We had a special treat for December's meeting in the shape of festive hats plus a mandala workshop from the two Anns; Ann Brown from Handmade Workshops Ltd and Ann O’Shaughnessy of Sweet James Designs. They both hail from London which highlighted there's one advantage of online Zooming - it doesn't matter where our presenters are based!
We'd all been given some instructions beforehand on how to create the initial template for the workshop, in the shape of concentric circles (drawn freehand or using a compass), around several lines which cut the circles into several 'slices'. Ann O'Shaughnessy then led us through making a floral-style mandala by working outwards and drawing different shapes in pencil onto each circle as we went. Once the design was complete, we then inked it in and gently removed the underlying pencil marks.
We noticed the fierce concentration as we drew our mandalas and several noticed how this created the space for a natural, unforced conversation as we worked together. It felt much more like our normal meetings instead of a virtual one. Many also found the meditative qualities of mandala making a soothing balm for these troubled times.
We all held up our designs at the end in a final show and tell, and were amazed at how different they were, even though we'd all followed the same instructions. It's been heartening to see so many Belles continued to draw Mandalas after the workshop finished... and we're all looking forward to seeing more of Diane's zentangle-like drawings as revealed during the evening.
On their Facebook page, Ann Brown said: "We had such a great evening - thanks for inviting us!" and Ann O'Shaughnessy added: "A truly wonderful class and I loved the results!"
Elsewhere this month, we had a surprise additional festive get together following the distribution of our fourth care pack, which contained the means to make some simple Christmas decorations using the cinnamon sticks, dried orange slices and string provided. We had two walks: the Walkie Talkies headed out to Castle Combe earlier in the month and we finished with the best turnout yet for our annual 'get unstuffed' walk around Chippenham a few days after Christmas. It was so popular we had to split into three groups in order to adhere to the government guidelines on meeting in groups!
The Our Town group also took the opportunity for a gentler walk and a mini get-together when they followed the 'Joy of Christmas' trail around town, with a few extra festive surprises (and fellow Belles) found along the way. The Happy Hookers had not one, but two sessions and tried their hand at various Christmassy makes and new techniques.
Last but not least, the Winter edition of 'Lockdown Life' was issued, packed with lots of cheer and favourite things to take us well into the New Year!