Sign Up For Our Comic Workshop!

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

Sign up today for Lacuna Loft’s online Comic Workshop, the second in our #LetsMakeStuff @LacunaLoft series of online workshops!

This workshop is designed to teach you the basics of sketching comics.  If you’ve never done this before, you’re in luck! Matt, from CancerOwl.com, will go step-by-step through everything!  If you love drawing comics 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.

This workshop is a 2-hour commitment and will occur via google video hangout on Saturday, December 3rd @ 2 pm PST / 4 pm CST / 5 pm EST.  11 survivors or 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 comic workshop in the mail!  Yep!  We’ll send you just about everything you’ll need!  Then, Lacuna Loft will assign you an email address you will use to attend the workshop. That’s it!

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!)

#LetsMakeStuff @LacunaLoft Drawing Workshop

Lacuna Loft’s first #LetsMakeStuff @LacunaLoft Creative Workshop was a huge success!  The Drawing Workshop occurred a few weeks ago and 10 young adult cancer survivors attended.  We received really great feedback on the program and I’m excited for the next installment of the Creative Workshops!  We’re working out the kinks, looking for great new things to share in the workshops, and brainstorming other ways to get a video full of young adult cancer survivors and caregivers sharing and connecting.

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!)

When the creative workshop is announced, you’ll be sure to know!  You can also sign up on the Creative Workshops page to receive updates!

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If you have a craft or an art form that you’d like to share in a 2 hour creative workshop on Lacuna Loft, email mallory@lacunaloft.org and let us know!

The Thing About Cancer + DIY Is…

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During the month of May, we’ll be bringing back some of your favorite posts in groups of 5!

Today, we’ve got 5 GREAT posts focused on getting to the nitty gritty of young adult cancer and DIY awesomeness.

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Sign Up Today For Our Online Drawing Workshop!

young adult cancer drawing workshop

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

Join our 2 hour Drawing Workshop, the first in our #LetsMakeStuff @LacunaLoft series of online workshops!

This workshop is designed to teach you the basics of sketching and drawing.  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-or-illness-having peers will be totally worth it.

This workshop is a 2 hour commitment and will occur on either Saturday May 21 or Sunday May 22, depending on everyone’s availability, via google video hangout.  10 survivors or caregivers can join this time around.  Can’t make the dates this time?  Don’t worry!  We’ll offer another Drawing Workshop in the next few months!

How does it work?  After you sign up below and we figure out when most people are available, we’ll send you an email stating the official time of the drawing workshop.  Then, the first 10 survivors and caregivers who RSVP are officially in!  A few weeks later, 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!

#LetsMakeStuff @LacunaLoft

Sign up today for our Drawing Workshop!

DIY Stuffed Animal Bunny

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This has got to be the cutest DIY ever!  Have a baby coming into your family or a loved one who loves cuddly things?  This DIY stuffed animal bunny would be the perfect gift.

While this may be a more complicated DIY than others we’ve posted about here on Lacuna Loft, the pattern comes along with it and the pictures and explanations are very step-by-step.  Plus, the final product is absolutely adorable!

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Ever tried making your own stuffed animal?  I might just have to try this one sometime soon!

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A Fall Wreath

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Another day, another wreath!  If you missed our Halloween wreath yesterday, you can find it here!  Today we’ll be making a fall wreath using very similar techniques and supplies.

For the fall wreath, I purchased a foam wreath form, yellow yarn, felt in beige and dark red, and used a hot-glue gun that I already had.

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I hot-glued the end of the yarn onto the foam wreath form and spent an hour or so wrapping yarn around the wreath.

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I also used the same felt rosette instructions as before and made a variety of red and beige rosettes.

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And voila!  A fall wreath with a completely different feel compared to yesterday’s Halloween wreath!

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How do you decorate for fall?  Any fall wreath diys in your future?

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A Halloween Wreath

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Now that I live in a tiny apartment, halloween and fall decorations are less practical.  There just isn’t a lot of room to store them during the rest of the year or to set them up inside the house!  Having no decorations at all to reflect the season has really been bumming me out though!  Enter the idea to make a few fall and halloween wreaths!  Easy to make.  Easy to store the rest of the year…but they still add a great punch of holiday cheer!

Using inspirations from a variety of places (here, here, here, here, here, here, and here), and using these felt rosette instructions, I set to work.  I decided to make a diy fall wreath (that one you’ll see tomorrow!) as well as a Halloween wreath.

The great thing about DIY, is that you can do anything you want!  By combining a couple of the details that I saw in images of wreaths, weighing in my own DIY skill level, and checking out what I could find at my local craft store, I came up with a general design and set to work.  By changing just a few things I was able to make a Halloween wreath and then a totally different looking fall wreath too, using similar techniques and supplies.

For the Halloween wreath, I purchased a foam wreath form, dark gray yarn, felt in light gray and black, an owl, and used a hot-glue gun that I already had.

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I hot-glued the end of the yarn onto the back of a foam wreath form and wrapped the yarn around the foam.

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Then I cut my rosette forms out of the felt.  The template for making the rosettes is found here.

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The directions for the rosettes use double-sided tape on the bottom to keep all of the layers together.  I used hot-glue instead.  Works really well.  You just have to be careful not to get your fingers too close while it is so hot!  🙂

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Then I hot-glued the rosettes and the owl into place!

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The wreath was so easy to make.  I’ve never done one before and it only took me a few hours.  The majority of my time was spent wrapping yarn around the wreath form (which I did while watching Friends).  The entire activity was soothing really in its repetition.  Plus, the Halloween possibilities are endless.  I love the monster face idea as well as the haunted house (both ideas you can see in the links at the start of this post).  The raven is a spooky alternative to the owl that I used.  Colors could be different.  So many fun ideas!

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Do you have any Halloween wreaths or other crafts in mind this year?

DIY Transfer T Shirt

Custom gifts are not only budget-friendly but also loving and from the heart.  What better way to show someone you appreciate their friendship than with something made just for them?!

A very close friend of mine is pregnant, so when I came across this diy transfer t shirt using instagram photos, I read through the whole post.  The end result is a super awesome t shirt and an adorable onesie too!  Not only is this diy easy, but all of the stuff that you need is cheap and not overly involved.  The possibilities with this project are endless!  I can envision a diy transfer t shirt being perfect for a new mama, a cancerversary, and more!  You could even get the kids involved.  They could each make their own, customized and personal shirt using a photo of their choosing.

Check out the full tutorial!

Would you try this diy transfer t shirt project?  Have you used diy transfer t shirts to document special occasions before?

DIY Neon Coasters

diy coasters

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!