Studio Blueprint
Eight weeks with me, walking through everything I learned opening Smudge. The first group started in July, and I’d so love to have you in cohort 2.
Join the list for cohort 2Already 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.
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. If you'd like to be in cohort 2, pop your name on the list below and I'll email you with the dates.
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
I'm running cohort 1 through to September, and I'll plan cohort 2 after that. Pop your name down and I'll email you with the dates as soon as I have them.
- Length
- 8 weeks
- Live calls
- Weekly, recorded
- Included
- 6 months of the Hub