This post is presented by Fredericton Tourism

The light at the end of the school-year tunnel is getting brighter, which means that extra-curricular activities for the kids will soon be over and I can take a breather from living the mini van dream.  The kids will go to camps and part time jobs in a few weeks, which leaves this mama with some free time!

One of my go-to me-time staples is checking out the edVentures Fredericton schedule each year.  edVentures Fredericton is a learning vacation program that has been offered over the past several years, based largely out of the New Brunswick College of Craft & Design.  The multi-disciplinary program offers a rarely found opportunity to try your hand at traditional and contemporary craft and culture based activities.  Disciplines offered include: Fashion and Sewing to Jewellery and Metalwork, Photography, Textiles and Fabric Arts, Visual Arts, Mixed Media and Design, Pottery, Writing, and Heritage and Traditional Craft.

I tend to start daydreaming with a big smile on my face as I imagine myself at the various workshops where I can bask in the glow of working with my hands, being creative and learning new skills (Have you figured out I’m not a sit on the beach, soaking up the rays kind of gal?).

This year, edVentures delivers another action packed schedule, with 50 workshops offered over the program’s 3 week/3 weekend time-frame from July 4-24.  Now my task is to narrow my “have to try it” list down to just a few workshops that I can reasonably get myself to.  Here are my top picks for 2016:

Capturing Your Memories with Sandra Phinney

Before I saw who the instructor was for this workshop, my interest was already piqued, as I enjoy written records as a way to preserve one’s memories and share one’s stories.  Then, I realized that travel writer Sandra Phinney is the instructor so this full day workshop went straight to the top of my list.  I have met Sandra in the past, and love that she is so full of life and energy – and will be the perfect person to offer ideas and writing tools to participants.

Encaustic Painting: Beeswax plus Pigment with Sarah Petite

I wrote about wanting to do this workshop last year too, so have got to make it happen.  I enjoy painting with acrylics (in all my amateur glory), and have dabbled in watercolours, but the thought of manipulating beeswax is so intriguing.  The description for this 2-day workshop includes this sentence: “With sawed-off paintbrushes and an array of simple tools, we’ll paint, drip, melt, puddle, stamp, scratch, stencil and scrape to get a variety of effects.”  How could you not be interested if you have the least bit of adventure and fun in you!

Growler Basket with Lisa Fullarton

This workshop appeals to me because it is so Fredericton!  With the exploding industry of local craft beers, ciders and mead in our city, having a bag or basket to transport your Growler is a must around here.  Sure, I’ve always been interested in the tradition of basket making, but to be able to make a basket in this two-day workshop for such a here and now purpose makes it even better!

Off I go to book a workshop – I wish all of you some happy edVenturing this July!

 Krista Rae