Gathering My Tribe of Makers

Most gifts I give are either wholly or partly handmade. They are labours of love and, for me, I would rather give the work of my own hands than something store-bought. Yes, there is a time and place for store-bought gifts, but I prefer to gift something that I've made myself as much as possible.

This year, there were hot pot holders, 

dishcloth bouquets, 

more dishcloths,

Easter baskets, 

a bowl cozy, 

a mug rug, 

a quilted postcard, 

more bowl cozies, 

a Christmas tree skirt, 

a quilted wallhanging to post the date and the weather, 

and a gift basket with hot pot holders and dishcloths. 

And that was, of course, in addition to the quilts that I give away.

I can't afford to give everything away, and this year I decided to see if I could sell some quilts. While considering this, I consulted with some maker friends: Lorilee of Ruff's Fashion, who makes dog bandanas, bowl cozies, masks, etc.; Alina of Design by Nature Pottery; and Barb of Purple Peony Emporium, who makes soap and other personal care products. In October, I decided to try selling some quilts and other projects at The Gallery in Holden, AB. (Lorilee and Barb also sell there).

So far, I haven't sold a thing. 😞  Alina said that she tried selling there, and didn't sell anything, but she thought maybe it was because she had her products there at the wrong time of year. I, on the other hand, had mine there in the run up to Christmas and still never sold anything. I added a couple more quilts, including a Christmas quilt, and a Christmas table runner with 6 matching placemats. I'll see how it goes. Barb told me that it took her about a year before her products started to really sell there, but I don't have the time and money to keep my products there on an ongoing basis if they're not going to sell. If nothing has sold by the time my introductory period has expired (January 24th), I will likely just bring all of my products home. I wasn't too keen on selling on Etsy because I'd have to be able to take better pictures with truer colours, and have to worry about shipping, insurance, etc. But I might have to give that a try. 

I have been exploring some other projects and made this for my hairstylist. 

It's a crocheted soap bag with a bar of Purple Peony Emporium soap in it. I was wondering what exactly a soap bag is used for, so I googled. You can put your bar of soap inside and use it to scrub with and then hang it up afterwards. Because your soap isn't sitting in a dish, it will last longer and will not be as much of a breeding ground for bacteria because the air can circulate around it. Made of cotton, it's also more environmentally friendly than a plastic bath pouf. I personally have not tried one yet, but I also gave one to my daughter and one to my grandson for Christmas (including more Purple Peony Emporium products as well).

Another gift I gave to my daughter was a yarn bowl. She asked if it was made by my friend that made the soap dish that I gave her on another occasion (Alina of Design by Nature Pottery). Unfortunately, Alina was not the creator, but I did pick it up at The Gallery. My daughter was wearing a shawl (which she made) when she came to my place for Christmas dinner and said that she would like to get a shawl pin to hold it closed. So then I mentioned that I have another friend (Carolyn of 2 Good Claymates) that makes things out of polymer clay and likely had some shawl pins for sale. I have to admit that I found it rather amusing that I had yet another maker friend that could provide something my daughter wanted. And then I got to thinking that I also have a friend that is an artist and a weaver, and another that is an artist. Well, ultimately we makers are all artists, but I'm using that term in the more commonly held, restrictive sense referring to painters, and not house painters. 😁 And that's in addition to all of the quilters and sewists that I know. 

Ultimately, what I'd like to say is: support your local craftspeople, artisans and artists. Their products may be more expensive than what you can buy at the big box stores, but you'll be buying quality, locally made goods and supporting your neighbours. 

Before I close, I want to share a few other "spa" projects that I tried that will make nice gifts or additions to gifts:

(clockwise from top left) Rosebud Scrubby, Floral Facecloth, Bath Mitt, scrubby mitt, exfoliator/scrubber, and washcloth.

And finally, the Christmas hand towels I made for some of my friends at work. 

Happy crafting to all my maker friends. 

