A few months ago I attended a series of workshops at Indigo & Violet Studio in Chicago. My mom and I were talking about how we were interested in learning how to craft and wished there was a place where we could follow along. The majority of craft workshops we found either sounded so boring or were crazy expensive and way out of our crafting abilities.
Indigo & Violet Studio is “a Chicago-based venue for craft workshops and art parties. focusing on unique and modern handmade projects taught in a relaxed studio environment. Our mission is to provide a creative outlet to both novice and experienced crafters. We work in a variety of mediums and no matter the project, our goal is for all guests to leave with a new sense of pride along with their beautifully hand-crafted piece. To help get the creative juices flowing, all events are BYOB.”
I’ve spent two crafternoons at Indigo & Violet Studios and can’t wait to go back. My schedule has been pretty full lately, but I’m hoping to make it to more this spring/ summer now that I’ve wrapped up a few projects! Both craft sessions were learning how to make a wooden grazing boars. It was so fun to do this workshop twice because I was able to use different tools in each workshop. The first time I used a freehand wood burning tool and sketched my own design on the board. I opted for an ivy leaf which had personal symbolism amongst my local wine friends/ community. I outlined the design freehand with a pencil and traced over it with a wood burning hand tool. It was much more difficult than I was expecting! If you zoom in on the photo below you’ll be able to see little dots amongst my burned sketch. It takes a certain technique/ motion of the wrist to continually burn the design into the board without burning pieces or creating little marks against the grain.
Overall I’m really proud of how this turned out!
The second time I opted to use the hot letter stamps to burn a word into my board. I chose to imprint “wine” on one, followed by “eat” on the other. After I urned the words onto the board, I went over them to fill in and darken spots of the letters with the hand tool I used last time. I found this helped my words stand out more and come across as more “polished” and put together.
In addition to the craft, it was incredibly fun learning from the other Indigo & Violet Studio partner, Johanna- owner of Graze Gourmet, how to assemble a proper cheese & charcuterie board. Click here to read about how to style one and my takeaways from the lessons!
For those who are not native to Chicago/ traveling in from the suburbs, I recommend planning 20-30 minutes before attending to look for parking. The location of the studio is quite busy and parking is pretty limited… but I understand because it’s pretty much a free parking area and everyone wants those spots! The studio is in north Lakeview, “steps from Southport”. For those looking for a city day, this is a great place to start/ have on your schedule. The quick access to other fun shops, food stops, and the surrounding neighborhood is a great day way to catch a glimpse of all Chicago has to offer without getting caught in the city’s tourist traps/ highly trafficked areas.
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Across the street from the studio are restaurants and my favorite… wall art!
