Choosing Craft Over Cleaning: Projecting the Domestic Fantasy
Edit: I've fixed the link problems in this post. Sorry.
Tonight I found Scratch Craft through Heather at Making Time. Heather wrote an interesting post, Craft Blog as Domestic Fantasy, that referred to Scratch's love-hate relationship with the crafty bloggers. In response to Scratch's Bad Mood I thought I'd resurrect this photo that I had posted on Flickr, but had never posted on my blog. Scratch is wondering how the stay-at-home craft bloggers have time for "the kid, the crafts, the site, and then at some point a husband...." I think this photo answers most of her question. A whole lot of neglect happens so that I can craft and blog about it. But it's all in the name of keeping the mama sane, so it's OK, right?
Heather's post makes me wonder if my blog only reflects a domestic fantasy? Probably, but, from the looks of this photo of our living room, it beats the alternative don'cha think? I'm actually a rather grubby kinda gal. I don't know why I make pretty things and take pretty photos of them. Hopefully I'll balance all that frou-frou stuff with some real world crap, especially since I was originally inspired to do this whole blog thing by one crafty mum's honesty.
The craft blog world opened up to me when I happened upon Kathreen's now-defunct blog while looking for a kid pants tutorial. I was captivated with her life because it was just like mine, but she'd been doing the kid thing awhile longer. This post describes how she let her kids watch videos and only cleaned twenty minutes a day in order to do some crafty/self-indulgent things. I read this at a time when I was a newish, first-time parent and was going out of my fucking mind staying at home. I was lonely and feeling guilty for letting my son watch Baby Einstein videos. Kathreen's admissions gave me the OK to do something for myself. She was also the portal to all you amazing crafty gals. Thanks Kathreen, you literally saved my sanity.
As far as the fantasy thing goes, I suspect my sold-my-soul-to-the-devil advertising/graphic design background has permanently affected the choices I make, especially in photos. I'm afraid my blog might look a bit fancier-than-thou. But, let me tell you a little secret—if you look a little closer you'll notice I only take photos in a couple of spots of our home because the rest is much less glamorous, hence the Crap Pile photo. You could call our decor preschool chic with a hint of packratism. In the past I've wanted to add photos to Amanda's Corners of My Home group, but all of our corners are filled with the clutter of a three-generation household.
In my real world I'm a funky, infrequent bather who let's my child watch too many videos and (gasp) TV [insert guilt here]. I don't have cute clothes or read books, except to my kids. I only cook dinner a few times a week. The pile of dirty clothes in our closet is, on average, about three cubic feet. There's an equal amount of clean clothes piled in our bedroom. I don't exercise. I don't travel. I don't edit my posts much. We live with my mom in the house I grew up in. Most of these things help me have the time to craft — all are choices I willingly make. Crafting fits into my life because I can sneak it into the million tiny moments a mom has. I can crochet standing in a parking lot while rocking a baby in a sling with another kid asleep in a car seat. I can multi-talk like nobody's business. I used to fill my life with school, career, costume/dinner parties, travel, gardening, and slow food-style cooking. I liked my life then, I like my life now—neither is better.
Tonight I found Scratch Craft through Heather at Making Time. Heather wrote an interesting post, Craft Blog as Domestic Fantasy, that referred to Scratch's love-hate relationship with the crafty bloggers. In response to Scratch's Bad Mood I thought I'd resurrect this photo that I had posted on Flickr, but had never posted on my blog. Scratch is wondering how the stay-at-home craft bloggers have time for "the kid, the crafts, the site, and then at some point a husband...." I think this photo answers most of her question. A whole lot of neglect happens so that I can craft and blog about it. But it's all in the name of keeping the mama sane, so it's OK, right?
Heather's post makes me wonder if my blog only reflects a domestic fantasy? Probably, but, from the looks of this photo of our living room, it beats the alternative don'cha think? I'm actually a rather grubby kinda gal. I don't know why I make pretty things and take pretty photos of them. Hopefully I'll balance all that frou-frou stuff with some real world crap, especially since I was originally inspired to do this whole blog thing by one crafty mum's honesty.
The craft blog world opened up to me when I happened upon Kathreen's now-defunct blog while looking for a kid pants tutorial. I was captivated with her life because it was just like mine, but she'd been doing the kid thing awhile longer. This post describes how she let her kids watch videos and only cleaned twenty minutes a day in order to do some crafty/self-indulgent things. I read this at a time when I was a newish, first-time parent and was going out of my fucking mind staying at home. I was lonely and feeling guilty for letting my son watch Baby Einstein videos. Kathreen's admissions gave me the OK to do something for myself. She was also the portal to all you amazing crafty gals. Thanks Kathreen, you literally saved my sanity.
As far as the fantasy thing goes, I suspect my sold-my-soul-to-the-devil advertising/graphic design background has permanently affected the choices I make, especially in photos. I'm afraid my blog might look a bit fancier-than-thou. But, let me tell you a little secret—if you look a little closer you'll notice I only take photos in a couple of spots of our home because the rest is much less glamorous, hence the Crap Pile photo. You could call our decor preschool chic with a hint of packratism. In the past I've wanted to add photos to Amanda's Corners of My Home group, but all of our corners are filled with the clutter of a three-generation household.
In my real world I'm a funky, infrequent bather who let's my child watch too many videos and (gasp) TV [insert guilt here]. I don't have cute clothes or read books, except to my kids. I only cook dinner a few times a week. The pile of dirty clothes in our closet is, on average, about three cubic feet. There's an equal amount of clean clothes piled in our bedroom. I don't exercise. I don't travel. I don't edit my posts much. We live with my mom in the house I grew up in. Most of these things help me have the time to craft — all are choices I willingly make. Crafting fits into my life because I can sneak it into the million tiny moments a mom has. I can crochet standing in a parking lot while rocking a baby in a sling with another kid asleep in a car seat. I can multi-talk like nobody's business. I used to fill my life with school, career, costume/dinner parties, travel, gardening, and slow food-style cooking. I liked my life then, I like my life now—neither is better.
