Meet Annette Stewart
Welcome to Creative Downtime
My husband Mark were married in 1986, have two young adult children, one beautiful granddaughter and 2 grand puppies. I grew up in a big Italian family where we all lived on the same street with my grandparents. We live in my grandparents’ farm house where we raised our children. I am one of 8 children and love being surrounded by family.
I joined Stampin’ Up! in 2005.
Crafting is my passion and my mission is to encourage and inspire others through creativity.
I love to experiment with all types of crafting and new mediums, learn new techniques, and try new products. For many years I taught ceramics both in my home studio as well as private classes for groups of people in their homes and at public venues. I am a certified Ceramic Teacher, which means I went through their training programs and learned from their experts. I still own and operate two kilns and continue to learn and share ceramics with others.
Sadly, through the years, I watched art classes and programs nearly disappear from our schools. “Art on a Cart” was how my children were introduced to art in school. It was a few supplies on a cart that the Art teacher wheeled into the classroom. Art was not considered important enough to have a designated room anymore or time slot in their day.
I volunteer with Bring Smiles to Seniors (www.bringsmilestoseniors), a non-profit organization that understands the need that our Senior community has to stay connected with people and to feel loved. For years, I taught card making with seniors at several senior assisted living facilities in my area. They loved being able to create cards for their families and friends. They enjoyed getting together and sharing stories while they created. There are many seniors that feel sad and alone. Many are the last surviving person in their family or they spend many days alone while their family are busy working and raising their families. Bring Smiles to Seniors is aware of this and strives to make a difference. They work with many organizations and individuals like myself to create cards and send notes to Seniors. These cards are mailed and hand delivered to thousands of seniors every day. I make create and mail out hundreds of cards a month to seniors. Along with “thinking of you” cards, we send birthday cards, and cards for all major and minor holidays throughout the year. This has become the best part of my day.
Many of my fellow crafters have helped me by donating cards and supplies to help me send out as many as possible each month. It’s so nice to hear how much these cards and notes mean to seniors. Occasionally I will get cards and notes back telling me how much they look forward to getting their mail everyday…anticipating another card.
I have been able to use the proceeds from my craft classes and your Stampin’ Up! purchases to help with the supplies needed to continue to make a difference in the lives of our seniors.
Crafting is so important for your mind, body, and soul. It’s an expression of ourselves that we can share with others. Life can be stressful, let crafting be your stress reliever. Life is not a race or a competition, it’s a journey. We all need downtime. We need to step back from the stresses in our lives and find healthy ways to re-energize and enjoy life so we can be our best selves.
I hope to both encouraged and inspired!
Blessings,
Annette