Jewels of Denial

Today Alex is a bit under the weather. But lucky you...I found this great post of hers from a couple years ago that deserved another look. Enjoy!

I was an artistic kid. Right on through college, my focus was on art, in some form. Sometimes it was drawing (I'm pretty mediocre), sometimes pottery (also mediocre), some art history, and eventually interior design.

Then I got married, had a baby and, suddenly, didn't have time to sit around a contemplate the mysteries of  cerulean blue or Basquiat. In 18 months, all my dreams of being a boho artist in NYC were dashed.

Interestingly though, creativity can't be killed. It will bubble to the surface somehow, someway. For me, it came out in cooking. I had to cook every day and I discovered that I could get pretty creative with recipes. As a result of years of playing around in the kitchen, I'm a confident and decent cook who will, often, take risks with good results.

Once my son was in high school and fed himself most of the time (Easy Mac and potato chips, mostly), I found myself in need of a new creative outlet. In my neighborhood, there was a bead shop that had the most enticing front window filled with a gorgeous array of semi-precious stones and stunning finished jewelry. After a number of weeks of window gazing, I finally screwed up the courage to go inside. I wandered around, entranced by the colors and shapes, and was pleased to find that a strand of semi-precious stones isn't all that expensive. I also discovered that (like most craft shops) the staff was completely willing to help me learn whatever I wanted to learn. I had found my new muse.

Cassandra and I have spoken before about the siren song of craft supplies. When one starts a new craft, it's very easy to become enthralled by it and want to buy all the gorgeous bits that go with the new hobby. With beaded jewelry-making, very few tools are actually needed but it's not unusual to fall into the abyss of beads. As I mentioned, even semi-precious stones (including pearls) are pretty inexpensive when viewed individually. It isn't until you have a rubbermaid container full of them and realize that it's a few hundred dollars worth that the depth of the obsession comes to light. Like with yarn, there comes a point where I had to put a moratorium on bead buying. The rule (for all my crafts) is, "Supplies can only be bought with a specific project planned."

Another issue was that, while I enjoyed the action of making jewelry, I'm not an active wear-er of jewelry. I created hundreds of necklaces, earrings, bracelets, and more - sometimes even specifically FOR myself - but rarely, if ever, wore them. I'm not a big jewelry fan. I like it on other people and I like to wear things that belonged to my grandmother or mother but, in general, I wear the same silver hoop earrings and single silver ring every day. So, for the most part, I just gave it all away as gifts. Eventually, I stopped doing this craft because I figured people were sick of getting my jewelry for every gift-giving opportunity.

A rosary made by me

So, I'm left with a big box of beads, good tools, and an occasional desire to break it all out and start again. I won't get rid of my supplies because the day will come when someone wants a necklace for a wedding or a specific pair of earrings and I'll be able to make these items without having to re-invest in the hobby. Plus, every once in a while, I love just looking at the beautiful beads and imagining what they could become.

- Alex

When Good Crafts Die

Mighty Distractible isn't just a clever name. Call it what you will - ADD, short-attention-span, etc. - but there's a reason that Cassandra and I never stick with one thing for too terribly long.

Now, that's not to say that we don't work on things for a long time (or, at least, until we feel a satisfying skill level with the craft), but both of us tend to get tired of doing the same thing over, and over, and over, and over... you get the picture.

I'm always impressed with, and a little jealous of, people with a clear, singular passion. We follow a number of crafters who are dedicated to one thing (for the most part) and are head and shoulders above our skill set as a result. I'll never achieve "master" status with any of my crafts because, once I'm satisfied that I can suss out all but the most difficult patterns, I stop immersing myself in it.

One craft that I'm particularly sad to have ditched was jewelry making. And, when I say "jewelry making", I mean bead work. I never welded anything or pounded metal into a shape that I needed. I bought the bits - beads, wire, silk, notions, etc - and put the elements together in a (somewhat) pleasing manner to make a wearable item.

The first necklace I ever made. Moonstone & silver.

