Keeping Busy and Some Great News!

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Although it has been a while since I have posted anything about my senior citizens crafting group, it hasn't been because nothing is happening. In fact quite a bit has happened. The frequent snows of January seemed to fall on the day before or on the day of a crafting class necessitating closure of the center on those days. There was a span of three weeks during which no classes took place because of the weather but we made up for it. Here are some photos of the projects we did on the days that Mother Nature wasn't having a hissy fit. We created a luminaria votive holder during the first week of January to start the new year off with light. February was met with a Valentine's Day hanging ornament. True story: this project was designed and prepared for last year's Valentine's Day but what do you suppose happened on the day the class was supposed to meet? Yep, it snowed. By the time we met the following week, Valentine's Day had passed so I had to keep the project under wraps until this year. We just narrowly missed being snowed out again but the weather held out.


Taking a short break from paper crafts, we indulged in some light beadwork and created a key ring with wooden beads and a little tassel. Another day we tried invoking the spirit of spring by creating cards with simple origami tulips.

March brings us St. Patrick's Day so the ladies and I made some hanging shamrocks to adorn the center. For this project I brought in some of my crafting toys...paper crimpers, my Cuttlebug and some embossing folders. I also brought in rub-on colors by Craf-T, gifts that I snagged during my trip to the CHA Supershow in July 2010. The group added texture to the various elements of their ornaments and then used the rub-on colors to highlight the embossed edges. Embossing and colored highlights added an extra dimension to a very simple project.

Here's a peek at the project we'll be doing this week. It's a tri-fold card with a ribbon tie on the side and an embellished envelope. It opens to reveal ample space for a personalized note or even a photograph. I didn't have any envelopes to match so I had to make my own using text weight paper. I also didn't have the right kind of envelope glue for the flap so I used a "sticky note" glue, the light tack re-positionable kind used to make sticky notes. Thanks to my paper cutter and scoring tool for making that task a little easier to manage.

Now here's the great news I alluded to in the title of this post. In September I applied for grant money to continue the work I've been doing at the senior center. I'd never applied for a grant before and figured a first time applicant probably didn't have a chance at be awarded any funding. Imagine my shock when I received a letter in January congratulating me on being an awardee! This money will allow me to purchase supplies to keep the crafts program alive and expand into other areas of interest such as jewelry making. The funds will be distributed in late March and I'm already scouring catalogs and hatching ideas. I'm off and running.

Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva
Design team member for About Art Accents