I am a big believer in letting children try crafts with dangerous implements! Not toddlers, doh, but as soon as they can follow instructions they can start trying the cooler tools like whittling knives, sharp needles and hammers. Maybe I get this from my Granny, who was pretty terrifying but treated me like an undersized adult. She was a glass engraver and artist, and let me use her professional glass engraving kit when I was about 8 years old. I felt so excited and grown up and proud to use such a technical kit. I ended up studying Glass at art college, trying hot glasswork, welding, metalwork and stone carving. I often think the way she assumed I could grab the tools and try them when I was that young gave me confidence to try some of these more intimidating techniques as I got older. Now I love a gadget or tool and can’t wait to try them out. I’m teaching my own glass engraving classes so everyone can have that same experience - we use the fabulous Dremel Micro tools with diamond engraving heads, and it’s really accessible. If you worry about a hideous drilling noise and horribly vibrating tool, be reassured! It’s nothing like that. This really is a tool that anyone can pick up and work with.

We launched our glass engraving workshop at The Handmade Festival 2019 and it was our most popular class by far!!!

This was just a one hour taster, but our new classes will be a good 2.5 hours with lots to learn. If you’d like to be the first to hear when dates are announced, sign up for our crafty newsletter here