Stamping Cross Country - Winter 2025

I know it looks like we only do this once a year, but we actually do at least three a year. I just get so busy I forget to post about it.

Here's the next one coming up....

The Winter 2025 Stamping Cross Country Virtual Retreat is going to be amazing! Expert Stampin' Up! Demonstrators from across the country will take you on a virtual card making adventure like none other.

We'll get the party started Friday night with meet the presenters and demonstrations. Saturday, the party continues with live demonstrations shared all day long. We wrap things up Saturday night with a presenter wrap up.

There are two options to choose from: Virtual Only and Physical with goodie bag.

Cost:Full Retreat with Goodie Bag & Kit 

• Early Bird $89, + shipping, if needed - Register by January 11th! 
• Price goes up After January 11th to $99 + shipping, if needed 
• Deadline to register January 26th

Digital Only Option Cost:  

• Early Bird $50 - Register by January 11th!  
• Price goes up After January 11th to $60 
• Deadline to register February 25th

Full Retreat includes ($235 Value!):Retreat box with all of the pre-cut cardstock, embellishments, and paper to create 10 different projects! Retreat favors / pillow gifts and more surprises! Written tutorials for all 10 projects demonstrated, plus at least 20 more! Exclusive access to a private retreat Facebook Group. Friday Night Welcome Live 10 Live Demonstrations Saturday Break all-retreat craft & chat 

Digital Retreat includes ($150 Value!): Written tutorials for all 10 projects demonstrated, plus at least 20 more! Exclusive access to a private retreat Facebook Group Online games and challenges Friday Night Welcome Live 10 Live Demonstrations Saturday Break all-retreat craft & chat. 

We'll be using the NEW; Beautiful Butterflies Bundle, Delightful Wishes Bundle. These can be ordered as an add-on to your Goodie Bag and they will be delivered with your retreat box, or you can order them on your own.

Registrants will receive an email with ordering information for the bundles and a full list of inks, Stampin' Blends, and anything else not included in the Retreat Box.

Dates: 

• February 28th & March 1st, 2025; 
• Friday Night 6:30 PM Central; 
• Saturday Starts at 10:00 AM Central 

Your hosts:

• Marion Dornan, Marion Creates (Lake Jackson, TX)
• Heidi Collins, On Y Go! Stamping (Mt. Pleasant, MI)
• Cheryl Wright, Crafting with Me (Circle, MT)
• Melissa Faust, Stamp with Melissa (Twin Cities, MN)
• Alanna Wharf (Winnipeg, Manitoba), Sleepless Stamper

Anyone Can....

Anyone can buy a card at the store, but very few spend therapeutic time creating cards.

Yeah, I said therapeutic. Because being crafty is therapeutic. Some find it by following directions to create their masterpiece, while others find it by creating something that is totally their own.

Every time someone new comes to the classes I offer, they always have a great time. So much so, it kind of surprises them. They expected to come and make something. To be creative, or crafty or just to play with artistic things, so they can feel artistic. They don't expect the laughter, or the new friends they will make.

During the last 15 years, the thing that surprises me the most, even though it shouldn't, are the friendships that are formed, that wouldn't have, if it hadn't been for the classes they come to.

People, who would never have meet any other way, becoming the greatest of friends.

And there is plenty of room for more. 

The next new friend making opportunity, or just a therapeutic afternoon of creating will be March 29, 2020; 1pm-4pm. You will get to make a dozen cards and a dozen tags to have ready, so you don't have to go to the store to get a card.

It may seem like you are giving a card to someone, but really, you are getting some well deserved, and needed, creative crafty time. 

They think it's about them and their special day, but really, it's about you and your self-care.

Won't you join us?

Pre-Registration is required and you can do that by going to this link....
https://marion-creates-classes.square.site/ 

Your creativity may not be mine...

...and that's okay. 

My husband loves to cook. When he comes home he loves to dive right in and create a wonderful dinner. For him, cooking is relaxing. It is just what he needs after a long day of work 

Me? It makes me tired to even think about cooking after a long day. I have Waitr on speed dial, they know what I like and bring it right to me.

Being creative doesn't have to be the traditional things we think of; quilting, painting, drawing, paper crafting, or anything you can find at a local craft store or online. 

All it is, really, is the taking of a raw product, in my husband's case-raw chicken, and turning it into something different, a delicious meal. 

Does being creative mean you have to know, without guidance from anyone else, how to get to the end result? Of course not. Hence, recipe books. It just means that you enjoy the process and the outcome.

And did you know there are so many health and mental benefits to being

creative? That will be another day.

If you're not sure what you are passionate about when it comes to creativity, it's okay. It's probably something you don't even realize is a creative process. I wrote a blog post about being creative here, maybe it will give you an idea.

Your creativity may not be the same as mine, but that's okay. Go do something creative, even if it is following a recipe or a tutorial, your soul will thank you.

Creative Play

I am so excited for this event. It combines two of my absolute favorites, Creativity and Bunco.

To register click here.

August 10, 2019, 1:00pm

we will be meeting at

TBT Real Estate

Lake Jackson, TX

We will be creating cards in-between rounds of Bunco. If you don't know how to either one or both, we'll teach you. Both are easy and fun!

Not everyone will make the same project, it all depends on which table you land at the end of a round. The price covers the cost of the projects, not to play, the game is just something we do to add to the fun!

Here are some of the projects that will be offered that afternoon.

Check back again to see more I will be posting more pictures later.

You are Creative

I hear it all the time....I'm not creative. Oh, but you are. In ways you didn't even think of as creativity.

Here are just a few of the ways that you might be creative and didn't realize it...

Cooking - let's be honest, there are some fantastic dishes that were created that wouldn't have been if someone hadn't been creative enough to put different ingredients together.

Baking - whether it's muffins, cookies, biscotti or decorating a cake. It's a form of creativity to make  and present it.

Sewing - Oh my this is an endless rabbit hole of ideas. Quilts, Clothes, accessories, oh my! I'm constantly being amazed at the creative talent of those that enjoy sewing.

Writers -  They amaze me. The way they can think of a theme and run with it in a way that paints a picture while I read the words on the page. Sometimes I wish I could have 1% of their talent.

Jewelry Designers, clothing designers, painters, paper crafters, scrapbookers

And how about these that most don't even think about, but to some degree have to be creative in their field:

Surgeons - recently someone I know had to have surgery and a large part of their organ had to be removed because of cancer, and just when I thought that there wouldn't be a way for that person to survive, they told of how the surgeons connected different organs or used different pieces of the body to make up for the missing organ. Or how about the pig's heart being used in a human. Who thinks to do that? A creative person, that's who.

Engineers - they have to think of creative ways to make the structure they're designing work. And then along those lines, Architects!

And this is just the short list....so the next time you think you're not creative, remember, you are, you just might not be creative in paper.

And maybe you are creative with paper, inks and stamps, but you haven't been given the opportunity to learn. Join me in one of my classes and I'll help you discover your creativity with Paper, Ink & Stamps.