Day 30: Meaning

I am the worst. Last day of June and this is probably only the 10th.. okay like.. 5th?! entry I've made for this! Yikes! I've got all my posts ready to go, I just gotta type the stuff up. So perhaps through out the next few weeks I'll get caught up. We'll see.

Day 30: What does crafting mean to you?

WARNING: I waffle in the post, a LOT.. and it gets pretty DEEP! Hah. Cup of coffee at the ready.. I warned ya. :)

Well, I'd like to say everything.. but I'm not quite sure it means everything. It is a fantastic hobby to have though. An escape more than anything. You can literally do anything you like an there really is no right or wrong, it's whatever you enjoy.

Be creative.

The colouring aspect of my craft would be the thing I enjoy the most, although that can depend on what day you ask me. It's a great way to just switch off, sitting in front of the TV, or sprawled all over the floor.. or your bed or in the garden - wherever - which is the fantastic thing. Make sure your pens are in a portable container and you can take yourself wherever you wish. If I'm having a bad day, when my mojo doesn't want to play.. then it's the pretty paper and cardstock aspect of my craft which I enjoy the most. It's a means of being creative and making things which you can give to people who can enjoy them even more.

Depending on where you stand regarding the whole cardmaking vs. scrapbooking you may or may not agree with me here.

I know a lot of people started off their papercrafting adventure with scrapbooking, and moved over to card making as a way of fulfilling their creative needs more quickly.. as in.. a card takes perhaps a couple hours.. a scrapbook page may take you a day.

Many people, myself included, started off with cardmaking as a means of sharing keepsakes with friends and family.

.. and then there is a haze between the two.. which is kinda what I'm starting to become. Not a haze. I'm not becoming a haze.. that happened a long time ago. What I mean is I think I'm starting to branch off scrapbooking.. or more specifically 'memory keeping' as well as keeping a hold of my cardmaking love.

I think it's important to be able to share what you make with people other than yourself.. keeping your cards in boxes is not healthy. Whether you give them away as keepsakes, or gifts. Sell them for charity or to feed your crafty stash. Get your makes out there. It's important!!

.. as I grow older I recognise that memory keeping is also HUGELY important. Keeping things for yourself and your close family to flick through in time. When I thought about it, the amount of time and effort that goes into making a huge 12x12 scrapbook made me wanna die.. and so I started exploring the Project Life side of scrapbooking. DEFINITELY more my thing. I've made a smaller Sn@p album with older photos of my Mam's childhood and older photos of my grandmas and grandad.. and even a couple of their parents. It's crazy!! .. and then I'm slowly making my way through a Project Life album. Instead of keeping all of those photos on my phone, I print out the ones which mean something to me and make sure I include them with a little journalling each time.

So, in essence, what does my craft mean to me?! An escape from the every day, it's a way to share a little slice of my and my love with friends, family and customers, and to create memories for.. dare I say it? generations to come!!

xo