Workshops 2007

*All workshops will be held on Sat, Sept 22, 2007 at the Jack Purcell Community Center
*Workshops are a suggested donation of $5.
*Workshops operate on a first come first serve basis. Some have limited capacity. Please see descriptions below for more details.
*For room information please visit the Ladyfest Ottawa information table at our Craftsale in Room C.

• Cyber-Selling
• Don't Fear The Needle: A Very Basic Introduction to Embroidery
• How To Make A Light Box
• I'm Coming! A Guide to Women's Orgasm
• It's Time! Start Your Own Compost/ Il est grand temps de commencer un compost à la maison!
• Naming Your Pleasures: An Exploration of Sexual Identities (PANEL)
• Spa in Your Kitchen/Un Spa Dans Votre Cuisine
• Vintage Vegan
• What the Eff am I Signing? Clever Girls' Guide to Copyright and Contract Law
• Write Here, Write Now: A Guide to Blogs, Zines and Self-Publishing

Cyber-Selling (1 hr)
Presented by Supayana
Saturday, September 22nd, 14:00-15:00 Room A

Internet diva Supayana is offering to share her entrepreneurial expertise with you! If you craft your own goods (clothing, accessories, etc.) then this workshop is for you because the focus is on Internet marketing and selling.

Supayana is a clothing line run by New York designer Yana Gorbulsky. Yana started selling her garments on eBay in 2002. The response to her creative efforts was tremendous. Yana finds inspiration from both runway ready-to-wear and street fashion; both vintage and modern trends; and most importantly, the maniacal desire to transfigure everything she touches into something cute. Supayana designs incorporate special attention to vintage buttons, lace details, and unique fabric prints - altogether bringing one-of-a-kind touches to every piece. Some ruffles here, a cluster of buttons there, Supayana designs are both daring and yet so completely wearable. Supayan has been featured in bust, venus zine, n.e.e.t., Audrey Magazine, The Torch, Orlando Syle, and New York Daily News.

Don't Fear The Needle: A Very Basic Introduction to Embroidery (1.5 hr)
Presented by Serah-Marie McMahon
Saturday, September 22nd, 14:00-15:30 Room B

Embroidery is a great way to personalize your cloth items, and an interesting element to add to your art practice. By the end of this workshop, you will be embroidering even if you have never sewn in your life! You will be provided with a basic introduction to the tools you will need, basic stitches, and how to work from a pattern as well as free-form. At the end of the day you will leave with all the supplies you need to continue practicing your new craft, as well as a zine for embroidery beginners.
* Maximum 15 participants

Serah-Marie studies Fibre Arts at Concordia University and teaches crafty workshops at Wooden Apples in Montreal. She also edits and publishes Worn Fashion Journal. Worn brings a political, environmental, historical and cultural context to fashion and expands traditional relationships between models, designers, writers, photographers and illustrators.

How To Make A Light Box (1 hr)
Presented by Charlotte Eedson
Saturday, September 22nd, 11:00-12:00 Room A

Are you afraid of the dark? As the sun sets earlier, prepare yourself for the dark winter nights by building your very own unique light box with Charlotte! Bring a positive attitude and a creative mind!
* Maximum 1o participants
* Participants are encouraged to bring objects to place in their light box, a hammer and a pencil.

Charlotte regrets not taking shop class in high school but is looking forward to sharing the joy of working with wood with others! She is young, up and coming and a well-rounded Ottawa-based DIY’er who’s dabbled in set design, movie-making and home fashion fabrications.

I'm Coming! A Guide to Women's Orgasm (1.5 hr)
Presented by Venus Envy
Saturday, September 22nd, 10:30--12:00 Room B

Some women never experience orgasm, some can have orgasms once in awhile, or on their own, or never on their own, or ... you get the picture. The female orgasm can sometimes be rather elusive, and that can be okay, but it can also be very frustrating. This session will look at some of the reasons women have difficulty with orgasm, offer suggestions around play to enhance sexual feelings, as well as cover important anatomical information. Discussion includes g-spot, clitoris, and tips to use both alone and with a partner.

Shelley Taylor is the founder of venus envy, an education and women oriented sex shop and bookstore (Halifax and Ottawa). She has been facilitating workshops about sex and relationships for the past 7 years and loves presenting at Ladyfest!

It's Time! Start Your Own Compost/ Il est grand temps de commencer un compost à la maison! (1 hr)
Presented by Roxanne Dubois and Isabelle Deschamps
Saturday, September 22nd, 12:00-13:00 Room B

DIY composting! This workshop will render the “art” of composting accessible to all people and all living arrangements.
*This workshop is bilingual

Que vous ayiez accès à une cour ou que vous habititez dans un minuscule appartement sans balcon, cet atelier vous montrera à quel point il est facile de faire du compostage, peu importe où on habite.
*Cet atelier est bilingue

Isabelle is part of the Otesha Project, a national youth-run charitable organization that uses theatre to mobilize young people to create local and global change through their everyday consumer choices. This summer, she toured the Maritimes on her bicycle doing presentations on environmental topics. Roxanne lives with Isabelle and enjoys composting in their apartment.

