Art of the Mind (not the hand)

My head pictured the next Mona Lisa; my hand did this.

I've always had a great appreciation for art, but I found out early on, it wasn't an area where I excelled.  No matter how hard I tried, my paper mache fish had one fin too small (that was before Nemo made it cool) and my cross-hatching looked like a pile of hay instead of the roof of a train.  For years I continued to suffer in silence.  I knew I had great ideas, but something always went wrong in the execution.

The Diagnosis

It wasn't until high school that I discovered my affliction had a name.  I had stayed late one day with a friend - both of us putting in extra hours on our latest works of art.  When I showed her my design and explained what I'd been going for, she told me it was a classic case of "Art of the Mind." And I wasn't alone - she had the same exact problem!  Now before any of you hypochondriacs head over to Web MD, let me clarify, this is not a condition recognized by modern medicine.  Sure, we made up the name, but it's still a very real problem. 

Don't Give Up, Get Crafty

Around this same time, I fell in love with scrapbooking.  I could take perfect pictures, add glitter glue, cut up some construction paper and arrange a page however I wanted.  Finally, a cure for my overflowing creativity!  But I didn't stop there.  Scrapbooking is kind of like a gateway craft.  You can get away with random household scraps for a page or two, but soon you'll want stickers and fancy scissors and special background papers.  My frequent trips to Michael's only piqued my curiosity.  I soon explored the yarn section and begged my mom - a bit of a crafter in her day - to teach me how to crochet.  Let's just say, there was a learning curve.

Tight Fit:  The first sock I ever crocheted.



I put my hook down for a couple of years, unsure if this was the right craft for me.  Luckily, I picked it back up towards the end of college and I've come a long way.

 Check out some of my crochet creations on Flickr

My nephew is my favorite new model.

My newest goal is to sell my crafts.  After all, one can only have so many scarves and hats.  I've gotten a lot of interest in the animal hats, but I think I'm going to start with spring scarves and see where it goes from there.  I plan to create an Etsy shop and post about my current projects.  I'm always open to suggestions and feedback, so please let me know what you think.