Dawn Turner Designs

If you follow me on Facebook, you might have already seen this.

In a couple of weeks time I will be doing my first live event of 2021.  If you didn’t manage to join on one of these last year, they’re quite good fun, especially if you want a good laugh at me fluffing my words a lot!  We can’t do face-to-face events yet, and actually we still can’t get out yet, but a Facebook Live is as near as you can get.

I stream live from my Facebook Page, and show and tell about some of my products.  The great thing is, unlike a photograph, I can move the object around, show you the texture, how it looks at different angles etc.   As it is live, you can ask questions via the chat which runs alongside, and I can answer your questions there and then.  Occasionally, technology throws us a curve ball, but that just adds to the fun and sometimes chaos.

I normally have some new products to show you, a special offer or two, and this time, anybody who joins me live gets a chance to enter a draw to win a prize, which I will draw the following day or so.  The theme this time is Mothering Sunday and I am holding the event just over three weeks before, to give me the chance to get orders made and out in good time.  Mother’s Day is 14th March, so it seems quite early.

Shop from the comfort of your armchair, in your PJs if you wish, and a glass or cuppa in hand – no need to go out!  And I can send items directly to the recipient, gift wrapped and card written for you too, just in case we cannot get out to see our loved ones for Mother’s Day.

I am also considering doing a taster session from home for Mother’s Day, where I would send out kits to make something, we would have a Zoom meeting on Mothers’ Day for me to show you how to make your glass goodies, then they’d come back to me for firing.  I’ve still got to work out the logistics of this, but if there’s enough interest, I’d be up for it, and what a lovely way to spend some virtual time with our loved ones doing something fun together.  I would love to know if you’d be interested

If you’d like to come along, here’s the link to the live event:

DOES YOUR MOTHER KNOW?

Hope you can join me

Is lockdown getting to you?  Need to keep the children (or yourself) occupied?  Get some free activities for you!

Just before Christmas, I made this video for Erewash Borough Council showing you how to make a lantern from a jam jar and a few bits around the home (okay, I am the weird one who thinks having lots cable ties and twist ties is quite normal?)

I hope to bring you some more ‘how-to’ or easy make ideas that I’ve done with schools and community groups, when I can work out ones that will work as a video or step-by-step images, but for now, try this out – mine always go outside to light up the garden in summer, the stickers and glass/permanent marker pens are actually quite long lasting.

Here the link to where they’ll be posted, if you want to bookmark it and come back later: CLICK HERE FOR FREE ACTIVITIES IDEAS

And to make it easy, here’s the information

You will need a cleaned jar, a 30cm cable tie, 40cm garden/twist tie, peel off stickers, permanent marker pens.

Steps:

1. 1. The twist tie handle – fold each end under cable tie, and wrap ends around the twist tie
   2. Attach cable tie to neck of jar, pull it tight – tug hard on handle before cutting spare cable tie off
   3. Use peel off stickers to decorate jar
   4. Colour jar brightly with marker pens
   5. Pop a battery tea-light or fairy lights inside to make your lantern shine bright!

Pick & Mix Taster Sessions are back, at the usual price of £25 per person,,  Minimum fee is £50, and maximum number is four due to current goverment restrictions.

You can use the Eventbrite Ticket Portal to purchase a ticket (click on daytime or evening to see the dates available), or head over to my Facebook Page Events to find it there too. There is a choice of daytime or evening, children are welcome but MUST be accompanied by parent, guardian or responsible adult.

There is only one available per event to avoid any chance of mixed groups just happening to pick the same day – I am only running sessions for family groups and social bubbles for the time being, not mixed public.

Lots of measures are in place to comply with current guidelines for social distancing.  As well as no mixed public groups, there will be no back-to-back sessions.  This is to allow time to properly clean the workshop and communal areas.  The glass and tools will the steam-cleaned, and communal areas cleaned down thoroughly with appropriate disinfectant cleanser. There will be sanitising wipes near high touch areas; and plenty of hand sanitiser available, including an indivual bottle by your work areas

The studio has a new HOT water heater and paper towels.  Surgical gloves are available, and as per recent guidelines, please wear masks or visors (if you can). I have some disposables at the studio in case you forget yours.

I aim to still make these sessions relaxing and fun; absorbing and enjoyable;  to give you an opportunity to be lost in the creative moment.

Sorry, couldn’t resist that title.

A few months back, before all this lockdown malarky, I posted about a commission I had received from a delightful gentleman called Jon, who asked me to make some Spitfire themed panels for his ‘man-cave’

Jon kept to his promise back then and took some photos.  He couldn’t get them processed due to the pandemic and being isolated though.  He eventually had them done and sent them to me this week.

It is an understatement to say that I am thrilled to bits with the final result!  Hasn’t Jon done an amazing job of installation, and really setting a theme to suit.  He says the poster adds a bit of atmoshphere, I think he’s right and it’s fits the age perfectly.  The map to the right hand side of the door tracks Amy Johnson’s record breaking flight from the UK to Australia in a Gypsy Moth bi-plane in 1930.  And I just love the door plate for the room.

I love what I do.