Rewind to a year ago and I was helping to organise a photo-shoot for a new TV show. It was a two day shoot involving a busy, celebrity photographer and in between shot set-ups and while the talent was summoned from make-up, I'd get chatting to his two female assistants.
One of the women mentioned a website called Creative Live - www.creativelive.com. She recommended it for online photography courses. In the past I've paid up to £300 a time for a one day photography course in London so I jotted the website name down on a scrap of paper and loaded it up when I got home. My first scroll through the site revealed I can learn new skills for much less than that and I can even be doing it in my PJs in bed if I want to! As a new mum, it also means I can complete the courses in small bursts at a time - when the baby is asleep or in the evening.
I'm now on my fourth course and since I first logged on, there's now a huge range of different programmes to choose from - not just photography. So far I have completed several on baby and child photography, food photography and blogging with the inspiring April Bowles-Olin.
If you have the patience and time and don't mind the US time difference, new courses are streamed live and for free, otherwise you pay per course and get the videos to keep - great for going back and referencing. It's great that courses like this are so accessible and I can honestly say it's made me so excited to learn new skills. Next on my list? Cake decorating or maybe even a dabble with Floral bouquets!