The Online Watercolor Notecards Workshop

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Update:  Today we were going to tell you about the next online Creative Workshop at Lacuna Loft, a Watercolor Notecards Workshop.  But, here’s the thing.  If you’ve signed up on the interest form before (there is one below), or if you’ve taken part in a previous Creative Workshop, you are on a list of people who get notified a day ahead of time for every workshop announcement.  In the time between letting that list know about this latest workshop and today, the Watercolor Notecards Workshop filled up!  I’m so sorry if you were unable to sign up this time around.  Please sign up on the interest form below so you will also be on that list of people who are notified a little early about every workshop!

Do you like to paint? Do you like to send cards?  Are you a young adult cancer survivor or caregiver?

Welcome to Lacuna Loft’s online Cityscape Watercolor Notecards, the 9th in our #LetsMakeStuff @LacunaLoft series of online workshops!

This workshop is designed to teach you the basics of watercolor.  If you’ve never done this before, you’re in luck!  Aerial will go step-by-step through everything!  If you love watercolor and you’re a real pro already, no problem!  Make some cityscape watercolor notecards! Combine simple drawing with basic watercolor paint to create whimsical cards to send to your friends! No experience necessary to be creative and chat while working on one of the kind stationery!

This workshop is a 2-hour commitment and will occur via video hangout on Monday, February 12th @ 5:30 pm PT / 7:30 pm CT / 8:30 pm ET. 15 young adult cancer survivors and caregivers can join. Can’t make the dates this time? Don’t worry! We’ll offer other Creative Workshops in the coming months!

How does it work? After you sign up below, you’ll receive everything you need to participate in the Cityscape Watercolor Notecards Workshop in the mail! Yep! We’ll send you just about everything you’ll need! Then, Lacuna Loft will send you an email about a week before the workshop with information on how to join the video chat. (Just in case you’re wondering…to join the video chat you’ll need the link that we’ll provide you, a headset with a microphone, and a webcam). That’s it!

 

Sponsored in part by a grant from Genentech and Shire.

Click here to sign up to be notified when this program is announced by choosing it under ‘Programs you’re interested in.’ (Feel free to choose to be notified when other programs are announced too!)

Sign Up For The Online Drawing Workshop!

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Do you like to draw?  Are you a young adult cancer survivor or caregiver?

Welcome to Lacuna Loft’s online Drawing Workshop, the 1st and now the 8th in our #LetsMakeStuff @LacunaLoft series of online workshops!

This workshop is designed to teach you the basics of sketching, drawing, and shading.  If you’ve never done this before, you’re in luck!  Brett will go step-by-step through everything!  If you love drawing and you’re a real pro already, no problem!  While some of the tutorial will be more than you need, the rest of the time spent drawing and being artsy with other young adult cancer peers will be totally worth it.

If you participated in the workshop in May 2016, the content will be exactly the same so please sit this one out.  But have no fear, we’ll have creative workshops each month that you can join in the future instead!

This workshop is a 2-hour commitment and will occur via video hangout on Sunday, February 11th @ 10 am PT / noon CT / 1 pm ET. 15 young adult cancer survivors and caregivers can join. Can’t make the dates this time? Don’t worry! We’ll offer other Creative Workshops in the coming months!

How does it work? After you sign up below, you’ll receive everything you need to participate in the Drawing Workshop in the mail! Yep! We’ll send you just about everything you’ll need! Then, Lacuna Loft will send you an email about a week before the workshop with information on how to join the video chat. (Just in case you’re wondering…to join the video chat you’ll need the link that we’ll provide you, a headset with a microphone, and a webcam). That’s it!

 

Sponsored in part by a grant from Genentech and Shire.

Click here to sign up to be notified when this program is announced by choosing it under ‘Programs you’re interested in.’ (Feel free to choose to be notified when other programs are announced too!)

Sign Up For A Bullet Journal Workshop!

young adult cancer creative workshop

Update:  The Bullet Journal Workshop is now full!

Do you enjoy crafts and spending time with other young adult cancer survivors and caregivers?  Do you like getting organized and setting goals?  You’ll love this workshop!

Lacuna Loft’s online Bullet Journal Workshop is the 7th in our #LetsMakeStuff @LacunaLoft series of online workshops!

