Don’t you find that the happiest people you know are the people who have a creative outlet of some sort?

They pursue an art, a craft, a hobby – something creative that brings a consistent, quiet joy to their own lives and to the lives of those around them. They generally tend to be optimists. They have things to look forward to! Plans and ideas occupy their minds, taking them outside, and above, the often-drudgery of the world around them. They see things differently. The Mundane becomes interesting through their eyes.

One positive thing that has happened in 2020 is that many people are rediscovering – or discovering for the first time – what it means to be creative. As a result, the virtual world is hopping with all kinds of ways to tap into creative pursuits.

With the holidays coming up, you might think it’s the wrong time of year to pursue creativity or to discover new creative paths. But even though it can be a busy time of year, it’s really the ideal time to slow down, calm down, and focus on some quiet pleasures that help bring the joie back to joie de vivre.

To help you do that, there’s a really fabulous-looking Virtual Art & Crafts Christmas Festival coming up, organized and hosted by Search Press. When I heard about it, I figured I better share it with you, because it sounds pretty darned good and I think it will be a lot of fun!

There’s a rather huge line-up of fun video presentations, projects, live demos, give-aways and more in this event, which begins this Friday, November 20th and runs through Sunday, November 22nd.

You can download the full schedule of events and presentations here, but to give you an idea of the festival, highlights include video presentations on knitting (Monica Russel on Fair Isle knitting, for example), all kinds of crochet projects, quilting, sketching, watercolors, embroidery, needle felting, macrame, cake decorating. There are live tutorials by art & craft authors, give-aways of books and kits and all kinds of goodies! There’s even a little “kids’ corner” that will feature downloadable coloring pages, and tutorials for drawing animals and other crafts for kids.

The Way it Works

Well, to host something like this, there needs to be a platform, and in this case, Search Press is using their Facebook page as the main platform.

If you’re on Facebook and you’re interested in following the event over the three days – maybe checking in on particular presentations and such – then go here to the event page and let them know you’re going. That way, the events will show up in your FB feed. You can also check in on the Search Press Facebook page off and on throughout the weekend to see what’s up.

Search Press North America is also joining in on the fun, so you might pop in the Search Press North America Facebook page, too, and follow them. They’ll be hosting give-aways coinciding with the festival throughout the weekend.

Timing!!

All the times listed on the schedule are GMT, so if you’re in North America, you’ll be behind UK time by 5 hours (EST), 6 hours (CST), and 7 hours (PST). In other words, if you want to watch a demo or live event that posts at 3:00 pm GMT and you happen to live in Kansas, subtract 6 hours, and check in at 9:00 am.

It makes the morning schedule a bit sticky if you like to sleep, but on the bright side, the videos will still be available (to my understanding) on their Facebook and YouTube channels. If you want to get in on some of the morning give-aways, though, you might have to set an alarm.

I’m kind of excited, and I plan to pop in off and on through the weekend to pick up a few presentations! I suppose you’re probably expecting me to point out the embroidery, punch needle, quilting, and similar demos, but in fact, I’m secretly looking forward to the live sketches (Adebanji Alade, Sharon Hurst), the watercolor demos (Grahame Booth, Matthew Palmer, Jane Betteridge, Alison Board) and Sandra Monger’s Modern Gingerbread. (I love gingerbread in practically any form. It’s my One Weakness this time of year!)

Hope to “see you” at the festival!