One thing I really like about the block of the month is that on occasion, they give you multiple ways to piece the block. Sometimes, if I think that one way will be easier than another for me, I practice the harder way, because that way (hopefully!) I will become better at piecing! I loved the look of this month’s block, and I’m excited to see what comes next!
Years ago, my father bought my mother a Cricut machine. We played around with it quite a bit and did a lot of fun projects, but we didn’t do much scrapbooking with it. When my family moved, the machine got put away and somewhat forgotten.
However, Just Bee Scrappin’ advertised a Cricut class for November, and I decided it might be a good excuse to get the machine out and learn some more about it, or at least get a refresher course on using it. My mom and I signed up, and we had a good time.
We each made the same scrapbook page for Fall. We’ve already used it for more projects, not scrapbooking, but I’m excited to try it out again for scrapbook pages!
I’ve really enjoyed working with ribbon, raffia, and bows for birthday cards. And I’ve had all sorts of special occasion cards to make: birthdays, baby showers, Mother’s Day. I even made some gift cards (which may be posted after I’m sure they’ve been used). Here’s the finished results.
Coming from a culture that highly values handmade items, not just for special occasions, but in everyday use, it can sometimes be difficult to appreciate the art in handcrafted items. One of the things I’m most guilty of is going to arts shows, perusing the booths, and stating “I could make that” at some point as I go around. Not everyone I know has a background like mine, so I forgot for a long time just how much people raised in a different culture appreciate handcrafted gifts.
I’ve always been around people that gave me handmade cards, so I decided to pick it up as a teenager. I never got amazingly good at it, mostly from my lack of unique ideas, but I did get to where I enjoyed doing it, and I found a few friends who enjoyed getting cards in the mail, and I started sending them out for the major holidays. But I never ventured out of a few select friends.
Then, this year, everyone started to do the “pay it forward” initiative via Facebook, and I thought, “I don’t want to do that, but I do want to see who would appreciate a card from me every now and then.” So, this year instead of making just a few Valentine cards to send in the mail to friends that have moved away, I decided to ask who wanted a card. The response was a bit overwhelming. Even my mom wanted four to give to people she knew. So I got busy making them. Here are the results:
The Springboard 