a search for authenticity
Today while wasting time on the internet I found my next big craft challenge. I want to knit this beautiful wrap:
I can not stop thinking about this wrap. I must have pulled up the picture a dozen times this afternoon to look and drool over it.
I don’t have a pattern, so I’m still trying to figure out how to make it/get started. If any of you knitters out there have ideas, please let me know.
I didn’t go to bed on Friday night. Instead I made jewelry while catching up on some of my favorite TV shows. On Saturday morning I headed over to the Fan and set up a booth at the Strawberry St. Festival to sell my jewelry, for the first time ever to the public. I was nervous, but excited while setting up my tiny, card-table of jewelry. But, that excitement quickly died as I watched the other jewelry-makers set up - huge tents, multiple tables, beautiful displays and wonderful crafts. I wanted pack up my jewelry, that suddenly seemed like stuff a preschooler would make during arts & crafts, and sneak away before anyone noticed me. But, I didn’t. Instead I stuck it out – and I’m glad I did. I was hoping to sell at least one piece. Which I quickly did! My first customer even gave me a hug! In total, I sold 7 pieces! Which I’m really proud of, but more so, I’m proud of myself for taking the chance and sticking it out when things got ugly.
I learned a lot through this experience. First, that I’m under-pricing my jewelry. Second, that I have a great bunch of supportive friends who were there to encourage me when I was feeling insecure and I wanted to give up. So, what’s next? Maybe the Farmer’s Market?!
Tomorrow I will be setting up a booth at the Strawberry St. Festival with my friend Aimee. I’m getting very nervous about selling my jewelry. I go back and forth between fearing that I won’t sell anything at all and extreme excitement that a total stranger might take home something I created. I realize that it’s silly to be this insecure about my creations - so what if I don’t sell anything, at least I took the chance. Anyway, I probably will pull an all-nighter tonight to finish all the stuff I want to make. Feel free to stop by with coffee.
I’m so excited about today that I woke up at 7:30. I never get up that early on the weekend. Dan is going on a fishing trip today with a couple of guy friends, so I get full run of the house! Right now I have covered our dining room table with beads and jewelry making supplies. I’m going to spend most of the morning making jewelry to sell at the Strawberry St. Festival. It will be the first time that I’m selling my jewelry to the public. I’m very nervous about it.
After the jewelry making I will clean house, garden, go to a beer festival, hit up a girl’s night and then crash onto my bed. Oh, Saturday, I love you!!
Dear Friends,
I have decided to build raised beds for my vegetable garden this summer. I want to build the beds using wine bottles. Please drink lots of wine and save your bottles for me. If you need help emptying the wine bottles, just call me.
Love,
Alicia
I came upon this post on Maternal Spark today and thought her words on the creative life were so right on, that as a friend, I had to share them with you (in my own words).
1. Write it down!
This is also a lesson I have learned from my MIL, who always has a notebook or index cards in her purse. She is always ready to record what has inspired her. Also, for those of us addicted to our cellphones - I often save notes on my phone.
2. Let it go.
There are always other things that you “should” be doing when you sit down to actually get started on that creative project you’ve been dreaming about. I never realize how dirty my house is until I sit down at my computer with an essay/blog post in mind. Each day we are faced with choices, what we decide shapes our day and ultimately who we are. I want to make decisions that shape my creative spirit, more than I need to have a clean house.
3. Take time out.
For yourself. It can be a nap, a drive, a walk….or an Artist’s date.
4. Avoid brain suckers.
TV. TMZ. It is an unfair trade to us. In return for mind-numbing junk that clutters and confuses our creative spirit, we trade our value time.
5. Get organized/prepared.
My favorite creative times are when I’m able to prepare some - clean off my space, get a cup of water & some tea, fire up the laptop and kick Dan out of the house.
So, you know how we all have those things that we want to do….learn a skill, travel the world, start a garden, take an art class….but we never have time to do them?! Well, one of mine is to craft and sell my crafts to make money to buy more things to craft with. I’ve been talking about this for a couple years and have now decided that I’m done bullshitting.
So, I’ve started….kinda. With a couple of awesome gal pals, I’ve applied to Spring Bada Bing! I’ve also opened an Etsy shop with a friend, our store is named RatherBee (nothing is up, yet). I also decided to use my other vanity site to showcase (and maybe someday blog) my craftiness.
