My nephew starts senior school this week (the tissues are at the ready). Of course there will be the compulsory photo at the front door, all dressed up in his crisp shirt, pressed trousers and brand new rucksack. There's a clear plastic geometry set never to be used for its real purpose, a pristine white rubber and dangerously sharp HB pencils all kept safely in a carefully chosen pencil case.

Out of all the school paraphernalia the pencil case has to be a particular favourite of mine. It holds more than just pens and pencils. It holds secrets too.

You see, it's all to do with the zip. Fold a note into a tiny white square, nestle it in between the ink and lead, close the zip and it's your own private safe.

Block printed pencil case from make-it-your-own.com

Embroidered pencil pouch from jacksandkate.com

Make a toilet roll pencil case with onelmon.com

Personalised pencil case from delineateyourdwelling.com

Make a no-sew pencil holder with micasarevista.com (instructions are in Spanish but the video tutorial should help)

Lying on a beach for 2 weeks with nothing to do but read. Bliss.
Being pampered at a spa for couple of hours. Heaven.
 
Or at least that was until I caught the craft bug.

For some reason doing nothing just isn't, well, doing it for me anymore. Maybe I'm getting old and feel that every second has to count or maybe it's just because after a day in the spa I still look the same as when I went in! Whatever the reason I have well and truly jumped onto the creative workshop band wagon that is currently rolling through the UK.

I recently went on a Saturday night out with my mum, sister, niece, sister-in-law and auntie to, wait for it...a felt brooch making workshop, and it made for an absolutely brilliant girls night out. We all left with something beautiful to wear (so we could smugly say when asked; "Oh, this old thing? Yes, I made that!") but best of all we had such a laugh doing it.

We made mistakes together, "ooh'ed" and "aah'ed" at each others achievements and learned new skills to carry on at home. We all agreed that the workshop left us feeling energised and inspired to take on the next new challenge, sort of how we've felt after spa days together, which lead me to thinking; Are creative workshops the new spa days?
 
Another great thing about doing something creative is that it can be massively therapeutic and relaxing. 15 minutes into the pop-up screen printing workshops that I hold and people's shoulders relax and their minds drift off to another place. Creative workshops are becoming more and more popular in the business world too as break out sessions at staff development days. Managers are realising that doing something completely different from work related activities re-energises and encourages team bonding.
 
There are loads of workshops popping up all over the place at the moment - anything from a 2 hour taster session to an entire weekend full of creativity. So what are you waiting for? Jump right in, the water's fine.