On Sharing & Thank You

I love making cards and one thing better than making them is receiving them!  I want to share three hand made Christmas cards I received.  First up is this gorgeous easel card made by Kelly.  Oh my word, it had such an impact on me when I took it out of the envelope, it has a real "ooooh" factor!  Easel cards are a fave of mine, I love the colours and the sponging and I have a soft spot for Santa, sleigh and reindeer stamps so this card ticked all the right boxes!

I get blamed by a few people at card group (and some of their husbands!) for parting them from their money.  Most unfair, but apparently I'm responsible for them buying stamps, punches dies etc. after I've shared my creations with them.  Well, that's what happened with this card, I just HAD to have these lovely stamps.  I haven't inked them up yet, I can't decide whether to make one card ready for next Christmas or to keep the set, pristine in its packaging, for me to ink up next year!  Thank you so much Kelly for the fabulous card!

Jan gets a few mentions here on Flower Sparkle.  I've known her for a few years now and she never fails to make me smile.  It's a standing joke between us that I have to make not one - but three Christmas cards for her.  I give her a card at card group, then a card from me and Owen to her and her hubby Alan and then Alan asks me to make a card for him to give to Jan.  I, in return, get two cards from Jan.  We were at one of Joanne's Stamper's Ten Make and Take evenings and one of the cards she had designed featured the Pines and Poinsettia set and used the stamps to make a wreath.  Well, I took one look at it, absolutely loved it but thought "hmmmm, that's going to be a lot of work, I don't think I'll bother making that one".  But I could see Jan was admiring the card and I knew she had the Pines and Poinsettia set so I cheekily said to her "I hope you'll make one of those wreath cards for me!".   You know what?  Bless her heart, she did make one!  This is the card Jan gave to me at card group. 

I borrowed Jan's Pines and Poinsettia set to make a Christmas card for our friends Debbie and Mike so I know how much work went into this card.  Inking the stamps repeatedly with markers is time consuming in itself - without the added stress of perfectly positioning the stamps in a wreath shape!  I will treasure this card for many years to come.

This second card from Jan also features the Pines and Poinsettia set.  Jan based this on a card we made at card group in September.  She loves taking an idea and then making it her own and what a fabulous job she did!  This is the card Jan gave to Owen and me for Christmas.

A few years ago I placed an advert in a local shop that sold some crafty goodies.  I ran two hour card making sessions in my home and I first met Jan when she answered the advert and she became a regular visitor.  A bit later on I had set up my monthly card group and Jan became a member.  It turns out that her confidence had taken a battering when a sales assistant from the shop had remarked to another customer in a very dismissive manner "oh Jan loves making cards but she can't stamp!"  Jan left the shop feeling really terrible - as well she might!  How cruel some people can be when they don't consider feelings at all.

It has been wonderful to witness her coming out of her shell, seeing her confidence develop and to receive gorgeous stamped creations like those cards above.  I've been happy to share knowledge, tips and techniques and to encourage Jan along the way.

I've come to realise that I love the sharing aspect of this hobby so much.  I love running my card group, I love sharing supplies and I love sharing stuff on my blog.  If I do happen to part you from some money because of something I shared here, it's OK to go ahead and blame me - I'm used to it LOL!  Anyway,  after all this talk about sharing, now seems a perfect opportunity for me to say a heartfelt thank you to all you readers for visiting Flower Sparkle - I'm looking forward to sharing lots more stuff with you in the future!  Ruth x