Yeah, I know, my vanity site looks like it was done in 5 minutes (it was), and the pics posted look like I took them myself in my bathroom (I did), and there is nothing to buy at my Etsy shop. BUT, its a start to being stronger than all my excuses about why I can’t do this.
This weekend I made:
4 necklaces
4 pairs of earrings
1 bracelet
1 watch
1 pair of curtains
And I’m sad that I can’t stay home and craft some more tomorrow….I feel like I was just getting warmed up.
There are lots of reasons why I love living in Church Hill. The history, the homes, the people and the transformation are a few things I cherish. But, what I love most is the daydreaming. Church Hill isn’t just a place where people eat & sleep, it’s a place where dreams, big and small, are had, shared and maybe brought to life. Almost every gathering with friends who also love Church Hill includes a conversation where daydreams are shared. The conversations usually include one friend sharing an idea, then another friend adding their twist to it - and someone else pointing out an abandoned building that would be the perfect location for it to all come together.
My current day dream for Church Hill is a mixture of ideas from several friends & neighbors, and a few of my own….
Like most (if not all) of the people living in Church Hill, I want to see something done with the old movie theater on 25th street. I think about that building a lot, and the potential for it to become something as unique as the people living here - something that represents our diversity and passions. I envision the first floor of the building being a place for anyone to share their creative side - an art gallery, handmade crafts for sale, a cafe/bakery, a stage for musical and theatrical performances. The upper floors of the building will contain rooms where neighbors teach neighbors anything and everything - painting, crafting, music, home repair, computer skills, pet care, foreign language, cooking, how to start a business…. Also, contained in upper floors are open spaces like a beautiful studio for yoga & pilates and an open office space available for anyone to use. Maybe there will be room for a natural health practitioner to have an office, or for a few artists to have studios. These are just a few of the ideas that have been discussed at my dinner table. And I love them all.
I love the idea of a space in Church Hill that allows each of us to answer that soft question we hear inside asking us what more do we need/want other than work & homelife. Sharing our skills, learning new things, meeting neighbors, and maybe making daydreams come true.
My friend introduced me to The Black Apple, which I quickly fell in love with. So, to celebrate getting a new office at work - I ordered a new mouse pad with one of her cute creations on it:
About a year ago I was in a very cute shop in C’ville. I came across this watercolor painting that has a touching poem about love on it. Tonight I finally bought a damn frame for this piece of beauty. On the back of the art there is a love note from the artist, this is how it starts:
“during the most painful time of my life, i made a promise to myself. instead of numbing my pain, and avoiding it, i would turn into it, feel what was going on inside of me, and explore it. at times the emotion was too much for me. filling me up so completely that i needed to let some spill out.”
She goes on to say that the “spilling out” became bonesigharts.
This is so fitting for me to read tonight, since I just spent the past couple of hours sipping wine with a friend and dreaming of what we want to spill out of our pain.
I know most of my friends do not set resolutions for the new year….or at least they don’t admit to it, but I do. Last year I set 2 goals: to make money from selling my jewelry and by writing. With some luck and help from friends, I accomplished both! In ‘08 I want to better my sewing skills so that I can make clothes and I want to put some jewelry on my etsy site.
So, what about you? Any goals for ‘08?
This weekend I will be:
Making curtains for my sister
Making at least 6 jewelry sets
Knitting until my fingers fall off
Holiday Baking (maybe)
Drinking lots of wine
If you would like to join me in crafting and drinking, come on over.
Crafting holiday gifts has got me thinking about creativity. Nothing has seemed to bring “healing” into my life like trying to connect with my creative spirit. Though I’m just making simple jewelry and knit gifts, each completed project brings a little bit of peace into my life. But, even though it brings so much goodness into my day, there are times when I need some inspiration to get started with a project, or to have the courage to do something different. I know a lot of you also enjoy being creative - with crafts, writing, blogs, relationships, baking, work, home decorating and much more. What are some sources of inspiration for you? Songs? Poems? Movies? Books? People?
I survived Thanksgiving, I didn’t even have any alcohol on the actual day. Which I know is surprising to many (including myself). Anyway, now it is time to turn our house into a craft-factory. For the past couple of years we have been making most of the holiday gifts we give. This year, my goal is to make all of the gifts we will give. It is pretty ambitious considering I haven’t completed one gift. Also, only 1/3 of our gift list is completed. I see many late craft-nights in my future.
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