My Creative Journey...A Getting to Know Me Post

Creativity....that is a really important word to me. It has played a roll in my life since I was a child. I can remember building dollhouses out of pizza boxes, creating a fort in the woods out of old milk crates, and countless hours spent drawing. From the time I could be trusted with a needle and thread my grandma had me sewing. We started with crudely designed teddy bears stuffed with dried beans, and moved on to more complicated things. In fact when my grandmother passed away when I was 26 it was her sewing machine, the very one I learned on, that I coveted for myself.

As a young adult I expressed myself through photography and mixed media art collage. I likes to push the boundaries of what made people comfortable by using art to discuss controversial topics. I was a fairly angry twenty something, I had a lot of demons in my closet that I hasn't dealt with yet and the drawing and sewing took a back seat. Eventually the party twenty something lifestyle took over and art and creativity disappeared from my life for a number of years. They were some of the bleakest years of my life.

One day I found myself 29 years old, facing my 30's and miserably unhappy. I cried all the time, I woke up feeling like the day ahead was a chore, there was no joy in anything I did and I was drinking way too much. On a whim I pulled out my grandmothers sewing machine and started sewing. I think it was a potholder. Or something basic and simple. I honestly don't remember but whatever it was it saved my sanity! From that moment on I was crafting all the time! I started sewing aprons, cloth napkins, children's plush animals and more. Then I got into jewelry and screen printing...honestly I tried any craft that inspired me. Which was a lot! When I crafted I was happy. My mind was calm.

From there spun my blog, to document this new path I had embarked on. But to my surprise....I found put I was pregnant one year later. I continued to craft but my blog slowly morphed into one that documented the ups and downs of my pregnancy and my thoughts on impending parenthood.

Now that I am a stay at home mom I do not have the time I once did to craft, or blog...but I can still be creative. I loved decorating my baby girls nursery, a made her a mobile that she just adores, i even sewed her a dress one time. But more often then not my creativity now comes out in the kitchen and my home. My home has never been more functional as I adjust, move, and reorganize things to fit the ever changing life of a young child. I may not have much time to play on my grammas sewing machine, but I wear her old Christmas apron as I bake holiday treats and teach myself how to cook nutritious family meals. I also sing. Constantly. Claire loves music and i make up all sorts of melodies and rhymes to make her smile. When i run out of ideas we fall back on the classics, there is lots of Raffi played in our house.

One day Claire will be old enough to craft with me, and i can teach her how to sew on her great-grandmothers sewing machine. But until then my creative joys are expressed through the joys of day to day motherhood, they are expresses through love. When you have a young child your whole life becomes a creative journey, one that ebbs and flows constantly. I'm just coasting the waves and enjoying the ride.