made by Mai-Lan

Posting something a bit different from my usual 📷 posts but it’s for a good reason! ✂️I’m hosting an art-making workshop with Library & Archives @libraryarchives this Saturday and I’d love to see you there. Inspired by their collection while acknowledging May as Asian Heritage Month, I’ve designed a workshop where folks of all levels can participate in making a personal banner. This craft will encourage you to interpret your identity (whether cultural, individual, social or even biological) through the powerful forces of simple paper collage, a sprinkle of embroidery (for embellished touches) and plenty of mark making. Hang it your home like many of our ancestors did 💗 🆓 Free Event | Registration Required | 🔗 Link in bio

🧵Reconnecting with shelved projects while clearing out my studio has been a welcome gift. I finally got to finish one lamp restoration project. 📹I’m still getting used to building the habit of documenting the things that I clean up, make and restore. It previously felt like a wrench in my creative flow but I’m now learning to embrace it as its own creative endeavour. 👉🏼👈🏼 I hope you like this reel, I worked longer than I’d like to admit on Canva. Please share any tips & tricks in my comments, I’m a 🧽 for feedback while I figure out the content creation corner of my creativity (I’m a fan of alliteration) #Lamprestoration #diyottawa #ottawahandmade #ilovelamp #ifixedthis

Earth Day may have passed, but reuse, reduce, recycle is a year-round mindset. Why not turn unused items into art? We’re collecting baby bottles for an upcoming art project. 📍 Drop-off location:�60 Camelot Drive, Unit 105, Nepean, Ontario 🕙 Drop-off time: 10AM-4PM, Monday to Friday�Enter through the south door of the building. Inside, you’ll find a common area with a bench - this bench opens and is where donations can be placed! #Ottawadonations #babybottles #donatetoday #foundobjectart #reducereuserecycle

Working from home is wonderful! But it also means that I’m seeing all the things that need to be organized all the time. 🫣Well, I’ve finally done it, I’ve sorted all my buttons by colour, size and type. It took me a whole afternoon but it was worth it. Sometimes it feels like such a bore to do this type of task and the reward is hardly visible in my studio. But, the time I will save knowing where a tiny button is AND the money I will save from not having to buy something I thought I didn’t own is priceless. ✔️ #investment #buttons #buttoncollector #buttonhoardee #stayingorganized

💅 she could only paint her nails on one hand but she sewed that checkered pillow all by herself! #slaymama

This project was such a special one. I made it for close friends who are expecting their very first baby! I’ve been seeing these sensory or “quiet” felt books a lot lately. Having just used this new (to me) material with young ones, I was up for the challenge of creating one myself! Designing all the tactile, interactive bits was so rewarding, and a true test of durability as babies are known to have a ridiculous grip. I made this for a pair of tiny hands, but it brought out my inner kid 🤭 and there’s still felt left, so the fun’s not over yet.✂️ Raise your hand if you would like to see me make another one. #handmadegiftsarethebest #handmade #sensorybook #sewn embroider

This was my first furniture restoration project/ a pandemic project. It started with curiosity and wanting to save money but it turned into something much more grounding. At the time, I felt a real lack of control, and working on this table became a way to learn by doing, and allow myself to be imperfect. It was messy, and full of mistakes (and fixes). My good pal Gretchen generously offered insight and knowledge with me which made this project a lot less scary. It’s been a few years, and I can see how I’d do a few things differently now. I’m proud of how it turned out — and ready to pass it on.

✏️ January Recap : Facilitating with Alexa was a shared experience—between us and with the kids. Over four weeks of making, we learned something new each session: what works well for little hands, where extra support helps, and when something simply needs more time (glue takes time to dry). I had so much fun facilitating, and I like to be intentional about that word. Facilitating isn’t about directing outcomes; it’s about setting the conditions for curiosity, offering steady hands when needed, and inviting kids into the process rather than telling them what to do. Of course, there were boundaries (especially around scissors !✂️), but within that structure, there was room to move and explore. For young kids, sensory play is part of how they explore and understand their world. My role was to meet that baseline curiosity and build from it: using art-making as a way to think, feel, and connect. A couple of observations: - Working side by side with the same materials encouraged kids to experiment, notice each other’s ideas, and try new things 💡 - Always having alternative seating/set ups accessible meant that the space felt safe and welcoming - Working on only ☝️ project, over the course of four weeks meant the kids got more confident with the tools and independent in their creative choices - Felt is incredibly versatile! They created a felt collage each week, and in the final class, they bound their pages together into a book to take home!

