The Paper Caffé

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Silent Poetry Art Studio Opens May 1st!

Photos above are hubby and I just after getting the keys (earlier than expected)

while Sandrine was enjoying Spring Break with her family in Maui :)

Some exciting news!!! My (artist) friend and I have ventured off and partnered up to open a new fine art studio called ‘Silent Poetry Art Studio’… we should be open by May 1st and will definitely have a party shortly after. Date to be announced!

Sandrine and I are full-time artists with experience teaching both workshops and individual classes. We each have our individual strengths… I work with acrylic paints and paper art, and Sandrine with watercolor, mixed media and drawing.

Some of the opportunities we will be offering through the studio:

Individual classes:

Whether you’re starting out, need help with next steps, or have a project you wish to work on, we will offering individual instruction. Please email Sharka at info@sharkaleigh.com or Sandrine at sandrinepelissier@gmail.com to inquire.

Workshops:

We will post our upcoming workshop schedule on our Facebook page and Newsletter. Please click to subscribe to our Newsletter or ‘LIKE’ us on Facebook.

ART4U Thursdays:

A “mentoring” program every Thursday from 10am to 2:30 pm. Artists can drop in or reserve a space by calling or emailing us. Come paint with us in our studio, ask questions about technique, and enjoy the company of other artists in a fun and relaxed atmosphere.

Of course our artwork will also be on display! J We hope to see you at our opening party!
~ Sharka

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Designer Tape & Envelope Maker

Guess what I finally received in the mail? The box of Designer Tape I won back on January 18^th from Bella Blvd’s Sneak Peek Giveaway during this year’s Winter CHA show. Looks great… now I have to come up with a project to use it!

Scrolling the net at the same time, I saw the new Envelope Punch Board (much easier to call it the Envelope Maker) from We R Memory Keepers. It’s definitely a must have! This item is so popular I missed out on the first run and figured I have to wait till April/May for the next batch.

While attending a 13 hour crop a few weeks back, they had it and I didn’t hesitate a moment before buying it! That was the best thing that happened that weekend, lol!

With the envelope maker you will NEVER have to buy another envelope!

You can make up to 60 different sized envelopes. They’re super speedy and really simple to use. It also comes with a score tool tucked away for safekeeping and a punch allowing you to make your envelope corners round. The best part… it is super portable and all 60 card sizes are right there on the board!

Below is a mini envelope album I made with this funky new tool. I got the idea from Jim, The Gentleman Crafter. He’s made a great “how to” video if you’re interested. Mine’s not quite finished yet, but I had to show’n’tell and will finish it soon.

I figured this would be a great little book to carry with me or keep in my truck. I can be “just a little more organized” when picking up things like receipts, business cards or making notes… I tend to lose these things if I don’t have somewhere to put them! ~ Sharka

Friday, February 8, 2013

Valentine's Tag Album

I always have ideas for Valentine’s projects and I just don’t seem to get around to making them all! I thought of making a tag album this year, but actually getting down to it and making it was another story… I didn’t want to go out and buy more ‘heart’ paper so instead checked out the ‘valentine paper’ bin. I had a lot of cute paper, stickers and embellishments and a collection of paper from Echo Park last year called Yours Truly. I also had cardstock to match!

As I brought it all together and started, it was definitely in the red, black, white and pink tones. Because a lot of my embellishments were on the ‘too cutesy’ side, the idea just wasn’t coming together. I took a trip to Michaels and a few of the dollar stores and got a few additional things… on clearance already - yay!

After finishing this tag album, there were a few things I know I should have changed. It all worked out in the end, it just took a lot more hours the way I did it!

The good news… I used tools and supplies that hadn’t had much attention in a long time, some things had never even been opened. I also got to make my own embellishments (that’s where the hours went) and I used up papers that I really, really ‘loved’… last year!

Things that I used to make my tag album were:

- file folders as the base cut to size (4”x8”)

- StudioG alphabet stamps to stamp my sayings

- cereal box for the large chipboard heart

- computer clip art, tracing out and hand cutting hearts, etc.

- brads (pkg never opened!), and

- coin envelope die from Sizzix… which also was in the never opened pile!

Have a LOVE-ly Day! ~ Sharka

Friday, February 1, 2013

Centennial Theatre Centre

If you are taking in a performance at the Centennial Theatre, 195 Studios is currently showing a group exhibition in the lobby... enjoy the work of our talented group of artists!

Saturday, January 26, 2013

It's All About the Wine?

Let’s have a glass of wine!

…as we were sipping wine while having dinner at Cactus Club this past summer, I was asked if I would paint a ‘wine still life’ for our good friends! REALLY?! For some reason I was a little embarrassed as I felt my cheeks turn the same colour as the wine!

Five months later here we are - I just finished the painting for them. There seems to be a ‘dinner out at restaurant’ theme behind this commission. We made plans a few weeks back for Dine Out Vancouver and they had no problem with me presenting it to them after dinner in the parking lot of the Boathouse Restaurant!

I had both fun and challenges with this painting. The most important part of the painting was “it had to show a bottle of BORDEAUX”. To keep the story short, the label was really challenging to create due to the fine printing and I learned a lot about the various tools available for such detailed work. Many of them are not that great but painting future wine labels should be a breeze!!!

The “clients” were very pleased with the outcome. When they got home, they placed the piece on their mantel and both enjoyed drinking a glass of wine – while admiring their painting of wine!

À la vôtre! ~ Sharka

Monday, December 31, 2012

Welcome 2013!

Tomorrow marks the beginning of a brand NEW YEAR! It’s time to get ready for the next chapter… and now is the time to make our resolutions!

No matter what those New Year’s resolutions are, for some reason, by the third month, resolutions are often long forgotten. For some people, they’re gone sooner than that.

I believe we need to give our list some careful thought and intent - then follow through.

What are you going to do differently - in terms of your ART - this year? What are your goals and desires? What are you determined to achieve?

Here are my five CREATE-ive Resolutions for 2013…

#5 - Have my first show… my dream/vision past few years has been to have a show of my paintings -- I will have to work hard, which means painting faster for me! Big dreams, but life itself is a DREAM!

#4 - Do at least one painting in size/shape that's outside my norm -- whether extreme portrait format, large square or a huge one!

#3 - To experiment with a new media...watercolour!

#2 - To stop fiddle-farting around on the internet (and in between paintings) and re-dedicate myself to painting!

#1 - To have fun, enjoy myself at the studio and make 2013 a great year! And not let other negative people get me down!!! :)

Another neat idea given to me by a friend which I’m going to do myself: starting tomorrow, get an empty jar and when something good happens in 2013, write it down and pop it into the jar. Next New Years Eve, empty that jar and read what awesome stuff happened over the year!