Friday, May 6, 2011

Creativity

Who inspired your creativity?
My Mother was my first inspiration.

This is one of my favorite pictures of her (high school).

Mom used a small bedroom that she shared with my little brother for her sewing room. I remember many a day passing the doorway in the middle of the hall and seeing her working. I wish I had a picture of her sitting there. The wall next to her had shelves stacked with fabric of every hue and design.

This is a picture of our annual family line-up for Easter. I'm the third from the front in the yellow dress.
I loved that dress (I think I still have it in a trunk in the basement). Yellow is my favorite color and I remember putting the cap sleeves on my head before Mom sewed them to the dress! I'm sure the other dresses were made by her too - maybe even her own :)


I still hug my Raggedy Ann when I need a best friend (and my sisters aren't around) that she made me. My sister called her ape-arms because her arms were so long...or maybe it was she was jealous that Mom made her for me :)


Mom eventually got into all kinds of crafts including knitting, bead banners, decoupage, plastic canvas, jewelry making...she had magazines for every craft around! Her husband built her a whole room (almost doubling the size of their house) to accommodate her supplies and give her plenty of room to work!


My Grandmother and Great Aunt Margaret on my Dad's side were crocheters. Aunt Margaret was very patient teaching me to crochet. I made so many granny squares that turned into afghans :)


So growing up I had a lot of inspiration. I did some sewing but I'm not very detailed so my hems were always...let's say, interesting (but rarely straight). Here's a picture of a dress I made one year. Oh yes, my handsome husband and son...don't you love those glasses (we affectionately call them the bug eyes) :P


I learned to cross stitch in my early twenties and had 2 or 3 projects going at any one time.


Then I got interested in general crafts. I even rented space in a craft store and did craft shows for awhile. I eventually got inspired to scrapbook - my early pages are not very good. I now spend most my time making cards. But crocheting is still something I enjoy doing. I'm working on little crocheted flowers to put on my cards!

Who inspired you? And...who are you inspiring?


Happy Mother's Day ... This is the third year my Mom isn't with me and it still stings - especially during May - Mother's Day, her birthday, and the month she died. But God is good ... all the time and He is my comforter.

1 comment:

  1. What a touching post that was... it brought tears to my eyes, you know. That black and white picture of your mum is stunning. And all the others as well. I also grew up with my gran and mum sewing and crocheting beside a host of other crafts... Now I just make cards and crochet flowers... to use on my cards. And I make my own flowers as well.

    Your dress is simply FAB! And that is a precious family picture with the bug's eyes glasses and all... lol!

    Thanks for becoming my follower - so glad to have you join me on this fulfilling crafting journey which has proved much more exciting than I ever thought it would.

    xxx Monica

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