First Post!

A good friend showed me a book she had bought recently with ideas for making greeting cards. The cards were beautiful - gorgeous papers, lots of colours, embellishments, stamps. My first reaction was that my cards don't look anything like those.

She responded: "No they don't. Yours are Anne cards. They are your style".

What a nice compliment, and in that short exchange, she got rid of that little voice in my head that so many of us hear that brings out a negative side, that maybe our work isn't quite good enough.

How many of us don't think we are creative or have artistic talent. In my case a grade seven teacher criticized my art work, and for years after that I didn't think my art was very good. I certainly wan't about to sell any. It took courses and positive feedback many years later to realize that I do, perhaps, have some creativity or a bit of talent. And I realized too just how much I missed being creative, doing some kind of art, every day.

Everyone is creative in their own way, be it painting, knitting, gardening, cooking, home decorating, scrapbooking, writing or other such pursuits. It's the act of creating that is important, not the end result. If a child wants to colour a cow purple and orange, so be it. Developing imagination is key. Creativity and flexiblity are desireable, lifelong skills.

So thank you Catherine for the lovely compliment. It's very much appreciated, as is the support of my family and my friends as I go along this journey. I hope that I am able to inspire you as much as you inspire me.

Anne