Winter in Port Townsend is full of rainy days, long nights, and blustery winds. Amidst this seasonal darkness, Water Street downtown glows with Christmas lights and the warm and vibrant community of shops nestled in historic buildings. To boost the holiday cheer, Art Toolkit hosted a card-making event last Saturday, December 6th, from 2–8pm in our retail shop, as part of ArtWalk.
We provided a range of supplies for people to paint and experiment with, including blank cards, gift tags, stencils, stickers, markers, and, of course, our paint-filled Explore Palettes.
Throughout the afternoon and evening, a total of 30 visitors sat down to create with us. Some had never held a water brush before, while others were old hands (including quite a few of our shop regulars and familiar faces!).
We loved the cozy atmosphere of our shop filled with the festive, cheerful energy of people decorating cards and sipping hot cocoa.
Every attendee made something unique and beautiful. It was heartwarming to see the breadth of age and experience sat together at a communal table, chatting peacefully and making art.
We had also set up a Winter Wishes mailbox for community members to take a card or leave a card for a resident of the Life Care Center of Port Townsend, which we will be distributing later in the month.
Retail Manager Brooke Weber says, “It was a pleasure to be part of this light, bright event that brought people together, despite the early sunset.”
The Winter Wishes mailbox will stay open for contributions through Sunday, December 21st, so visit our shop and ask our retail staff about decorating a card this month!
If you’re far away, you can still sketch along at home with this card-making demo with Lisa Spangler, or by checking out Lisa’s tips and tricks for painting conifers on holiday gift tags.
Wherever you are, we hope that you have a festive holiday season full of good cheer and joyful crafting!