MY LIFE AS THE ANTI-CRAFT

midlife blog ~ cresting the hill
The dreaded padded tissue box holder

WHEN CRAFT JUST ISN'T YOUR "THING"

As a good Christian woman it is an embarrassment to admit that I loathe any type of craft. I can admire the dexterity and "creativity" of those who immerse themselves in the latest crafting fad, but I just cannot get inspired by padded tissue boxes or scrap booking or quilting or any of the myriad of other activities that others thrive on.

SO MANY CHOICES - SO LITTLE ABILITY

When I was a young mum the church craft group was a popular way to get together and use your time productively. Tissue box covers like the one above were churned out in copious amounts, along with anything else that could be covered in fabric and lace and a ribbon bow or two. Over the years it progressed to paper quilling - pretty but mind numbing, card making and stamping. Why would I spend hours and a considerable amount of money making a card when I can buy a beautiful one at the local store for $1? I know that crafters will tell me about the love and care invested in each card, but when you buy the card paper and the stamps and the glitter and the paint, it really isn't any more loving than standing at a card rack for 5 minutes choosing a card with a pretty picture and nice verse.

The next big craze that started when I was in my 40's was Scrapbooking. Everyone went wild for the idea of digging out all those boxes of unsorted, unlabelled photos and doing something creative with them. The funny thing was that mine were already neatly placed in photo albums (those were the days when you used a camera and sent your photos off to be developed and you were lucky if you got 15 or so usable ones out of the 24 that you took). I went to a Scrapbooking workshop unaware of what transpired - cutting stencils and stickers and coloured pens and goodness knows what - hours and hours and multitudes of dollars to end up with a pretty album of pictures. No thanks - I'll keep my nice tidy ones done with love and not much else.

QUILTING - WHY??

Another friend of mine is heavily into quilting - why?? I have great respect for the mothers of olden times who cut up whatever they could and sewed it together to make a quilt to keep their family warm. Now my friend goes off to craft fairs, buys fabric that costs a fortune, a pattern that is also ridiculously expensive and then thread etc, takes it home and cuts up the very expensive fabric into little pieces and sews it back together again and then hangs it on the wall or puts it in the cupboard because it's too nice to risk using on a bed. Crazy!

ACCEPTING MY ANTICRAFT STATUS

So  I will admire those who spend hours upon hours creating "treasures" but I will also continue to take a stand for those who would rather read a good book or have a cup of coffee and buy their cards and quilts (on special). No more apologising for my lack of artiness - I will stand firm as the AntiCraft and be proud!



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Cresting the Hill - a blog for Midlife (Middle Aged / 50+) women who want to thrive

1 comment

  1. You know I had to come over and read this post as I just read - Grown Up Colouring In. I know women like you and I know women like those crafters. Crafting isn't for everyone. I will admit I enjoy cross stitch, embroidery, basic crochet (that's as far as I can get, the instructions seem too hard for me), and knitting on a board or loom. I was into scrapbooking too when the grandbabies were born. To give you some link love, I've shared on social media :)

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Thanks so much for your comment - it's where the connection begins.