An Open Letter To The World (in sizes small, medium and large)

Dear Chicago, Dear World,

We recently entered the running to win a $250,000 grant from Chase and Living Social to extend our programming, specifically the capability to offer Crafter-School for the additional families and schools that have requested access to our program. We don't usually enter these types of contests but this time were moved to do it and want you to know why. If it resonates with you and your experience, would you vote for us?  Would you ask a friend to do the same?  We wish you would.

If you're really busy, here's the Cliff's Notes version-- Creativity. Wishcraft grows artists. Artists are free with their creativity. Creative people solve problems. Big and small problems. Worldwide and local problems.

If you're really organized, here are the bullet points--

We believe an after-school program should...

• value the creative process over the product
• empower students to curate their environment and shape their days
• actively recognize that one size doesn't fit all or even most
• operate in way that demonstrates that the planet deserves better
• understand allergies and other special needs and deliver consistent and sensitive oversight
• model positive conflict-resolution
• encourage literacy and fluency in a fun and individualized way
• be an inclusive environment in every way possible
• offer activities that ignite imagination
• grow kind people and active citizens
• hire, and keep, dedicated staff that treat each student like extended family
• be priced such that it provides families a choice
• listen, share, iterate and continually improve
• celebrate spontaneous act of silliness, dance, song, make-believe or any other form of creative expression

And if you're really sentimental, read on for more...

Deciding who will care for your child in your absence is one of the single most important decisions that a parent makes. Working parents rely on programs such as ours to remove doubt from their day, allowing them to focus on what needs to be done to keep turning our economy around. We don't just pick-up students from school or show them how to make something fun with their hands and hearts. We have their back. We have Mom's back. We have Dad's back. We have the school's back.

Students that routinely engage in the arts do better in school. Period. We'd like to make more of that available to anyone that asks. Our program is different. It is special. People know that and they want to be a part of it. Our Crafter-School after-school program has been at capacity for the 2011/12 school-year and has a waiting list for schools we already serve and a deep list of schools and families that want to be added. It is not a job for us. Working with the Wishcraft community is something that we get to do, not have to do. We are honored to be chosen by any single family and it shows.

It is a time of enormous change in Chicago. Being a source of stability and personal growth for both students and their families brings calm to the storm. And to wrap all of that in a container of creativity, color and joy...lucky for us.

MyLife after iLife, or coming out on the other side of the Apple orchard.

(Have you seen our new site, wishcraftworkshop.com?)

At first I was afraid. I was petrified. Kept thinking iCould never like without iWeb by my side. And I’ve spent so many nights thinking how Apple did me wrong, but I grew strong and I learned how to get along and now I’m back, with new hosting space….

Read the entire story here on our new site.

D-I-Why? I'll Tell You Why

Our workshop was founded in 2008 with the simple purpose of creating a comfortable, inspiring, inclusive and welcoming space in which kids could develop confidence and celebrate their creativity by offering open-ended projects that we've designed for ready-success, that scale with the artist's capabilities and that are fun and relevant. And do we do it in a way that was respectful of our planet? Yes, we do! Using the Founder's creative expertise honed in the fashion and entertainment industries and the skills, smiles and creative genius of a fantastic team, we've created a special-little-local place in which kids seem to relax, settle in and often complain about having to leave. (One family recently called us their "community center"-- aw.) It's the work-place, the hang-out-place, the fun-place of our dreams. Or wishes. Granted.

(Want to read more about our philosophy and a recipe for a "wow" project....?)

We Grow Artists (or Why I Dance in Pajamas)

It's been a busy 24 hours with Summer Camp registration opening yesterday. I'm a little bleary-eyed and we're only getting started (I get up way too early, and too often), and yet I feel like dancing and singing in pajamas. Why does this entrepreneur get so excited when "starving artist" is still a label that resonates for most of us here? How much fun is it to sort through the mounds of email and phone messages that this kick-off brings? A lot of fun, and here's why:

