Happy Fall Ya’ll!

Life has been busy at The Catren Studio! We have recently returned to our forever land in Paradise, CA after living in Chico and Oroville for the last 6 years. Currently, we are living in an RV waiting for our new home to be completed. To say that it’s been challenging is putting it mildly. RV living is fun for a little while but it gets rough during the rainy season, which we’re quickly approaching. I’m not looking forward to it but it will be worth it when it’s all over!

I have paused my craft workshops for the time being. Living out of my storage unit and lugging around all my craft supplies in my car is for the birds! I am, however, still creating. For the time being, I am painting wood shelf sitters for a little gift shop in Colusa, CA. It’s been fun and I really wish I didn’t work full time because I could literally cut, sand, and paint cute little wood items all day, every day!! Here are a few of my recent creations…

Hopefully this weekend I will be able to get more creating done. It’s all I want to do, but alas, I have to pay for my craft supplies somehow!!

Keep it crafty, friends!

Spring craft workshops are here!

After several successful Valentine’s Day craft workshops, I have lined up two fun craft events with Almendra Winery and Secret Trail Brewing Co!

We will be at Almendra on March 15th from 6:30-8:30 and at Secret Trail Brewing Co on April 1, 2023, from 2:00-5:00

I am so excited to share my love of crafting with local guests and see all the unique styles that people create!

Teacher Appreciation Week

I hosted a craft workshop recently for teachers at the school I work for, and because everyone was so busy with state testing and year end what-nots, only two staff members attended. Oh, but what fun they had!

My husband cut out and sanded the wooden pencils, then my guests stained, painted, and decorated their craft. After they were done they customized it with their names using a Cricut cut vinyl.
Thank you, Kristi and Konnie

We love our teachers at CORE Butte Charter School πŸ’•πŸŽ‰

Ya Learn Something New Everyday

Especially when you take the time to be taught instead of the usual bull headed way of figuring it out on your own because, well, you’ve always done things your way. UGH! I always take the long and windy road to get somewhere.

I have been using a digital drawing app for about two years now and I watched a YouTube tutorial – wait – I actually didn’t watch it. I had it on in the background and after about an hour realized that they were sharing tricks that I had no idea about.

I learned that I could add text to my illustrations! WHO KNEW?!?! Apparently the whole Procreate Planet. Oy!

Co-worker’s Art Therapy with Amber

Back in December 2020 my boss asked if I would be willing to host a few craft workshops during our staff holiday party. Due to covid, it was spread out over a couple weeks to keep the classes small. It was a huge success with lots of great feedback! So much so that I was asked to instruct several (5 to be exact) art workshops during our upcoming school’s annual parent seminar.

Yesterday a small group of co-workers got together for another crafting session that I called “Art Therapy with Amber”. Gearing up for Valentine’s Day I chose a boho style, rustic, wood heart project.

With the wood cut and sanded, and lots of paint and adornments to choose from, my wonderful friends got to work creating unique designs. I love to see how each person has a different style, and every single one turned out beautifully!

Take a look for yourself!