For the past few weeks Nicky has been busy with setting up her space and dusting off her old painting supplies (and purchasing, since her stock has diminished over the years). It’s been too long that she’s been working day in and day out in front of the computer. It’s time for her to get back into the painting groove. Right now she is working on a painting of an old bonsai tree she took a picture of at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden one summer.  The work is still in process, as she is trying to get her groove back, but it’s well on its way!

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Check out Katie’s window display in action at the Artisan’s Bench in Brighton, MI this holiday season. Be Original. Buy Original. Give Handmade!

Katie has been working on a Christmas window display for her job at the Artisan’s Bench, a wonderful store in Brighton offering hand-knotted rugs, pottery, glass and various crafted art with 70% of it  made in Michigan! What’s not to love? The display will be up this week so be sure to check it out if you’re around the area.

Katie’s building a red Christmas tree out of painted cardboard tubes with paper mache snow balls, but replace the paper with yarn. She uses a process where a balloon is used to create the round shape and then wraps the yarn covered in the paper mache mix around the ballon. Once the yarn hardens, the balloon inside is popped, leaving only the yarn. The mix includes Elmer’s Glue, water and corn starch.

See below for some process shots.

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Back in August we applied for a grant with the Detroit Foundation, an organization that gives away micro-grants for projects that help revitalize the Detroit community. We submitted an application in hopes that the grant would help fund the many renovations and electrical updates our old toys warehouse needed.

Fast forward a couple of months, an interview and a studio visit, the CCDC has been awarded the first ever Fuel Detroit Grant! Co-founders Adarsh Pandit and Ranvir Gujral came to the studio on Friday to personally congratulate the CCDC kids and hand over the check for $2,500.

With all this cash, we can now get our full electrical system hooked up so we can power all our tools and start making.

Thank you Detroit Foundation!

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Despite the lack of heat circulating in the warehouse that night, plenty of good vibes were found scurrying through the studio at the CCDC’s very 1st Halloween Party Fundraiser. We had an assortment of interesting characters appear: Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, Willy Wonka, Frida Kahlo and even the 1% found refuge from the 99% at the CCDC (although he was resented by many).

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