• I get to help a camper find their voice and express it confidently through a garment of their own design. (Project Wishcraft)
• I get to help kids build a catapult to launch a hand-made action-figure and laugh hysterically at its arc. And then do it again. And again. (CrafTNT)
• I get to help a girl build with a hammer and play with dolls in the same day. (Me, My Doll and I)
• I get to help make pretend play extra-real-fun play. (Craft Picnic)
• I get to help a camper learn the thrill of turning something used into something amazing and new and exciting and totally unique. (Do Over!, Ecosew)
• I get to help the eyes behind a lens to see the world and themselves in new ways. (Face-simile)
• I get to help a camper envision a space in which to dream (literally, figuratively) and make it real. (It's a Rad Rad Room)
• I get to help little kids feel like they're being big kids while still being allowed to be little kids. (Sew Fabulous, Do Over! Jr.)
• I get to help campers commemorate their incredible summer and all of its adventures as they prepare for another amazing school-year. (Goodbye Summer, Sew Long Summer)
• I get to help kids discover the creative power in their heads and hands.

I don't have to. I get to. (It's all about me anyway, right?) It's pretty neat to watch kids grow, and to grow in so many ways. Summer seems to be a particularly powerful season for this, like it is for sunflowers and tomatoes. We grow artists. Lucky me.

1 Boy + 2 Dogs = A Love Story

There once was a boy named Jack.  He had parents that loved him unconditionally and immensely, an incredible older sister always watching out for him, grandparents all over the country that doted as expected, and a really great dog. He had always had this dog. The dog had been a part of the family almost twice as long as Jack had been. The dog was the best dog in the whole world, which was nice, because Jack was also the best little guy in the whole world--sweet, loving, sometimes too rambunctious....like his dog, Gretsch.

Walk Now for Autism Speaks, 2011

As Jack got older his parents noticed that his development seemed to become significantly and noticeably different than that of his peers. As a toddler he had taught himself to read, but he wouldn't look very many people in the eye. He made witty and hilarious jokes to entertain his family, but would curl up like a turtle when outside his cocoon. He could create elaborate, multi-faceted stories and characters that could arc in a hundred directions without Jack losing sight of one detail, but he couldn't write* down his ideas or draw them. Jack's family learned just before his 7th birthday that he had been born with Autism Spectrum Disorder. 

Gretsch, 12 years-old

As Jack got older, what had always looked like standard tantrums were becoming more frequent instead of waning. His family came to realize that these were not decisions that Jack was making, but that his body was overwhelmed and had no other way to release the energy (frustration, stimulation....) that had been accumulating throughout the day. But as Jack got older and less comfortable, so did Gretsch. His very sweet, loving and no longer so rambunctious dog. Jack of the wide-ears and big-eyes noticed that when he became a little too loud, his dog looked sad. So Jack would stop and redirect himself, make a compromise, take-ten (whatever it took to bring the volume down to a place in which everyone could be comfortable again) and pet his dog. The symbiosis was a beautiful thing to behold. What an incredible therapeutic upside to loving our family pet.

But then the dog got very sick and within 4 months of being diagnosed, passed away.  Of course this was a tremendous loss for the entire family, and for the community of friends and family that knew this Buddha of a dog, but oh, for Jack.... The pain, the loss, the confusion, the sadness. And Jack's behavior changed. His dog would never be replaced. No dog could ever be as amazing. This was a disaster. (But wait, there is a happy ending, or so the title of this post suggested...)

Trixie, 7 Months

Three months later, after the deliberation and false-starts of the previous months, Jack's family decided it was time to trade the mourning for mornings. All four of them bundled up and rushed over to the shelter. The decision had been made and there was no time to lose. They met another sweet, loving and (very) rambunctious dog, fell in love, adopted her and named her Trixie. They took her home that night and she bonded quickly with the family....except not with Jack. Jack wanted to love her, but she had even more energy than he did. Jack wanted to say sweet things to her, but he didn't want to offend the memory of Gretsch** (who lovingly watches down on us from his.....let's just go ahead and call it a shrine.) 

A few days went by and the happiness that the sort-of-puppy brought the rest of the family just wasn't catching up to Jack. Then, one morning, Trixie jumped up into Jack's bed while he was still sleeping. Jack was a happy boy once he is awake, and not so happy while someone is trying to make him be awake. Trixie licked his arm. She licked his ear and his cheek. Jack put his face in his pillow to avoid the wet slap of love headed his way....and put his arm out to hug the new love of his life. And this is definitely not The End.

*Technology is wonderful.  Jack "writes" a lot, and some of his stories can be found on his blog, The Amazing Adventure Boy.

