136 Recreational courses in Livingston

Experience 2 hours of chocolate heaven! Discover a wide variety of techniques for making beautiful and delicious chocolate truffles, have fun making a generous assortment of your very own treats to take away and end your experience with a relaxing guided truffle tasting! Most visitors to The Chocolatarium are adults, and the truffle-making experience is especially recommended for chocolate lovers aged 10+.

Explore ways of creating simple, striking images to print onto an array of papers on this monoprinting workshop with Edinburgh artist Suzanne Kemplay at The Arienas Collective in Edinburgh City Centre

Join me in a brush calligraphy workshop.Beginners and improvers welcome as I guide you through using brushes and inks for your lettering, I will show you how to use your brushes in creating your own lettering.

This short course will help you take your images from the screen to final professional-quality prints. We will walk through the processes and techniques needed to take the mystery out of this often daunting and overlooked part of the creative process. By the end of the day you will have gained the skills and confidence to take digital files through preparation in Photoshop, optimisation, and onto physical test printing, adjustments and final output on Stills’ large format Epson inkjet printer. We’ll cover areas critical to the desired outcome including screen and print calibration, paper choice and ICC profile use. By the end of the day you will have two A3 prints on premium Hahnemule matt or gloss papers. Participants should have a basic understanding of Photoshop and attend with a selection of their own RAW files or high resolution TIFFs to work with through the practical exercises. Morning We will begin with evaluating our images and processing the file to maximise print quality output. We will then use Adobe Bridge, Adobe Camera Raw & Adobe Photoshop for the optimisation process. Participants will be guided in preparing their images ready for test printing, before evaluating and adjusting. Discussion will cover using ICC profiles, screen and print calibration, colour rendering, canvas sizing, and sharpening for final print output on various media. Afternoon We will then put the skills we have learned into practice, producing and evaluating test prints before undertaking our final A3 digital inkjet prints. Each participant will finish the session with two finished prints. There will be plenty of opportunity for participants to ask questions at every stage, so that you feel confident and can make informed decisions throughout the whole process. This course is designed for those who are already familiar with some digital photography processes but who want to pursue a particular aspect and develop skills in a specific genre. It is the perfect follow-on from our Digital SLR training courses and will support you in building upon your existing knowledge and allow you to work confidently on your own projects.   Courses are subject to minimum enrolment. Please register early, within five days of the start date, to reduce the likelihood of course cancellation. Please read our cancellation policy before booking. Students, anyone over the age of 65, and those in receipt of any form of benefits can claim the concessionary price, offering a 10% discount on the full course price. Valid proof of eligibility must be produced on the first day of the course. Please use the code CONCESSION when prompted at checkout.

With this 2 hour workshop, you will learn to make your own lampshade. You can choose from our wide range of over 1400+ fabrics to make a lampshade. You can match this to your home decor if you so wish.

A perfect follow-on course for those who have already completed an introductory darkroom printing course, or who have a reasonable level of B&W darkroom printing experience. Please bring B&W negatives (35mm or medium format) that relate to each other in some way (subject matter, tonal range, environment etc.) as we will be making a number of prints that can be read as a series. Please note: This course only covers the printing of images and participants should therefore bring previously processed negatives and if you have one, a printed contact sheet along to the session. All other materials (including a range of papers) will be provided. Class sizes are currently limited to 4 participants to enable social distancing throughout the course. Morning Presentation and analysis of what makes a successful series of photographs, and how the final print can be crafted to accentuate the photographer’s artistic intent Reading the negative and pre-visualising the print Re-cap of darkroom skills – including overview of single filter printing, test strips and making a work print Learning how to split-filter print Afternoon Making a printing plan Using fibre based paper Plenty of practical darkroom time to work on your images and gain confidence in the new skills and processes Finishing your prints   Courses are subject to minimum enrolment. Please register early, within five days of the start date, to reduce the likelihood of course cancellation. Please read our cancellation policy before booking. Students, anyone over the age of 65, and those in receipt of any form of benefits can claim the concessionary price, offering a 10% discount on the full course price. Valid proof of eligibility must be produced on the first day of the course. Please use the code CONCESSION when prompted at checkout. Stills uses ILFORD PHOTO chemicals on this course that can potentially pose a risk to pregnant and breast feeding women and asthmatics. We take every care to ensure good working practices and adequate ventilation in our darkrooms. If you feel you may be adversely affected, please visit the Health and Safety section of Ilford’s website for further information. General Guidance Notes for Pregnant and Breast Feeding Women and Asthmatics: From a risk assessment standpoint, provided all necessary control measures (such as good working practices, adequate ventilation, and the use of appropriate PPE) are in place then pregnant and breastfeeding women should be able to continue to work safely with photochemical products.Inhalation is the main route by which fumes and gases enter the body, making good ventilation a high priority. Exposure to irritant chemicals that would not affect most people may provoke an asthma attack in a person who already has asthma. For example, low levels of the gas sulphur dioxide can be produced by some ILFORD PHOTO processes. Most individuals would be unaffected but asthmatics may suffer adverse affects. ILFORD PHOTO products include no known human carcinogens, and no substances to which phrase R46 (May cause heritable genetic damage) or R64 (May cause harm to breastfed babies) applies. Most ILFORD PHOTO developers use hydroquinone, and their classification therefore includes R40 (Limited evidence of a carcinogenic effect) and R68 (Possible risk of irreversible effects). Some ILFORD PHOTO chemicals use boric acid or borates. These substances are classified as toxic for reproduction. As a result, the classification of some of the powder developers includes R60 (May impair fertility) and R61 (May cause harm to the unborn child).

Explore quick ways of creating simple images on this lino printing taster workshop with local artist Suzanne Kemplay at The Arienas Collective in Edinburgh City Centre

A festive-themed soap and skincare gift making class in Edinburgh City Centre

90 minutes of chocolate heaven! A chocolate tour experience taking you from chocolate tree to chocolate bar with lots of chocolate tasting on the way! You’ll learn new things about chocolate, make your very own bar and taste chocolate you have never tasted before. LEARN See and touch the fruit of the chocolate tree, and learn all about how the beans are transformed into delicious chocolate. MAKE Have fun making your own Scottish-themed chocolate to take home! You can even make a chocolate Greyfriar’s Bobby, a chocolate Nessie or a chocolate Edinburgh Castle! DISCOVER Discover over 5000 years of chocolate history and experience chocolate as the Aztecs did. TASTE Come to the tasting room with our wonderful selection of chocolates from both Scottish and international chocolate makers. There are over 30 varieties to choose from including dark chocolate, milk chocolate, haggis chocolate, Japanese chocolate, chili chocolate, gin & tonic chocolate and many, many more.

I often buy clothes and accessories spontaneously. This results in a wardrobe full of pieces that don’t pair with anything. “I have nothing to wear….” I hear you say. A handful of treasures just hanging in there before progressing into a charity giveaway bag. Not if you know your true colours that will elevate your look and mood as well as save money and the environment. Based on this colour analysis we can create a capsule wardrobe using your existing pieces and follow your colour chart to purchase matching items in future. Whatever fashion dictates, buying less and more consciously will reduce waste, save money and creates a wonderful wardrobe you can be proud of! The analysis is based on inherited tones as well as personality. Based on 4 seasons: spring and autumn being warm and summer and winter cool in the colour spectrum.