From Lockdown Leggings to Art Supplies

2020 was a year I could never have predicted, it was certainly a year my credit cards did not see coming. It began with my usual ideas of what I was going to do. Mainly attending competitive agility shows with my dogs and try to qualify for some of the big events (Crufts, Olympia). I was thinking about my caravan and travelling all over the country with it. I was looking forward to meeting up with friends, some of whom I am only able to catch up with once or twice a year.

And then 2020 happened...

My first reaction to the news of lockdown in the UK was despair. How was I to keep myself busy when all my usual hobbies involved going out to different places. I was barely at home at evenings and weekends, the sudden idea of all that empty time to fill was daunting. I am not a film or TV fan, I can escape into a book but - disaster - the libraries were all shut and so were the book shops. I prefer reading real books to ebooks and so I felt another door slamming shut.

Those first weeks of lockdown were grim, trying to console myself about all the things being cancelled and the fear of what was to come. This huge unknown gaped before me and none could really say what was to come. I was worried for my family and friends, I was worried for myself. I had to find escape.

Social media became a lifeline, it soon also became a good place to spend all that money I was saving not going to shows, going away in the caravan, or training my dogs.

It all began with a post by a friend. She had been challenged by her partner to reveal just how many pairs of leggings she had bought over the last few years. Now, these were not boring black leggings, we are talking patterned, jazzy, larger-than-life leggings. The sort pre-2020 I would not be seen dead in.

Every day for over 100 days she posted a picture of a different pair of leggings and slowly me and a number of my friends were drawn in. There seemed some cheerful and exciting about those leggings in a time when everything felt a bit bleak. At first one friend, then another succumbed and bought a pair of funky leggings.

I resisted a while, but ultimately I knew it was going to happen. All those years of sticking to black running trousers or jeans were gone, it was like 2020 had cast a spell over me. I needed jazzy leggings, the crazier the better! The first pair I bought had llamas on them and in that moment I was addicted.

Facebook had obviously picked up on my curiosity about leggings and I was soon bombarded with adverts for different brands and makes. I found myself drawn to the craziest of them all, the more outlandish the leggings, the better, and so my first shopping splurge had begun! But it was not to be the last,

Six pairs of legging later, the real problem I had was a lack of places to wear them to with all the shows cancelled. Heck, I was wearing them around the house, for sure! But that was not the reason I bought them.

Besides which, leggings only filled a small hole in my lockdown pit of gloom. I needed something to keep myself busy. Leggings were fun to buy and receive, but they did not fill the endless hours.

Fortunately Facebook had some other suggestions for me. Like a fortune-teller gazing into a ball, it had figured out what I needed, what I could use, more importantly for those old algorithms, it had figured out what I would spend ridiculous sums of money on.

It proved to be art and craft supplies, something to feed my creativity and keep my mind busy. But it wasn't just one sort of art or craft supplies, for there were - just - so - many - things I wanted to make!

I wanted to crochet that gorgeous blanket, or the funny amigurumi unicorn. I wanted to craft foam flowers. I wanted to work on MDF, discover stamping, learn about stencils, try acrylic pouring, venture into mixed media, dabble in resin casting, rediscover watercolours and drawing. The list went on and on.

Some of the crafts I became fascinated with I did not even know were a craft before I saw an advert for them. One Saturday morning I found myself measuring out lengths of cord on the living room floor for a macramé bag. The next I was spilling white gesso over the dogs in my attempts at mixed media. Life was one big splurge of creative energy, which had to be fuelled by buying just the right materials.

That included finding inspiration and tutorials to follow. Facebook once again was on form, showering me with adverts for various creative mediums. Mostly I was pleased with what I bought, mostly...

The resin kit that came from China and was, let's face it, alarmingly cheap did not thrill me when it arrived. There were no instructions and I had no idea what to do with it. It was nearly nine months later that I came across a video on resin pouring and realised how to use the kit. It proved to be less of a terrible purchase than I feared!

Over the course of the last year I have discovered all sorts of new words and terminology, and they drop into my life with ease. I know what a pokey tool is (and it is nothing rude, I assure you!). I know the difference between gel medium and structure paste. I bandy about the terms 'paper ephemera' freely and when die-cutting the term 'plates' no longer relates to crockery.

Actually, the household crockery has taken quite a hit during my crafting journey. You see, whites plates make very handy paint palettes according to one of my online tutors, and several have been purloined from the kitchen cupboard as a result. Matching sets are no longer a thing in my house.

I am also not allowed to do acrylic pouring inside the house. This I do understand, since my last efforts left a rather interesting pattern on the patio.

I prefer not to consider how much I have spent on my art obsession in the process of developing my creative side. I probably would be better off financially if I had stuck with the leggings.

But the joy my crafting has given me cannot be denied, and at a time when going out of the house is still frowned upon, the delight of a new box of goodies turning up on my doorstep cannot be denied.

Admittedly there are still quite a few boxes I have opened and then never used the contents of. There is a pricey magazine subscription that is going unread, and several dies I just had to have, which have not emerged from their packaging, but on the whole I am making the most of my crafting and Facebook keeps offering me knew temptations to spur me on.

I am currently contemplating buying some crystal art to try, you know, in-between making that resin lamp, taking those art classes I bought, sewing up that crochet kit and about a dozen other projects just waiting for me.

Well, I did say I like to keep busy...