Mother Crafter by Bleuroo

I've found that my most creative time, when my mind is swimming with new designs and general to-do lists, is mid-morning to early afternoon. Of course this is the time I'm stuck behind my desk, an hour's trip away from my home and all of my crafting supplies. So I've taken to emailing myself with new ideas when they strike, trying to capture that creativity while I can. But then I have an hour's drive home (that is if no one has rear ended the semi in front of them while rubbernecking at the crash in the ditch that occurred because the driver spilled their soda, etc.), so I don't get there until after 6 p.m. most days. Then I walk in the door and am drawn to my boy like a moth to a flame. I mean, who could resist the most adorable child ever to have graced the face of the planet when he is in your own house?! So I must cuddle and play with him, while multi-tasking (catch up with husband, change out of god-awful office clothes, change a diaper, throw a load of clothes in washer, trip over dog, etc.). Then, what's for dinner? Hmmm, frozen pizza again, brilliant! Sneak in a few minutes to watch the boob tube and it's time for baby's bath, then bottle, then rock him while he drifts off to dreamland. Now it's after 8, time to spend with my husband before he goes to bed to wake up at 3 a.m. for work. After all of this, I'll put in some time on the computer, catching up with emails, Myspace, and Etsy (of course!). Now it's way too late and I should have been in bed an hour ago, but hey, who needs sleep, right? Not us mothers.
So what's my point in all of this, you might ask. Well, did you notice any time allotted in the above day, which is extremely accurate not only for me, but for thousands of other mothers out there, for crafting? Ummmm, yeah, me either. I usually do as much crafting as I can on the weekends, which often gets interrupted by fussy baby or laundry or dishes or other random household chores. And don't get me wrong, my husband really isn't some useless lump on the couch that ignores the babe or my efforts to work. He may be a bit clueless about how to fasten a diaper correctly, or not packing in 3 loads of clothes in the washer at once. But he's a keeper. In fact, he's one of the reasons that I get as much done as I do. But still, there's only so much time in a day. Which leads me to ask: how do all of the working, crafting mothers do it?!? How do you create 20 pairs of earrings (or whatever your artistic forte may be), promote your shop effectively, parent a child(ren), be a partner, keep a house, have a life, oh yeah, and go to work 40 hours a week (plus commute time)……well, you get what I'm putting down. And let me clarify, when I say working mother, I mean working outside of the home, but I know that all of this can, and does, apply to work at home moms, too. To me, you are either a work outside or inside of the home mom, none of this stay at home crap! Mothers who stay at home with their kids work their tails off, too, if not more so. I know I'm exhausted after a full day with my guy! But my focus is on working outside of the home because that is what I know, and I think it does pose it's own set of challenges and problems. So, now that that's out of the way…..

Why do we do it? I mean, why do we work so hard and stress so much over something that, for most of us, we don't have to do? I would venture to say that the majority of us are not making huge profits off of our creations, and therefore not contributing greatly to our finances. I would think most of us might be making enough to cover our materials and promotional efforts, but that's about it. But I hope I'm wrong, I hope you ladies out there are selling your socks off! For me, not so much. But I keep on, with a drive that I've never really had for anything else in my life. Why do I stay up later than I should, using up precious sleep time with promoting and stitching and sorting beads? Why do I spend more money or time than I should at the craft store? Why do I spend countless hours taking and retaking, touching up, cropping, and uploading pictures? I think I can answer for all crafting mothers out there when I say we do it because we LOVE it!! Honestly, what other reason is there to do it? I mean, if you can make big bucks off of your art, then that's the icing on the cake. But I do it because I need to do it. I need to have a creative outlet. I need to share my work with someone, whether they buy it or not. I need something that is strictly mine in this world. My house is not mine, the work I do at my job is not mine. My husband does not belong to me, nor does my child. They are their own individuals who's lives I play a part in, but they are not mine. But my creations, my designs, my ideas, my art, that is mine. I can craft what I want, I promote how I want (whether it's effective or not), I can market and price and package how I want. No one can tell me what to make, no one can say don't do that design, don't create.

I started this blog out with one question in mind: how do working, crafting moms do what they do? Now I realize, the how and the why are the same. We do what we do because we love it, and that's how we do it. We love it, so we will make time, we will stay up late, will spend our profits on more art supplies, we will take countless pictures. Our love of our craft permits us the drive and fire to do what we want, to make it work. And it's not easy, and it's not always perfect. But it's ours, and it's what we take pride in. We can say "Look. Look what I created with my own two hands."

My store is small, I have not sold much. And you know, that's okay. Would I love to sell more? Yes, of course. And I know it will probably get harder before it gets easier. But I'm here, trying and sharing. That's all I can ask of myself.
I'm a mother first. But I think being a mother has opened up my eyes to so much more than I saw before. And in this way, it has made me a better, more conscious crafter. No, it's made me a better, more conscious person. I just hope I can stick with it that long. But even if I were not trying to sell my crafts, I would create. It's ingrained in me. Just as my mother sewed, painted, made jewelry, quilted, and her mother before her, I will create, too. I only hope I can pass the appreciation of the handmade arts on to my son.


--~Bleuroo Handcrafted Sweetness~
http://www.bleuroo.etsy.com/