HOLIDAY MEETINGS

 Ready or not, the holiday season is upon us. In December we will offer two opportunities for meetings. both on the same day. In lieu of a workshop at our usual 10 a.m. Zoom meeting on December 13, we will show the cards that are in this year's holiday exchange. We would also like to extend an invitation to those attending the Zoom meeting who did not participate in the exchange to show a card and/or a holiday project to share with our members. At noon on the same day, we will have a local in-person social gathering to celebrate the joys of the season and see the cards that are in the holiday card exchange. 

Sandy V. has once again graciously opened her lovely home in Arcata for our local members to get together to share goodies, see the exchange cards, and have time to chat with each other. It is not necessary to have made a card to come.

Most of the holiday cards that have been shared through the years are timeless, so here is a sampling of some from years past.

What:    Holiday Card Exchange

When:   Saturday December 13

Where:  At 10 a.m. PST on your computer, tablet or smartphone via Zoom AND/OR in person at the home of Sandy V at 12 Noon

RSVP:   Dolores Guffey by Dec. 8 to receive the password for Zoom or directions to Sandy's home

Zoom Questions:  Bobbie Hayes

Contact information is in the newsletter

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

 Thank you to our members Bobbie Hayes, Mary Conley, and Barbara Clark who organized and ran our very enjoyable Zoom meeting to share some of the holiday cards in this year's exchange. It was a wonderful way for the "out-of-towners" to share in the reveal of the cards. A shout-out also goes to Dolores Guffey and Sandy Vrem for organizing and hosting the local, in-person version of the exchange. The photographs of all of the cards in the exchange will be up on our Flickr account soon. Meanwhile, here is a peek of the very beautiful card by Catherine von Schwind.

Local members who attended the Holiday social were treated to a yummy spread of food as well as the reveal of all of the holiday cards in the exchange.

The cards are all ready to be gathered into bags
for each of the exchange participants.

From left to right, Donna Gephart, Michele Kamprath,
Kathy Warren, and Sandy Vrem.

YUM!

We wish everyone a happy, healthy, 

 creative season and new year!

2022 Holiday Card Exchange

2022 is quickly coming to an end and our final exchange of the year is almost here. The Holiday Card exchange is the one event where members must sign up in advance and then make an edition of their card, one for each person participating and one for our library. Before the pandemic we would usually celebrate this exchange at Sandy V’s lovely home where we could enjoy refreshments as well as look at the cards. While that was a great event for local members, it totally excluded the out-of-towners. Now that we have been using Zoom for our workshops, we invite all of our members, near and far, to watch the unveiling of the Holiday Cards. Please join Dolores Guffey on Zoom December 10 as she presents the 2022 Holiday Cards. Many thanks to everyone who participated in the exchange. We hope that they will be present to share with us the inspiration for their card’s structure and design. Those unable to join us will have their colophons read as the card is shown on the screen. After the sharing of the cards, we will have time to visit and exchange best wishes for the holidays and coming year.

Here are some photos of holiday cards from previous years 

2021

Ellen Clague

Miriam Hall 

Sandy Vrem

Andrea Penn

Becky Luening

Dolores Guffey

2004

When:   Saturday December 10 at 10 a.m. PST

Where:  On your computer, tablet or smartphone via Zoom

RSVP:    Yes, by Dec. 5 to Dolores Guffey to receive the password

Zoom Questions:  Bobbie Hayes

Contact information is in the newsletter

HOLIDAY CARD EXCHANGE

 The Holiday season has arrived and it's time to celebrate another year of book making and sharing. While the local members will certainly miss the wonderful in-person get-togethers at Sandy V's house, now the out-of-towners can join in thanks to Zoom. We invite everyone to join Dolores Guffey at December's Zoom meeting as she presents the 2021 Holiday Exchange Cards. Many thanks to all who participated in this festive exchange. We hope that the members who made cards for the exchange will join us at the Zoom meeting to discuss their cards, and share with us various aspects of their inspiration, structure and design. Those unable to join us will have their colophons read as the card is shown on the screen. As time permits, after the sharing of the cards, we will have visiting time amongst us to exchange best wishes for the holidays and coming year.

When?   Saturday, December 11, 10 a.m. Pacific time

Where?  On your computer, tablet or smartphone via Zoom

RSVP:    To Dolores Guffey by Dec. 6 to receive the password

Zoom questions: To Bobbie Hayes 

Contact information for Dolores and Bobbie is in the newsletter.

Humboldt County Library kiosk display

Here are some examples of cards from past holiday exchanges.

2020 HOLIDAY CARD EXCHANGE

 The 2020 annual NORBAG holiday exchange was a bit different this year. For those of us who have attended the event in the past, we missed the warm hospitality of being together at Sandy Vrem’s lovely home. On the other hand, we were able to be together on Zoom with our out-of-town members. Jill and Margaret joined from England, several from Pennsylvania, as well as members from Michigan, Georgia, Texas, Arizona, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, and throughout California. There were no snacks to share, but it was fun to see all 30 of the exchange cards and hear about each of them from the artists. We are thankful to have the ability to use Zoom to bring us all together. Photographs of all of the beautiful and creative exchange cards are on our Flickr site (the link is on the top left of this page).

Here is an example of one of the wonderful holiday cards.
This was made by Donna LaVallee. For more views of this
card and all the others, check out the Flickr site.

