Tuesday 12 June 2018

Orchard Yard

Well, this is a bit of a change.  Looking back, I can see that I have been woefully bad at updating this blog and I'm going to be working on that.  I have more time to be thinking about it at the moment, as I have now opened my own little artists' studio and teaching space.  




We had a rather large life change last year - I handed my notice in at my school admin job, and after a few discussions between family members, things are rather different now to what you may have seen on my previous blog posts.  

We have moved house.  

But not just to another house in the town, and not just to another town.  We have moved the length of the country, from Kent to Dumfriesshire.  Not just as a small family though - both my husband's parents, and my mum and step-dad have also moved up, so we have a great little family unit up here.  I also discovered that a friend from school is not running a charity in Carlisle called the Oak Tree Animals' Charity, which is only half an hour from where I am living.  This became a bit of a fantastic opportunity, as they were converting a set of stables called Orchard Yard into small craft units and I was asked if I would like to take one.
So, fast forward a year from when we moved, and I now have a gorgeous little studio unit, in the most relaxing peaceful countryside corner of Carlisle.  It is on a larger site with a Tea Room, a nature trail and land that you can wander round and talk to horses, goats, cats and dogs.  Seriously, if you are anywhere nearby I recommend coming here - it's only 5 minutes away from the M6 in between 2 villages called Cumwhinton and Wetheral, a few miles away from Brampton, which is where Carlisle Airport will be opening soon.  What a find!

Anyway, I now come here 4 days a week, for my own textile practise and to teach people sewing, patchwork, quilting and machine embroidery.  It's just idyllic!  In Orchard Yard we have a Massage Therapist; CL Body Therapy


a lovely little boutique shop called Jens Den



a Silver Jewellery maker; Lapwing Silver 





and the Tack Shack, an outlet for second hand tack that is surplus to the Charity's requirements.  

I now teach sewing, how to use a sewing machine, patchwork, machine embroidery and anything else you might want to know about (within reason!).  I run group workshops on the Oak Tree site, and I can bring the workshop to local groups as well, such as a WI meeting or a quilting group.  I'm so happy to finally be set up doing this - it's been my aim for many years now, and it's just fantastic to have my own space!

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