Dearest Friends of the Crafting Cottage,
How quickly all of our lives have changed in just one week.
I sincerely hope all is well with you and that all are well in your household as you read this week's Musings. We are all navigating a very new road together - learning how to deal with this "Covid-19" or Coronavirus not just in our home, town, city, state, or even country - it is all over the world and we all have friends and/or family that are either worried, scared or baffled by what is going on.
I, personally, am looking for creative ways to deal with this issue. It is strangely comforting to know that I am not alone in trying to comprehend how to conquer this new world we are in.
For example, despite Italy being horrifically hard hit - it was discovered and shared via our "technological neighbor's fence" a beautiful video showing neighbors out on their balconies singing and playing various instruments as a way of "socializing" and lifting each other's spirits up. Click on this link to see what I mean:
Italy Neighbors
You know we've been told to wash our hands often - for 20 seconds with hot water and soap. Do you realize how long 20 seconds is? You can either count: 1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi....up to 20 Mississippi's OR you can sing the Happy Birthday song two times in a row
OR you can join Gloria Gaynor's Challenge and get creative with your hand washing (click on 'Survive') and sing this:
I Will Survive.
Before the shopping panic happened, I had already purchased sanitizing wipes to clean the Crafting Cottage Inn and have containers available in many of the rooms for my crafters and guests to be able wipe down anything they felt they might need to. I also kept a container in my car because I know that it is not always possible to wash one's hands for 20 seconds with hot water when you are standing in 35 degree weather pumping gas into your car.
And speaking of the Inn...
...For the first time ever - I had to cancel a group of nine crafters that were scheduled to arrive for next weekend. This was one of the most difficult decisions I had to make because at first I touched bases with the group leaders and said I would be sending a long email to them late Friday listing all the steps and procedures we would need to take to ensure a safe and healthy weekend for all the guests. Even as I was typing my email to the ladies, things were changing so fast in terms of places closing down, cancellations happening left and right and then I finally spoke with someone who was on an Emergency Coronavirus Team for a corporation in the area and then Friday night the President announces a National Emergency - I finally realized - this was way beyond anything any of us have ever dealt with. I knew that trying to keep nine crafters "safe" from a possible virus that we might not even know if one of the nine crafters was carrying at the time of the visit was not anything I was willing to risk. And while I was composing my email to Lucy's Creative Makers explaining my decision - the group that was scheduled to visit the last weekend in March had asked to cancel due to the Coronavirus - and they were a much smaller group of only four.
These are strange times we are in my friends. There is no 'playbook' for us to refer to for guidance, information and knowledge. Even the top scientific experts are learning as they are going. One of the biggest ironies I'm finding in this situation is the fact that for several months we (humans) were being reminded to get off our phones, iPads and technical devices and get off the couch and 'socialize' more. Now - we are basically being told not to socialize in person - but stay home and use technology to socialize and communicate with one another.
Which then got me to thinking - why don't we get back to good old fashioned letter writing and making hand-made cards to send to friends and family to just say, "Hi!"?
And, of course, I'm not Gloria Gaynor coming up with a fabulously creative way to make hand- washing more creative but I CAN come up with a fun way for all of us to be creative with the extra time we will probably be staying at home with.
How about a
Card-Sharing Adventure Challenge???? Here are the details:
Facebook Page I will post a "theme". Your challenge, (should you accept) will be to create a card utilizing that theme.
Send a picture of your card to me at:
[email protected] and I will share pictures of your cards on both Facebook and the Crafting Cottage website. I hope this gives us all something fun and creative to do AND at the same time - gives all of us some inspiration for card-making. To start this Adventure Challenge off - the first theme is:
FLOWERS (any type of greeting - Happy Birthday, Get Well, Thank You, etc.) the card should have
FLOWERS as the main star of the show!!! I will post the next theme on Thursday, March 19th!!!! Get crafting my friends!!!
On to some other news.
The
Syracuse/Auburn Rubber Stamp and Scrapbook Show will hopefully still go on as scheduled. It is exactly two months away from today. It will take place at the Finger Lakes Mall in Auburn, NY. The show begins on Friday, May 15th with classes during the day time hours and then a three hour Make 'n Take event. On Saturday, May 16th - the show opens where many vendors have their booths open, stocked with incredible goodies for us paper crafting lovers! Some of the vendors sell exclusive products that you can only get from them. You will also discover vendors offering demonstrations, Make 'n Takes and giveaways!!!!
Some new classes have been posted since I sent out last week's Musings so be sure to keep checking the website of the show so you are kept up to date on what classes are being offered.
I will be teaching two classes at this special weekend event. One of the classes is a "Special Offer" class being given on Sunday, May 17th. You can register for these classes by going to the show's website directly. Here is the link:
Syracuse/Auburn Show
The first class I'm teaching with help from Susan Ferrito and Brianna is a "Tea-Riffic" class - themed around tea. Participants will create their choice of the "Blue" or "Pink" themed set. Each set includes the teapot folder which will hold the gift tags and cards. Two cards will be created that have an inside pocket where you can tuck a teabag, or a gift card, cash, check or special little notes. The front is covered with a beautiful lace paper with subtle silver glitter accents.
