Youngsters Craft Greetings With Enthusiasm At Library
July 7, 2009 by Josh Morgan
A sea of yellow, blue, and white paper surrounded Jordan Nann, while small cutouts of butterflies covered the area in front of her.
Piles of glue sticks, stamps, and inkpads were scattered about, but she was determined to finish the project to make the best greeting card ever. Nann, 9, and 25 other Cheshire youngsters attended a greeting card-making workshop on June 25 at the Cheshire Public Library. The group of aspiring card makers created two different cards with a variety of simple materials.
The first card, which started off as a yellow sheet of construction paper, was later transformed into a happy birthday card with a few butterflies stuck on with lots of glue. After the yellow paper was folded in half, blue and white rectangles were glued onto the cover. Small butterfly cutouts were passed around and the students, now on summer vacation, rolled white spots over the butterflies and put a blue border around the edges. A few decorative blue and white circles filled out the yellow space. Some card makers decided to put the circles all over the front of the card, while a few others put the smaller white circles inside the larger blue circles. After a “for you” stamp was pushed on the front and “happy birthday to you” was stamped on the inside, the cards were complete.
“This is a lot of fun,” exclaimed Maya Galloza, 7, as she held up her finished card. “I really like doing arts and crafts.”
The second card was rose-colored and had a large butterfly on the cover. Opening the card revealed smaller butterflies and room to write a personal message. Some participants showed friends their cards, trying to decide who did the better job. Sounds of laughter filled the air, while most of the students multi-tasked between card making and chatting with their friends around the table. As the glue sticks and inkpads were passed around the crowded table, Jenna Purslow was putting the finishing touches on the first of two butterfly cards she made. When asked if she liked the finished product, Purslow gave a toothy ear-to-ear smile.
“I think it’s good,” Purslow, 6, said. “I’m having so much fun.”
The class, taught by Gerry Dyer, was part of summer programming at the Cheshire Public Library. She said that other, similar classes would be offered at the library in July and August for those who missed out on the butterfly card workshop last week, or those who had so much fun they want to come back.
“This is a really good group,” Dyer said. “I love doing this stuff for the kids or whoever will listen.”
For more information on summer programs at the Cheshire Public Library, visit the Web at www.cheshirelib.org or call (203) 272-2245.