I have always enjoyed making. As a ten year-old, and living in a place with nasty winters, I fell in love with latch hooking. All the earth toned hues of yarn, the rough canvas of the color coordinated grid, the ease of working on it while watching television in front of the fireplace, it kept my hands and my mind active. Eventually my first project was completely, two owls on a branch, and was made into a throw pillow for my bed.
In my late teens I discovered counted cross-stitch. Same idea as latch hooking - colorful threads, a pattern to follow, and something to do with my hands on Sunday afternoons while watching NFL Football. I turned many a creation into a framed masterpiece.
After the birth of my daughter in my mid-20's, my time for television viewing was limited, yet I still wanted to create with my hands. I discovered rubber stamping and rubber stamp clubs; one night out a month to gather with other women and create.
My love of rubber stamping led to working in a rubber stamp and scrapbook store once my daughter went to preschool. Scrapbooking was the natural progression from stamping, a book to create that included color, stamping and the thousands of photographs I had documenting my daughter's childhood.
Eventually there were more photographs than there was time to create scrapbooks, I fell behind documenting my daughter's life. The middle school and high school years rushed by. Before I knew it she was leaving for college. I had time to myself again, time to create, but I didn't know where to start. Photography lured me, but I needed to find a purpose for the photographs. I learned about blogs, I started one, finally my creating was on course again.
All the digital creating was wonderful, but I missed the texture of handmade paper, the sweet smell of glue, the way the scissors fit my hand perfectly. Over the past two years I have tried various mixed media/collage projects, but none ever felt right. Maybe I was starting too grand, maybe I needed a smaller project to start.
A small red journal might be the undertaking I have been searching for.
Credits:
Copyright 2017 | Sarah Huizenga