Today I want to write about the sheer mess
we crafters make!
At least I assume ALL crafters make a mess –
please, don’t get in touch to tell me your craft room is always in an
immaculate state at all times; if you do I’ll feel even more guilty than I
already am!
When I had a Monday
to Friday 9 to 5 office job, believe it or not, I was extremely house proud. I
would spend a large part of most weekends, maybe even most of every weekend,
vacuuming, cleaning, dusting, washing the laminate flooring, washing and
ironing clothes etc. While I was doing
this I’d cajole hubby into joining in and I’d blow a fuse if he ignored me and
watched a rugby match on TV instead, or if he casually informed me he had a
prior appointment involving a fishing rod and a riverbank.
The weekend
cleaning wouldn’t be enough if friends or family were coming round to visit
during the week. When that happened I
felt compelled to drop everything and embark on another round of dusting,
polishing and vacuuming before they arrived.
I wanted everything to look perfect even though my friends used to tease
me and assure me that whoever was visiting wouldn’t be arriving complete with a
clipboard and a pair of white gloves to test and grade just how dirt free my
surfaces were.
There’s been
many an occasion when hubby has opened the door to our visitors with a
heartfelt, “Thank goodness you’ve arrived, we can all stop cleaning stuff now!”
But all that is
in the past. That was my life before I became
a full time crafter. Now my hobby is my livelihood and the concept of ‘weekends
off’ is just something other people have, the time I have for cleaning is much
less, and the importance I attach to cleaning is a fraction of what it used to
be.
Take a look at
this photo of my craft room. I love my
craft room – I’ve spent a great deal of time and effort getting the storage
aspect just right, so there is a place for everything, and everything has a
place. But take a look … where has my
working surface disappeared to? And look
at all those little bits of card on the floor.
Disgusting!
I saw the error
of my ways. It’s impossible to work in
the middle of such a mess, so some time ago I made a promise to myself that I
would ALWAYS tidy up my craft room at the end of every day. So far, touch wood, I’ve managed to keep to
that promise … but somehow the mess just spreads.
And when I talk
about mess, I really mean two things; small pieces of card and glitter. They get everywhere. I don’t know how and I don’t know why, but
they do.
I’ve found small
pieces of ornate border in my handbag. Hubby found a small rose cut from card
in one of his shoes. Two weeks ago while
in the shower he peeled a bird cut from the same card from the sole of his
foot.
But the tiny
bits of card are nowhere near as bad as glitter. I’m convinced glitter has a
mind of its own and is intent on taking over the World. I don’t know how many times I’ve been
speaking to people and they’ve interrupted me to say, “Excuse me but do you
know you have glitter on your face?”
When I check myself in the mirror I see they’re right, even though I may
have gone the best part of a week without using glitter on any of my
makes! Recently I washed my Tattered
Lace apron but still, a friend said she’d been watching the show and noticed my
apron was sparkling with glitter!
Right now I have
glitter on the hall way carpet, on the stair carpet, on the landing carpet, and
over my kitchen worktops – which probably explains why hubby recently discovered
glitter in a sandwich he’d made!
Still, when all
is said and done, I think we can all agree with Michael J Fox when he said, “A
creative mess is better than idle tidiness.”
I’ll try to remember those wise words the next time I’m scrubbing glitter off my
chin!
Before we really got into crafting we had a sign please ignore the mess the kids are making memories. I think I need to change it to Sophie and I are crafting we seem to take over the house at the minute. We have the conservatory for our craft room a huge shed for extra storage and I still manage to creap more into the lounge while watching tv with hubby! Crafting has taken over. If your not a crafter people don't understand how we make so much mess!!
ReplyDeleteTotally agree Sonia. And until I took on this job I didn't get it either! It's the glitter that's the worst. The boot of my car is always sparkly! Xx
ReplyDelete