Photo Image Tutorial

Tonight I'm going to walk you through the process of adding a black and white image to your ceramic piece. This is an exciting and super personal technique you can apply and to do so you just need to bring in a high quality black and white image for us to scan and apply onto our special paper.

When you're painting your piece, leave a white square for the image to be placed. This is going to be our map for placing the final image on before we re-fire it.

The steps shown are steps that a Color Me Mine staff member will go through after your piece is completed and fired for the first time, and after your piece is printed out onto our special image paper.

Afterwards, the plate will be placed back into our kiln for a short time to cement the image onto the piece.

Posted by Sarah

Summer Camp Feature Piece : Beach Ball Fun!

This camp is going on Thursday July 5 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Drop by soon to sign up and hold your spot with this exciting technique demonstrated by Penny.

Technique Tutorial: Peanuts Dog Bowl

Have you ever used NCR paper? We have a giant pile of it at our design center ... if you're looking to put a logo or other artwork onto a piece and are worried about freehanding it it's the perfect tracing solution. I'm going to walk you through how to use it to make your own pieces!

First, find your image on our design center computer by searching through google images. In this case, I'm going to use a Peanuts comic strip to illustrate the bowl. I'm using a chipped bowl for a sample piece. Print the image onto NCR paper and then cut it out and tape it in the place you want it to be. Begin to trace it with a pencil -- you'll know you're using the right side if you test the paper first on our pottery disc and it shows up as purple.

Once the image is taped, begin to trace firmly with a pencil. 

Outline your image with paint. 

Voila! You have a fully traced piece! I repeated the same technique to put the comic strip along the sides of the bowl.

Stay tuned for an image of this piece once fired! Come on in and paint your own bowl for your pet today!

Posted by Sarah

First Day of Summer!

Summer has finally arrived in Chilliwack, and you know what that means??  It's time to sign the kids up for Summer Camp at Color Me Mine - Chilliwack!

The studio is offering several different themed camps for kids ages 6-12.  Is your kid mad for Angry Birds?  Does your daughter hoot for owls?  Are your boys leaping for frogs?  Then we have the perfect camps for them!

Camps are running Tuesday through Thursday in the months of July and August 2012.  We have two different types of workshops, our two hour and our four hour.  For $25 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, your kids can come and create a themed project over 2 hours with one of our Team Members teaching them new techniques that can be applied to other projects when they come back with the family.  On Wednesdays, for $50, your child not only gets the experience of our two hour camps, but they will also have extra fun doing crafts with the other kids in camp! 

We are also offering a little something extra special for the older kids.  In the afternoon on July 18 and August 15, kids ages 10-13 can spend two hours painting slightly larger pieces and be taught how to use our Elements, Jungle Gems and Cascade glazes.  These classes are $50.

And for the little ones, up to the age of 5, how does a painting storytime sound?  On the mornings of July 18 and August 15, bring the toddlers in for storytime, a snack and to paint a tile based on the story.  Paint Me a Story is half an hour long and is $15 per child.

As an added bonus to our hardcore campers, on your 6th camp day you will receive a $15 Gift Card to be used on your next visit to Color Me Mine - Chilliwack.

Also - did you know that you can claim up to $500, per child, of your Summer Camp expenses on your taxes?  I know... it's amazing!  Children's Arts Tax Credit allows you to claim a maximum of $500 per child the fees paid in 2012 relating to the cost of registration or membership of your or your spouse's or your common-law partner's child in a prescribed program or artistic, cultural, recreational, or developmental activity.

So if you haven't signed your kids up for our Summer Workshops, you better do so soon!  Space is limited to 10 kids per camp day, all fees must be pre-paid.

Happy first day of Summer!

Harvest Cafe on Mill Street

The other day Crystal and I had the opportunity to check out Harvest Cafe on Mill Street, a lovely little coffee+food place mixed in with Objekts (purses, wallets, home decor, etc). We've been back about four times since and tried new things every time. I'd highly recommend the Build a Bowl and Mocha made with real melted chocolate. Crystal loved her Fancy Pants Grilled Cheese made with four kinds of cheeses. As a local Chilliwack business, Color Me Mine is proud to support other local businesses ... we couldn't recommend the deliciousness of Harvest Cafe more!

Photos by Sarah Sovereign Photography.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all of you dad's out there! Today is half price studio fees for all Dad's. Come on in and spend a cozy day painting on this rainy day. Here's a mug Sarah painted with her nephew last week... he's three years old but he patiently spent two hours painting this mug for his dad!

The whole month of June it Pays to Paint at Color Me Mine - receive a 10% credit voucher when you come into paint in June, good for July and August 2012. 

Today at Color Me Mine

It's raining pretty steady out there, but inside it's nice and cozy. Come on in and paint something heartwarming for Father's Day! Make use of our design center -- stamps, stickers and our ever popular bumpy doodles are all included with your studio fee. If you bring in a crisp black and white photo or high resolution file today, you'll have time to transfer it onto a piece of ceramics like the photo below! If you don't have time before Father's Day, think of this beautiful technique for Christmas, a birthday or an anniversary.

What's your favourite Father's Day memory? Let us know! Email chilliwack@colormemine.com, or send us a message through our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/cmmchwk/. Where ever you are this rainy Thursday, hope your staying dry!

Birthday Parties at Color Me Mine!

We offer a number of party packages for groups, events and birthdays. With exclusive use of our party room, a selection of paints, fun writers, design center, bumpy doodles and a staff member on hand to help out, your party is sure to be a hit all around! Our packages range from $15, $20 and $25 dollars per painter (includes the piece and the studio fee), with a minimum of six painters, maximum of sixteen. (If you have over 16 painters, give us a call or send us an email!)

Included with every party as well is a party plate. The party plate can either be wrapped up and taken home, or, at the end of the party when everything is winding down, your CMM helper can direct the kids to leave their finger print on the plate. Make the finger prints into little doodles, a tree, a flower, a butterfly ... the possibilities are endless and it creates a really great memory piece for your party. 

Our Ultimate Party Package allows you to add on things like cupcakes, streamers, balloons, pizza and beverages. Streamers alone are only $5.00 and can be coupled with any package, in two colours. Below are some photos from a party set up a couple Saturdays ago where streamers had been added on!

Our bumpy doodles are really popular at parties. After the piece is finished, they can go on after and create a raised surface.

Big Deal Days at Color Me Mine - Chilliwack!

Today at the store we're offering deals every two hours! Keep updated on the new deals via Facebook at www.facebook.com/cmmchwk/. Right now we're offering 20% on selected items like our dog & cat bowls! Come on in and watch as the deals get posted!