Crafternoon and the power of crafting

 So here's the deal. I used to go home in middle and early high school and sit at my desk and just creative. I made jewelry and painted things and played with wax molds and printing kits and all sorts of things I'd found at Goodwill and yardsales. I continued to create later on in high school and into college, but it dwindled as I got older. Grad school and mental illness took a lot out of me, and getting back into the arts, even just drawing, felt like a huge task.

But, slowly, I've gotten back into crafting. I started easy, drawing. I did a few Inktobers (drawing challenge in the month of October), I started getting into visual journaling, and slowly began to get creative juices again. It was different than what I'd grown up with though. I was trained classically in drawing at the arts high school, drawing only from observation in many classes (although I branched out at home and in classes with a loose format). But I started drawing from memory, and it's mostly line art and illustration, instead of from life. I tried the life drawing first, my original skill, but it proved challenging in finding time and space to do so. Illustration, on the other had, I could do that anywhere, anytime I liked. 

I did sewing creative projects on and off throughout my adulthood, but in the past probably two years I've started to get more into a wider variety creative projects. It started with scrapbooking. I brought back much of my scrapbooking supplies a few years ago, and took the plunge to print off new pictures about a year and a half ago. I made a paper bag book, some simple cards, and wrote some poetry. I made friendship bracelets, helped my friend make an activity jar, and this past weekend, we had a crafternoon.

Now, what was so special about this? For one, I had worked that morning, running an event, which usually means that I just come home and crash. But instead I rejuventaed with art and friendship. My friend and I even made cute friendship bracelets with some charms that I had. I am grateful for my friend and for the fun that we had, as well as the ability to recharge in a way I haven't been able to before.

So I hope for more crafternoons to come.