Nursing Home Card Kits

Hi friends!  I've been teaching card classes at the nursing home where my mom volunteers for the last 3 months, so I wanted to share with you how I do that.  On the first Saturday of the month, I bring 12 card kits and then my mom runs around trying to gather people up.  Having a sign up sheet wouldn't work as people don't feel well, fall asleep, have visitors, etc.  I think my biggest group so far was 10 people, but I always make 12 kits since I have lots of  DCWV/MME/K&Co stacks that give you 3 sheets of each pattern.  I get 4 cards out of each sheet, hence the 12 kits.  


Anyway, this first picture was taken so you could see my mass production in progress.  Tying ribbons or handling small objects is hard for the group I work with, so they basically just glue the pieces together.  Below you can see where I was adding the green brads to the sentiment so that the pink piece was already put together for them.  :)  

Here's the first kit, a sympathy card.  The paper is K&Co, the stamps are Impression Obsession and I'm not sure if you can tell I embossed the off-white pieces, but it's got a damask design.

Next up is a get well soon card featuring Inky Antics stamps.  More K&Co paper and lots of Nestabilities used here.  I also paper pieced the turtle's blanket to match the patterned paper.

I started my class off with this card as the layout was very simple.  A Paper Smooches sentiment and some DCWV patterned paper paired up with some bright cardstocks make for a fun thank you note.

Last but not least is this cutie pie hedgehog by Penny Black (he was a big hit yesterday!).  More Nestabilities and DCWV paper used here, along with Target's dollar spot brads.

I thought you might want to see how the cards would look when they were assembled, so I just layered the pieces quickly so I could photograph them (that's why they're not all lined up; I just wanted to give you an idea)  :)

A deep turquoise-y-green ribbon was added to this card at the last minute, right over the off-white piece.  I tied the ribbon right before I started the class- it needed that extra embellishment, even though I try to stay away from things they can't manage.  

My mom could only round up 3 people yesterday because the nursing home was running a Bingo program at the same time- I can't compete with that!! :)  It went well though, one lady was 101 (!) and one man had had a stroke, so he couldn't use his left arm.  My mom and I were able to give them lots of attention, which we can't always do when we have a larger group.  


It's a little time consuming to make these card kits, but I *really* love using up my older supplies.  I'm always amazed out how much I end up liking papers I desperately wanted to get rid of after I use them in a kit!  :P  It's been really rewarding to do these classes and give back to my community in a way that suits me.  I hope to keep doing these classes as long as I have people interested!  


Thanks for taking a peek into my latest card making venture!  Hope you're having a great weekend!


-Suzanne :O )


PS-  Have extra kits is fine with me, I'll just assemble them myself and sell them at my next craft fair! :D