A leading card designer has put her own ‘cards on the table’ – at Mapplewell & Staincross Village Hall, with the start of a new Card Craft Class.
For Debbie Moran, a contributor to the Television’s ‘Create and Craft’ programme through Craftwork Cards and Creative Crafting World, has enjoyed national television coverage with her designs that have been enjoyed by thousands of viewers throughout the UK. She was on Craftwork Cards Design Team for 15 months and continues to be a design team member with Creative Crafting World.
Debbie Moran, also a former Teacher as well as a Designer, said: “I have to admit that working with Craftwork Cards and Creative Crafting World is one of the pinnacles of my career which has helped me to develop a style that can readily be adopted by other card makers. It is this encouragement that has inspired me to provide a ‘hands-on’ class of my own in my local community. Thus passing on my knowledge, skills and experience to new and experienced crafters,” explained Debbie.
“Despite the fact that there are many ‘on line’ card design and print services that allow people to use photographs and other imagery to personalise greetings and event cards, there is still a very buoyant market in the craft of producing traditional ‘Handmade’ cards using a variety of materials to build up a card from what is truly ‘a blank sheet’,” she added.
A previously popular class at the Village Hall, Mapplewell & Staincross is recognised as have an elderly population higher than the national average, with many of the visitors to the Village Hall openly admitting that they rarely, if ever, use computers or go online. This means that the personalised card making facility offered through the internet sites is not a viable one for them.
And whilst most card shops and retail outlets do try to offer a wide range of choice covering the many different events, family structures and interests, many buyers fail to get exactly what they’re looking for and settle for a card that ‘will do’.
Nick Hibberd, Manager at Mapplewell & Staincross Village Hall, said: “We are always looking for new ideas and opportunities that we can bring to the Hall and we will offer a period of both financial and marketing support to any new class to help get them started. I believe this is why we are having such a great success in attracting new activities and events into the Hall.
“By doing this we find that the benefits are three fold. The first is that it encourages new activity providers to have a go at bringing something new into the area. Let’s face it, until you try you can’t always judge what is going to be well received by the public and what isn’t. We try to help minimise the risk from the outset.
“Secondly, we find that by focusing and helping to establish their class in the Hall, it encourages future loyalty and the teachers will generally consider all the advantages we have to offer – before considering any other venues.
“And finally, we are attracting a much more diverse range of activities and users into the Hall which benefits the whole of the Mapplewell and the surrounding Community. This encourages more people to get involved with what is effectively a ‘Community Owned’ building. So every penny we raise goes back into the running and upkeep of the Hall and not as a profit for a private business,” he concluded.
The Card Craft classes start on Thursday the 21st of June at 11:00am to 1:00pm and run for two hours at a cost of just £7:50 which includes materials. This has been purposely positioned to run just prior to the over 55’s luncheon club that follows on straight after it. Advance booking for the class isn’t necessary as new members are always welcome.
