I discovered crafting rather late in life. As I child I hooked a few rugs (does anyone even do that anymore? It seems soooo 70’s), but as I couldn’t draw (and still can’t), other crafts seemed daunting.
In my 20’s my friend showed me how to bead necklaces, and that hooked me. I made jewelry for several years (on and off), until Annie was born. And then after I had taken 3,000 pictures of the girl (really…not an exaggeration), I figured scrapbooking made sense. And I love it! (Well, as those who know me will attest, it is more accurate to say I enjoy scrapbooking but LOVE buying scrapbook supplies. It has something to do with the potential of creating something beautiful, I think.)
And the last couple of years, all those supplies certainly have come in handy! Not many days go by without Annie and I cutting and pasting and coloring. Annie loves my punches that turn paper into fun shapes and of course there is always glitter. Glitter, glitter everywhere! I find it on my skin and clothes and floor and sometimes Markus even gets a bit sparkly after a big hug.
Oddly, and somewhat reminiscent of the 1950’s, scrapbook supplies actually make me feel like a better mom. Annie goes to an English group with 4 other children, and earlier in the year I got mixed up and didn’t realize that it was my turn to organize the class. The organizer usually reads a book and then the children make a craft. We try to have some kind of theme to tie it together. An hour before we were to start, I pulled a snowman book from Annie’s shelf and then openend my craft drawers to get busy. Forms to cut circles in various sizes, googley eyes, coloured construction paper, coloured felt for the scarf, hole punches (in 3 sizes), and voila! Everyone could make a snowman to go with the theme of the day. I went looking for glue sticks for the kids to use and discovered I had 5 of them. 5? There are only 3 people living here…why do I have 1.66 glue sticks per household resident? Because you never know!! And there you go…what a (seemingly) organized and never-let-my-child-down Mama I am!
It was a natural transition from scrapbooking to card making. I remember saying to a friend that I didn’t understand why people made cards, as they didn’t last for years like a scrapbook. But then I sent a few and felt great about doing something so personal for someone I cared about, and of course all the feedback was a good ego boost.
I’m quite excited to have more space for crafting in my new apartment. With 60+ Christmas cards that need to be made for next year, I’d better get cracking!