By JOHN VAN KLAVEREN
THE digital revolution has changed the way we do many tasks – photography, music and even greeting cards have gone online.
Where once we were beholden to the major suppliers of those products, we can now produce our own digital versions.
But there’s a chirpy group of crafty women who are using old skills to add a new dimension to the way we express ourselves to our loved ones.
The card-making group at Portarlington Neighbourhood House has been going since the centre opened about four years ago.
Members unanimously praised the card sense of their grand-children who particularly love “special cards”.
“They can tell the difference,” the card-carrying ladies laughed.
So popular has the craft proved that the group still contains originals members, despite growing significantly since then.
Some like Helen Bandy have been making personalised cards for more than 10 years.
“There’s nowhere else to do it,” Helen explained of her devotion to the card cause.
“Plus you get to meet people, get ideas, and it’s far better than sitting at home doing it alone.”
The ladies agreed that finding the right card was a difficult task these days: “You can never find the right card when you need it.”
Plus there’s nothing better than a handmade card, individualised and personalised, they maintained.
Not to mention the bottomless cuppas and biscuits to go with it.
The ladies also share ideas and card-related information. “You can find out where to get the best supplies, you get to know what’s around, where the good paper and craft shops are,” they mused.
“We collect material over the years, we never throw anything out, you never know when you might need it.”
The only problem with becoming card stock hoarders, they agreed, was storing it and then finding when you needed.
But flexibility and adaptation are at the heart of their creative genius as they emboss and add bling to make even the humblest piece of card into a masterpiece.
The group even makes its own envelopes, especially for non-standard sized cards.
Some use the group to create a year’s supply of cards for birthdays and special occasions, with Christmas about to take over as the major theme.
Group members have also sold cards at local fetes and markets and Helen even prepared all the invitations for her son’s wedding.
“We do get asked to do cards by family and friends, so there’s never any shortage of reasons to do the next card,” Helen smiled.
