A little bit of crafting every day

I’m sure I was born with a stationery kit in my hands. It frustrated my parents no end that the scissors had a habit of regularly disappearing and they weren’t impressed with my habit of helping myself to whatever I needed from their work bags. Creativity was the top priority whatever loss and collateral damage it left in its wake.

Yet as I got further and further into adulthood creativity and crafting ended up way down on my priorities list. In the end slipping so far that when I did finally get round to doing something I had no idea where to start.

Then illness happened. And covid happened. And job loss followed.

In that void it was creativity that helped me get through the worst and start to feel like myself again. There was no doubt that making time to design and craft was supporting my health, but what would happen when the rest of life creeped back in? How would I stop crafting time from slipping down that pile of priorities again? How would I keep making space for it when my life was once again full of so many other things demanding my time and attention?

Regular crafting was making a big difference to my mental health, and it made answering these questions all the more important, especially when I thought of my daughter.

When it comes to crafting she’s my mini me through and through. No raisin box or egg carton is safe. She doesn’t see a bottle, she sees a rocket that has to be brought to life so it can blast off to space. She comes home from school, grabs her scissors and washi tape and she’s off. There’s no stopping her.

As she gets older I don’t want her to stop in the way I did. I don’t want her to think that being safe means sidelining and neglecting your creativity. I want her to know that part of looking after herself and being healthy is prioritising the things she enjoys the most. To always keep her trusty scissors within reach for when the next bout of inspiration strikes!

If I want that for her I have to do it for me. I have to be the example. I have to keep those scissors close to hand at all times!

I found my way to the answer through putting creativity at the heart of my work.

Many of us can feel like creativity is the opposite of safety. Creativity is full of unpredictability and risks. We tell ourselves we need a sensible job, with a regular income, to keep us safe. But in my case choosing what seemed to be the safest option had backfired and left me with chronic health issues and no income. Shifting into a creative career was a first step in me changing the stories about the place creativity had in my life – and starting to recognise that creativity is my safe space.

Then followed hurdle number two. I have spent a life time believing that hard work has to come before the fun stuff. I have to earn the right to the bits of life that are enjoyable. Making design and crafting – two of the things I enjoy most in life – a core part of my work has meant learning to prioritise things I actually enjoy! And it’s not always easy, I can still fall in to prioritising admin over art, but I have to keep trying and learning to do things different if this career is going to succeed. Letting creativity fall off the priority list is no longer an option.

Finally I had the audacity to put JOY at the centre of my work too. I made a promise to myself to keep the focus on making sure I’m enjoying myself while creating, and I’m creating things that bring me joy.

Of course part of me is not finding this transition easy at all. It’s horrified that I’ve had the gall to choose to do work I actually enjoy. It often tries to tell me “that’s not proper work”. I’m learning to give that part of myself a hug, knowing that while it’s trying to protect me it’s not actually being that helpful!

All of this led me to embroidery. A way to keep a little bit of creativity in my (almost) every day whatever else is going on in life.

Over the years I’ve learned what works for me and what doesn’t when it comes to crafting.

I really enjoy getting in the flow with something, but I don’t like it when it takes hours of crafting before you start feel like you’re getting somewhere.

I’m a designer at heart. While I do enjoy a good crafting kit and I’m up for following instructions some of the time, I also want a craft where I can create something completely from my imagination.

Most importantly the less faff the better. I love crafts I can pick up quickly and travel with easily. When life is full and busy I want something that makes it possible to squeeze in a quick five minutes. Something that can come with me wherever I go.

Embroidery ticks all those boxes for me. It’s the perfect balance of mindfulness and creativity. I can slow down and get lost in enjoying the process, yet still see it coming together at an early stage. I can turn the things in my imagination into real life artworks within hours or days.

Most importantly all I need handy is my thread, needle and trusty scissors and I’m good to get crafting for as much or as little time as I have.

Every day I get a bit further with knowing that creativity is a priority for my health, it is my safe space and it brings me so much happiness, and that’s true whether I have five minutes or five hours to create. Plus, each time I make the choice to prioritise creativity, it’s another step towards helping my daughter - and others - see that there are a lot of good reasons to make crafting part of their every day too!