Confessions of a Chaotic Crafter

Hello. My name is JoElle and I am a chaotic crafter.

I frequently forget to put the lid back on things. Typically, I get carried away with this, experiencing only small issues like dried up glue or ink pads. Occasionally, I give myself a mild heart attack when a bottle of paint becomes a near catastrophic accident. Once, distracted by a creative epiphany, my lack of lid discipline caused a mess of epic proportions. Apparently, at some point I thought I needed an economy size container of glitter… royal blue FINE glitter. I’m not sure how the internal conversation went, “I might build a little mermaid float for a parade someday” or “perhaps I will need to glitter an entire car or boat or house.” Maybe, it was just ‘such a deal’ that I could not pass it up. Regardless, I owned a jug o’glitter and I didn’t put the lid back on and it spilled. Spilled is really not an accurate description though. ‘Spilled’ conjures up the image of a waterfall of blue glitter streaming off my desk and creating a little sparkling pool on the floor; a mess the trusty dust buster could handle. In actuality, it was more akin to that health video encouraging you to cover your mouth when you sneeze. You know, the one that captures in slow motion the amazing power, diameter and impressive distance a sneeze travels. It was more like that. I remember standing there in utter disbelief, shaking the blue glitter out of my hair and contemplating the monumental clean-up… if only I had slowed down. If only I had put the lid back on the jug o’glitter. If only…

I start things and don’t finish them before I get excited about something else. It is not unusual for me to have three different projects going simultaneously. I think this is fairly normal for a crafter; however, my chaos erupts because I have all three projects, in various stages of creation, on my desk at the same time. I don’t really plan to do this. It just happens and I can discipline myself for a little while but eventually my creative frenzy takes over. It’s like a form of crafting ADD; like a tumbleweed rolling down the street collecting more and more stuff along the way until it’s a complete mess. Like this ⇓

This was my desk last week. In addition to working on that week’s blog post, I was piecing my daughter’s quilt, contemplating cool stuff using the textile printing blocks I just found, experimenting with sun dying and enjoying a new book on Native American art. I swear all of these things were related – there was a creative flow that happened…and eventually erupted, spewing fabric and trinkets and paint and paper and books and stencils and tools… all over my room. I have one voice that tells me, “Jo! Stop! Clean this project up before you start the next.” but it’s a quiet voice and can’t be heard over this other excited voice that rolls like the tumbleweed.

“Did you see how this dye bled onto the fabric? I bet if I cut my template out of black cardstock that won’t happen. Maybe I should use a different pattern? I’ll create that on my computer… oh oh oh wait! This will look awesome on that. I wonder if this product’s website has any tips? OK that’s good to know…what?! they have a thickener!!! No way! That means I could use those awesome textile blocks with this stuff! So cool! What should I stamp it on? Should I do a pillow? Maybe an American Indian motif? I saw this pattern in that art book….”

I’m messy; really, really messy. The rest of my house is quite clean and organized but in my craft room, I suffer from CIP (Creativity Induced Piggyness).  I don’t always clean my paint brushes. I forget to wear a craft apron so I have clothes with little snips and drips all over them. I like to finger paint. At the sewing machine, I brush all the little clipped threads onto the floor. I use my mail as note paper. I use my ironing board as additional table space. I ‘let’ my kitty lay on my desk. I snack when I’m creating. I don’t put things away and I frequently forget to close cabinet and closet doors. I KNOW all these things create more work for me later. I KNOW my CIP costs me in dollars and time. I KNOW what I SHOULD do but I don’t. I think because it interrupts the creativity. It puts form to something that for me, is lose and flowing. Eventually, I will do a total craft room clean up and it looks so pretty, like the picture at the top of this post. Inevitably though, there is an idea that spurs another idea that ignites another thought and there you have it …Creativity Induced Piggyness

Creativity is about imperfection. Creating is about embracing flaws and seeing them as beautiful and unique. My craft room is the one place where I can let things roll and see where it takes me. Sometimes my chaotic crafting frustrates me and I try really hard to focus and be more disciplined. Eventually, my excitement and enthusiasm for making stuff always takes over and the tumbleweed gathers momentum, collecting more ideas and mess. Do you know why the tumbleweed tumbles though? Once the plant’s seeds are ripe, it detaches from it’s roots and blows in the wind; it’s tumbling habit dispersing the seeds so that new plants can grow. I guess creative chaos isn’t such a bad thing after all. If it allows me to explore new materials and skill sets and helps me grow as a creatively happy person…then It’s all good.

Hello. My name is JoElle and I am a chaotic crafter.

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