fab feedback!

 

“Fabulous weekend, great class by Andy.  Well organised with shop, refreshments and lunch.  Overall fab experience, would love to see it as a yearly event.  Can we have it further south?”

 

“Wonderful, please do many more”

 

“Enjoyed every minute and it’s fantastic to have something in the Midlands”

 

“Fab workshop, brilliantly explained and Andy and his crew were brilliant and the shop was fab, would love to attend another”

 

“I really don’t think anything could possibly improve Andy’s course!  It has been brilliant and I have learned so much.  Thank you to everyone involved”

 

“Thoroughly enjoyable workshop.  Thank you Michelle.  Timing was good, facilities fab.  Wonderful day, certainly do a similar workshop.  Thanks to all”

 

“It was absolutely FABULOUS!  Michelle is a great teacher and the Tando Beach set is gorgeous – will buy another!  Hotel has been fab, lovely helpful staff – great food and refreshments.  A really great project!  I love DECOART products and have bought loads!  Thank you so much”

 

“Just wanted to say a huge thank you for the amazing weekend in Coventry.  I didn't get a chance to fill out the feedback form at the time as I was dashing for a train, but wanted to say I thought it was brilliantly organised.  Both workshops were fantastic (I was with Michelle on Saturday and Andy on Sunday), great teaching, great set-ups and great kit to play with.  I loved the idea of the "play area" so that you could try out stuff when off-duty.  The food was great throughout the weekend (I was a bit worried at lunch on the Saturday when I came out to find almost empty platters, but just a couple of minutes later they arrived from the kitchen with fresh supplies!)”.

Andy