I made this beautiful post box tunnel card that holds a picture at the back during Anna Griffin’s CREATE classes.
Recently I was invited to attend Anna Griffin‘s CREATE classes and it was 3 fun filled days of on-line paper crafting joy! In a single weekend we created so many different types of paper crafting projects including cards, tags, gift boxes, photo cards, journals and even a book nook! Each day, Fri-Sun, we had three 90 minute classes (with breaks in between) for a total of 9 classes over the weekend. Every day we had a focus that included Gratitude, Generosity and Kindness and the projects that day deeply reflected those meaningful themes.
We made some amazing boxes for gift giving. I love using scrapbooking supplies to design lovely packaging.
After signing up for the event you receive a box filled with all the products you’ll need to make all the projects in all 9 of the classes (you provide your own crafting tools and adhesive) plus there’s so much extra goodies left over to create with later. I was blown away by the quality (and quantity) of the beautiful products, there were lots of stunning pattern papers, amazing metal dies, printed die cut elements, stickers, pretty rub-ons, borders and ribbons, many accented with lovely gold foil.
This box slides out like a book cover, it would be perfect for holding a handmade mini album.
Before the event starts you gain access to prep videos on-line that allow you to follow along with Anna as she shows you how to trim, score, die cut and gather together all the items you’ll need for each class. I highly recommend taking the time and doing all the prep work before the live classes begin so you can be organized and ready to more easily follow along making the projects during the event.
The gratitude journal we created has a wonderful decorated slip cover and stunning album cover!
Each morning before classes started there was a group session with a live chat and time with Anna as she discussed the days theme, met with guests, one day there was a heartfelt poem and another a puny crafting song and always some time to chat. At the end of the first two days there’s also the Craft Room for more time to connect, converse and meet fellow paper crafters. Throughout the event there were also lots of amazing giveaways and many meaningful conversations about what crafting personally means to us and how much it brings to our lives, drawing attention to our themes of Gratitude, Generosity and Kindness. There’s also a “secret” sale for participants after the event is over. If you’re looking for meaningful fellowship with other crafters you’ll certainly find it at CREATE.
I loved learning how to stitch together a journal and I’ll be filling it with all the things I’m thankful for.
Over the weekend Anna teaches you live how to step by step put together all of the projects in each class with detailed directions and lots of camera angles to make sure it’s clear and easy for you to follow along. There’s also a repeat of steps in case you need more info or time to catch up, I found this very helpful. Some of the aspects I really enjoyed was building upon the techniques we had learned in earlier classes and finding new ways to stretch your supplies and how to use them in different creative and unique ways. This was especially true with all the dies we used with cutting, folding, mixing and matching them in ways I never would have thought of. It’s always a bonus to learn different techniques you can use with the same products, you feel like you’re really getting your moneys worth!
This amazing pop up Christmas card has places for three photos. Photo cards are a great way to take your pics off the scrapbook page and share them with friends and family!
I loved everything we made in all the classes and I really enjoyed stepping out of my personal comfort zone by learning new techniques like how to include lots of layers and details on cards and tags, learning how to make and stitch a journal from scratch, build detailed 3D gift boxes and dimensional cards, fun folding and different die cutting techniques and so much more.
I can’t believe I actually made an entire book nook, isn’t it beautiful!?
One the best things about the CREATE events is you don’t have to attend all or any classes live, they will always be there later on-line for you to make at your own pace and for future reference to make these projects over and over again. I will say though if you can you should sit in on as many classes while they are happening, it’s so nice to chat and interact with other participants, there’s so much energy, fun and creativity going on, you won’t want to miss it!
Hop on over to the Card Making section of Craft Gossip to see more projects I made at CREATE.
Next year Anna Griffin will have other CREATE events so stay tuned and I’ll pass on all that info along to you as soon as I have it so you can join in on the fun in 2026!
I want to thank Anna and the whole team for inviting me to attend and having me on as a guest, it was such a blast!
-Heather