Start the new year off with some creative ways to get organized while planning, journaling, and exploring fun ways to make lists. Helping your productivity, creativity, and organizational skills, it’s a planner, to do list, and diary all rolled into one. A DIY bullet journal, start from a blank journal to what will be a great, personalized tool for a fresh start in 2018!

This workshop is designed to get you started with your very own DIY Bullet Journal.  If you’ve never done this before, you’re in luck! Aerial will go step-by-step through everything!  If you love crafting and you’re a real pro already, no problem!  While some of the tutorial will be more than you need, the rest of the time spent crafting and being artsy with other young adult cancer peers will be totally worth it.

This workshop is a 2-hour commitment and will occur via video hangout on Saturday, January 13th @ 10 am PT / noon CT / 1 pm ET.  15 young adult cancer survivors and caregivers can join.  Can’t make the dates this time?  Don’t worry!  We’ll offer other Creative Workshops in the coming months!

How does it work?  After you sign up below, you’ll receive everything you need to participate in the Bullet Journal workshop in the mail!  Yep!  We’ll send you just about everything you’ll need!  Then, Lacuna Loft will send you an email about a week before the workshop with information on how to join the video chat.  (Just in case you’re wondering…to join the video chat you’ll need the link that we’ll provide you, a headset with a microphone, and a webcam).  That’s it!

Sponsored in part by a grant from Genentech and Shire.

Click here to sign up to be notified when this program is announced by choosing it under ‘Programs you’re interested in.’ (Feel free to choose to be notified when other programs are announced too!)

Sign Up For A Yarn Wreath Winter Workshop!

young adult cancer creative workshop

Do you enjoy easy crafts and spending time with other young adult cancer survivors and caregivers?  You’ll love this workshop!

Lacuna Loft’s online Yarn Wreath Winter Workshop is the sixth in our #LetsMakeStuff @LacunaLoft series of online workshops!

This workshop is designed to teach you the basics of making a yarn wreath.  If you’ve never done this before, you’re in luck! Mallory will go step-by-step through everything!  If you love crafting and you’re a real pro already, no problem!  While some of the tutorial will be more than you need, the rest of the time spent crafting and being artsy with other young adult cancer peers will be totally worth it.  In this workshop, you’ll learn an easy yarn wreath craft…unlike our other workshops, this DIY is super simple so we’ll spend most of the time hanging out and having a cozy winter evening together!

This workshop is a 2-hour commitment and will occur via video hangout on Tuesday, December 19th @ 5:30 pm PT / 7:30 pm CT / 8:30 pm ET.  15 young adult cancer survivors and caregivers can join.  Can’t make the dates this time?  Don’t worry!  We’ll offer other Creative Workshops in the coming months!

How does it work?  After you sign up below, you’ll receive everything you need to participate in the yarn wreath winter workshop in the mail!  Yep!  We’ll send you just about everything you’ll need!  Then, Lacuna Loft will send you an email about a week before the workshop with information on how to join the video chat.  (Just in case you’re wondering…to join the video chat you’ll need the link that we’ll provide you, a headset with a microphone, and a webcam).  That’s it!

Sponsored in part by a grant from Genentech and Shire.

Click here to sign up to be notified when this program is announced by choosing it under ‘Programs you’re interested in.’ (Feel free to choose to be notified when other programs are announced too!)

Wreath photo via ABM.

Flashback #12: An Easy DIY T-Shirt ReMake!

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To celebrate our 2-year anniversary of being a nonprofit, Lacuna Loft is bringing back our top 31 articles from our archives!  The countdown to our top post is continuing today with Flashback #12: An Easy DIY T-Shirt ReMake!, written by Mallory. These 31 articles are the best of the best and we’re very happy to share them with you again!  The countdown continues next week!

….You know how it is so nice to slip on some comfy clothes at the end of the day…or to have comfy clothes on all day when you’re not feeling well?  T-shirts always seem to be a great go-to for just this comfy purpose.  But then, someone comes over unexpectedly and all of a sudden you’re caught wearing clothes that make you look even worse than you feel!  I usually don’t wear t-shirts for just this reason…they definitely give me a rumpled and baggy appearance.  Here is the solution!  Take that over-sized favorite t-shirt of yours and resize it!…

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Read the rest of the article here!

Flashback #25: A DIY Snowman Pillow

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To celebrate our 2-year anniversary of being a nonprofit, Lacuna Loft is bringing back our top 31 articles from our archives!  This is Flashback #25: A DIY Snowman Pillow was written by Mallory. These 31 articles are the best of the best and we’re very happy to share them with you again!  The countdown continues tomorrow!