**Jack now does tell Trixie that she's "the best dog"....but every compliment must end with one little modifier-- "alive".  Trixie is now the best dog alive.

 

Ew! A Social-Media Year in Review

Marketing with social media is exciting with its pace and potential. The speed at which we think and "speak" is astounding, and with that velocity comes some....atrocity. I like to tell myself that I do my best work under pressure (and I like to instruct my teenaged daughter to do the opposite despite her realization of the same), but upon a year-of-social-media-in-review, I could be, gasp, wrong. I found some gems on this memory lane of Facebook and Twitter snippets. And also laughed out loud at some of the silliness. What lives lovingly behind every single post is a sincere desire to share an incredible confidence-building creative experience with every child and adult we are fortunate enough to meet, but......

Wisdom

• I bet for a kid it feels neat to be your own curator, with no grown-up to tell you if your art is wall-worthy. It's why our walls are busy busy.
• Libraries=Knowledge=Progress=Peace.
• WISH is a 4-letter word. So are RISK, TIME, CASH. And so are GLEE, HOPE, LOVE...
• I ♥ giraffes- looks like they move slowly while they're actually making tremendous progress with an eye to the long-view...
• Typing an email and iPhone auto-correct changed "join our mailing list?" to "smiling list". Smart phone.
• Learned a great phrase yesterday that resonates with how we approach being an inclusive studio: "presume competence".
• It's really cool when a camper with special needs has a special day. Don't we all have a need that makes us special?
• Did you know that we grow artists? Not train. Not make. Not test. Grow.
• Hi Planet. Keep up the good work and we'll be better about doing the same. Love, Wishcraft.
• Who needs a coloring book?
• There is big wisdom in this hand-written note by one of our after-school students: "You can draw anything. You can paint anything. You can make anything. You can play anything. You can make projects. We have snack at 3:00."

Fun

• A sewing camper sang our safety instructions. Someone finally took us up on the offer. ♥ ♥ ♥
• How fun is it to have a barefoot dance party ON paint? Like grape
stomping for kids.
• Overheard today: "we're messy, like artists are supposed to be".
• Overheard today: "this girl? I never met her before but we're already friends".
• So much fun to work somewhere in which sparkly things like sequins show up in places like the inside of the radiator. I left it there, by the way.
• Sweetest question from a 1st grader- "how many pounds of fabric do I need for my pajama pants project?"
• Such a happy-house of fun at the workshop today. Giggles galore. We're lucky to do what we do each day, so thank you.
• Seriously? The "Google Punks Me" show goes on with a call today asking if we are wiccan or...just pagan? We didn't realize that allowing children to create spontaneous dances of joy would go so far. I wonder what channel this show will be on once the cameras are revealed.
• Ok fine. The jeweled moustaches are much classier.

Humility

• My laptop case is humiliating.
• Rob told me he was moving one of my books to the "read" (past tense)
 section. I thought he said "red", which was thrilling.
• Have you ever had a thought-bubble hovering over your head, ready to take flight, only to have it ruptured by .....nothing at all? Just. Gone.
• Someone faux-vampire-hissed at me today. Hilarious. Kids today.
• ps- who else feels powerful when they change the huge water cooler bottle? I do.
• OK seamsters, where's the silliest place you've found an errant thread clipping? Today I found one in my coffee cup..but not in the sewing room or even sewing yet today.
• Can you help us rename the Project Hall of Shame? Hall of Try? Hall of Why? Hall of _________?
• I just heard a bird chirp and I'm not even meditating. This is big.

Gratitude

• So neat when students come in for a class and another student tells them how cool their class will be based on their previous experience. Love.
• Student: "Wishcraft should have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame." Me: 'Why?" Student: "Because you deserve it."
• "Oh Mom! Already?" Glad to hear this all afternoon as students were picked up from Crafter-School. Even when it was closing time.
• One of our campers is so giddy to be with us for another camp next week that she suggested we name it "Sew Excited" instead.
• Ha! We were just called the "hardest working women in sew business". Guess I'm not the only one with a silly turn of phrase.
• And for service above and beyond the call of duty, the award goes to Rob, who delivered not just emergency clean underwear, but rockin' cool skull undies, too. You know you're getting crafty Candice when you sign up for CrAfter School, but did you know you also get 3 other kind and silly Cumminseseses too? My boys ♥ every cotton-pickin' Cummins in that joint.
• This morning a Dad that was dropping off his 3 kids to FUNordinary Art Camp pulled me aside to tell me-- "You do really good work. I mean it." Wow. Happy Friday.
• Another fun note from an after-schooler found while cleaning my office. My fave: "They have createful minds (that temt you)".