 WORKSHOP TIME CHANGE

Now that we are using Zoom, we have more flexibility than we had with our face-to-face workshops. We sent 72 email queries to members who regularly attend our Zoom meetings asking if a change to 10 AM PST would be acceptable. Of the approximately 31% of respondents, the vast majority of members liked the idea. Starting in January 2021 our meetings will start at 10 AM PST (1 PM EST and 6 PM in England). Occasionally we may have a workshop at a different time because of the needs of the artist, but we will give you ample notice of the time changes.

One more holiday card to share Edith Fuller's wishes for 2021!

HOLIDAY CARD SHOW & TELL

 This year's Holiday card exchange will be quite different from previous years. For the local members it means they won't be enjoying the hospitality of Sandy Vrem for a festive get-together of food and card sharing. But, for those of us who live out of town, we will benefit by visiting together via Zoom and seeing and hearing each other describe our cards. We invite all of our members to join Dolores Guffey at the December 12th Zoom meeting as she presents the 30 cards in this year's exchange. 

Many thanks to everyone who participated in making cards. We hope you will be joining us at the Zoom meeting to share your inspiration, structure, and design, etc. Those unable to join us will have their colophon read as the card is shown on the screen. If time permits after the sharing of the cards, we will be able to "visit" and exchange greetings. We hope to "see" you there! Details about the December meeting are at the bottom of this post.

A collection of cards from previous years.

More cards from the past

Becky McAllister

Becky Luening

Bobbie Hayes

Ellen Golla

Ellen Clague

Andrea Penn

Bonnie Julien

Miriam Hall

Michele Kamprath

Peggy Marrs

Sandy Hansen

Vicki Van Horn

What:     Holiday Card Exchange

When:    Saturday, Dec. 12 at noon, Pacific Time

Where:   On your computer, tablet or smartphone via Zoom

RSVP:    YES, to Dolores Guffey by December 8 to receive password and instructions

Zoom:    For questions, Bobbie Hayes 

Contact information for Dolores & Bobbie can be found in the newsletter.

HOLIDAY EXCHANGE & SOCIAL

On December 14, local members got together for our annual social and card exchange. Sandy V’s home was the venue. She always decorates her home beautifully so this has become part of our holiday season. Each of us brings finger food and it is on display in Sandy’s kitchen. For about an hour before the actual exchange, we eat, talk and laugh together. Everyone is invited to be there whether they participate in the exchange or not.

When we enter Sandy's home, we walk into the kitchen
 and proceed to fill the counter with finger foods.

Sandy's kitchen is so spacious that we have one counter area
 for savory dishes and one for sweet.

So much talk about food, but it is the center gathering place to eat and talk,
 catch up with those we haven't seen in a while and discuss our projects.

During most workshop meetings, we have the exchange books on a table, then settle ourselves at the tables for a brief business meeting and then on to the workshop. We don't usually have the time to just sit and chat together.

We are all comfortable in the living room getting excited about the exchange. The cards are put on tables seen through the walkway on the left.

The holiday exchange is different than our usual book exchange. It is not a one-to-one exchange. Instead, we sign up in October to participate, bringing one card for each participant and one for the NORBAG library. This year each of us made 32 cards. The theme is holiday, not Christmas. We had Christmas, Hanukkah (Chanukah), winter solstice, new year’s and nature cards.

While this may sound simple, it involves a bit of work. Local folk simply sign up and show up with their cards. Those of us who are out of town know that there are mailing deadlines.  Dolores sets up the exchange making sure that all the cards are set out and oversees the actual exchange. After the rest of us go home, she takes the remainder of the cards home, makes packages for all the members who could not attend and mails them. It is a big job. 

This is the general setup in the dining room. We had enough cards that we used two tables.

We had two tables this year.

When we are all ready, we get a bag with our name on it and fill it with one of each card.

After we gather our cards, we sit in a lovely room with views overlooking part of the forest and with a huge floor to ceiling fireplace and the fun begins. Each person takes their turn at showing their own card, discussing materials, themes and how the cards are made. The out-of-towners send colophons and one of us reads the colophon for the card.

The room is beautiful. We had about 20 people attending this year.

Those members that can attend show their cards
 and add more information than is in the colophons.

One of our local members reads the colophons from people not attending.

At the social and at many of our workshops, we hear a refrain about something. At a recent workshop, we did something that involved thread and the refrain was "and put a bead on it." At the social this year, the refrain was “and it lies flat so that mailing is so easy.” We have had some interesting three-dimensional cards involving twigs, origami boxes, stars or other dimensional items that are a real puzzle to mail. 

This year, we talked about the workshops that we would like to have in the upcoming year. A couple of people volunteered to give workshops. We also sent a “thank you” card to a local merchant who gives us a small discount. And then we went home with our bag of cards. What a delightful day. If the out-of-towners are ever planning on being in Eureka, give us a call. We’ll let you know what we are doing and invite you to attend. Happy holidays to you all.

Get your list of themes for the upcoming year ready. It will be fun! 

Note: All of the photos are going up on Flickr. The instructions for getting yourself to the holiday album are in the newsletter and in the column to the left of the blog posts. Tap the "Album" area on the banner and you will see each month's exchange grouped together. Please feel free to expand upon your colophons. Since we put them in Flickr instead of the newsletter, we have much more room. Use it if you like.