Monday, March 31, 2014

Pysanky class postponed

Pysanky friends—

I regret to inform you that I need to postpone tomorrow’s class. Although the company I ordered from indicated that they shipped on the 28th, with Priority Mail, and from Chicago (I purposefully chose the supplier nearest to us), the kistkas (the tool used to trace beeswax resist lines) I ordered for each participant have not moved from Illinois (I’ve been impatiently e-watching the package tracking number), and will not arrive until Thursday.

Because I recognize that a reschedule may not be at a convenient time for you, I’m setting two of them in hopes that one of them will work for: Thursday night at the same time (April 3rd, 6-8:30 pm), and the following morning (Friday, April 4th, 9-11:30 am).  Unfortunately, I cannot schedule it for next Tuesday.
Please let me know as soon as possible if you can still attend, and which session you will come to. If you no longer can, please also let me know so I can try to find another happy crafter for your tools.

I sincerely apologize. I have never had this problem before, and will work to make sure it does not happen again.

Valerie Goates
email: thewondercollective.blogspot.com

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Thank you, News Chronicle!


We were in the paper yesterday. 
So famous!
(Small towns are fun that way--I was in the front page a couple of weeks ago for helping at the middle school)

Pysanky Class April 1st

My favorite Easter season craft (and this is a hard one--so much thematic baby animal goodness!) is pysanka. This traditional Ukranian craft uses bright dyes with beeswax resist (drawn on with tiny melting pots called kistka, warmed in a candle flame) to decorate eggs in both symbolic and fanciful patterns.

Intrigued? Join me on Tuesday night, April 1st, from 6:00-8:30 at The Thought Lot and learn. $20 class fee includes a kistka and wax to take home & use on your own. Because I must order your supplies, registration is due in one week--by March 26th (if you're seeing this late, email me about rates for just coming anyway and using one of my kistka). Register with a quick email to thewondercollective@gmail.com.

The many dyes and specialty tools required make this a great craft to try for the first time in a group! Use beeswax resist and a succession of dye baths to apply layers of color, then melt the wax away to reveal your egg’s bright beauty.  I love the tools for simple applications, too.  
Peek at last year's workshop here:
http://thewondercollective.blogspot.com/2013/04/pysanky.html

More photos at my (neglected) personal blog here:  http://purplepetunialife.blogspot.com/search?q=pysanky
--Valerie

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Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Springfield Camp 2014


Springfield Camp 2014

Four options in June

We're dedicating our June to children's hands-on exploration, developing their sense of wonder through experiential learning in a variety of disciplines and mediums. As always, we've designed our offerings with our own children in mind, and this year have a 2-day preschool camp (held at the sweet cottage and deep outdoor play space of Roots Preschool), a 1-day Summer Creative Launch (storytelling and creative exploration in a variety of medium at The Thought Lot with an associated hike/picnic in the nearby duck pond area), and two classic camps held at Shannon's beautiful Springfield Farm: 3-day-with-evening camp for older kids, focusing on survival skills, and a 4-day Wonder Week featuring our very favorite activities from the last two fulfilling seasons. Scroll down to see them all (4 fit in 3 columns, so keep going...!).

Registration starts now, and space is limited. We're offering registration to our past customers first, and suggest you register soon before wider advertising starts later this week. It's a busy summer, so camp is June-only this year. We may have a couple of 2-hour workshops in August, but this is the only camp opportunity. Online registration will be available later this week (thewondercollective.blogspot.com sidebar), and you may reserve your spot now with an email to thewondercollective@gmail.com, or mail-in registration (check made out to The Wonder Collective) to Shannon Heckman, 600 Big Spring Road, Newville, PA 17241. So, first dibs for YOU, of course...but we'd still appreciate it if you shared the good campy news with a friend.