Beyond my normal "I'm really sick of this craft" issue, my biggest problem with jewelry making was that I don't really WEAR a lot of jewelry. So, I'd make all this stuff (that I actually liked a lot) and then it would just sit in a drawer. So, I started giving tons of it away as gifts - expensive gifts, I might add, since I'm sort of a jewelry snob and would only use sterling silver and semi-precious stones. Eventually, all my jewelry gift-giving opportunities were overwhelmed and I had to stop.

To this day, one of my faves. Freshwater pearl & pineapple jade. I designed the flower.

On the flip side, the thing I liked best about making jewelry was that it was relatively mindless and sort of soothing to do. Much like I'm finding embroidery to be. And I think the finished products were always pretty beautiful.

I stole this turquoise lariat design from a magazine cover.

This was from my Swarovski Crystal phase

So, I still have a big box of supplies and an itch to not let it go to waste. I may have to resurrect this particular "dead" craft from my arsenal and see if I still have some skill. I think the key is to push the craft beyond what I'd been doing before and come up with something new... If anyone has any ideas, I'm all ears (and idle-ish hands).

- Alex

One of three boxes of supplies - waiting patiently for me to renew interest.

Jewels of Denial

I was an artistic kid. Right on through college, my focus was on art, in some form. Sometimes it was drawing (I'm pretty mediocre), sometimes pottery (also mediocre), some art history, and eventually interior design.

Then I got married, had a baby and, suddenly, didn't have time to sit around a contemplate the mysteries of  cerulean blue or Basquiat. In 18 months, all my dreams of being a boho artist in NYC were dashed.

Interestingly though, creativity can't be killed. It will bubble to the surface somehow, someway. For me, it came out in cooking. I had to cook every day and I discovered that I could get pretty creative with recipes. As a result of years of playing around in the kitchen, I'm a confident and decent cook who will, often, take risks with good results.

Once my son was in high school and fed himself most of the time (Easy Mac and potato chips, mostly), I found myself in need of a new creative outlet. In my neighborhood, there was a bead shop that had the most enticing front window filled with a gorgeous array of semi-precious stones and stunning finished jewelry. After a number of weeks of window gazing, I finally screwed up the courage to go inside. I wandered around, entranced by the colors and shapes, and was pleased to find that a strand of semi-precious stones isn't all that expensive. I also discovered that (like most craft shops) the staff was completely willing to help me learn whatever I wanted to learn. I had found my new muse.

Cassandra and I have spoken before about the siren song of craft supplies. When one starts a new craft, it's very easy to become enthralled by it and want to buy all the gorgeous bits that go with the new hobby. With beaded jewelry-making, very few tools are actually needed but it's not unusual to fall into the abyss of beads. As I mentioned, even semi-precious stones (including pearls) are pretty inexpensive when viewed individually. It isn't until you have a rubbermaid container full of them and realize that it's a few hundred dollars worth that the depth of the obsession comes to light. Like with yarn, there comes a point where I had to put a moratorium on bead buying. The rule (for all my crafts) is, "Supplies can only be bought with a specific project planned."

Another issue was that, while I enjoyed the action of making jewelry, I'm not an active wear-er of jewelry. I created hundreds of necklaces, earrings, bracelets, and more - sometimes even specifically FOR myself - but rarely, if ever, wore them. I'm not a big jewelry fan. I like it on other people and I like to wear things that belonged to my grandmother or mother but, in general, I wear the same silver hoop earrings and single silver ring every day. So, for the most part, I just gave it all away as gifts. Eventually, I stopped doing this craft because I figured people were sick of getting my jewelry for every gift-giving opportunity.

A rosary made by me

So, I'm left with a big box of beads, good tools, and an occasional desire to break it all out and start again. I won't get rid of my supplies because the day will come when someone wants a necklace for a wedding or a specific pair of earrings and I'll be able to make these items without having to re-invest in the hobby. Plus, every once in a while, I love just looking at the beautiful beads and imagining what they could become.

- Alex