Thursday 16 June 2016

Festival of Learning #LovetoLearn - Card Class for Beginners



Hello everyone! It is fully 9 months since I have posted on this blog and there have been good reasons for that, as an awful lot (and a lot that's awful) has happened during that time ... last year I only posted once due to my dear dad being very ill, and sadly he passed away on November 12th.

I miss him greatly, but have been kept very busy what with running backwards and forwards (a 4 hour round trip!) sorting out his affairs and house, and dealing with my own house, husband and job! Over the past couple of months we have also started some much neglected home improvements .. and that's likely to keep me pretty busy for the rest of the year!

It would be fair to say that my crafting mojo had pretty much taken a battering due to all this, and I haven't made a card in all this time.  It is also true that the longer you leave it the harder it is to start again ... will I still be able to colour??  Will I have lost my eye for composition??

I decided to test things out when I was asked by my HR department to take part in the national Festival of Learning

https://www.festivaloflearning.org.uk/
This is a national celebration of lifelong learning, with 'Have a Go' learning events taking place during May and June. 

Warrington Borough Council where I work is holding a month-long Festival during June, with employees giving of their time to impart knowledge and skills to colleagues in the lunch hour on a variety of themes including Digital, Craft, Culture and Wellbeing.

This Tuesday was Craft Tuesday, so I agreed to host a card making class for beginners .... my first!!


There were two timeslots of an hour each, and I decided to give a 10 minute presentation on why card making is a good idea (artistic expression, inspiration, make friends on social media, give something unique..) followed by a simple card project that would take about 40 minutes. This required quite a bit of planning, but I decided to go with showcasing rubber stamping of a large sentiment, punching of butterflies, and assembly of a card with patterned paper and embellishments.  The goal was to create a card that looked something like one of these ...



... using one of the project packs I made up like this ...


I also compiled a "resource pack" giving a bit further info on common techniques such as rubber stamping, dry and heat embossing and die cutting - all with links to further web-based information and tutorials; plus some info on basic equipment and supplies, and a few links to sources of ideas and inspiration (including this blog :-) )




All in all I did a lot of preparation, though quite a bit of it would be re-useable for  future events.

I really enjoyed my class, and the ladies who attended also gave kind comments and seemed to enjoy themselves - they both managed to produce cards they were happy to take away. Sadly there were not many attendees  .. there were several other interesting crafty topics on offer the same day such as jewellery making, gift tags, pottery making .. and local government employees are all so stretched nowadays that finding an hour is difficult. However it was a great learning exercise for me, and I am hoping to repeat my class at a future public Festival of Learning event in Warrington.


A big shout out should go to my crafty friend Clare, who lent me a few ink pads and some extra sentiment stamps in case I had a large take up for my class.

I had a variety of large sentiment stamps available, and during the class I made this card .. which I added some extra flowers to afterwards to make it a bit more special. I think my friend Clare may well cop for this when I take her stash back tomorrow :-)


Stamps: Penny  Black "To You..." (2908F) and "friends matter" (2073F); Great Impressions #D228 (If friends were flowers ..);
Papers: Melissa Frances;
Supplies: flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts; pearls and twine from my stash;
Tools: Martha Stewart monarch butterfly punch; X-Cut small butterfly punch.

For the first time in a very long time I would like to enter my efforts into a few challenges ...

Frillie & Funky - Pastels & Pearls
Crafty Inspirations #317 - Tic Tac Toe (sentiment/punch/pearls)
ABC - J is for Just As You Like
The Ribbon Girl (June) - Anything Goes
Craft your Passion #316 - Always Anything Goes
Penny's Paper Crafty #282 - Anything Goes
Crafty Ribbons #156 - Anything Goes

That's all from me for today ... 'til next time.
Hugs,

20 comments:

Gibmiss said...

Hi Pauline
Fabulous card.... Love that sentiment...
Thanks for joining us at PBSC this month
Hugs Sylvie xx
I you give me a comment I have a nice stamp to win

yvon said...

