As you know I pretty much live and breathe upcycling and I really do love passing on hints and tips and giving people the confidence to give upcycling a go themselves.
When I got the chance to run the ‘Introduction to Furniture Painting’ workshop with GWK Woodshed as part of Maker Faire UK’s Maker Month, I couldn’t wait.
A group of nine lovely ladies came along and listened, sanded, painted, distressed, learned, drank tea, ate biscuits, experimented with colours and made new friends. All in the space of three hours. 
We used Rust-Oleum’s Furniture Paint range to transform old dark wood, orange pine and dated wood. 
Throughout the night I heard how it was ‘therapeutic’, how ‘relaxed’ painting furniture made them, they all forgot any worries they’d had that day. Health and wellbeing is so important to everyone, even those that don’t have any apparent illnesses or conditions.
The workshop was a great fit with the work that GWK woodshed do to help improve the lives of people in local communities. On a daily basis they support the long term unemployed, young people and those from disadvantaged backgrounds, through training opportunities and progression into further education, employment or volunteering. But in this instance they were improving the health and wellbeing of their local customers instead.
Maker Month is linked to Maker Faire UK, presented by Life Science Centre and supported by the Reece Foundation and Make Magazine. It’s also one of my favourite events of the year. I’ve been lucky enough to be a maker and a visitor to the event. Read about it here.
This year’s event is on April 1-2 and if you or your family love making, creating and watching other people make and create you really should visit.
For more information visit makerfaireuk.com.
If you are interested in taking part in future workshops then please email me at Cheryl.lumley@blueyonder.co.uk or gwkwoodshed@groundwork.org.uk so that we can keep you informed.
Disclaimer: I have been given tickets for this year’s Maker Faire but I would genuinely be going anyway as me and my family really do love it.
All round creative junkie 