Come visit us Tuesday-Saturday 11am-5pm and Sunday 12pm-5pm!

Creative Workshops + Classes In Austin, Texas: Meet Our Instructors

Pei Sim


Since opening our doors in 2015, our shop + studio has hosted hundreds of creative workshops and classes! The goal has always been to create a community here in town, serve those who are seeking more creativity in their lives as well as to showcase and support our instructors who are artists + small business owners too! 

We took a long pause on all our in-person classes starting March 2020 and resumed them in a new format in Oct 2021. We shifted our focus with intention - intimate and smaller class sizes so students can get more one-on-one instruction and an overall elevated experience inside our brand new workshop studio. Our new workshop studio space is a designated and separate room filled with natural light, it's a dream space to be able to work in! 

One of our biggest commitment is to only bring the very best workshops to our workshop calendar.  We take care to create exciting curriculums, source quality materials and on the very top of the list is to ensure all of our instructors provide an amazing experience for their students.

Here's a look at how our workshop space as changed over the years!

Then....

vs. now...

And now the best part! are a few of our "regulars" you'lll see rotating through our calendar! We asked them to provide some insight to our workshops so you'll get an insider peek to why we think our classes are the best!  

We hope to see you at an upcoming workshop soon :) 

Anna Muniz from WatercolorATX

Anna is the artist and owner of Watercoloratx, based in Austin, Texas. Her work is inspired by the architecture and character of her hometown, Austin.  She creates detailed and personalized watercolors based on Austin and specializes in custom and stationery watercolors. She has taught numerous Watercolor Architecture workshops and will be teaching this Summer's Foodie Watercolors, and the Watercolor Pet Portrait workshops. All of her workshops are great for beginners and a very relaxing time!

WatercolorATX Painting Workshops Austin, Texas

WatercolorATX Anna Muniz Paper + Craft Pantry Blog Workshop InstructorWatercolor ATX Workshop Instructor Feature Painting Workshops

Audrey Jahanian + Zaid Gallo from 7th Street Candle Co.

7th Street Candle Co Audrey J. And Zaid G.

Audrey and Zaid are the founders and owners of 7th Street Candle Co. They specialize in small batch candles and use Texas grown aromatics and plants by partnering with local businesses and farms around the state. They teach candle pouring classes in order to share their own apothecary with students and help them craft their own custom blended candles.Audrey and Zaid are the founders and owners of 7th Street Candle Co. They specialize in small batch candles and use Texas grown aromatics and plants by partnering with local businesses and farms around the state. They teach candle pouring classes in order to share their own apothecary with students and help them craft their own custom blended candles.

7thstreetcandleco Paper + Craft Pantry Blog. Instructor Feature7thstreetcandleco Paper + Craft Pantry Blog Instructor Feature Local Candle Pouring Workshop

7thstreetcandleco Paper + Craft Pantry Blog Instructor Candle Pouring 101 Austin, Texas

 

Pei Sim from The Paper + Craft Pantry

Pei is the owner and founder of The Paper + Craft Pantry. Her workshops specialize in watercolor florals, embroidery, and more! Pei considers herself a curious creative who enjoys dabbling in a variety of mediums. She enjoys sharing her love of art through botanical subjects, flowers, plants and nature. She teaches Watercolor Loose Florals workshops, Intro to Embroidery workshops and other classes throughout the year.

Why do you like teaching?

Anna: I love getting to see people who've never used watercolors start to play with them and have fun! Everyone's work always turns out so cute and I love seeing students take photos of their work to share with their friends and family. 

Audrey & Zaid: We love teaching simply because our business started with Audrey teaching Zaid a new tactile craft. Getting to share that experience with students is one of the better reasons we love to instruct these workshops! Everyone gets to customize their own aromatherapy blends and the room always buzzes with new ideas and fresh fragrances.

Pei: Getting to share my love of creating in our studio is one of my favorite parts of having our shop and studio space. I feel like as adults, it can be hard to prioritize time for yourself and coming to our workshops gives you the time, space and support to do something for you!

How do you prepare for workshop day?

Anna: In the days before a workshop, I gather all of the supplies together and make sure everything is there. There are brushes, palettes, paints, paper, erasers, and more to organize! The final touch is putting together the booklet that goes along with the class and prepping any templates that might be needed. On workshop day, I set up the supplies for each student at their spot and review my plan for the class!

Audrey & Zaid: Workshop prep usually begins weeks before the day because we have to check that we have enough inventory and supplies to give the best experience to our students. The week leading up to it is all about getting those supplies divided out for each student attending, and catering to the theme of class. Workshop day is usually a blur of packing the car up and unloading, having the most fun telling all our bad aromatherapy jokes, and sharing all the tips and tricks to make one a successful candle maker. Then take-out. Because neither of us want to cook dinner after a full day like that! 

Pei: Workshop prep starts months in advance sometimes. From concepting a curriculum to creating samples, photographing pieces before ordering all the supplies before the workshop. Workshops tend to go by so fast! Students are often shocked that they've spent several hours creating and to me that's a good sign of a fantastic class!

What do you look forward to on workshop day? And what is one of your favorite workshop memory?

Anna: I most look forward to seeing the students excited to paint! I love when they start working on their composition and they get so focused on working.  

My favorite memory is when at the end of the first Foodie Watercolor workshop, the students all clapped for each other as they held up their finished postcards! Everyone was so supportive and excited about their watercolors of croissants, ice cream, pizza and more!

Audrey & Zaid: Saying hello and catching up with the amazing team at P+CP! We appreciate the kindness and care the team all put into workshop day (and every other day for that matter). And getting to share our craft and silly jokes with new students! 

One of our fave memories is when Audrey led the students through a meditation before an intention setting candle workshop. All of our workshops are memorable and one of our favorite recent traditions we've made is using everyone's leftover scented wax from class into one collective super scented mystery flavor candle.

Pei: I love seeing the transformation of a beginner student who may be a bit  hesitant at the beginning of class turn into someone who is confident by the end of the workshop! 

It's hard to just pick one favorite memory of workshops! It's been magical knowing so many students are repeat workshop attendees. We have current students who have been taking workshops with us since we first opened in 2015!

Hope you had fun going down memory lane with the photos of our old/first workshop studio space as well as getting to know our workshop instructors and process :)