My Crafty Side

I figure I've entered the last 1/3 of my life, sort of a sobering thought. The first third was all just a set-up for the second third (which turned out to be CONSEQUENCES of one's actions), and now the last third has me scrambling for the punchline. Which so far seems to be "Seriously???"

In my next life, I'll know how to deal with life's punches sans alcohol, isolation, or avoidance. But in this go-round, I seem to have an inordinately high requirement for both solitude and instant gratification. I've always taken to heart my dad's most sage bit of advice: Choose a career where you'll love going to work every day. Well, that didn't happen (seriously, dialysis nurse?) but it did provoke me to find alternate sources for both solitude and instant gratification. People really should be able to make a living doing something they love. In most cases, it won't be lucrative enough and will need to be supplemented by work one doesn't love quite so much. Sucks, but it's been a reality for me and most people I know.

So, crafts. I've found men like to make fun of women who do craftwork. "It's worthless, it's a waste of time and resources, nobody wants it, it's tacky." I feel sorry for those tiny little minds. Craft-making is a hobby, and men have hobbies too. Even something as deceptively slothful as sitting in a lawnchair and observing the human condition is a hobby. I find men's hobbies are more expensive generally. DirecTV's NFL package is $335.00 (sports-watching, their main hobby), not to mention golf, fishing or hunting. So a $10 bag of yarn is nothing in the grand scheme of things...

The division of labor in our Mexican paradise is hobby-based. My husband's hobby here is beautifying the yard, but he calls it work. Therefore all the other work falls to me, because his hobby requires physical exertion and he's too tired to do the dishes or vacuum. He does do laundry, though, because the washer and clotheslines are in his domain and he can multi-task. It can take me all day to wash dishes if the bird-watching's good enough...

Ron's cactus-driftwood fence. Click to enlarge, it's great!

Ron's rock-paved walkway, partially complete

I just love creating something useful or beautiful or just delightfully quirky from something else. It's even better if someone else wants to buy it.

There's a website called  Etsy

It's a place to sell handmade stuff, and has a burgeoning viewer base, people wanting quality and uniqueness. I've had very few sales, but then I don't work at the marketing side of it. You can spend some serious money marketing your shop, which sort of defeats my purpose. But there are support groups, forums, advice, contests, and TONS of great items for sale. Best place to find one-of-a-kind gifts.

So to satisfy my creative urges, I go hole up in the RV (Craft Central) for long blocks of time, designing, assembling, and photographing what I hope to be saleable items. I also am now able to crochet, wet-felt, and watch TV at the same time. Multi-tasker, that's me. Some day I'll be discovered. All it would take is for Angelina Jolie or Katie Holmes to buy a pair of my baby booties

or for Project Runway to want my seashell-and-pottery-shard necklaces.

I also make things for Dylan and Nora (smallest grandbabies, at 3 and 5 young enough they might forget me in my long winter absences), things that they'll see daily and think "My Gramma Barb made me this!"

Nora's Mutant Bunny Slippers

Dylan's Fish Slippers

So when my attention span's long enough, I can execute a project or two daily and feel fulfilled. I can go back to Minnesota and work summers in dialysis as long as I have crafts and grandbabies to come home to. (This is my last year of that, can I have a heartfelt HOO-RAH!)

So back to dishwashing and vacuuOH! I HEAR ORIOLES!