AMI LOWMAN: Create something unique for Christmas

People are starting to save pennies with Christmas in mind and that’s when creativity becomes very useful.

Nothing is more special than a hand-made gift.

Knowing someone has lovingly given up their free time to make something for you is a rare but special thing and trumps an expensive, over-indulgent gift every time.

With this in mind, I have decided to team up with some very inspiring artists to offer clever and creative workshops over the next few weeks.

Making Space has two fantastic creative spaces, which are perfect for craft workshops and courses.

Knowing that more and more people are getting into craft and DIY festive activities, we thought that programming in some exciting workshops would make perfect sense and could help inspire lots.

The workshops not only make sense from a financial point of view, it’s also a perfect chance to shun the shops and instead spend an enjoyable day getting creative with like-minded people.

The first is a nylon jewellery workshop with jewellery designer Nora Fok.

Nora creates the most sensational pieces of wearable art from simple nylon threads.

Proving you don’t need to have expensive materials such as silver and gold to make eye-catching jewellery, Nora will be spending November 19 showing 10 lucky students how to use simple knotting techniques to create wearable art.

The workshop runs from 10am to 3pm and costs £72, including all the materials.

Skills learnt on both these one-day courses can easily be recreated at home with no need for expensive tools or materials.

The course is also ideal for any jewellers out there who feel their work could be improved by incorporating a new material/texture.

Kathryn Green is a textile artist who creates beautiful shibori dyed silk scarves.

She takes inspiration from a little farther afield and will be running a two-part Japanese book-binding course that will teach students a traditional craft form.

After the workshop and back at home, students will be able to take their newly-acquired knowledge and make lots of truly unique books and journals, which could be lovingly gifted for Christmas.

It takes place on November 26 and December 3. The cost is £140.

Go to makingspace.org or call (023) 9247 2491 to book.

Ami Lowman is the education manager at Making Space craft centre, Havant