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Golden Days Long Lost in Eternity - Tanuj S.

Tanuj S!Tanuj's (@artisttanuj) art totally astounded us with the amount of depth, story, and detail that went into the piece! Our team especially loved the little penguins hugging amid waves of royal blue oceans.

The Langley district of Adopt Our Community worked together with us to fundraise for Covenant House through our latest project, Crafts for Covenant.We raised over $200 through sales of items in a month, and donated an additional $250 through in-kind donations, which will be auctioned off or donated by Adopt our Community.Thank you to everyone who supported us in this proejct!

Today, we often find ourselves stressed and worried constantly. That sense of overwhelming panic is the seed of mental health conditions like depression and anxiety.It's time to slow down and rediscover small moments of joy - to "find present".In pursuit of this goal, we operate a few programs:1. Gift Boxes
Remember that feeling of surprise, the burst of joy that brightened the rest of the day? We wanted to capture and share that feeling.We make and distribute boxes with items that reduce stress and spark joy. Our boxes contain items like stuffed animals, food, tea, and encouraging messages, all designed to make your day just a bit better.2. Art Swaps + Requests
They say giving gifts is even better than receiving, which is why our program sparks connections between artists by facilitating art swaps. We also provide a platform where anyone can request art for any reason or make something special for someone else!3. Youth Art Hub
Lastly, we provide places + opportunities for youth to improve their art skills in a welcoming, judgement-free environment. From resources to competitions, we can help all artists reach their full potential!__4. Surprise Collaborations __
We're always looking for new ways to collaborate with other organizations to create something special together! Please contact us if you are interested in working with our artistically-talented team.

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For our newest initiative, ‘Find a Friend’, we want to continue to address the stress, loneliness, and anxiety that youth in our community face. We will be droping small pieces of art, particularly crocheted stuffed animals, throughout the neighbourhood, creating a scavenger hunt that encourages you to explore our community!These items will be paired with cards providing self-care tips and mental health resources. Resources will include tips on how to access nonprofits and information on support groups that are dedicated to providing assistance to those struggling with anxiety and stress. Tips on relaxation through meditation and creating art will also be available. This idea was inspired by other crafters, particularly The Geeky Hooker, who ‘drops’ amigurumi for fans to find while travelling. Thank you!!Participating in our program will encourage individuals to explore their community instead of remaining house-bound and socially isolated. We hope people form relationships with others that find art drops, and thus, we foster new bonds in our community. Another anticipated impact of our project is the inclusion of mental health resource cards with each art drop, which will help people find new outlets to relieve their stress or get in contact with mental health care professionals and NGOs that can assist with more serious issues.

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* Author: Puneet Chhina *
The winter tutorials were a fun way to show off our social media account and get started on providing resources. One of the goals of Finding Present is to make and distribute easy free art resources. Making them ourselves involved us fully in the process.Each tutorial played to our strengths; Gabrielle loves crocheting, Catherine is awesome digital art, Anisha can master general crafts and I am an embroidery enthusiast. We tried different formats for each tutorial. For the butterflies, it was a reel. The digital art tutorial is an IG video. The crocheted mug and embroidered roses were posts. We learned a lot about which formats reach a wider audience which is super fun! Reels are super popular on instagram and are fun to make.The main challenge is that there is no direct engagement with our community. WIth the art boxes, swaps and letters we got to see real engagement and interaction. It’s a little harder to do all that online. The bonus of online based projects is that we can reach potentially everyone, not just those in our area.Hopefully we do more tutorials or projects like that in the future, stay tuned on our instagram!Instagram @findingpresent
Full hot cocoa mug pattern: click here

When we were first thinking of Finding Present, the original idea was just to produce boxes with cool items that would help people destress. It was only later, as we were doing more brainstorming, that the other elements came into play. As a result, giving people our first boxes felt particularly exciting.Our first art boxes were made and given to a cohort of artistic youth in November 2020. Each box featured an assortment of small gifts designed to spark creativity, including a crocheted stuffed animal, a mini canvas, curated art resources, and a handmade notebook. We also included some Asian snacks because we like food :) The overall design and box-making process was special because each person used their artistic skills and talent to make something for the box. It was truly a product of collaboration. We were touched by the excitement and enthusiasm of the recipients, which inspired us to continue refining our “Art Box” idea to make it even better!

Cookie swaps, book swaps, why not art swaps? Finding Present’s first project was an art swap with a group of artistic youth, who paired up to make each other a piece of art. We had a range of art mediums swapped; from earrings and digital art to crocheted stuffed animals! We all had a chance to showcase our creativity and get a stunning piece of art in return (for free!). What’s really special about this project is that it allows for a welcoming environment of art enthusiasts to channel their creativity into making “presents” for others and “finding” a present in return :) .This project was launched in October 2020 with a test cohort, using Slack (a social media platform that is sort of like a “professional Discord”) to pair up “swap” partners, exchange art, and give announcements about the project! Using Slack was great for organizing ideas into “channels”, such as the announcements, questions, and welcome sections. We also had a “bidding” and “offers” channel where people would propose trades, such as offering handmade accessories for a watercolour piece. Since Slack is not a widely known social media platform, we may have to refine our communicating system if we ever launch this project again!Some other ideas for future art swaps that we might consider:1. Create some friendly and fun competition with a “leaderboard” of the artists who have done the most swaps
2. Releasing “art themes and challenges” where we would provide a theme and see how each artist interpreted the idea into a piece of art!
3. Having a “share your present” section where users could showcase art they received from an exchangeThis is definitely a project the Finding Present Team wants to bring out again!

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Anisha BiswasAnisha is an undergraduate Neuroscience student at the University of British Columbia. She loves painting with acrylics, knitting and making balloon animals. She joined Finding Present because she believes art brings people together, and has loved hosting community art events with the rest of the team! Outside of Finding Present, she enjoys reading mystery novels and playing tennis.

Puneet ChhinaPuneet is a student at Simon Fraser University. It’s been four years since she started learning how to knit and sew. Now her favourite hobby is bugging her friends into knitting with her. She hopes to help make a community of creative and kind people.Besides knitting, Puneet loves reading comic books, finding new alternatives artists to obsess over, and playing video games.

** Catherine Wong**Catherine is an incoming grad at R.E Mountain Secondary School. She has loved art ever since she was young- entering numerous contests, creating a variety of cards for friends and family, and experimenting with every medium possible. Finding Present is the perfect organization for her to not only share art with others, but to spread the social good of creativity.Besides working with Finding Present, Catherine also enjoys playing piano, competitive debating, running, hiking, and going out with her friends as much as possible!

Gabrielle WongGabrielle is an undergraduate student at Simon Fraser University. They enjoy crocheting, watercolour, and sketching. Finding Present is her way to use her hobby to fuel positivity and creativity within her community.Other than working on this project, Gabrielle likes playing piano, curling up with a good read, and co-chairing SFU's Geography Student Union.

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