|
Learn new things- A little (big) list of places to take workshops in Central NC and upcoming workshops and events͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
|
In this Newsletter:
-Upcoming- workshops, markets, products online
-A little (big) List of Places to take Creative workshops (as collected and compiled from Instagram)
-Behind-the-scenes: Private label commissions
-A note and picture from River Takada
|
This Saturday: I’ll be speaking with Living Futures at American Underground talking about honoring our ancestors through craft and mindful stitching with Sashiko. All attendees will sew a long with me and receive a swatch of hand dyed indigo and a Sashiko Template! |
|
|
|
|
Living Futures Saturdays is a monthly event series featuring climate-engaged presenters from a variety of disciplines. Join us as we listen, learn, and create community and new knowledge.
|
|
Mark your calendars! 🗓️🙌✨
The AAPI Lunar New Year Market on Sat. Feb. 10th
I am excited to be vending at this market, hosted by Triangle Pop-Up at @raleighironworks on Saturday, February 10. This market is a celebration of the Year of the Dragon and will have live performances, dragon dancers, food trucks and lots of AAPI vendors to shop from ✨
Can’t wait to celebrate with you! |
|
|
|
Just for newsletter members: Use the code SWEET16 to get 16% off your total purchase to celebrate RIVTAK’s 16th anniversary with me! I love the idea of you having and gifting my handmade items! Thanks so much for your ongoing support!
|
|
I love looking to my Celestial Calendar to know when those Full Moons and Meteor Showers are coming up! We keep a 11x17” poster on our fridge, and I keep a small 5x7” mini in my planner for easy viewing. |
|
|
The new collections of Vulva Pillows are available online- they are all made to order (the fabrics have all been cut and paired, but I sew and stuff them to order). Vulva Pillows are made from a mix of Hand Dyed, vintage, and new fabrics! |
|
|
|
|
The next iteration of the beginner friendly Puff Sleeve Workshop will be held on Tuesdays, Feb. 20, 27- March 5, 12, 19 at Observable Universe. Save your spot NOW! Registration is open and the workshop starts in 3 weeks! |
|
|
|
Check out the results of the Puff Sleeve Sewing Workshop hosted at Observable Universe last season- All beginner sewists! The last session of the current workshop is next week so I’ll have new photos to show you soon! |
|
|
|
Collage Nights at Observable Universe will be returning soon! We’re just taking a cozy break! Free Community Collage happens once a month, usually on a weeknight.
|
|
I love to see your face in-real-life! Thank you to everyone who has attended 2023’s Community Collage nights! <RC Collman (@makingbalabusta) |
|
|
|
Want to get involved with more at Observable Universe? Become a Patron on OU’s Pateron here, and get monthly updates from Heather starting at just $3/month. Sign up for the Pay-what-you-can Acupuncture Clinic with Austin here. Austin has moved 2 units down in Ample Storage and will have many more offerings coming up! Since Clinic has changed location, OU will have lots more availability for programing. So feel free to brainstorm workshops to host of your own! As this Resident- I will be programing workshops taught by other artists this spring and summer! Information about applying for the Artist-in-Residence program coming in the Spring 2024.
|
|
I love the cozy community atmosphere we all make together at Observable Universe! |
|
|
|
From our friends around Durham: Where to take creative workshops…. Save the Google Spreadsheet (Seriously save it because it took me hours to compile) so you can look-up people and places next time you want to learn a new skill!
|
|
During the past 2 weeks I asked you all to comment on this post about places you like to take creative workshops- and wow- look at all the comments! Thank you everyone who took this time to share, comment and join this mailing list!! @rivtak on instagram |
|
|
|
What I’ve been working on behind-the-scenes:
Private Label Projects: Things I get paid to make for other people’s business and I love it! I have info here about different types of ways to work together.
|
|
Sew Liberated just dropped a new sewing pattern, The Sylvan Jacket. Here is Ashley wearing the sample I made for their photo shoot! This jacket has so many pocket options! I think, in total, it took 8 hours to cut and sew this jacket from scratch. |
|
|
|
|
So many great details! Love how Dani of Picnic Wear really breaks down how much goes into making these one-of-a-kind pieces. |
|
|
|
|
I work at the Scrap Exchange once a week, because I love the Scrap and they are short staffed and hiring right now! I work on the Blue Team- meaning I work when they need extra help and very few hours- it’s great to work with such a great community institution. I have Vulva Pillows, Headbands and 2024 Calendars available in the Artist Marketplace too! |
|
|
I’ve already been teaching workshops in 2024, at the Durham Arts Council for their Friday Nights Series- both workshops sold out before I had a chance to advertise! But of coarse I haven’t been great about taking pictures. This is literally the only photo I’ve taken from the workshops. More Sashiko to come, so be sure to watch this space for updates! |
|
|
|
|
|
This handcrafted wooden floor loom is perfect for scarves, runners and other panel weaving! I’m downsizing and saving up! My goal is to down size my studio workspace by HALF so I can fit into a shed studio at my house in the future! My current storage unit studio is 20x25ft, and my future shed studio is 10x20ft!! Help me clear out space and save money for the renovation. |
|
|
|
|
You’ve made it to the end! I’m so happy you’re here! Thanks to you, I had such a great year for Newsletter analytics… We are at an all time high of 38% open rate!!! We did that!! I am so Thankful you all take the time to open and even read through my efforts, and extra Thank You to people who also click through- I’m still working on getting that number up! This is a long and juicy email- I promise to try and email more frequently so they don’t get so long! Thank you for reading all the way to the end! Cheers, River Takada
|
|
Thank you to Larissa for capturing this ice cream candid of me at The Parlor just a few weeks ago! I don’t have that many photos of myself, but I’ve got plenty of my cats!! |
|
|
2023 was a big year of kittens for us! While we loved hosting a litter of kittens, we love just having 2 cats- Mama Theo and Baby Tonka. Here’s a little time travel of how big our catten has gotten! Maybe it’s time for Theo and Tonka to get their own sticker merch so they can start saving up for their doctors visits. :) |
|
|
|
|
You are on this mailing list because at some point, you, I or someone you know has signed up thinking you’d enjoy updates about upcoming workshops and community happenings. You can unsubscribe at anytime with the link below. Join us again anytime! Thanks for reading!
|
|
|
|
