Feeling a little crafty

I have never thought I was a crafty person. In fact, for awhile there I thought I was anti-craft. To be honest, crafts just intimidated me. Why would I want to make something when I could buy it? Why would I want to spend hours messing with paint and glue and paper to patch together something someone else could make much better?

When I had my first child, I convinced myself I had to make a scrapbook for him. It would be a wonderful thing for him to look at some day and for his kids and their kids to enjoy. So, I buckled down and worked on the thing, seeing it as a chore and feeling relieved when it was up to date. Friends who said scrapbooking was a stress reliever made me laugh. I found it to be the source of stress!

When my second son came along, I was growing into my craftiness a bit. I discovered it looked good when you made the pages symmetrical and dedicated two pages to a theme. (The result is R's book will look much better than 2/3rds of Q's book, but that's another story)

I have been working on both kids' books while here in Wisconsin with ample time on my hands. I was browsing the scrapbook store the other day, picking up Christmas decals and brightly-colored card stock when some handmade cards caught my eye. I picked them up and turned them over in my hands noticing the bits of ribbon and patterned paper. I decided I could do that and felt a burst of inspiration.

I loaded my arms with different types of St. Patrick's paper, ribbon, and two kinds of glue. I picked out orange and green outfits for my boys (who happen to be half-Irish), and my mom and I spent most of one day chasing them around trying to get a good picture.

I was able to use the skill I do have to write a quirky little poem for the inside of my card and set about cutting, gluing, and folding. My mom does possess the crafty gene (which is not fully expressed in me apparently), and she helped me make envelopes and print my poem on vellum paper to paste inside. The cards turned out pretty stinking cute, if I do say so myself, and now I am on a crafting roll. I finally get what those annoying crafty-types have been talking about!

I recently finished balloon-shaped invitations for a balloon-themed first birthday party for R. As with my evolving scrapbooks, I imagine my crafting skill will grow, and I will eventually look back at my initial attempts with distaste. But now at least I am enjoying the journey instead of chalking it up to another annoying chore.

--MM