Working with Pinterest [candles, wool + wood]

The first day’s event was held in the stunning setting of Ballyknocken House & Cookery School , run by Catherine Fulvio, which was a wonderful setting. Nestled in the lush Wicklow hills, the whole place was set up and made ready by the Clive Agency, and what a job they did! The branding was out of this world. Every detail was thought of, and I have to say it paid off. Everyone was so relaxed and you could tell they really wanted to be there with the buzz of excitement. The day began with an introduction to the event, followed by a discussion with myself, the lovely Anouk from Olannmor, and Patrick from Patrick Maher Desgins. As well as being our wonderful host, Catherine Fulvio was the MC and helped us talk though each of our presentations (each of us sporting a Britney Spears mic). Having done a few speaking events before now I can say that I’ve never had such a warm and welcoming response. After my nerves settled, I really enjoyed this and we could have sat there talking the day away.The Crew! Following a really incredible talk from Emily, founder of The Pink House, we each started to prep for our workshops. My workshop was themed around the smell of happiness, and I used gorse as the focus. I created a scent for the event itself made up from coconut, aniseed and lemon grass. Each person got to pour their own soy candle, made with this one-off scent. The workshop was held in one of the converted barns, and again the setting was just perfect.The scent of Gorse is very similar to coconut and often reminds people of sun cream, taking them back to times on the beach and evokes sunshine and blue skies. Lemongrass is said to help people smile when they smell it and I thought, what a combination! The guys that took part were again so wonderful and really loved learning the processes and asked fantastic questions. It was great to have so many enthusiastic and engaged people together with no one shying away from throwing out questions.The guys also got to make their own Irish coffees, baked scones and – one of the things I really loved – the guys could put themselves forward to run and host their own workshops! Throughout the day, there was really {really] tasty food, cocktails and treats. I think we all felt quite spoiled. Here are a few more photos of the event. Enjoy and thanks for stopping by. Michael x