Getting Crafty -- The Bug's Gonna Get you!

I have always loved to craft. I discovered early that I love to create. I chalk it all up to my Grandmother (maternal side) who not only loved to create, but loved to create for others. When I was a child, nearly every visit with Grandma resulted in a finished piece of some sort. We crocheted, painted, and glued and pieced all sorts of things together. I still have two tiny little shirts she painted my name on when I was a toddler, Christmas ornaments made together still hang on my mother's tree, and the afghan she made every grandchild for their wedding covers my 5-year old daughter at night.

My personal crafting style has evolved over the years. When I was around 3rd grade we started 4-H and I did projects in painting, crocheting, sewing, and even cake decorating. I continued sewing in high school and ended up with some pretty awful dresses (summer dress in a horrid fish covered material) as well as some decent ones (including my junior prom dress). Since then I have sewn everything from quilts and clothing to home accents and Christmas gifts. I have painted paper, cloth, glass, and pottery.

I hit the scrap booking bug hard when I had my first child. I documented everything. With my husband active duty Navy, I had a lot of time on my hands. I made friends with someone who also loved to scrapbook. For about 4 years I did little else. Now that I work, and my husband is home raising the kids I don't have the pictures to scrap or the space...or the time.

Or do I? I went about 2 years with almost no crafts whatsoever. I was busy. I was working full time and going to school full time trying to finish up that elusive degree. My husband had left the military a couple years before so we didn't have that regular paycheck anymore. Crafting can be costly. I joined the Navy Reserve and now I also have a full time civilian position at a large company. My husband is home raising the kids and I'm holding down the financial side of life.

I was unhappy and I couldn't figure out why. I took a girl's day out to one of those paint your own pottery places and realized what was missing. Creating! Out of practice my creative juices seemed to have turned to sludge. I took some more time off, but then I went again...and again...and again. Slowly, the juices started flowing again.

I've got my kids started and love it too! With my son's birthday looming and a reoccurring request for a magic wand (Harry Potter fan) I found myself researching wand making. After some trial and error, I have made a pretty nice wand for his gift...and a few others just for the heck of it as well :-) I am working on a Lord of the Rings dish set piece by piece and just got my best idea back from firing.

It's Sauron's eye inside a Palantir...I'm such a nerd!

I realized that for me, crafting is like therapy. It can be expensive, but only as much as you make it, and certainly cheaper that a real therapist! Plus, seeing a therapist doesn't give you things to eat off of.