Ew

• I'm blue for you. Or for whomever you gift me to. I can be whatever you want me to be.
• I wanna be Like(d) by you, just you, and nobody else but you. I wanna be Like(d) by you alo-oh-one. Boop boop be-do.
• Does your expired workshop voucher have legs?
• Recess is still the only good thing about "recession"- we've kept class prices flat for 3 years.
• Dear Soccer Coaches, please advise practice schedules asap so families can choose their creative Wishcraft class. Love, Us.
• 5 spots remain and only 1 one of them will go on to become America's Next Top Camper for Friday 11/18.
• Feed your child's creative confidence and feed someone that needs it. Turn Cyber Monday into food for Common Pantry with our Fiber Funday.
• How convenient for 7/11! Give your kid a big gulp of summer fun with 64 fluid dollar savings off Camp.
• WANTED- shady quick-change artists for recycling magic. Starts tomorrow. Shade of green preferred.
• What has stripes, loves the planet, is fun to be around and isn't a zebra?
• We know a Viking (sewing machine) interested in meeting young fashion designers. The needles, thread and scissors are lonely, too.

Ew, right? 2012 promises to be even more amazing. She told me so this morning.

From your friends at the Wishcraft workshop, our wishes for the happiest and healthiest year yet for you, your friends and your family. Cheers.

Because You're Worth It

A cosmetic conglomerate has been using the line for years.  Yesterday I saw a quote that reminded me-- the people that we love are worth it. You are worth it. It is a crazy time of year. Crazy. There are moments of great kindness and moments of....craziness (drivers in particular.) But there is a reason that we do this every year. We all have our very personal sentiments about the reason for the season and, for some, very strong sentiments about the reason to forgo it altogether. Could it be like tax deductions?  Hurry and get in the last gesture of loving kindness, in the form of a gift, before the new year arrives?  No, it couldn't be.  

Holidays are funny in their predictable way of bringing out the best and worst in us. Someone may disappoint you this year. Some of of us may disappoint others. But really, the point is that we care, and if we were to take that caring into everything that we do, what a wonderful world this would be. 

“As we struggle with shopping lists and invitations, compounded by December's bad weather, it is good to be reminded that there are people in our lives who are worth this aggravation, and people to whom we are worth the same.”
Donald Westlake (1933-2008);
American writer

The Richest of Experiences

The internally dark days following the passing of my grandmother June Anne Stone this past week were followed immediately with the crimes of Black Friday-- pepper-spray attacks, trampling, armed robbery. Over games and electronics. Serious crimes committed because of....stuff. Then comes Cyber Monday.  Big deals on big stuff shipped from all over the place. 

I had 10 hours on the I-65 yesterday to consider the lessons to be learned from my grandmother, or at least the ones she would want me to hold and pass on. During the times in which she had not much, she gave and gave. I often didn't understand how she chose the targets of her generosity of spirit. She was a shy activist. A quietly opinionated citizen, making small contributions in whatever way she could...even when she couldn't. She gave me skills. She gave me experiences. And I made my own opinions.  

And so today, at Wishcraft, it's Fiber Funday. Because it's a silly rhyme with Cyber Monday. Because it touches on some of our favorite media (fabric, felt, yarn...touchable things that so often bring people together.) As you make plans today to spend the bounty that we have on those we cherish, consider the gift of an experience. A creative, confidence-building almost inexplicably fun and skill-building experience at our workshop filled with laughter and color and joy.  Be it a camp for Winter Break (or 2012 on one of the days when school is closed), a gift-certificate for a Winter II Session class (starting January 23, 2012) or a small-group workshop for her and her friends, we promise to make memories.  

Feed your child's creative confidence and feed someone that needs it.  Turn Cyber Monday into food.  For today*, Fiber Funday, 10% of all part- and full-day camp fees collected using our website are donated to Common Pantry.  Let's make something and share something.  Tell a pal and let's share some food and fun.

