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I was thinking the other day about how long I’ve been crafting. It’s really no surprise that I want to do it for a living, I’ve been at it for so long. It’s something that I was introduced to at a very young age, and I’ve been crafting in some form or another ever since.
My first memories of crafting are at about four or five years old. I think I was four, because I know that it was before kindergarten. I think the very first thing that I ever made was little turtles made out of paper and walnut shells. I also made walnut shells into Christmas ornaments. I can remember too that even then I was into miniaturizing things. Whatever I could do with walnut shells I also did with my grandpa’s empty pistachio shells. I loved making really small things.
I also remember my grandma teaching me to crochet with my fingers. She gave me this fat yarn and taught me how to do chains and such with my fingers. I don’t think I could do anything more complex than single crochet like that, but it was a good introduction. I still crochet today. I tried learning to knit too a few years ago, unfortunately I wasn’t very good at that.
I’m so glad that I got into crafting so young. I think every child should learn arts and crafts. Every family should encourage kids to do creative things. There isn’t enough of that these days. There are a lot of people in their teens now that really don’t know how to do anything creative. They have art class in some schools, but even that is being cut in a lot of places, so kids really have no creative input. Arts and crafts really open up a child’s mind and give them so many skills that they can use throughout their lives.
I got exposed to a fair variety of art and crafts as a child. I had a really crappy childhood, but grandma was a crafter, and that was something that she shared with me. I learned to draw, paint, crochet and make all sorts of things. I had one of those loom kits to make pot holders with. I got to use Play-Doh and eventually moved on to better kinds of clay. Over the years I have tried more kinds of crafts and used more mediums than I can even count.
I still love crafting so much. I really do want to make a living out of this. I know that some people say you should focus on one craft and one product line, but I don’t think I can do that. I love doing so many things, I want to do a lot of them and put all of it in my shop. I’m eclectic and I like it that way. And hey, you never know what people are going to want. The more I have to offer, the better my chances are.
I can’t even imagine growing up without arts and crafts. I wish that all families would encourage creativity in their kids. It’s so much fun, it’s a great outlet, and it can give them useful skills. It’s so good in so many ways.
