She's crafty

A new business opened nearby: paint-your-own ceramic dishes, called "Crock a Doodle". I am stoked to go there and try it out, and maybe organize a party with the ladies too. I used to wax crafty now and then, but in my year of trying new things, I've actually let the crafts lapse. I miss the creative process. Although I've been trying to write, I don't usually feel particularly creative during that slog: writing is HARD. I like crafts because of the relatively short period of time needed to get a result, a finished product. And, most of the crafts I've tried are nowhere near as difficult as writing; and the resulting product can sometimes turn into a gift. I made some holiday banners one year that were a big hit; the tote bags were also winners. So satisfying.

I already know which design I'm going to apply to a plate (or platter, if I get ambitious): an octopus. I saw an antique plate with a cephalopod on it, and now I must have one. Cephalopod designs on pottery is an ancient tradition: witness this Minoan vase (right). I can't afford the $700 version of the antique plate that I saw online, so I'm getting my crafty juices flowing again, and thanks to this new business in University Plaza in Dundas, I'm going to make one myself, for myself (no gifting this time). My design will be based on this antique print, but I'm sure the end result will resemble a five-year-old's art project, although that might look great on a platter too.
I only tried ceramics when I was a kid, with my mom, who went to classes and made many ceramic items, a very cool cookie jar among them, if I remember correctly. This activity will also count as a new thing for my 2010, since I really don't remember what it was like from when I was 12 years old.
A craft that I know I like and have done a bit is beadwork, from kits. I want to do more of that too, but I think that will have to remain a late-fall/winter activity. A summer activity that I could do in my nice cool basement is some more sewing. I definitely want to make a few throw pillows, since mine are getting pretty tired, and the last time I washed the covers, they got all pilly and I'm too lazy to pick the pills or cut them off. I also want to finally make a skirt from the piece of fabric that's been hanging in my closet for the past two or three years = LAME. If I make that darn skirt, then I could justify going to the fabric store and buying some more fabric for the next project. One Fabricland store is near a large farmer's market on Ottawa St. and an outlet eyeglasses place, which would be three errands in one trip to the east end. I like that idea; road trip soon.
My relaxing vacation has been going very well; so relaxing that I have read an entire novel and finished singing all the career mode disks on my karaoke game, and have not picked up one project. Ahhhh, my kind of vacation. I think I should be independently wealthy so that I could just relax all the time, instead of working or housekeeping or worrying or making lists. I had a list in mind when I started this vacation almost two weeks ago, but it dissolved. I am a major list-maker (lists, lists, lists always forming in my mind, swirling around, causing me anxiety), but that's a topic for another blog, another day.
Must go now, have one list-item that I must do before we head to Niagara Falls for the weekend = laundry!