Crafty and Creative – Who Me?

Many years ago (read: before kids), I liked to do craft projects, and was big into rubber stamping.  So much so that I headed up to Boston every year for an annual rubber stamp convention.  Yes, such things exist.  Hey, any excuse to visit Boston … I still like doing craft projects and stamping, but now it’s more just a lack of time.

This past Christmas, I decided it was time to get some of the creative juices going again, and I made a few things for our family.   Truth be told, I actually had a list of things I was going to make, and then that darn Christmas flu took hold and I actually only got to complete two things, but I was pretty pleased with myself nonetheless.

Much like cooking and baking, it’s nice to have a hobby or project that quiets your mind and just lets you breathe, you know?  I waited until everyone was asleep, which isn’t hard since I’m always the last one to bed anyway, headed downstairs to my office and started work.

I ended up making a personal bookmark for everyone in the family.  I didn’t have a plan going in on how I was going to do it, but as I made each one, I learned what worked and what didn’t and made changes along the way.  I used scrapbooking paper for the fronts and backs of the actual bookmarks, and assorted stickers and supplies for decoration.  Once they were done, I laminated them, sticking a coordinating ribbon at the top of each one.  I was pretty happy with the way they came out (the pink one I made for my sister with Sophie was my favorite), and since everyone in our family reads pretty voraciously, I thought they would be a perfect small gift.

A few months before Christmas, Nick was busy coloring and I took a peek to see what he was drawing.  He was making freehand cupcakes.  He definitely gets that artistic bent from my mom and grandmother (even my sister), but definitely not me.  I was so impressed with how well he was drawing them that they became the inspiration for another gift, hand-drawn framed cupcake prints.  Once we finish renovating our kitchen, I’m going to put his artistic abilities to work again and have him make me a series of the cupcake art to put on the wall.  A boy after my own heart.

It felt good to get the creative juices flowing again, but in a very different way than cooking or baking does.  I recently reconnected with an old friend from grammar school, and she’s very immersed in the world of scrapbooking, something that I would love to get in to, if only to finally get all our pictures put in photo albums, once and for all.

So now that the crafting bug is back, I plan to drag everyone with me to this year’s rubber stamp show in June.   I figure I can bribe The Husband with a meal at The Union Oyster House, one of our favorite restaurants in Boston and a frequent stop of John F. Kennedy on his way to and from Washington DC in his politicking days, and Nick is easy … mention a road trip and he is in.

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