December is round the corner, which means Christmas is approaching. I hope this post will put you in a festive mood.
Back in December last year, I was invited to a friend's church to take part in a card-making workshop. It was one of numerous activities organised by the church leading up to Christmas. Using our hands to make something sounded fun to me even though I do not have any artistic talent at craft. As it would be a new experience for me, I agreed. When that day came, I was eagerly looking forward to the workshop and could not wait for the end of the work day!
The workshop was conducted by an art teacher in a classroom setting. On each table, there were two cups of water - one was used to dab the brush while the other was to rinse the brush. When the teacher was demonstrating the steps to paint a picture and how to mix the colours on the palette, my friend conveyed the instructions to me via my braille device.
My friend helped me by holding onto my hand while we made the cards. For those who were not very good at drawing freestyle, there were templates we could use to trace the outline on to the card. After the outline had been drawn, we then started to dab the design with water, then added the paint to colour the picture.
Making handmade gifts (though not as pretty as those bought commercially) can be a fun activity to do. You just need to prepare the materials, then let your creativity flow.
I am sure the person who receives the gift will appreciate the time and effort you have put in. Well, I certainly know that when I gifted my finished card to my brother!
Below is a picture of my completed cards with my friend who invited me to this workshop.
I will be interested to attend more Do-It-Yourself workshops in future.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
Tan Siew Ling is fully Deafblind, having lost both her sight and hearing to a neurological condition, Neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2). She carries a screen reader with a Braille display, which she fondly names it as “Bear Bear”, everywhere she goes. Her humour, wordplay, and love of puns keep friends on their toes. She enjoys reading books in her free time and loves to pen down her thoughts, often on a whim, which can be entertaining at times, on her social media. When she is not writing or reading, she can be seen doing insanely 72kg leg presses or swinging a 20kg kettlebell to and fro. You can find out more about Siew Ling and her journey here.