Before I start, I just want to make it absolutely clear that the last time I put a paintbrush to canvas was for GCSE Art, which was rather more years ago than I care to admit. I think I got a B which obviously wasn’t too bad, but i’m absolutely not a painter. I seem to remember my highlight was making a rat out of clay….

So when a friend asked if I wanted to go with her to a painting class I was slightly taken aback and a bit nervous, but thought why on earth not give it a try? Plus the class was held in a pub, and there would be wine. Sounds like a good night out to me!

In fact, it was a GREAT night out. I have to highly recommend Brush Party UK who have worked out the formula to a very enjoyable evening for anyone at any level to enjoy.

For your money, you get all the equipment, paint and brushes you need, the canvas, an easel, a bunch of other people to chat with and 2 instructors to talk you through the painting (they paint at the same time that you do so you can see what to try and emulate) and help you out at any point that you need a hand. You order your own food and drink. Plus we had a fabulous play list – we were painting and bopping to some classic tunes from the 90’s!

You’re shown what to paint (you all do the same picture) and techniques to paint it and you’re guided every step of the way. I was amazed that I could produce a whole painted canvas in 2 and a half hours, and that it looked ok and I thoroughly enjoyed painting it. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt that calm and relaxed on on a night out!

Each ‘party’ is a different picture, so you could go round a do a few of the classes and there seem to be lots organised particularly in the south of the UK.

Do head over to the website for more dates and times or follow Brush Party UK on social media.  www.brushparty.co.uk

I highly recommend these well organised events as a great way to try out something new, to bond with friends, the perfect girls night out, birthday celebration or hen do and you get to leave with something you are really quite proud of!

I’ll be going back for more.

 

I booked and paid to attend the painting class with Brush Party UK completely independently and was not asked to write this review. It is my honest opinion.

Back in 2016 I was nailing life……At least i thought i was – Good job in media, fabulous family, little craft and cake hobby as a side hustle. Things were good. At least that’s what i was telling myself. In actual fact i was frustrated, stressed out and hating every minute of my work life balance- seeing my beautiful boys for about an hour a day before bed just wasn’t making me happy, childcare costs were huge and I was pregnant with number 3.

It was when i was on maternity leave later that year that i received the call that my role would no longer exist on my return and that i was at risk of redundancy. There is nothing in the world like post-birth hormones (my baby was 3 weeks old) and bad news to really send you over the edge.

I have to thank my wonderful mum friends who helped me back and made me see redundancy as an opportunity rather than disaster and one in particular who out of the blue one day suggested we had a little dabble at an Instagram page on parenting. So we did, and I totally loved it.

As the page grew, so did my confidence and we expanded it to Facebook and more recently Twitter and IGTV and I began to wonder if there was a way to make this into a career and reclaim the work life balance I craved.

And so i decided to retrain as a Social Media Marketing Manager.

A friend suggested the Digital Mums course and it seemed to tick all the boxes I needed in terms of flexibility to study, bearing in mind I’d had to stop all childcare and had to get my kids to and from school every day and had a very clingy 1 year old who slept badly during the day! Joining the course filled me with complete terror and gave me a massive dose of Imposter syndrome – you know that little voice that tells you you aren’t good enough? Literally all day, made worse by the fact I’d been out of the workplace for 18 months by this point and my brain had turned to mush.

The most challenging aspect of the course was dealing with my own massive confidence issues while simultaneously trying to find the 30 plus hours a week required to keep your campaign running smoothly AND then study on top of trying to keep my three kids alive, happy and juggling the homework and clubs and their needs as well as my own.

There were times I wanted to give it all up and run away and hide I’ll admit, but what really keeps you going is the strength and understanding of the other ladies studying with you. I found a group of amazing, strong women all in the same boat, all juggling madly, all trying to keep those plates spinning and they got me through. The hundreds of WhatsApp messages, the hilarious gifs, the pictures of glasses of wine, the chats, the egging you on when it all got hard were invaluable and I’m not sure I’d be at the finish line without them.

Thank you ladies! We did it.

So why the Craft Collective? I chose this subject because craft is the one thing I can do to feel calm and human again after a hard day. Not that I’ve had time to make anything over the last 6 months (!!) but sitting down to decorate a cake or make cards with the kids is like therapy, and I know so many others who have got through PND, depression and illness thanks to unleashing their inner Kirsty Allsop and I’m determined to spread that philosophy further.

I would recommend the DM course for anyone wanting to retrain in Social Media but absolutely make sure you have the time, and commitment – its not for the faint-hearted and it’s hard work.

The future. So whats next for the Ealing Craft Collective? There is no way I can just stop the campaign, I’m actually enjoying myself too much and now the pressure is off to hit KPI’s I can run it for fun and to support all the small businesses who have got on board and joined in over the past 6 months. Watch this space – there may be a rebrand soon!

In the meantime do check out my pages on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook for both:

Www.instagram.com/ealingcraftcollective

And

www.instagram.com/buddiesbabiesandbiscuits

And if you need a fabulous, newly qualified, full of ideas social media manager, who is full of new found confidence and enthusiasm, or just a bit of help injecting some glitter into your sites, give me a shout – After all I’m a crafter and glitter is what we do best. 😉

Www.instagram.com/socialbysue

Sue

Suechaperlin@gmail.com

http://linkedin.com/in/sue-chaperlin-26839655