Operation Christmas Child Journal Workshop

Purpose: To enjoy wonderful fellowship while creating keepsake journals for the oldest Operation Christmas Child group, ages 10-14.

Location: Wellsville Full Gospel Church
                  2221 Hanover Hill Rd
                  Wellsville, NY

Date: Saturday, September 22

Time: 9:00 - 4:00

*Cost: We are requesting a donation of $7 for the workshop, $10 for personal journal

Schedule:

9:00  Arrival time, grab a cup of coffee, get to know where things are, start looking through wallpaper books

9:30 Walk-through for making a journal

9:30 - 3:00 Begin with making journal covers, then decorate pre-made covers, and assemble journals.

3:00 - 3:30 Help each other finish up, clean up sanctuary.


Lunch: Bring your own lunch & beverage, though coffee will be provided. We may or may not take a formal break together for lunch ... we'll see what everyone wants to do when we're together!

Children who attend are not likely to be able to make the journal covers ... it's a precision job both with cutting the wallpaper/chipboard and adhering the wallpaper to the chipboard. Children may still have fun choosing the wallpaper, and in the afternoon, helping you with cover decorations, so I don't want to say children cannot be there ... and I love the idea of getting them interested at a young age!  ;-)  

Signing Up: Please e-mail me or leave a comment if you are able to come; we'll need an approximate number for purchasing supplies. You can also sign up, or share this info, via the Facebook page.

*Cost: We are requesting a donation of $7 for the workshop, $10 if you would like to make your own personal journal as well.  Making journals is fun but expensive ... the cardstock, chipboard, coils, replacement blades and cutting bars for cutting cardstock, and the adhesives that go into making these really adds up. I can't give a precise cost of journals, but I would guess close to $2, and that does not count colored/printed cardstocks, decorating elements for the covers, etc. Donations of supplies, or money for supplies, would be most welcome.  I loathe the idea of asking volunteers doing the work to make a specific donation, so if you just can't afford this amount,  give what you can and come anyway!

In the past, we have just focused on the decorated wallpaper journals, with blank pages.  These in themselves are a lovely gift, and people in our church have enjoyed making them for several years. The first part of the workshop will be focused on making the covers for these. The second part will be decorating covers that Lisa Parlett and I have assembled beforehand. We will provide things for the covers, but if you have anything you would like to decorate with, or donate for the group, that would be great!

I would love to see some original artwork made for covers ... the items above are made from die cutting machines or my Cricut; I lack the ability for original artwork and have not found the time to do anything with stamping.  I'd love to see covers decorated that way! We will have vinyl or transparency film to serve as cover protectors where needed.

Other elements would be great as well, such as buttons, ribbons, store bought dimensional stickers, etc. Lisa and I are hoping some of you will come with decorating elements to share or place on your own creations! Those who sew could make fabric covered panels with batting in between. Felt applique is another possibility.  Have other ideas?  Place them in the comment section!

We also will be insert special pages, primarily made in advance. Please see this post for details! If you, or someone you know who loves crafts, lives too far away to participate, pages could be mailed to us to insert in the journals! Additionally, A2 card fronts are the perfect size for the covers ... if you have card fronts (without texts; most of these children will not know English), we can paste these on the front.

This workshop to me is about making truly special journals, so please use cutters and precise measurements for making quarter pages, don't just estimate.  Definitely don't race through decorating pages so we can make hundreds of journals, and risk having a lot of messy work! Frankly, we could save money and buy cheap dollar store journals (which would still be a blessing!) instead.  These we want to be something special. So take your time to enjoy the process, praying for the children who will enjoy the journals you are making.

If you are doing a personal journal as well: As far as priority, the stamped/decorated pages will be used exclusively for OCC, though you are more than welcome to prepare decorated pages for yourself in advance, or of course, decorate at home. If you want to make one for a young child, I will have a wallpaper book or two that focuses on young children's designs for you to pick from if you desire.