teaching a crafting class . . .

Last week, I taught a crafting class to a group of 40 ladies.  It took a lot of prep work, and getting in front of everyone was pretty nerve-racking - but I got through it.  After all, I have been part of the final show on a cruiseship singing Gloria Estefan's "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You" in full costume and wig with a bunch of back up dancers dancing all around me - so that should have cured me from any future stage fright, right?

The class was part of an annual conference for GEMS (Girls Everywhere Meeting the Savior).  The conference is their kick-off to the theme of the new year, and includes workshops among other fun activities. My two oldest girls are in this program, and I'm a counselor.

The craft I chose is a 6" square album made with chipboard for the front and back, and cardstock for the middle section folded accordion style (I used 6" x 24" sheets). A piece of ribbon was attached between the back of the book and chipboard so that the book can be tied closed. The pages were covered in patterned papers, and quotes were glued on each page.  Each of the kits included a glue stick, and the kits were packaged up in cute transparent patterned gift bags from WholePort - they have a big selection for these types of bags.

The name of this project is called 'Words of Encouragement' and I purchased the quotes from Printable Wisdom, a store packed full of beautiful printable quotes and texts. The purpose of these books is that they be given to someone who needs encouragement, someone that is ill, a widow/widower, or just anyone that you want to reach out to. An uncle of mine just passed away, and I think one of these books would be nice to give to my aunt in place of a card.