Young discovery is the sweetest sort.
Roots
Preschool camp
June 10-11 
9 am-noon

$30

for ages 3-5
potty-trained (age by Sept 1st)

held at Roots Preschool:
131 Mainsville Road, Shippensburg
Education of the whole child through natural exploration, with a heavy dose of crafts, outdoor gardening, and hands-on-learning.
Questions? Becci Zullinger
816-0593
Extra time for MAKING.
Summer Creative Launch
June 16 
9 am-2 pm

$30

for ages 5-12
Held at The Thought Lot: 
37 E. Garfield, Shippensburg
Start your summer vacation right with a day of crafty wonder, exploring a wide range of media. We’ll also engage your creativity with storytelling, song, a short hike, and lots of friendly fun. Planned projects include flour batik, fiber work including wet felting, plein air painting, garden markers, and invention, and each child will bring home a mystery box to spark a creative session at home. 
Questions? Valerie Goates 422-4255
Last year's performance.
Week of Wonder
June 24-27 
9 am-1 pm

$110/$120 w/tee

for ages 5-12
Held at Springfield Farm:
600 Big Spring Rd, Newville
This week we will nourish your child’s inborn sense of wonder, combining our very favorite Springfield Camp experiences with new inspiration & woodland lore, including: 
* games, story, & song
* crafts with wood, wool, & nature
* plein air art
* environmental education
* take-home fairy gardens 
* treasure hunts
* swings & spring play 
* birds & bubbles
Questions?
Shannon Heckman
422-2141
finishing the treasure hunt!    
Walden Weekend
June 18-20 
18th: 9 am-noon,
19th: 5-10 pm*,
20th: 9am-noon
$110/$120 w/tee

for children finishing grades 4-8
Held at Springfield Farm:
600 Big Spring Rd, Newville
Inspired by Henry David Thoreau’s chronicle Walden; or, Life in the Woods: “I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life!”

This week is a wholehearted exploration of the woods for older children: hiking, building, learning and delighting in our beautiful Pennsylvania woods, with a special campfire dinner and firefly extravaganza. Spend your days fostering development of basic survival skills (native plants and animals, weather signs, building shelters, orienteering) with useful craft (twig pencils & tin-punch lanterns) and good exercise (hikes, obstacle courses, treasure hunt design). We’ll make sure to leave time for peaceful moments of cloud therapy and nature journaling, too!  
*weather dependent: we may switch which camp date is our evening to optimize star gazing.

Questions?
Shannon Heckman
422-2141
Our inspiration this summer: 

From Rachel Carson’s seminal work The Sense of Wonder,:
“If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of all children I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life, as an unfailing antidote against the boredom and disenchantments of later years, the sterile preoccupation with things artificial, the alienation from the sources of our strength.”

Henry David Thoreau’s chronicle Walden; or, Life in the Woods:

“I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life!”

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."

"In as many places as possible, I will get my feet down to the earth."


We invite you join us in following their wisdom, and to to see the world with wonder in everything you do this summer, your "feet down to the earth".

Monday, March 10, 2014

Summer Programs 2014

Some of the exact details may change, but we submitted the following to the News Chronicle this morning for inclusion in their summer camp listings, and I thought PLANNERS among our fan base may like to see what we have planned:

the wonder collective Summer Programs 2014
first draft, submitted to NC 3/10/14
  
  June 10-11 Roots Preschool Camp
education of the whole child through natural exploration, with a heavy     dose of crafts, gardening, and hands-on-learning
ages 3-5 (age by Sept 1st)
$30
9 am -12 noon
@ Roots Preschool: 131 Mainsville Road, Shippensburg
registration thewondercollective@gmail.com or 717-816-0593
details http://thewondercollective.blogspot.com
           
  June 16th Summer Creative Launch
Start your summer vacation with a day of crafty wonder, exploring a wide range of media and other creative pursuits. We’ll engage in storytelling, making, and much friendly fun!
ages 5-12
$30
9 am - 2 pm
@The Thought Lot: 37 E. Garfield St, Shippensburg
registration thewondercollective@gmail.com or 717-422-4255
details http://thewondercollective.blogspot.com

  June 18-20 Walden Weekend
an exploration of the woods for older children: hiking, building, learning and        delighting in our beautiful Pennsylvania woods, with a special campfire dinner and firefly extravaganza
for children finishing grades 4-8
$110
18th: 9 am-noon, 19th: 5-10 pm, 20th: 9-12 am
@Springfield Farm: 300 Big Spring Rd, Newville
registration thewondercollective@gmail.com or 717-422-2141
details http://thewondercollective.blogspot.com
        
 June 24-27 Wonder Week
hands-on learning and creating, combining the very best of our past camps: giant bubbles, hikes, treasure hunts, science, and stories. Guaranteed to develop your sense of wonder and ready each child to enjoy their summer in beautiful creative ways.
ages 5-12
$110
9 am-1 pm
@Springfield Farm: 300 Big Spring Rd, Newville
registration thewondercollective@gmail.com or 717-422-2141
details http://thewondercollective.blogspot.com