Whenever I go to deliver a workshop, my favourite part is always what people do with the templates and materials that I bring in that I would have never thought of, and in this workshop some of the adaptations were fabulous! Although I am disappointed not to have got a picture of the shark that some parents had to help their child make!
Over the May bank holiday weekend, I spent many happy hours delivering workshops at the Centre for Life for visitors to create their own Mini-beast mask. At the start of the year I created some prototypes and then used these to create some printable templates and stencils that the public would be able to use to design their own mini-beast mask
I created 5 prototypes to begin with, an ant, a spider, a bee, a butterfly, and a ladybird. They were all slightly different style of mask covering the face in different ways, sometimes sharing eyes with the mini-beast and sometimes having their own eyes.
Over the three days of workshops the participants enjoyed being able to create they own designs using the printed templates or card stencils, using glue guns and other tools along with a variety of materials to create their own individual mask.
In June 2023 when I started a temporary contract at the Life Science Centre for the summer, I was tasked with making a frame for a window in the space to make it look like an old ornate mirror. There was much card used, even more glue from the hot glue gun and lots of shaping of the card to create the frame. Despite the activity finishing in September, the frame has stayed up and being dressed for halloween and had a giant dragon installed in it.
In the run up to Christmas I was tasked with making the Santa Experience at the Life Science Centre a little bit more authentic and less IKEA. I used the laser cutter to create interesting shapes out of cardboard to shape into frames, made a working Grandfather clock, a naughty and nice book, and a loverly fireplace from ye olden days. I also made some of the props that were used in the show into something a bit more authentic, a chimney to shoot smoke out of and jazz up Henry the hoover.
Crooked Halo Crafts and Design 