RAIN SPROUT HANDWORKS

We believe there is a great benefit for any community in sharing and developing creative skills and knowledge -- exploring materials and process to give satisfaction and competence to those involved.  We provide crafting workshops and multi week classes at the Dharma Lab, #202-1814 Pandora Street (just off Salsbury Ave) for children and adults.  The focus of our workshops will be about kids and for kids:  be it parent participation, where the pair can learn a new skill together, a child's joy in creating a plaything with their own hands, or making something for a child in your life. Our workshops will strike a balance between skills development and artistic expression.  We love the idea of promoting the use of natural materials when hosting a workshop,  but our philosophy extends to re-purposing found and recycled items as well. 

questions? rain.sprout.handworks@gmail.com

The Team:
Alexis and Kirsten are two local mamas with very complementary skills  who connected with the same desire to balance being present within their own young families, and having meaningful work within their community.   By sharing the time, tasks and resources available to both they have the rare opportunity to have the best of both worlds: raising beautiful, happy kids and sharing their passion with the grand folk at large. 

Alexis Bach
Alexis' love of handwork blossomed at an early age.  She had the good fortune of attending a nature based school nestled in the heart of the Toronto Islands which allowed her to explore natural dyeing, weaving, finger knitting, sewing and embroidery at as part of her learning experience. Remembering the wonder filled times spent at her first school Alexis achieved her Montessori Teaching Diploma from the AMI accredited, Montessori Training Centre of BC.  She enjoyed six wonderful years of working as co-teacher and manager in two preschools before starting her own family.  Now a mother of two fantastic, energetic and creative children, Alexis is looking forward to sharing her passion for handwork and crafting with others. 

Kirsten Breckenridge
Her whole life, Kirsten has been adding colour and texture to all things plain. This desire to create and beautify lead her straight to Emily Carr University and a BFA in Visual Art. While in art school, she discovered crafting again, and embraced it as a form of expression, environmental activism and community creation. Wanting to share this discovery with others, she joined the Seamrippers Craft Collective, and helped plan events, craft shows, and taught craft classes to adults, though her greatest joy was sharing the love of craft and art with children during two summers as the Art Director at Camp Miriam and also working at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver. Kirsten can't wait to continue to share her passion and experience with her community.

3rd…Felt masks:

Roar like a lion,soar like an eagle, laugh like a monkey.... bring your imagination to life by making a mask of your own. Come and learn how to make felted masks!!  In this workshop we will use a half face form to begin the mask and with additional pieces of felt (and perhaps some roving and a felting needle), we will create a multi layered mask with both definition and life.  Bring your imagination and your enthusiasm!  No previous sewing or handwork skills are required. 

10th & 17th…Ears, Tails and Noses I& II: 

In this two part workshop we will create adornments to bring any play to life...   in the first week, we will create the felt that will be shaped into our imaginations desires.  The second week will have us adding the  depth and dimensions to our felt, and finally shaping it into the ears, tails and noses of the creatures we will become... 

24th…Felted Accessories: 

Felt is a multi-dimensional media, essentially limitless in it's ability to create form. Bring your imagination and we will explore the vast array of shape,colour and dimension that we can produce together. 

November:

 7th…paper making:

Using a blender,participants will make pulp by recycling old scrap paper. The resulting pulps will be used to make your papers. You will have a chance to make papers with the decorations or designs right in them by using inclusion, layering, painting and stenciling.   Participants will take home their own papers at the end of the class.

14th…cards

Drop in to the Dharma Lab and participate in a fun card making workshop. We will be teaching the children how to create unique, handmade cards using collage,cutting and printmaking techniques.  The children have the choice of using the paper made from the previous workshop. 

21st…book making: 

A pamphlet is so simple yet so powerful … so satisfying to make and use … so easy to vary and personalize … that kids always want to make more. Kids touch history when they make a pamphlet. The basic structure—a gathering of pages folded and sewn as one—is at the heart of Western books as they've been made for more than 2,000years. With decorative paper for a cover or a cover cut-out to showcase artwork, pamphlets are great as storybooks, reading journals, private diaries,sketch books, autobiographies and more.

28th…wrapping paper

For young and old.
You provide the ideas.
We provide the material.
The result? One of a kind wrapping paper that you get to take home.

December:

5th & 12th …holiday decorations I &II

In this two part workshop, we will explore with different mediums, paper, wool and dough to create beautiful creations that will bring warmth and sparkle to your home during the festive winter season.  Our creations will be formed in the first week, then decorated and completed the second week.