Tuesday 11 April 2017

The amazing Ministry of Mixology



Box kit, tags, and elements all designed by me! Available from Tando Creative
Edit: Tando kits are now available *here*

I have just returned home from a whirlwind weekend of fabulousness that is The Ministry of Mixology retreat, Coventry, UK. This was the fourth one of its kind, and the second time I have taught there, and is the brainchild of the amazing Andy Skinner of DecoArt, and the wonderful Di Oliver of Tando Creative. This retreat is seriously going from strength to strength, and is a most friendly, well organised, creative and inspiring occasion. You can check out future events *here*


I designed a Tando kit for this event which included a box, several tags to go inside, and whimsical elements to decorate the tags with. I sent Di a scribbled drawing of what I wanted it to look like and Di added the magic to make it happen :-)


The whole thing is decorated with paints and mediums by DecoArt: 
Mediums: Gesso, Tinting Base, Sand Texture Paste, Matte Medium, Weathered Wood.
Fluid Acrylic Paints: Cobalt Teal Hue, Green Gold, Cobalt Turquoise Hue, Vermilion, Quinacridone Red, Quinacridone Magenta, Carbon black, Metallic Gold.



Here are some pictures of the decorated inner tags:






And I was lucky enough to work alongside the hugely talented France Papillon all weekend!

Andy Skinner, France Papillon, and me!

The retreat runs over two days with 35 students in each class. We are lucky enough to be supported by helpers and runners in each class, who are all talented artists in their own right, and seem to instinctively know what is needed. They are fabulous! And it all takes place in a hotel so everyone gets to stay together and socialise, and eat and drink lots and have huge amounts of fun along the way. Saturday evening consists of some great make and takes, demos, and all sorts of other shenanigans (I'll leave that up to your imagination!)

So, just to prove it all happened, here are a few photos of art in action:





(Er .... just who is this photo bomber?!!)




And just look at this! I was absolutely blown away by just how much everyone achieved in the time they had. I tried to design a project that didn't have to be finished on the day, but an awful lot of art did get finished! Pictures like this make me feel incredibly proud :-) Just get a load of all this colour!










So now I am back home, and taking it easy for a few days, and chilling. Thanks to all the mixologists who came along to play and made it such a truly amazing weekend. At the end of the day, it's all about the people who turn up to play at these events, and what can I say? You rock!



28 comments:

  1. It looks like you all had a great time Kate. Wonderfully inspiring creations! Xx

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  2. Fabulous weekend, my second MOM, great projects & I'm busy finishing off my tags & pages, bought a second pack too 😉.
    Lovely to do a class with you & thanks for your patience xx

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  3. It was a wonderful class Kate, which I really enjoyed, fab weekend too! Denyse x

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  4. Fab weekend! Fab project - love every bit of it xx

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    1. Always great to see you lovely lady :-) Love your infectious enthusiasm!

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  5. A wonderful idea for a project. Looks like a great success Kate. Well deserved. I think you need a few relaxing days xxx

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  6. A fantastic time was had by all. Thank you for being such an inspiring and patient teacher.
    See you in September and Mixed Mayhem with Mark x

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    1. Great to see you there. Looking forward to September!

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  7. Wow what a fabulous project and the ones you are showing are so beautiful! So sad that I had to miss this one but hope to see you in Lancaster later this year. Anne x

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  8. Wonderful project as always Kate and so wished I could have come to play along!!! Maybe next time!
    x catherine

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  9. What a plethora of delightful artistic projects Kate ! Loving what I see !

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    1. Thanks Sid! I think you should come along to one of the Ministry of Mixology retreats, you would love it!

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  10. what a wonderful weekend it looks! everyone made such gorgeous projects

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  11. Wow wow and just wow. Love the box, the techniques, the colours, the textures, wow. Wish I could have taken that class with everyone, but it would have taken me some time to get there. lol as I live in Canada! Really love your work Kate.

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  12. Your project looks amazing Kate, I'm so disappointed I had to miss the weekend. I think what you added to the set you designed is magic too. At least you have some time to catch up with yourself this week. Enjoy the Easter break xxx

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  13. Loved every minute. Fab class, fab project, fab teacher. MOM rocks!!! Xxx

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  14. I really loved you're class Kate. Thank you for all your inspiration, help and for making me feel so welcome. It was a great weekend and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute.

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    1. Thanks so much Joan. It was great to meet you :-)

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  15. Wow, three of my absolute favorite teachers in one place and I missed it? Looks like it was a fantastic time for everyone, congratulations to all for attending and having fun.

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  16. We can buy the kit but will be able to buy a tutorial to make it?

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    1. Hi Maggi, I can't release this exact project as a tutorial as this class was exclusive to the Ministry of Mixology event, but I will bear something in mind for future!

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  17. A wonderful project by a super talented lady. Thanks Kate for joining us for another Mixology, it's always a pleasure :) Hopefully see you again soon x

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    1. And thanks so much to you too! It's an amazing event and it just gets better and better!

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