Home Ec Class

 A couple weeks ago I did a short Bible study on being an encourager along with a cardmaking class for our homeschool group's 'Home Ec' class. I had eight girls, aged 10-14, over along with some of their moms and big sisters. I did my best to channel my 'inner Margaret' (best demo ever!!!) as I showed the girls some cardmaking basics and, boy oh boy, did we have fun! Such a creative group of girls - I really loved watching them take the skills/ideas I showed them and then seeing them put their own spin on things. Since I knew some of the girls would be new to stamping and didn't want them to feel like they needed to own a huge arsenal of supplies to create cards, I created 2 projects using simple craft/recycled supplies.

The first card used small circles cut or punched from paper scraps and a simple sentiment. I encouraged the girls to use things like old magazines, kleenex boxes or pretty packaging instead of buying patterned paper. For my example card, I used scraps I had from My Minds Eye Dilly Dally collection. I love being able to use the smallest of scraps to make a great card like this!

For the second card I used my kids' poster paint and dipped the eraser from a plain old pencil into the paints to make the coloured dots. So fun!! Can you imagine all the awesome colour combos and designs you could do with this? The sentiment panel was a happy accident - I had originally stamped the sentiment directly on the card base...but smudged it. So in order to cover it up, I  re-stamped and embossed it on the turquoise cardstock and then taped it on with some washi tape that was sitting out on my desk. Love it!! Some of the girls even stamped the sentiment using paint, which looked a-ma-zing!
 Anyways, it was super fun doing this class with the girls - and the cleaning, organizing and prep I had to do totally got me back into stamping mode!! Double bonus :) Anyways, I'm hoping I won't lose my momentum and will keep making time to create cards and encourage others. A simple card is such an easy way to let someone know you are thinking of them, praying for them or grateful for something they've done. I think cardmaking is such a great hobby because as we enjoy creating cards we can also bless others as we give them away. So simple and yet so cool. I'm working on a set of cards to give to some older widows in our church whom I know have a hard time with these long, dark, winter days. A little bit of sunshine in an envelope :) Maybe you know someone that could use a little pick-me-up? Send them a card! Happy stamping!
"Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing." 1 Thess.5:11

Sparkly snowflakes

 December didn't include very much card-making for me this year. In fact, I only managed to squeak out a measly two cards - one for a wedding and one Christmas card. That's right folks, I only made ONE Christmas card this year. Somehow we all still managed to survive. And, I'm thinking, that things can really only go up from here, right? Anyways, both cards were snowflake-themed and used some new stamps in my stash, so that was pretty fun. The first card, for the wedding, turned out okay. I used their wedding colours, blue, white and silver, but I think I may have gone a bit overboard...

 

...it just seemed a little 'busy' to me. I used snowflakes from Bo Bunny's Powder Mountain set

and embossed the largest one in silver.  The sentiment is from an old Unity kit of the month and 

worked out pretty swell because, unbeknownst to me, the bride really likes U2 :)

 I dry embossed the navy background panel with snowflakes and rubbed white ink over it, which really made the snowflakes pop, but I think it kinda overdid things. If I made this card again, I would definitely leave the embossed navy paper alone.

Onto my most favorite card...maybe ever!? This was the sole Christmas card that was made this year and, boy, did I love it! :) I'm definitely tucking this design away for future inspiration. The hexagons and sentiment are from Simon Says Stamp's Holiday Apothecary Labels, a super cute set that is not only good for Christmas but all kinds of sweet wintery cards. I was drawn to the set because of its' versatility...and the cute matching dies that go with it! I have to say, these are my first SSS stamps and I LOVE THEM! They pick up ink really well, stamp a beautiful image and have the feeling of my favorite red rubber stamps - but are CLEAR! Definitely excited to add some more SSS stamps to my arsenal in the future :) I added a touch of glitter to the snowflakes that gave the card just that little extra something and finished it with some hot pink baker's twine. Super fun card to make!

I cleaned up my stamping desk earlier this month, which has definitely inspired me to get more creative and inky again. So, hopefully, I'll be back soon with some more cards to share. Thanks for stopping by! xo