{hand} making change: the D.A.D. project

like many lovelies out there, i'm greatly inspired by folks that create change for the better in the world. gosh.... folks do this in so many wonderful ways. in this rikrak studio series, we'll be meeting wonderful lovelies who are creating a better world with their handicraft. thanks for inspiring good in the world, each and every one of you. today, here's the next {hand} making change feature: the D.A.D. project!

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what do you do when difficult times come your way?

two wonderful artists & sisters, emily chen & serena chen, chose to turn a challenging health prognosis into a healthy action: the D.A.D. (drawing a day) project!

emily & serena write: "This project is a tribute to our father, who has been battling stage 4 colon cancer since May 2009. We are taking turns, creating a drawing every day, and donating $10 from the sale of each print... to the Canadian Cancer Society, the largest national charitable funder of cancer research in Canada."

so wonderful!
i was so moved to read how one of the most difficult things about their father's situation are their own feelings of helplessness. gosh - that can be such an obstacle in life, can't it!?

i think it's such a brilliant, positive, hands-on way to turn that helplessness into a way to help! love it!

i've been so lucky to get to know emily a bit over fun tea parties {we found out we lived on the same street in ottawa after tweeting and etsy foruming last year!} and i'm such a grand grand fan of everything mchen. she's an amazing, kind, generous, loving creative powerhouse and i hope you'll visit her latest project!

--> artists: you can also donate your own artwork to help raise funds! just contact serena & emily!

the D.A.D. project
shop | twitter | blog

serena chen
shop | twitter | blog

emily chen
shop | twitter | facebook | blog

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have a great *{hand} making change * group,
shop or project that i should feature?

let me know!

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have you ever focused on your art
to help you thru a difficult time?
to create change?

tell us! i'd love to hear!

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congratulations!

morning lovelies! happy wednesday!
thanks to everyone who entered the most recent rikrak studio giveaway: to win a fabulous mchenwears shirt! i loved reading about the songs you LOVE to sing along to - what an eclectic and fun mix! thanks.

two of the comments were fun non-entries, so the winner of the fabulous choose your own tshirt is..... #53... krrley of she sews lovely!

krrley has a great blog & a fun eco forward shop you'll want to visit! look @ her fun eco friendly cup cozies!

so thanks so much to the fabulous emily @ mchenwears for her generous giveaway, and for sharing her very fun playlist! i loved it!

see you in a few hours with another post... til then, thanks for entering, thanks for all of your kind cheers yesterday about the REDBOOK feature, and thanks for hey, being such nicies! see you soon!

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playlists: by mchen {& a giveaway, too!}

i just love a great playlist. i think it stems back to those glorious mixed tapes days where i'd either make, sometimes receive and always always covet a fabulous collection of tunes by various great artists! for me, a personal playlist is a magical grouping of songs. *bliss!* ... so i've asked some wonderful artists if they'd make up a little playlist on a theme for this new rikrak studio series. i thought we might get a glimpse into what musically inspires these fabulous folks... i'm thrilled to present the first: playlists with mchen: songs to howl along to!

mixed tape pouch by BraveMoonman

ever meet someone and feel instantly musically kindred!?
i'm fortunate to say that about mchen... she's golden! & i first came to know her thru her wonderful love & support of live music...

let's start with her delightful playlist (just click the titles to hear!):

dj: mchen of mchenwears
playlist: songs i love to belt out - loudly!

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1. Light of the Moon by Joel Plaskett
2. Deep Red Bells by Neko Case
3. Rhythm & Blues Alibi by Gomez
4. Oh, Alberta by Elliott Brood
5. I Guess That's Why They Call it the Blues by Elton John (guilty pleasure)
6. Robots by Dan Mangan
7. See You on the Moon by Great Lake Swimmers
8. Winter by Tori Amos
9. One Two Three Four by Feist (also the Sesame Street version)
10. Black Boys on Mopeds by Sinead O'Connor
11. Shelter by Ray Lamontagne
12. Don't Be So Mean Jellybean by Justin Rutledge

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"I'm a music-head. I love going to live shows, hearing new tunes, witty lyrics, and finding songs that I can relate to. My brain ties memories to music strongly; I often relate songs to specific moments in time or people. I often turn to music, whether I need a pick-me-up, a calm-me-down, a distraction, or good company.

While compiling this, I realized I like belting out slow tunes. It's these kinds of songs I play while doing illustrations: moving enough to keep the creative juices flowing but calm enough for me to keep the pen steady!
Maybe one day, I can give you my go-go-go silkscreening playlist :)"

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thanks so much, nicey!

i've gotta tell you.. Emily Chen of mchen is one fabulous soul! we started to get to *know* of one another thru twittering this year, and i soon came to adore her lovely blog. i noticed that her fabulous posts would often include a musician i myself adored, or one that she would introduce me to that i would shortly LOVE! isn't that a wonderful thing!

as the merriment of life would have, it was soon discovered that not only did we live in the same city, love lots of the same music, but that we lived... that's right, on the SAME street! we soon met for a delightful teaparty, and as the afternoon slipped by, i was smitten! what a genuine, real life sweetie mchen is! i've gotta say... she's really really wonderful.

i just adore her kind heart, fun personality & artistic brilliance! and super excitingly - she's just launched her newest line of handmade silkscreened shirts: the re{verb} line! so be sure to visit her wonderful shop and check them out for yourselves! and she now has adorable kids wear, too! woohoo! i've seen the shirts first hand and they're gorgeous!

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and... for even more fun...
AN MCHEN GIVEAWAY!!
emily has kindly offered to give
ONE lucky rikrak studio blog reader
their choice of ANY mchen tshirt in her shop! WOW! so fun!!!

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so here's how it works:

1. there will be 2 possible entries per person.
a) one entry: leave a comment in this post with a link to your favourite item from mchen's gorgeous shop. www.mchen.etsy.com

b) 2nd entry: leave a comment in this post with a song YOU'D have on your own playlist of songs to howl along to. what song do you love to belt out & sing?

2. please leave each entry as it's own individual comment.

3. i will draw one winner via random.org on tuesday may 26th @ 9pm EST.
please make sure i can contact you thru your comment post.

thanks so much! and happy singing-along-to!

{ps: i'll be drawing the winner of my OTHER giveaway tomorrow (friday) evening..
there's still time to enter that giveaway, too!}

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