Welcome back to the blog!
Easter workshop
April was a busy month. During the first weekend (Easter weekend), I hosted our first Easter workshop which consisted of attendees making two cases of eggs. This was a big deal for me as I’ve always envisioned having public holiday theme related workshops but I’ve learnt that you never really know if something will work until people purchase… and luckily for me, I had returning attendees and new attendees!
Now let's get down to the nitty gritty, I’ve never encountered so many problems with a workshop more than this one. I put it all down to my own disorganised preparation. First were the candle moulds, if you’ve been to a workshop before you’ll know that you need a candle mould to pour the wax into.
In this case, I had to buy more egg moulds than originally planned because I sold extra workshop tickets, not a big deal, I know there were plenty in stock. The moulds arrived and they were the wrong size - too big! So I went searching for the correct size and thankfully they were estimated to arrive in time… except, they arrived in two packages and the second package arrived the day after the workshop. So the night before the workshop I was DIYing cutting the extra eggs off the moulds to create new moulds, it’s so confusing to explain but these pics may help you to understand.
I hosted the workshop in Digbeth for the first time ever - loved the location, it was a bit loud but there was so much footfall which was great for the brand and I had lots of interest on the day. However, I don’t have a car at the moment which means I’m going everywhere on public transport with a massive wagon containing all of my equipment, and Digbeth isn’t exact public transport friendly. I ended up going the long way round to the venue dragging a heavy wagon around and only had around 20mins to set up. You’ll all be happy to know I got it all done in time!
But then I ran into my next problem, my wax melter wasn’t working… I bought my wax melter a little while ago, it was never perfect but it was good enough for me to make candles at home. Little did I know, I’d be using it every month at workshops, after a little sellotape help (what doesn’t sellotape fix lol) I was back on track! But note to self, I need to purchase a new melter.
May & June sculpture workshop
I officially sold out of all spaces at our May & June workshops!! I actually can’t believe it, how have I sold out 1-2 months in advance?! I keep asking myself if the demand is a fluke or if it’s sustainable - I’m assuming this is a normal experience a lot of business owners go through. And I’m trying to enjoy it whilst it lasts whilst building momentum.
I’ve now got waitlists live for July, August & September (a waitlist for Autumn - mad!) and already have people signing up which is even crazier.
New locations 👀
The plan has always been to expand but recently I’ve been getting DM’s from venues in different Midland areas asking if we’d like to host a workshop in their venue which is a dream! One of the hardest parts of these workshops is sourcing appropriate venues that don’t cost an arm and a leg, so having venues reach out to me has been unbelievable. But now I need a car more than ever because I can’t keep relying on public transport with my heavy ass wagon.
New additions to the workshops
For a while, I’ve been dreaming about the aesthetics of the workshops but when hosting in public venues, I’m not always able to make the workshops look exactly how I want it to. So I’m now just thinking about the table scapes and bits of decoration… so I’ve been planning to have the decor based on the months theme. E.g. Aprils theme was all to do with Easter, so could I have egg candles in one basket, baguette candles, butter candles, candle bunnies, flowers - something like a cute Easter tablescape but all candles? It’s all in my head at the moment but hopefully you’ll see my vision come to life soon!
What a crazy month. Lets see what May brings.
Ciao, Aman xo