JoAnne’s verse memory cards
A page from JoAnne’s recipe book
JoAnne with a family history recipe book she made
Jaine Toth
“Creativity is God’s gift to us. Using our creativity is our gift back to God.” This verity iterated by Julia Cameron in her book The Artist’s Way underlies JoAnne Scott’s paper crafting projects. It’s not about her, it’s about honoring and thanking the Lord.
In her quest to enhance her ability to memorize Bible verses, JoAnne writes them on 3×5 cards, which she then decorates, in her effort to “thank God for who He is.” She gifts these cards to participants of her Bible study group, and they have found them helpful.
That project inspired another. JoAnne developed a list of God’s attributes for each letter of the alphabet, e.g., F: Faithfulness, G: Generosity—virtues meant for us to emulate. She searches for Bible verses that illustrate that attribute and makes a card for each one. Kept in a recipe box with alphabetic dividers assists in finding them quickly when she wishes to refer to a particular one.
A longtime quilter, JoAnne had made them for all the family and now needed a new hobby. She saw our money-holder cards at a craft fair last year and wanted to learn how to make them. Her grandchildren get cash for birthdays and Christmas, and now she presents it to them in an attractive handmade card. They appreciate her use of graphics relating to their interests, like cars and soccer.
JoAnne finds the techniques from quilting are similar to those of paper crafting: color selection and coordination, cutting and arranging designs to make eye-pleasing arrangements, etc.
She joined the club and has been enjoying the classes with all different techniques, and she has begun to make greeting cards. JoAnne says, “I love making theme-based creative cards and gifts designed for the receiver, and I love having a growing collection of small note pads, calendars, and other small gifts to share for thank yous, encouragement, or just “glad you are my friend” mementos.”
Her own creativity led her to adapt the free-standing calendar base learned in one class, for some of her faith-based quotes. She had to tweak the design for size and to hold the memory verse card. It’s one that another member now wishes to learn. She also came up with a clever use of the pinwheel card.
Like most of us, JoAnne did not intend to purchase a lot of supplies to keep at home, but just do her card making at the Creative Arts Center, and like most of us, it’s proved too addicting not to have her own stash of materials to continue working at home. Such is the joy of creativity.