Wow, there is absolut a lot going on in your live. So sorry to hear about your dad. Mine pas away 2 years ago and it's still hard.
I am glad you picked up your crafting for a little bit and it's still beautiful work.
Take your time and hope to see more of your beautiful work in the future.
Hugs, Yvon

Dodie said...

Pauline, these are so pretty. I would have enjoyed attending your class.

Barbara Bruder said...

What a beautiful card. Love the sentiments and those flowers are gorgeous.Thanks for joining us at the Crafty Creations Challenges for our latest challenge. Good luck and join us again soon. Hugs, Barbara {Crafty Creations Challenges}

Anet's Crafting said...

Beautiful card Pauline. Thank you for playing along with our Challenge at Penny's Paper-Crafty. We would love to see you again ... Anet DTx

Tanya said...

Great to see you posting again Pauline - sounds like you've had a right run of things...Really hope everything picks up for you soon and you have some time to yourself to heal from your loss.

Massive hugs

Tanya xx

Clur said...

Nice to see you posting again Pauline, I hope this experience will kick start your crafty mojo and get you creating again. Thanks so much for he lovely card, It's even more beautiful in real life :o) Clare x

La Vikinga said...

Hi Pauline!
Thanks for letting these cute flowers (and a ribbon) participate in our "Anything goes"
challenge this week at Crafty Ribbons!!

La Vikinga // Crafty Ribbons

Spiral Creativity said...

Beautiful card.Thank you for joining us at craft your passion challenge.

Rgds,
Shamita
spiralcreativity.blogspot.com

Jean said...

Great card, dont think you have lost any of your talent. Great to see you back, life knocks us back, luckily there is always someone or something gets you back on track. The sentiment says it all.
Thanks for joining us over at Penny's Paper Craft this week. Jean DT XXX Hope to see you again.

Kat W said...

It sounds as though you have had a challenging 9 months but it's so lovely to see you back in blogland.
I'm sure your beautiful floral cards provided lots of inspiration to the ladies attending the crafty session. They have a lovely vintage elegance to them :-)
Hope to see you posting again soon!
Big hugs, Kat xx

brenda said...

A super creation for our Flower Power theme Pauline, many thanks for joining us at Penny Black and More challenge.

B x

Linby said...

I'm sorry to hear of your Father's passing. It's good to see that you've thrown yourself into your cardmaking and also introduced it to your work colleagues with all its fab benefits. A beautiful card you've made too, love those flowers. Thanks so much for sharing it with us at Penny Black & More this month.
Lynn x
DT

Suzanne C said...

What a lovely and charming card. The sentiment is lovely and the flowers sweet. So sorry to hear about your loss. Thanks for playing along with us at the "Pastels and Pearls Challenge" at Frilly and Funkie.

Ellibelle said...

Such a pretty design, love the soft colors and great details!
Thanks so much for sharing with us at Penny Black and More!

Sue from Oregon said...

Such a perfect sentiment for our challenge!
Thanks for sharing you wonderful birthday inspiration with us at Penny Black Saturday Challenge!

♥ Sue Kment

Helen said...

Beautiful card Pauline - love all those wonderful flowers! Great to see you cardmaking again...I'm sure your class was really inspiring!
Thanks so much for joining in with our 8th Birthday celebrations at the Penny Black Saturday Challenge this month!
Helen x

PS - if you haven't already, it's not too late to join in with our blog hop for more chances to win!

Mojca said...

Waw this looks so pretty! thank you for joining us at ABC Challenge. Hugs! Mojca

Kathy/NorthCarolina said...

Such lovely soft colors and gorgeous flowers! Thanks for sharing with us at Frilly and Funkie Pastels and Pearls Challenge

CraftyLyn said...

Hi Pauline nice to see that after our chat at Bakewell craft fair you are embracing card craft again,what a great way to get started again your cards are really beautiful hope to see you again,lots of best wishes Lyn x.