Saturday with Joanne Mooney: My workshops get people off their phones to get creative

Joanne Mooney: My goal on and offline is to inspire people to be creative and to make things

08.30

On Saturdays, I do the River Valley Parkrun in Swords so I’m usually up by 8.30am. I do it most Saturdays with two women that I used to hang around with when we were Cureheads as teenagers.

We started doing it about three months ago — we run and then have a coffee, do a bit of shopping… Although it starts at 9.30am, I usually don’t get home till 1.30pm because we’re chatting all morning. The run sets me up for the day and means that I go to bed nice and early every Friday night. I don’t eat breakfast before the run so I’ll have a coffee with the girls and then a bite to eat at home at lunchtime.

11.00

Once a month, I run a workshop in FLUX Studios in the Digital Hub in Dublin. On those days, I’ll be up at 7am in order to get everything ready. I bring lots of my own work with me — all the pictures come off my walls and half my wardrobe goes into the car because I want to show the participants what I’ve made so that they can be inspired to make their own work.

I’ve had women from America, Sweden, and Germany recently as well as Ireland — sometimes people will incorporate one of my workshops into their travel schedule if they’re travelling from abroad.

13.30

If it’s a normal Saturday and I’ve done my run, I’ll be starving when I get home so I’ll have some berries with yoghurt, some electrolytes and lots of water.

14.00

I’ll try to plan some of my social media content for the week. Some of my reels are spontaneous and some are pre-recorded.

I could be recording anything from making art or customising a garment. I always have my tripod over my shoulder and I film everything as I make them. I make, create, and edit all in one go.

I also try to reply to everyone who engages with me on social media — I’ve built up quite a little community and have relationships with a lot of people who I follow and who follow me so I spend a lot of time chatting to people about things they’ve made and answering questions about what I’ve made.

Joanne Mooney: Making something with your hands slows you down, gives you time to breathe, and allows you to make something that is unique to you.

If I have a workshop coming up, I’ll also do some prep for that. I do the workshops one Saturday a month and it takes me a couple of weeks to prepare for the event because I make up all the templates and kits myself.

My goal on and offline is to inspire people to be creative and to make things — I think anyone can be creative if they’re open to trying things.

I know it sounds hypocritical as a lot of my work is based around social media but I’m also trying to encourage people to step away from the noise of social media, to switch off and to make something with their hands. Making something with your hands slows you down, gives you time to breathe, and allows you to make something that is unique to you.

15.00

If I’ve done a punch-needle workshop, it’ll finish at 3pm and by 4pm I’ll be exhausted because it’s quite intense. I have around 18 to 20 people in the class and go around to everyone individually.

17.30

Most Saturdays, we’ll go out for dinner locally. I like to go out early and go home early.

20.00

No matter what I’m watching on TV, I’ll always have some kind of craft in my hand. I have a craft room in my house but the crafts spill out all over the house — there’s usually wool and thread everywhere.

I spend most of my time in my craft room. I don’t even listen to music when I’m in there because I’m so hyper-focused and I’m usually recording what I’m doing.

I love making content for social media. I get giddy when I’m making something and I think people are going to love it.

23.00

I’m not much of a reader unless I’m on holidays so I don’t really read before bed. I am usually on my phone looking for ideas or writing notes.

I might watch some TV in bed but I always put my phone away and I leave the crafts outside — I draw the line at crafts in the bedroom!

I’ll usually fall asleep straight away. I’m so hyper during the day that I’m gone once my head hits the pillow.

Joanne Mooney with some of her punch-needle artwork

• Joanne Mooney’s next punch-needle workshop takes place on August 15 in Dublin. Participants will get everything they need to start their punch-needle crafting journey on the day. Using an embroidery punch needle, a pen, and wool, participants will learn how to create a punch-needle artwork and will take home a piece of textile art that they’ve made themselves. €95
• joannemooney.ie