Creative Remakery

19/04/2026

In a bid to nurture my health, I’m embracing slowness and mindfulness this year and, alongside it, the lessons of menopause. I often feel as though I was born in a hurry; my lifelong “go, go, go” approach brought excitement and fulfilment in many ways, but it did my health no favours. Now, in my mid 50s, as my body makes itself loudly heard, I’ve no choice but to listen more deeply not just to my body, but to this powerful transition asking me to let go of what no longer serves me. Sometimes it flows with ease; other times, there’s resistance and I’m dragged along kicking and screaming! Every day is a work in progress.

This morning, I got up and had breakfast outside in the sunshine - eager to support my circadian rhythm and begin the day gently. Afterwards, I started cleaning and boiling a batch of cuttlefish for an upcoming art project.

Not exactly the stuff dreams are made of but perhaps more meaningful than it first appears. Cuttlefish carry a gentle symbolism of transformation and adaptability. They shed, shift and change form with ease, reminding me of the necessity - and wisdom - of releasing old layers. Even the cuttlebone, often found washed ashore, speaks of what’s left behind when something has outgrown its form and that's what I've collected previously and sanitising today.

I approached the task with intention. I tried to move slowly and mindfully (managed… ish), paying attention to my breath and posture as I stood there, and resisting the urge to rush (and quiet the voice in my head saying how boring the task was. 🥴) A small, ordinary act becoming a quiet practice in patience, in letting go and in becoming something new.

Undoing old, unhelpful patterns in our bodies and minds takes real awareness. It asks for patience, for observation and for a willingness to soften and slow down. Menopause, I’m learning, is not just an ending, but a profound recalibration - a shedding of what no longer fits and an invitation to step into a different way of being.

Perhaps one day this will become my default setting but today isn’t that day. 😉🙈

16/04/2026

If you follow our posts you'll have seen Sarah mentioned a lot in recent months, facilitating a lot of our sessions. She's a woman of many talents - painting being an exceptional one. She's an actual proper artist!
Check out her new works Sbk artist...

16/04/2026

That's our third and final Spring Crafts session at Hirst Welfare Centre all done and dusted.

It's been a very busy session and there have been some wonderfully creative and industrious youngsters! We had a lot of little ones at today's session, they really enjoyed making their spring baskets, faberge eggs and bunnies - I think it's safe to say they were going for the more is more embellishing approach! lol
And why not?!

Huge thank you to Sarah Bredin-Kemp for delivering the session with her magic touch, Helen Louise Rae from Hirst Welfare for making all of this possible and to Repurposeful CIC for some fabulous materials!

Lastly, thank you to all of the children and carers who have attended these craft sessions. It's been a joy to work with you all and we look forward to to seeing you all again soon! Keep crafting!

15/04/2026

Today we've been experimenting with some odds and ends to make wall hangings/mobiles.

We're welcoming some young carers to Repurposeful CIC soon to have some creative fun and we think these could be a winning activity...

15/04/2026

Today was a nice and slow faffing day.
I've been wanting to think of upcycle/repurposing ideas for old cables - there are so many these days!
So today was their day to make a rainbow along with some oddments of wool.

This will be aded to The Gallery of Ideas at Repurposeful CIC, so many creative and educational uses for the things that would be 'thrown away' - there isn't such a thing as thrown away, they still end up somewhere!

14/04/2026

I've looked everywhere for my flower press for @4 months now. I've found it - whilst I was looking for something else!

Looking forward to seeing these little beauties all pressed soon...

13/04/2026

Well, what can we say...Hirst Welfare Centre was full of busy with the young creatives at today's Spring Craft session!!

Huge thanks to Sarah Bredin-Kemp for running the session and giving everyone such a lovely experience. 💚💚💚

It was certainly a family affair - so lovely to see so many grandparents there with the youngsters and kids of all ages working so well together and getting stuck in, making some truly spectacular pieces of art to take home.
The lovely Kylie (thanks for tidying up after us! 🥴) commented on how lovely it was to see the children and their adults doing activities together - and having something a bit different on offer. We love sports but, holiday activities are sports heavy and there's not a lot of creative activities to do- let alone free ones. So, a huge thank you to Helen for her hard work to make these fully funded sessions possible - the feedback from the families has been wonderful. It's lovely to see the Welfare thriving and we are honoured to be a part of it!

We love it when the kids take ownership of their creativity and it's fine to go 'off piste' - one of our attendees, Poppy, decided there were so many lovely textures, that she would make a sensory board! Genius!

Big thanks to Repurposeful CIC for letting us raid their treasures - if you haven't been to their Scrapstore yet, you don't know what you're missing!

There's still one Spring Craft session left - this Thursday 12-2 - details in the photos
Places are limited and **booking is required**

11/04/2026

10/04/2026

Little bit of willow work this morning and some artificial flowers. It's supposed to be a heart tho I'm not sure it looks that heart shaped..

09/04/2026

Spring crafts were off to a great start this morning at Hirst Welfare Centre with our fabulous Sarah BK! 🌺

The kids had a ball upcycling paint tins into Spring/Easter baskets, decorating faberge eggs and making cut and stick bunnies! They loved the range of embelishments - literally a sugar free pick n mix creative feast - which they certainly put to good use in their wonderful creations!
All so individual, we love them.

Thanks to the wonderful Helen at Hirst Welfare for the refreshments - and all of her hard work to host these sessions and ensure there's funding to provide them for free. 👏👏

Huge thanks to Repurposeful CIC for helping to resource these session from their Scrapstore full of treasures! 💚

There are two more sessions next week - see poster below for details - do book as there are very few spaces left.

07/04/2026

Today I've been doing more preparation for upcoming Spring Crafts at Hirst Welfare Centre, including some examples for the children. (Not that they need examples and we encourage the children to go with what they want with very much a child led approach.) The first pic is a faberge egg that I carefully decorated for an hour, sat on the doorstep in the sunshine. Once complete, I went to get something from the garage (other side of the house) whereby wind slammed the front door on the ******* egg! 😤🙄🙈

Obviously I had Humpty Dumpty going through my head as I was swearing a LOT! Texted Repurposeful CIC and Mrs Repurposeful asked if I'd tried all the King's horses and all the King's men??!
😆😆 luckily the bunny and Easter baskets are a bit more robust! Big thanks to Repurposeful for help with resources and (just about) saving my sanity with some humour!

If you're looking to entertain the kiddy winks there are a couple of places left but do book quickly or you'll miss out!

**The children don't have to make these items - there's loads of exciting resources to ignite their imagination and make whatever they fancy.