Mother's Day Gifts

There are certain advantages to being divorced. One of them is that you can buy your own gifts and get exactly what you wanted. It may not be as exciting as having the surprise of unwrapping a present, but it sure beats the disappointment of getting something you didn't really want. If you're familiar with the "Five Love Languages," you know that one of the languages is "gifts," i.e. giving and receiving gifts. Here's the book if you're interested:
Well, gifting is probably my primary love language. I enjoy giving them, and I generally give them well. Even when my daughter was a fussy teenager, I still managed to pick clothes that she liked and would wear. On the other hand, I also enjoy receiving them. One day I was discussing gifts with my oldest sister, and she said something about some people not knowing how to choose gifts. I replied that I think our mother was so good at choosing gifts that it almost spoiled us for other gift-givers. I believe that Mom's love language must have been gifts as well. She knew well how to choose a gift that was appropriate to the individual and the occasion, a gift that you knew she chose with the recipient in mind, not just a generic, obligatory gift. I miss that. Her gifts made you feel that you were important enough that she would choose a gift specifically for you. It took time and effort, not like just running into the local flower shop and grabbing a dozen roses. Not that I'm faulting roses, but if that's all that you ever get for any and every occasion, you begin to suspect that you're just not worth the effort for that person to put some thought into the gift. Especially when that person has known you well enough for long enough to know what your likes and dislikes are. I feel the same way about gift cards, not very exciting. And while I enjoy and appreciate both roses/flowers and gift cards, especially from people who don't know me well enough to personalize the gift, I appreciate so much more the kind of gift that my mother gave - something that made me feel special, a recognition of who I am as a person. When your love language is gifts, it's not that you're being materialistic. It's just that that's how you most readily express and recognize love. A refusal to speak to someone in his/her own love language is tantamount to telling him/her you really don't love him/her after all, that he/she is not worth the effort.
Fortunately, I do speak my own love language. :-) I do believe that there is a danger in being self-centred and self-indulgent, but I also believe in the importance of taking care of yourself. I spent a lot of years looking after hubby and daughter. My career is all about looking after others. And I do believe in being generous, compassionate and helpful in my daily life. But in order to avoid caregiver burnout, I have to look after myself. Jesus said that the second greatest commandment (after love to God) is to love your neighbour as yourself (Matthew 22:39). Jesus Himself, our Creator, recognized that in order to care for others, we must care for ourselves. Self-care has become important to me since being on my own. And occasionally that involves giving myself gifts. So for Mother's Day this year, I got myself a couple more Craftsy courses. While a trip to Belize might have pleased me more, I had to fit it into my budget. :-)

The first is Scrap Quilting. Basically, it's quilting the old-fashioned way, using up your fabric leftovers from your sewing projects or other quilting projects, where all the fabrics don't have to perfectly match. It's one of the less expensive courses on Craftsy (not that any of them are terribly expensive). The second course is Quick-Strip Paper Piecing. Again, here's the link: Really, I didn't think I was going to do any more paper piecing after completing my Block of the Month quilts, but it wasn't as bad as I thought and the projects you can do are terrific. For this course, I need quilter's design mirrors, so I ordered a set on Amazon, here: Well, admittedly, while this is the one I ordered, mine was substantially cheaper, but I got the last set from the vendor from which I ordered. Try looking for this on eBay. There's a US seller selling the set brand new for $264.95 or used for $164.25. Ouch! The set I ordered on Amazon is new, and I paid around $25 for it, including shipping. Obviously not everything on eBay is a good deal. Comparatively, even the $50.03 in the link above is a very good price.
Finally, just to let you know, Craftsy not only offers some free full courses (both of my Block of the month courses are free), but they also offer some free mini-courses. They're just enough to get your feet wet and see if you like this type of learning. Currently, in my Craftsy course list, I have Sewing Machine 911, one of these mini-courses. Since I've been using my machine a lot, I figure it's a good thing to have more information on using and caring for it. I've also enrolled in Perfect Pizza at Home, which sounds delicious. Vegans can still eat pizza, even though I will not be using dairy cheese on mine, and learning how to make great crust and sauce can only make it better.
If you're interested in my previous post on Cake Decorating (Cat's Crossing: Cake Decorating), Craftsy has a mini-course on Modern Buttercream. Buttercream, to the uninitiated, is the primary type of icing used in cake decorating, so if you're interested in seeing if you'd like decorating cakes, this would be a good place to start.
Check out all of the other free Craftsy mini-courses by clicking here. Scroll down to get to the free courses.