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Smudge Artspace
Cohort 2 starts Fri 9 October

Studio Blueprint

Eight weeks with me, walking through everything I learned opening Smudge, and I’d so love to help you build your studio.

Hold your spot

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Emma Dunlop standing in front of the blue Smudge Artspace front door.

A note from Emma

I get asked this question every week.

How do I start a studio like Smudge? It's one of my favourite things to talk about, so I finally put everything I know into one place.

I signed the lease at Smudge in 2023 with a lot of enthusiasm and not much of a plan. Three years later we run 15+ classes a week, host 150+ birthday parties a year, and have built a community of thousands of families. I made a LOT of mistakes along the way. I want to make this easier for you than it was for me.

Studio Blueprint is the course I wish existed when I started. Eight weeks of the templates, the systems and the numbers we use at Smudge.

The first group is 7 people in 5 countries, from someone still turning the idea over to someone already up and running, and we finish in September. Cohort 2 starts on Friday 9 October 2026, and I'd love to get started with you.

Emma's signature

Emma Dunlop
Founder, Smudge Artspace

The Curriculum

8 weeks. 4 chapters.

Tap a chapter to see what's inside.

Why Studio Blueprint?

  • Built from 15 classes a week, 150 birthday parties a year, and three years of figuring this out the hard way.

  • The templates, pricing models and policies I use at Smudge today, ready to copy and make your own.

  • A weekly call with me, and they're all recorded, so a tricky time zone is never a problem.

  • A small group, so every question gets an answer from me instead of a forum thread.

  • 6 months of the Smudge Hub, the library our members pay for, so you can see a membership working from the inside while you build your own.

  • Specifics, not theory. What to look for in a lease before you sign, what to charge for a five-year-old's class, what to do when enrolments dip in week three.

The next cohort

Come and build your studio with me

Cohort 2 starts on Friday 9 October 2026 and runs for eight weeks, finishing in time for Christmas. Tuition is $1,497 AUD, and you can pay in full or split it across the course.

To hold your spot it's a $50 deposit, fully refundable if you change your mind.

The $50 hold is fully refundable and comes off your tuition if you join.

Length
8 weeks
Live calls
Weekly, recorded
Included
6 months of the Hub