I have loved crafting for almost my whole life.
I can’t quite remember when my love affair with crafts began. Could it have been when I was five and I made a 3D hanging whale? Or maybe it was when I was six, and I used cross-stitch and beadwork to make a native American headdress? It could also have been when I baked cookies using a portable oven that same year. Perhaps it was when I was eleven and I made a miniature model of my bedroom as part of a CDT project.
I’m lucky that I come from a family who are very creative and love making things. My mum and her sisters loved creating new dishes in the kitchen – almost always with great success. My mum also used to make clothes and bedding for my sisters and I with the help of her trusted sewing machine. Not to mention a few sundresses for herself. And every thing that Mum made was much better than anything that you could but in the shops. also remember the Christmas decorations that she made for our tree – decorations that we used for years afterwards. My sisters are also very talented when it comes to arts and crafts. In fact it was seeing the gorgeous floral arrangements that my youngest sister made that got me into studying floristry. Furthermore my youngest cousin, who’s a very talented artist, is about to go to university with plans to eventually become a fashion designer. I suppose you could say that our family most definitely has the crafting gene. And it doesn’t stop there. I’m very fortunate to have married into a very artistic family where my husband’s father, sister, brother and late grandfather are all amazing artists.
The truth is arts, crafts, and anything that requires a certain degree of imagination has been a part of my life for so long, I’m pretty certain I was born with a stencil in one hand and a glue gun in the other! I absolutely thrive on creativity and have tried many different kinds of crafts: soapmaking; papercrafts; floristry; candle decorating; baking; cake decorating; basket decorating; scrapbooking; pottery painting; jewellery making; bead making; creating gift baskets… and that’s just some of them!
I’m not claiming to be a world-class expert but for me, any kind of craftwork and having the ability to make something is an excellent pastime and brings me a great deal of happiness. I’m always happiest when I’m knee-deep in glitter or sticking crystal pins into roses. Nothing beats making something beautiful and original yourself, and the pride you feel when other people admire your work. It was once my ambition to set up a business where I could sell the products that I made. Unfortunately real life got in the way – which in some ways I don’t regret because I enjoy my job as a teacher – but the ambition is still burning away there so it might just happen…
The Craft Room 