Paint Night No.1

Stephanie Chan June 20, 2016

After a million revisions, Paint Night was relocated and whittled down to a tight group of 4 ladies. This was not the original plan, but it ended up working perfectly for a simple test run. If we are defining success by delicious food, wet whistles, and attendees who had a great time and left happy with their final product, then in spite of a sudden downpour, Paint Night was a definitely success!

Downpour? Yes, we had a very unexpected 20 minutes downpour midway through the event (as well as all day Saturday...), so these photos are actually a compilation of 3 different days of documentation. We all had to scramble to bring everything inside: the table full of paints, the food table, the rug for chilling, and of course all the easels with their canvasses. The rain failed to dampen our spirits and we continued on drinking + painting in the middle of my living room! Snacks and dessert was served just before Kevin arrived home. He was probably expecting/hoping to return to a quiet home, however, he was instead accosted by a room of roaring ladies forcing him to play "guess whose painting is whose" followed by a critique of each piece. Best.

Alright, enough chatting, onto the photos...

RECIPES
Crostini Platter via The Artful Desperado
Chocolate Cake inspired by ILĀ

Mega thanks to Kevin for the insane amount of work he did throughout the week helping to prepare everything from designing + building easels to slaving in the kitchen making all the delicious food and sangria for our lovely guests. Big hugs to my buddy Dave for helping me to streamline my ideas and keep my mind focus while accompanying me on the grocery run!

Stay Tuned for PAINT NIGHT No.2 coming this July! Date to be announced!

ART CLUB | Week 2 Wrap-Up!

Stephanie Chan April 1, 2016

I learned a lot over the 2 week stint of our Art Club. Made tweaks and took a lot of notes as I went along. I know I am too hard on myself, but I gotta keep those standards up there! Everyone had a great time and there were many parents who requested Summer classes through person, text and email, so it seems like I'm not going to have a choice. This is good.

Anyway, just a quick bunch of photos from Week 2!

THANK YOU to the ladies that encouraged NAY pushed me to set-up these classes. A special Thank You to the many moms who have been there over the last few years with my photography, for supporting me yet again on this new path. I am so lucky to be part of a community of amazing women! And a very warm Thank You to the new moms that I have met for joining in on a fruitful and fun experience! I truly had a great time with the variety of creative minds and hands, I really loved being able to recognize their different strengths and wiggle them out of their comfort zones. Looking forward to seeing familiar faces come summer time!

THANK YOU!!!!!
xoxoxo

ART CLUB | Day 4 + 5: Stamps, Patterns, Mixed-Media

Stephanie Chan April 1, 2016

Day 4 was a flop. There had to be one flopper and it was ok because we bounced back on Day 5. Also, the kids didn't realize anything was wrong as they still had a great time, but it was definitely good for us to discuss how things sometimes go awry and when they do, you push forward.

Day 4 we worked with a bunch of homemade DIY stamps to create fixed and organic patterns. We moved on with our book, one of my absolute top favourites: Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett and illustrator extraordinaire Jon Klassen. It's really the most lovely marriage of story and pictures. Our stamp exercises moved over to printmaking where we cut out shirts from burlap and printed them through a rolling press to emulate the yarn pattern that was used throughout Extra Yarn. The kids created self-portraits with their printed shirt and made their Day 4 buttons before moving onto the next project.

The next project was inspired by Oliver Jeffers' STUCK. We integrated stamp/printmaking with bubblewrap to create our own tree and used pastels to illustrate, cut out, and paste all the ludicrous objects ...

Dev here was super into his buttons. He may very well have the best set of them all as well because of this. Week 1 was great and it felt good to have that first taste of what I would be dealing with for future classes. I have had nothing but positive feedback from the kids via their parents which is really encouraging, and requests to host classes for younger kids and adult sessions! Much to plan ahead for the summer months!

DIY Ghostbusters Proton Pack

Stephanie Chan March 1, 2014

Happy Weekend! Thought I would share a bit of creativity outside of photography to spice things up here. When we first moved to Tsawwassen (my husband's hometown) after Moses was born, our next door neighbours were pregnant with their first child, Ty.

Today is his 4th Birthday! The boys have grown up together and though they have moved out of our condo and across the street, we still be tight. Ty is currently gaga over Ghostbusters so yesterday at 7:30pm, I brought out a cardboard box and started Googling PROTON PACK. As I had hoped, Kevin saw my poor artistic attempt to execute a DIY version of the Ghostbusters ghost-buster and stepped in. Being the creative, hoarding mechanic that he is, this project could not have been more up his alley. 4 hours later, everything but the straps was complete.

Using cardboard, tins, wires and bits and pieces of random electrical gadgets, the only money we had to shell out was $4 worth of the straps and velcro.  This large gold looking piece is one of our old kitchen lights that had blown out, the ver… — Using cardboard, tins, wires and bits and pieces of random electrical gadgets, the only money we had to shell out was $4 worth of the straps and velcro. This large gold looking piece is one of our old kitchen lights that had blown out, the very same stupid lights that our neighbours also had to suffer through when living next to us. Kevin added the spring over the cable for some excellent texture. I punched out a button for the Ghostbusters logo that fit PERFECTLY in the metal piece from our old garburetor. The white "fuses" are leftover pieces from the kids' IKEA bunkbed.

The more tactile and versatile, the better!  Kevin used a tin that had been long part of the kids' kitchen playthings to create storage space for small toys or treats.  Yes, that is a real Canadian Standard Association approval sticker! HA! — The more tactile and versatile, the better! Kevin used a tin that had been long part of the kids' kitchen playthings to create storage space for small toys or treats. Yes, that is a real Canadian Standard Association approval sticker! HA!

Two smaller tins from laser pointers for additional storage (complete with CAUTION stickers!).  The cylindrical shape is indeed a toilet paper roll.  The back side was not yet complete as I wanted to take photos prior to attaching the back… — Two smaller tins from laser pointers for additional storage (complete with CAUTION stickers!). The cylindrical shape is indeed a toilet paper roll. The back side was not yet complete as I wanted to take photos prior to attaching the back straps, hence the open flap of cardboard.

The kitchen light was cool because of its moveable dial.  The box above the light fixture is the bottom of an Altoids tin.  The transformer (electrical piece) and the vent along the right side were both from the busted kitchen light. — The kitchen light was cool because of its moveable dial. The box above the light fixture is the bottom of an Altoids tin. The transformer (electrical piece) and the vent along the right side were both from the busted kitchen light.

And last but not least: the hose is from our bunk vacuum cleaner.  Attached to it is 3 parts: switch from IKEA light glued onto a plastic Play-Doh tube, and lastly, yet another piece from the kitchen light.  Who knew that light would go su… — And last but not least: the hose is from our bunk vacuum cleaner. Attached to it is 3 parts: switch from IKEA light glued onto a plastic Play-Doh tube, and lastly, yet another piece from the kitchen light. Who knew that light would go such a long way after all the trouble it caused!

I had to check out three places after Chloe's dance class to find nylon webbing and velcro for the straps. Got home at 11:20am and the party started at Noon! Just enough time to spare for photos and attaching the straps!

Pretty freaking cool. I was a little worried at first, whether or not Ty would be into it, but when his Mama showed me the flattened cardboard box that was half flapping against a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle shell, I was reassured this would be well received!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TY!