Closing of Hallmark location stirs creativity in residents

Greeting cards, it seems, are becoming passé in an era of texts, Facebook birthday posts, and tweets.

Lisa Burton Bradford still believes in sending those cards in the mail, but she designs and makes them herself.

“I have been stamping since 1990. There are no mistakes when you make your own cards. They are all unique and you can always fix what you don’t like,” she said.

Now that the Hallmark store has closed, Karen Czerwinski’s card making classes are high in demand. The last class was filled to capacity.

“We added on another class to accommodate everyone. I had over 30 Sun City residents in my class,” Czerwinski said.

The class in March featured Mother’s Day cards, Easter cards, and birthday cards.

Pat Brown, an experienced card maker, said, “I did card making before, and I am taking this class to learn new techniques. Things change.”

Elizabeth Phelps crafts the cards for gifts.

“I give a bundle of my cards as gifts. My kids have jobs so they don’t need anything, but they do appreciate the cards that I give them,” she said.

According to the class participants, a hand-crafted greeting card is a gift; a work of art. Each card contains some of the soul that the artist has put into it. 

Jutta Culberston hand-makes her cards for a special reason.

“I do love making the cards and I donate them to the church. I learn something new in the classes I take,” she said.

Czerwinski, the class instructor, puts together the packets for each of the cards that are made in the class, cutting down the papers to size and coordinating the embellishments.

“I’ve been stamping and making cards for 6 years now. Last year I decided to start teaching the craft. The classes have grown in popularity,” she said.

“I make all my cards,” Czerwinski continued. “At Christmas I send out around 90 hand-made cards. The prices had gone up so much and I decided to make my own.”

When asked where Czerwinski gets her ideas, she replied, “I get my ideas all over, and I take classes myself all the time. I love to learn new techniques. I try to learn as much as I can so I can pass it on.”

“I love it,” Linda Dungey agreed. Dungey assists in the classroom. “I’ve been scrapbooking and card making for over 20 years. What was fun in this class was watching the new comers to card-making,” she said. “It was great to see their successes.”

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