Issue link: https://imageup.uberflip.com/i/1378717
24 | OHCC LIVING | JUNE 2021 | Papercrafting Club Hello again OHCC residents! Welcome to another edition of crafty news from the Papercrafting Club. June is here, and with it the promise of our club meetings resuming this month in the Art Room. Oh, happy day to once again craft alongside our friends in person. This month's article is all about our TOTES classes. TOTES is an acronym for "Think Outside the Box." Papercrafting, after all, is not just about cards. The brainchild of Karin Barnes and Lorraine Kleeman, TOTES classes began two years ago to provide instruction for other Papercrafting projects. TOTES classes met weekly in the Art room every Wednesday from 2:30 to 4:30 pm. After COVID hit, Karin and Lolo were able to keep TOTES going for a time using Zoom until all the regular groups got familiar with Zoom themselves. Now these two gals are gearing up for their 2021 class schedule, which will commence on June 1 at Karin's home. TOTES projects range from three dimensional flowers to large home décor pieces. Previous classes have taught club members to create baskets, vases, luminaria and lanterns, gift bags and boxes, gingerbread houses, haunted houses, decorated envelopes, wreaths, decorated card boxes, and much more, all in paper! Examples of their beautiful creations are pictured here. Class size is usually limited to 12 club members on a first-come first-serve basis. Most classes are free to participants with either the club, or Karin and Lolo providing materials. Minimal fees to cover excess costs or larger projects are provided by participants. Upcoming classes, in addition to variations of the above, will include the newest craze in papercrafting: digital machines. One of these machines, the Cricut, has become extremely popular. For those unfamiliar with this crafting tool, the Cricut allows one to select a digital project online, download it to the machine and produce it in the exact color, size, font, and material of their choosing. Other benefits of digital crafting are that the digital dies, instead of being made of steel and requiring physical storage space, only need online storage and are approximately one quarter of the price of a physical die purchased at crafting outlets. Additionally, multiples of one project can be created at the same time! The first TOTES class will be info-only, with Karin and Lolo demonstrating what each type of digital machine can do, its limitations and the vast array of options and choices available in this new wave of papercrafting fun! Participants planning to purchase or who already own one of these machines will see examples of what they can make, and learn how to search the internet for projects and tutorials. We thank these two creative ladies who have donated so much of their time, talents, and materials to our club via TOTES, and who are preparing more enjoyable classes for 2021! Later this year, our club will hopefully be able to purchase a digital machine for use by all club members and then all can have hands-on experience with these wonderful new tools. Until next time, enjoy the month of June (It is Great Outdoors Month!) and the special days within: Flag Day on June 14, Juneteenth on June 19, and Father's Day on June 20 to name a few! Check out http://www.holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/june.htm for other June celebrations. Here is to all the wonderful fathers and grandfathers out there whom we'll be celebrating this month! Happy crafting!