Colour Block Mini Weaving, a Step by Step Guide ✂️ What you’ll need: - thick card stock or cardboard (5X6 inches, this is your loom) - 2 to 4 yarn bundles of varying colours (this is you “weft” - cotton string (this will be your “warp”) - plastic crafting needle 🪡 📋The essential steps: 1. Measure your cuts twice to make sure they’re evenly apart before you actually cut into the card stock/cardboard. 2. Wrap your cotton string into those cuts to create your warp. Make sure it’s tights and tie a knot at the back. 3. Your yarn/weft always goes over and under your warp. You change direction every time you finish a row. 4. When done with a colour, the end of your yarn should be left out on the sides. Don’t end your line in the middle of the warps! Leave them dangling, you’ll deal with them later. 5. Once you’ve gone through all your colours, turn your loom around & snip your warp strings, these with be the fringy bits that make it look like a little rug. 6. Those leftover dangly pieces? Reweave them into your piece with the help of a plastic crafting needle. 7. *Optional* Fray the ends of the cotton string to give your weaving move texture at its edges. ⭐️ Tips: - tie knots at the top of your weaving before you start & at the bottom of your weaving when you finish to help it keep shape and stay in place when you remove it off your “loom”. - when starting a new line of yarn, enter lower than you think you should so that you can push it upwards when you finish that row. This ensures that your rows keep the same tension which then maintains its shape. - is this your first time? Go slow and review your rows before you move on to the next one. Hope these pictures help you in your new crafting adventure. If you need more support, I might post a video (not a Timelapse). This is a slow craft, so dont compare yourself to the speedy creators out there. This is meant to be enjoyable and maybe even meditative (once you find the rhythm). #textileart #weaving #miniweaving #colourblocking #yarnart #textiles #warpandweft #warp #weft #stepbystepguide #howtoguide

Hey friends, it’s been a little while since I’ve posted but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been creating! As some of you know, I used to work at the NGC with their Learning and Community Engagement team. We were the people who facilitated all the programming, whether it was history or hands-on. These are some mini-weavings I made that were an activity we had during the run of the “Woven Histories” exhibition. Anytime we have an idea, we try it out first and see what could be potential obstacles and how do we accommodate them so that people of all levels can participate. Sometimes, I got to take pictures of them and create a step by step guide. I’ll be sharing soon the steps I followed and the materials I used to achieve these results. 🗓️

She’s finished! ✔️ I hand stitched a set of these cushion covers for a special someone. When it comes to embroidering onto coloured or patterned fabrics, I prefer a minimal design. 🪡 Already, I would say that my embroidery style centres on line work but even more so with fabrics that have character. 💃 I also enjoy monochrome palettes, a green fabric will be embroider with different hues of green. 🍃 Just today, I was thrifting with my sister & there was a dress with a loud pattern that I really enjoyed. She nearly immediately registered something “off” about it and said it looked “cheap”. What was it? You might ask. The thread used for the smocking on the dress was a cool white colour and the dress has lovely pinks & oranges. 🍊 All this to say that colour matters! Especially with thread, or in my case embroidery floss which is basically fancy thread. 🧵 Would you like a version of this set of cushion covers for your home? 🏡 Drop a comment or send me a message if the answer is yes 😉 - #handstitched #handmade #ottawahandmade #ottawamarkets #ottawaartist #ottawacreative #ottawabroidery #ottawatextiles #ottawafabrics #embroidered #handembroidered #stitchedbyhand #textileart #homedecor #cushioncovers #handmadehome #ottawahome #ottawacreations #ottawaworkshops #ottawaevents #embroideryworkshops #embroideryworkshop #handmadegifts #handmadegift #handmadegiftsarethebest

This is a custom embroidery project I’ve been working on for way too long! Life gets busy when you have a job and two dogs. I can’t wait to hand this over to the patient owner of this gift & to share pictures of the finished product. Stay tuned 🙂 All tools & supplies purchased from Michael’s. 🪡 - #madeinottawa #ottawamade #handmade #process #trusttheprocess #embroidery #handembroidery #handstitched #stitches #embroiderybyhand #embroideryworkshops #embroideryteacher #embroiderylesson #embroideryottawa #embroiderycanada #613flea #613made