…Winter is still here!  While the cold and gray might be getting you down, nothing will make your home cheerier than a DIY snowman pillow!  This DIY project is super simple…get the kids involved for an afternoon of fun!  This is a great project to do when you’re not feeling so hot from chemo, or when your life as a caregiver needs a little project to take your mind away for a while….

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Read the rest of the article here!

A DIY Canvas Transfer Portrait

young adult cancer

Quite a while ago, I fell in love with this tutorial to transfer a photo onto canvas.  I won’t bore you with the how-tos because the folks over at A Beautiful Mess do a precise job of communicating each step to you, but let me tell you, this tutorial is easy and produces a really neat finished product.  Plus, it’s easy and cheap!  A few years ago, it was my mother-in-law’s birthday and my husband and I, being low on funds because of cancer, wanted to get her a creative and heartfelt gift that didn’t break the bank.  Since we were swimming in wedding photographs at the time, I decided to try the canvas transfer DIY.  I loved the results so much that I ended up doing a whole series of them for my dad with pictures of my mom!

One thing about the process, there is a lot of rubbing.  Once you’ve put the picture you’re transferring face down on the medium covered canvas (all steps are outlined here), you spray it all down with water (not too much water though!) and start rubbing the paper off of the canvas.  This rubbing step takes a while.  You may even wonder if you will ever arrive at the finished product…but have no fear!  You will!  I actually rubbed my fingers raw so I suggest wearing gloves while you do this step.

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It really produces a beautiful final product.  A wonderful gift for someone, or a way of keeping busy during young adult cancer treatments or recovery, this is a fun and easy DIY!

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DIY Neon Coasters

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Spring is here and it is officially time for all things colorful and bright!  Emily, over at cupcakes and cashmere, has come up with a super useful DIY to add a fabulous pop of color to your home.  These neon, DIY coasters are simple enough to make,  delightfully nautical, and definitely add something useful to your living space.  Don’t they look like just the perfect, home-y addition for spring?  With just a few supplies and a little bit of sewing know-how, you’ll be able to whip up some of these colorful diy coasters in no time!

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Do you have any DIY projects ready to go this spring?  My husband and I are finishing an ottoman…but I think these coasters look like something I’ll have to add next to the agenda!

Interested in writing about DIY projects that have kept you busy during or after young adult cancer?  Email us at info@lacunaloft.com!

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A Wedding Quilt

For my sister in law’s wedding gift, I made her and her husband a quilt!  I started sewing a few years ago, am almost completely self taught, and really love the activity.  I find it calming and a good creative outlet.  I started a quilt for my own household a while back…and…well….it isn’t quite finished yet 🙂  Quilts do take a bit of time and I lost steam on this project with just the outside binding to go.  Definitely a project I’ll finish in the coming weeks!  This makes the wedding quilt my first finished quilt though and I’m really proud of it!

Normally I would have shared these in-process photos on my own instagram feed…but the quilt was a gift!  So I had to be patient and now I’m showing them all.at.once. 🙂

Are there any sewing or crafting projects that you like?  Maybe a fun way to mark young adult cancer or life milestones?

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Thanks for letting me share!  This quilt has been a labor of love!

Coloring For Adults (And For Stress!)

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Coloring is no longer just for kids!  Here at Lacuna Loft, I’ve explained how helpful and calming coloring was for me during my chemo treatments…grabbing some colored pencils, blocking out the rest of the room, and focusing on the blending and shading that I wanted to produce on the coloring page was such a relief from hospital chemo rooms and boring hours alone at home!  For a while I was really into it and even spent time watching youtube videos on colored pencil blending techniques.  Well it turns out that psychologists are actually finding that coloring can be a great stress reliever in adults!

Coloring for adults?!…you might say.  But there has to be a limit to what kinds of illustrations you might find, right?  Nope!

There are so many different options popping up all over the place!  The NY times recently talked with the illustrator behind a really popular coloring book, the Secret Garden.  Her illustrations are absolutely beautiful.  I recently bought this one but there are so many different books that pop up if you search for coloring pages for adults.  There is even a book series equipped with Color Me Calm and Color Me Happy.

Have you tried coloring lately?  Interested in giving it a try for stress relief or just for fun?