Armed with a trusty magnifier
and an Ott Light, Charli Atkinson has done a 180 degree turn since she
retired from her sales job several years ago because of failing eyesight.
Consumed by analytical and technical thought processes brought on by the
demanding sales industry, the idea of doing anything "crafty"
or artistic had never entered Charli's mind.
 "One
of my best friends introduced me to paper-crafting. I must have cried
"I can't do this!" a hundred times as she steadfastly ignored
me until I got it. That was over seven years ago," Charli explained.
Since this realization, Charli has spent much time exploring techniques
and ideas. "Every new idea I see intrigues me. My fingers itch to
try it," she explains. "At the moment, I have a bottle of
walnut ink awaiting my attention. I'm beginning to do more exploring
with stamping materials including using inkpads to impart an aged look
on new materials."
One of the most unexpected pleasures for Charli is that her husband is
her number one fan. "He says that the term paper-crafting doesn't
cover what I do. He says I am creating heirlooms," Charli says.
And heirlooms are important, especially for Charli. Charli and her husband
have six children and ten grandchildren, for whom she says there are not
enough superlatives to explain the joy they bring into her life. Charli
loves that they have developed a curiosity about their ancestors as a
result of her paper-crafting and reach for her albums as a regular part
of their visits. Some of them are even paper-crafters in training. "My
crop room is almost as intriguing to them as my grandmother's attic
was to me!"
 In addition
to her paper-crafting, Charli enjoys reading and writing and has even
had a number of short stories published. Like many would-be-authors, Charli
keeps a scrapbook where she sticks bits of paper for the long dreamed
of novel she one day hopes to write. Charli also has a knack for painting
and drawing, a talent she discovered through classes after her retirement.
One of her most recent crafting endeavors has been creating sarabooks™
for each of her two sisters. Here Charli shares a bit about her sisters
and her experience making sarabooks™.
I have two supportive and dear sisters; Kathleen and Patty. The very
first sarabook™ I created was a gift for Patty on her birthday.
I was so excited about making the sarabook™ for Patty and couldn't
wait to get my hands on the full set of materials in the Garnet series!
Most of the pages were made according to direction and I didn't fly on
my own until the last few. By then, I knew I was in love with the concept
and I wanted to do more.
 Patty
has raised a wonderful family and several generations of beloved pets.
Her life always like a Technicolor, panavision production to me; full
of excitement and activity, barking dogs, meowing cats, crafts, kids,
church suppers, softball...all the things my career left little time to
enjoy.
Kathleen is a devoted wife and mother and extremely talented, prize-winning
quilter. She and her husband are avid, enthusiastic gardeners. When I
think of her, I visualize her with a lap full of quilting squares or puttering
around it the garden in a pair of green galoshes. I couldn't imagine
a sarabook™ without the two things she loves most, besides her family.
During the years I was pursuing my career, I viewed my sisters as
knowing how to do magical things that were out of reach for me.
I can't sew a stitch, let alone thread a needle, but Kathleen
makes works of art out of scraps of fabric! For every birthday she has
given me something that came from her heart and hands.
The sarabook™(pictured here) provided me a chance to finally
make something personal, designed just for her with own hands. With each
idea, each word I wrote, each fold, each paper selection, every embellishment...I
knew she would be aware that my heart was speaking to her, as I envisioned
hers calling to me as she stitched my gifts.
Charli used the following supplies in this sarabook™:
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