The Craft Room

 After one inspiring afternoon with a card making friend late last year, I came home and transformed our guest room into a craft room for all my card making 'stuff'.  Of course, like any new project, this led to some shopping and some awesome birthday and Christmas presents this year!

Over the last couple of weekends, I have been enjoying this sunny and quiet space that I have claimed as my territory (it is detached from the house) and indulging in a wee spot of 'me time'.        Today I plugged my ipod into the speakers, selected my favourite playlist and got stuck right in there.  Marty was watching a Liverpool game, Luke was sleeping, and the girls were busy with (another) game of schools.  Perfect time to make cards.

  I don't have the patience to do the long term project of scrapbooking, and I couldn't be selective enough about photos anyway, but card making is the perfect craft activity for me.  I am a planner, so I just love organising the layout of a card just as much as anything.  I like to see the finished product rather quickly, so I like that I can finish a nice card within half an hour.  And I, like most teachers, love stationary...so all the pretty bits and pieces I can add to my collection, especially beautiful papers, are such a joy to buy and use!  

There is something really awesome about receiving a card that someone put obvious time and energy into creating.  I have had many a handmade card sent to me, and I always leave them on display as long as possible, and I admit that I have been known to sometimes re-use the card (by gluing it onto a new card) so that someone else can share the joy of a beautiful thing!  I can waste hours searching through various card making magazines, blogs and 'google images' for inspiration and ideas, and have learnt to take photos of some of my creations so that I can enjoy the feeling of joy that  comes from having made something pretty for a bit longer.  

My girls just love to come and watch me at work, and although this means giving up the solitude and peace, I remember watching my own mother at work in her art room growing up, and I allow them to watch.  They always give me lots of praise and encouragement anyway!  Last weekend, I even felt generous enough to help them make a card each.  I made them put thought into it, otherwise there would have been glue and glitter everywhere with not much else! They had to choose a template from a picture, decide on the paper for the background and choose their embellishments and stamps.  They were so proud of the results too, and gave them away to their cousin and friend at the Ballet the next day.  I hope that I can pass on a little bit of a hobby for them in the future years to come...this might even be something we do together as adults.