*Expires 11:59pm tonight, Monday November 28, 2011

My 4-Letter Words

WISH is a 4-letter word. So is FEAR. And you probably have your own favorites for moments of frustration and moments of joy. Being an entrepreneur* brings with it a roller-coaster of 4-letter words, starting with RISK, TIME, and CASH on their one-way streets.  But when I STOP and allow myself the moments to GIVE back to the community that has supported us through our first 3 years (Yes! We just celebrated our 3rd Birthday!), it feels GOOD.
(Thanks to those of you that ask and remind us of the opportunity to help your school or your non-for-profit. The gift-certificates are on their way!)

At the workshop we have been preparing for a craft event next weekend (which involves a lot of MAKE) that pays us nothing but the opportunity to MEET like-minded artisans, crafticionados and their kids and KNOW, if for even just a few moments with each, the child-like excitement that comes with the experience of making something by HAND. That's RICH. We hope to see you there, where "Wish is a 4-Letter Word" will be the project we bring to the KIDS' area. You'll have to come visit to see what we mean. Have your kids start thinking about their list of 4-letter words and get there early to sign-up for a good time-slot to MEET us. 

Until then, I'll be focusing on the better half of my 4-letter word mind-stock, reminding myself that even when the entrepreneurial roller-coaster dips into places that are DARK, tomorrow there is always the GLEE, the HOPE, the LOVE (and in the case of the upcoming few months, CAMP and hopefully some LUCK) that comes with my WISH of crafting a space in which anyone can learn to feel powerfully and playfully creative, solving problems aesthetic, functional and practical. ONCE we HAVE THAT, WHAT CAN'T be DONE?  

Thanks to my daughter Lulu for the following list to help anyone that gets stuck with their list.  We probably don't want my son's list this afternoon as he does his homework.

Wish   Love   Hope   Make   Good   Food   Bake   Live   Give   Life   Know   Glad   Glue (ha!)   Play   Home   Book   Band   Rock   Baby   Felt   Yarn   Time   Knit   Draw   Cozy   Fame

*see Crain's Chicago Business blog to find a great article by Carol Roth about the 5 myths (and one truth) of entrepreneurship. My blog's inability to successfully link to it is beyond the luddite lurking within.

Mummy, Don't Throw That Away (No Boo Hoo's)

Kid-Made Kid-Friendly Mummy

Take some of the boo hoo out of the boo! with a sweet-looking and kinda cuddly stuffed mummy to make with your kids. At the workshop we have just about anything you need to make just about anything. To make a wish. To make something. But what if you have no supplies? Do you have printer paper sitting in your recycling bin and a smidge of cello-tape? How about a crayon? We promise this won't be too scary for busy parents, either.

The Supplies

• 2-3 pieces 8.5"x11" used printer paper (printed on one side)
• Cellophane tape
• Colored pencil/crayon/marker/eyeliner....
• Scissors (or not)
• (really, that's all!)

The Operation

(Step 1) Crumpled Paper

1.  Crumple up two pieces of paper. Unfold and crumple them up again. The crumpling step is done when the pieces are soft and pliable. Set one piece aside.  
2.  Fold one crumpled piece of paper in half hamburger style (i.e. cross-wise, or fold the 11" side to make two halves that measure 8.5"x5.5"). On this paper sketch a squared-off oval mummy-like shape. 
3.  With the paper still folded, cut (or rip) out the mummy shape. This will yield two mummy-shaped pieces. Trim one of the pieces so that it is slightly smaller than the other.
4.  Draw a friendly face on the blank side of the larger of the two mummy shapes.

(Step 5) Folding + Taping

5.  With blank sides facing outward (i.e. printed sides touching), fold the edges of the larger shape around the edges of the smaller shape and affix with tape.

(Step 6+7) Stuffing the Mumm6. 

6.  Take the third piece of paper and rip it into smallish pieces. Wad these up into little balls to be used as stuffing.
7.  Stuff the mummy and close the opening with tape.
8.  Remember the remaining soft and pliable piece of paper? Rip that paper lengthwise into slim strips (about .5" wide).

(Step 9) Wrapping the Mummy

9.  Starting on the back-side, tape down the end of a paper-strip and begin wrapping the mummy. Tape strips together to make enough to wrap the mummy to your satisfaction.

Not too scary, right? Please enjoy a safe and silly Halloween.