Introducing PTNJ - Wine and Craft Night

OUR. FIRST. CLASS. Wow! We had been working on this moment for a long time as we planned so meticulously. We prepped our inventory, talked endlessly about ideas, teaching techniques and reviewed details so carefully. Now it was time to put all these plans into action! But not to worry, these ladies we got to work with made us so comfortable. We decided to have our first party with a group of young women, with the head count coming out to about 14. I guess it wasn't hard for the host to get people involved since we titled the Facebook invite, "Wine and Craft Night." :D Since the host had just gotten married a few months before, we decided to focus the attention on her and made the theme based off one of her main obsessions...unicorns!

Back tracking a little, I'll explain the development of this class. When we settled on a theme, Amanda and I came up two versions of a greeting card - one simple and one a little more complex. Then we decided we'd have the girls chose which one they wanted to make. After this was complete, we moved onto the next craft, the unicorn kit. Amanda got to work and started sketching and designed a one of a kind kit that the girls could put together. Her drawing was then scanned onto the computer where I created files to cut out all the individual pieces in many vibrant colors. Lastly, she engineered a unicorn horn, which was made out of cellophane, a cardboard cone and ribbon. The card and the kit were shown in the Facebook invite but we saved the horn as a surprise! This class was jam packed with lots of fun techniques, which almost nobody had seen before including stamping and embossing. Fast forward to the night of the event! Barbara and I arrived early around 4:30 and gave ourselves plenty of time to set up the tables to make it look colorful and stylish. People started trickling in around 6:00 and finally we had everyone there around 7:00. The girls needed a little time to get some drinks and appetizers and socialize a bit. We decided to kickoff the crafting around 7:30 to get things moving.

We started with the unicorn horn so the girls could wear them as they did the rest of the crafts. The fringing of the cellophane and how it was wrapped around the cone proved to be a tad bit tricky at first but people got the hang of it eventually and each horn came out so beautiful! The girls were hysterical when they put them on. Even the dog jumped up on a seat and wore the hat! (See pics in the gallery below). Next, we moved onto the greeting card. This seemed to be the most challenging for everyone because we showed them stamping and heat embossing. They loved the technique but for some, it took a a couple practice tests on scrap paper to perfect it and then they were happy. By this time, everyone was hooked and couldn't wait for the grand finale - the unicorn kit! They each got to choose unique colors to mix and match then adhere together. At the end I thought they'd be happy to put finishing touches on their kits with glitter. Even though I was a little reluctant because we all know how much mess it can bring, I yelled out, "Who wants glitter?!" and everyone went absolutely crazy. Yes, young women in their late 20s and 30s still freak out over glitter. Despite the inevitable mess, it was so rewarding to see them get so happy and the kits looked extra special with some added sparkle.

When they started to finish up, I started to become a little emotional because I was seeing our dream come true. When I first had the idea for this company, I knew first hand that paper crafting can be so addicting and therapeutic but I wanted to share my enthusiasm with others. In that moment when I saw people's faces light up after they saw what they created, my confidence grew immensely and I was reassured that this was truly something special. It was amazing to see it all come to life, especially with people that were so adamant that they were not creative and didn't think they could do it. These were the people who raved about it the most! I loved when I heard them say things like, "I am LOVING this" and "I get to use gel pens?! I feel like a kid again, this is AMAZING!" I think I speak for Amanda and Barbara when I say that it makes us feel so fulfilled when we spread that awareness and joy to others that it's ok to feel young again, to let go of the day-to-day stress and decompress with a little art, wine and cheese ;) In the end, all the girls gave us hugs and told us how much fun they had. It was such a successful, eventful night and I really hope we get to have another craft session with this group again soon!