Well, kids, it's been awhile. As I look back on this past year off from crafting, it is laid out like black ink on white canvas how the choices I made decided the course of my life...and yet, I didn't think those choices through particularly hard. I think a good list is in order to clarify.
Top Choices of 2008 and Their Results
- I stopped blogging. Reason: I got engaged and had someone to talk to who appreciates and admires my work, filling that attention hole I have in my chest. Result: Nobody checks the old blog anymore. It is on life support. Thus, my fresh start here.
- I stopped designing almost completely. Reason: I was BUSY planning a wedding (OMG the wedding, here are some pictures for you, and I would like to point out that my AMAZING mom and aunt made my dress by hand. Themselves. From a pattern. ) and that sort of took up all my time. Then I started teaching kindergarten. I know, right? Just what you do with a degree in English Education 7-12 and a longstanding feud with little kids. It has actually worked out really well, because through making all my classroom materials I've been inspired in ways I never would have been otherwise, and developed an appreciation for children's books.I guess that's the result for that one. Also I am married.
- I let my Etsy shop sit empty and stopped posting on Craftster. I fell out of the loop completely. Result: Every time I went to those sites, I felt guilty and strange watching the parade of craftiness move on and evolve without me. Then I wondered why I felt that way. Not too long ago I read an interview with Yokoo, who makes super-huge scarves that are like crack they are so awesome. Here is what punched me in the chest and made me GET IT.
"Artists are jealous enthusiasts. We are privately vain depressants. If we see something admirable, we feel rather overwhelmed to take some sort of action against it. Be it productive or barren."-Yokoo
Ohhhhhhhh....
"5. I have prioritized creativity in my life, and made time and space to honouring that pursuit, and I feel richer and clearer for it"-Anna BorstadOhhhhhhhh....
Result: It's okay for me to feel mad that I didn't make the choice to keep crafting through my life changes. My frustration means that I am an artist, and watching other people fulfill their potential makes me want to take action. So what's stopping me now?
- Primarily, House. Like the show. And how I watched all the seasons. Oh, how I love House. But it ate up all my after work time and by the time Amber kicked the bucket I was so stunted creatively that I felt even worse. And then I read a list by blogger Anna Borstad (I don't know if you guys use StumbleUpon; it's how I found her blog, and while I'm happy about that, if you can't handle another thing in your life that eats time for breakfast, don't do it). Here is number 5:
Result: I wanna do that. So I did. I asked for a sewing machine for Christmas, got one, battled that damn bobbin until I finally won, and started filling the Etsy again. Not with things I think will sell, but things I want to make, based on sketches I've done and daydreams I've had. I'm not underpricing and I'm going to advertise. I am making time every day to work on my designs and I am taking my time and working carefully.
Wanna see some pictures? I am so freaking proud of this:
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Congrats!!! Wow, you look great!
ReplyDeleteI love your creatures SO much, and will go look at the etsy site. I've been thinking of etsying myself but can't quite get it together...