Hello friends,
September is flying by at warp speed, but we are happy to take a moment to pause and catch up with all of our favorite people. We want to start by saying thank you for being with us this week for everything from our AG Members Only show to our Anna Griffin Elegant Papercrafting shows on HSN. It has been a long but creative week. There are no other crafters that we would rather spend our time with!
Let's catch up! We're also going to do something very special: gift Create 10 from a very special Griffinite!
Our Create events have brought together numerous crafters, and has been the beginning of many beautiful friendships. Clare sent this (not Fan Mail Friday) card and we just had to share the lovely picture of Lynn, Kathleen, Cathy, Clare, Suzanne and Linda. So special!
We loved being able to meet crafter Cathy Crowley at our Create 5 event in person. She understands what a wonderful and joyous occasion our Create events are, and Cathy had a great time being able to be creative and further her crafting skills, even if she had to step outside her comfort zone. Although she is unable to attend this year because she is recovering from a virus (hugs to you Cathy), she wants to sponsor someone for this year's Create 10. Cathy is giving the chance for a lucky crafter to experience the event.
So, if you would love to win a ticket to Create we want you to comment here on the blog and tell us about the power of meeting people, making new friends and putting yourself out there. Share a story where you did just that, and about how you are so glad that you did!
If you would like to gift Create to someone deserving, please contact customer service and let them know that you want to pay it forward. From there we will tell your story and prompt the community. Thank you so much for your love and generosity. It means so much, and is a wonderful thing to see!
We are officially less than 50 days away from the Create 10! We have a special deal on the crafting event of the year for a limited time only. Get your event ticket and over $2000 in crafting supplies and materials for $450!
We look forward to the treat of your cards and letters each week. If you would like to send something to our office, you can mail it to us at 99 Armour Drive NE, Atlanta, GA 30324.
We'll be back next week with more beautiful fan mail, the first of the Griffinites Give winners and another chance for you to win Create 10 from the kind, generous crafters in our community.
Xoxo,
Anna
62 comments
Anna I Loved doing Create 8, 9 . I am going to do Create 10. I have met some wonderful People. Clare Mc.Donald was my very first Friend When I had so many Questions on how to do something. Then I became a member of Friends who Love Anna Griffin. I now have a Lot of new friends. I Have a Big Question to ask Everyone TO Please Help my sister OUT She is going Blind. This was a Big Shock to all of us. She has a Infection of white Blood cells around the nerve in her Eye. She has already lost the vision in her Right Eye. Now she has the same cells in her Left Eye. I can not afford to Gift CREATE10. So Please think of her. She Loves Anna Griffin Everything. She Loves to come here to Craft with me. Thankyou all.
Create looks like fun. It would nice to go. I like to see what everyone makes.
For me, Anna Griffin crafting and the Create events are all about connection. I first became introduced to the “World of Anna Griffin” in 2017 by THE Clare Macdonald! We had become friends friends in graduate school and had lost touch for a few years when life circumstances led our paths in different directions. We reunited at the time that she was completing her Summer of Anna Griffin and I loved following vicariously her journey through all the various cards and projects she completed. I celebrated with joy when she won her Create ticket the following November and she began to introduce me to all the wonders of Anna Griffin crafting – the beauty of die cutting and embossing, the technique of stamping, the brand new Empress technology, and piles and piles of cardstock, each more gorgeous than the next. I loved learning new techniques and building my supplies. But what I loved even more was spending precious time with my friend, reconnecting, making memories, sharing myself with someone. At that time in my life it was truly life sustaining.
I listened to the stories of this magical crafting convention called Create and longed to somehow find a way to attend. In 2020, Covid hit and like so many of our traditions, it looked like Create was over. When I found out that it would be offered virtually, my resolve to attend intensified and I took a leap of faith and signed up. I was anxious, both about my ability to keep up with all the other crafting pros and also about my ability to fit in within the online community. I soon realized that neither of these concerns were warranted. From the moment I signed on, I felt like I belonged. I felt welcomed, a part of a community, a chance to put away the stress of everyday life and concentrate on the simple joy of creating something beautiful. I was introduced to a group of amazing women, some of Clare’s “table group” from previous Creates and these 5 women embraced me as one of their own from the start. They didn’t care that I was younger, or less experienced, or hadn’t made it to an in person event before. They just accepted me for who I was and where I was in that moment.
Since then, I have thrived on these connections. My interactions with our “table group” and the opportunity to join Create online each November sustain me. Due to series of complex medical conditions, it is not uncommon for me to go weeks, sometimes months, without any connection with anyone other than my parents or medical providers. Following my fellow crafters online, tuning into Craft Day on HSN, getting text messages from my table group, and hearing Anna’s excitement resonate through the screen of AGTV are the little moments that make me still feel connected to this world. Last year, when members of my table group visited my town in person, I was motivated to seek new treatments and continue to fight my illness in a way I didn’t know I had the strength to do before. This is the magic of connection.
I would love to attend Create again this year and be part of something bigger than myself – the Griffinite Family!
I frequently need to be at home to care for someone disabled. Crafting is a wonderful way to spend my time and those who receive something I made are happy as well. Once a year I get to craft with my sisters and about once a month I craft with a friend I have known for 52 years. Hooray for crafting.
After having breast cancer in 2014 I found the scrapbooking community and they helped me to keep fighting and destress with paper crafting. I love Anna Griffin products and community and subscribe to the mystery box. I have heard so much about create and would love to be able to experience this and meet all the people and Anna. Scrapbooking and card making helps us get through stressful times and the scrapbook community is comprised of a lot of wonderful human beings ❤️❤️❤️