Celebrating March as National Crafting Month

DIXON, CA (MPG) - Mary Forgie, Vaudene Tanaka, Janet Jackson, Joyce Milat and Pat Anderson worked carefully with their scissors, glue and a variety of colored papers and stickers making numerous one-of-a-kind cards for all occasions. In between their crafting, there'd be visiting and laughter. Each sat at a corner of an expansive table made up of four banquet tables pushed together. Their relaxation and pleasure were apparent and any observer would think all was well in the whole wide world while simply at Dixon's scrapbooking store.

Celebrating March as National Craft Month since 1994, “It's All About the Scrapbook” partners Andrea Kett and Yvonne Lenhares have offered free "crop time" to their customers at 1670 North Lincoln where they started their business eight years ago.

Expressing one's creativity provides stress relief and can lower blood pressure much like meditation, according to the National Day Calendar website, which is certainly needed during colorful state pandemic restrictions.

Describing the effect of the Stay-at-Home Order on their scrapbook store, Kett said to imagine a hamster-wheel fully spinning and someone jamming a stick into it so it abruptly stopped.

"You know how it stops and just kind of wobbles...then we'd start spinning again but then it stopped everything again," said Kett. "We had just scheduled out 12 months of classes and had made the decision to invest in a new online system.

Call that divine intervention, they say, as they had sworn they'd never go to an online store although customers had asked.

"We just never had time but that's where we went. The entire industry went online and when it became clear we weren't going anywhere (due to more state-imposed restrictions,) our sales went up over 400 percent," said Kett as she strolled around the large, well-stocked store. The retail space, that now has an area for shipping and handling, is full of thousands of items including 12x12 papers, paper pads, collection kits, embellishments, flowers, ribbon, albums, tools, adhesives and mixed media.

"The upside to the pandemic is people got back to their hobbies. A lot of people have found their niche," she said, referring to cocoa bombs, resin, art therapy, pottery, plants and more. Since people spent more time indoors and had the opportunity to rediscover old passions or create new ones, this March should be a busy one.

"The hardest class for people is when you give them a class kit and a bit of instructions. They get frozen and don't know where to start. We tell them, 'make this yours,'" she explained. "And, after ten minutes, you can see the creativity releases."

To use the crop room, reservations do need to be made as they are respecting the recommended distance to keep customers safe. They are also requiring masks.

Participants bring all their supplies said Kett and noted that they only had 16 spots in their original store but figured out they could do three classes at a time in the space next door--a space formerly occupied by an antique shop. They were only four years into their business at that time and were apprehensive about the commitment but now, four years later, they do not regret the decision at all.

"This has totally worked out," said a beaming Kett. And, it's really helpful since they know their customers are feeling the need to gather. "When we opened the online site for these tables the first time, they sold out in four minutes and we now have 28 people on the waiting list. People are really missing getting together," she said.

"We have discovered people do have time," Kett said. "I would hope they don't go back to the crazy track they were on before." Customers can make a reservation through our online calendar to ensure that you have a free spot for a day in March at: itsallaboutthescrapbook.com or call (707) 676-5252.