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 spotAlready in the cohort? Log in
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.
Cohort 2 starts on Friday 9 October 2026, and I'd love to get started with you.
Emma Dunlop
Founder, Smudge Artspace
The Curriculum
8 weeks. 4 chapters.
Tap a chapter to see what's inside.
What's inside
What you get
Every Friday a new module opens with my reading on how I did it at Smudge, a workbook that builds into your own studio plan, and the documents we use here every week, ready to change to suit your studio.
Then we get on a call (Wednesday mornings, Melbourne time) and talk it through. Every call is recorded, and all of it is yours for good.
And you can ask me anything, in the threads or on the call: how big our room is, what I charge, whether I paid myself for prep days. I answer with Smudge's real numbers.
Why Studio Blueprint?
Built from 15 classes a week and 150 birthday parties a year at Smudge, our own studio in Melbourne.
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.
Frequently asked questions
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, paid in full or with a deposit now and the rest before we start.
To hold your spot it's a $50 deposit, fully refundable if you change your mind.
Blueprint is for studios outside of Melbourne.
- Length
- 8 weeks
- Live calls
- Weekly, recorded
- Included
- 6 months of the Hub
Not ready for October?
Pop your name down and I'll email you the next dates as soon as I have them.