Naming Your Pleasures: An Exploration of Sexual Identities (PANEL)(1.5 hr)
Presented by Grace Irving, Caitlyn Pascal and Adam Graham
Saturday, September 22nd, 16:00-17:30 Room A

Caitlyn, Grace & Adam invite you to a lively discussion that explores the relationship between pleasure, sexuality, identity, community, and representation. Join them as they try to think through some of the oppressive and repressive links between pleasure and shame. If you are looking for new and empowering ways to think about pleasure, if you feel excluded by (or bored with) conventional representations of sex and sexuality, or if you just want to know what other people are talking about, thinking about and doing – this is the place for you.

Caitlyn Pascal is an Ottawa-based curator/activist interested in the complexities of 21st century sexuality and identity. She runs Divergence Movie Night, DJs under the moniker CPI, and participates in other exhibitions of fabulousness, inspiration and subversion.

Grace Irving is currently undertaking graduate work on the subject of ‘passing’ at Carleton University. When she’s not trapped under a mountain of books, she loves to talk about everything from sexuality & disability to queer fashion.

Adam Graham is an HIV prevention worker, AIDS activist, anti-authoritarian anti-capitalist, and community worker. He has been known to often trade sex for a brand new, shiny sawbuck.

Spa in Your Kitchen/Un Spa Dans Votre Cuisine(1.5 hr)
Presented by Fiona Frappier
Saturday, September 22nd, 16:00-17:30 Room B

Pamper yourself like a queen on a peasant’s wage! Join biochemist Fiona and learn simple recipes for healthy and chemical-free beauty products using ingredients found in your very own kitchen.
*Maximum 15 participants
*Participants are encouraged to bring their own facecloth(s) and hand towel(s).
*This workshop is bilingual.

Pas besoin de dépenser une fortune pour avoir l’air d’une reine! Fiona, qui est biochimiste de profession, vous montrera comment faire des produits de beauté naturels et sans produits chimiques à partir d’ingrédients tous simples, trouvés dans votre cuisisne.
*Maximum de 15 participantes
*On encourage les participantes à apporter une débarbouillette et une serviettes à main.
*Cet atelier est bilingue.

Fiona Frappier is a biochemist by training with an avid interest in kitchen alchemy. Blessed with sensitive skin, she is always on the look out for the chemical-free alternatives to conventional beauty products. Fiona believes that the skincare can be handmade in your home and is ready to teach you how!

Vintage Vegan(1 hr)
Presented by Gianna Lauren
Saturday, September 22nd, 13:00-14:00 Room B

This workshop promotes a vegan-friendly lifestyle by demonstrating that developing and maintaining a vegan diet is as exciting as it is manageable. Gianna will focus on several angles of vegan cooking such as useful kitchen tips, egg replacement, the incorporation of tofu, how to handle a knife, etc. Handouts and fact sheets on the benefits of a vegan lifestyle will be provided, and vegan recipes and resources will be shared. Warning: participants will be exposed to techniques that push the boundaries of common cooking!

Gianna Lauren is the owner and chef of a part-time/on-demand catering business titled The Cameo Vegetarian. Her goods have been featured on the menus of several local favorites such as Aunt Olive’s Vintage Eatery and the Manx Pub, while she has catered several each month. Vegetarian for nice years and vegan for one, Gianna is the real thing: a self-tought and self-sufficient cuisine pioneer!

What the Eff am I Signing? Clever Girls' Guide to Copyright and Contract Law(1 hr)
Presented by Karin Gallin and Jamie Liew
Saturday, September 22nd, 15:00-16:00 Room A

This workshop is a basic primer to contract law and copyright law in clear and accessible language for artists interested in preserving property rights, or for women interested in general contract law.

Karin Galldin and Jamie Liew are Galldin Liew LLP, a feminist law firm. Having just opened this unique law firm in Ottawa, these ladies put the gal back in leGAL! Both have experience in contract law. Jamie is knows all about intellectual property law and Karin has delivered legal workshops in all over the Ottawa community.

Write Here, Write Now: A Guide to Blogs, Zines and Self-Publishing(1 hr)
Presented by Megan Butcher and Jennifer Whiteford
Saturday, September 22nd, 12:30-13:30 Room A

If you have lots to say and know how to say it, this workshop will help you get it out there. Whiteford and Butcher will cover the whys, hows, and wherefores of zine-making, blogging, self-publishing, and promo for the indie writer.

A civil-servant-by-day and writer-by-night, Jennifer Whiteford was voted Best Local Author for 2006 in the Ottawa XPress reader's poll. After a decade of writing zines and short stories, her first novel Grrrl was published in April 2006 by Gorsky Press. She is currently at work on her second novel and on a collection of short stories about teenage and pre-teen girls.

Megan Butcher is a sex educator, writer, librarian and very occasional book publisher in Ottawa, ON. Her first chapbook, This Is What She Said, came out in August 2004. She co-authored the popular A Guide to the Mannerly Wooing and Winning of the Object of Your Affection with Jennifer Whiteford. She is working on too many projects.