Creation/Craft Week

I love my job. I truly do. But we all need vacations from our every day… and I knew I needed a vacation to help balance my other work-love: sewing.

It’s been about nine months since I was able to just spend time sewing. Shocking, for someone who sells hand-made sewn stoles on Etsy. But, alas, it is true. Working a full-time job that you really love can do that to you. Since January, I’ve been able to sew only when needed. If I had a custom order come through Etsy, I would create time on weekends to make the item and ship it within three weeks of purchase. Wonderful that I still got to sew and create lovely things, but not altogether satisfying. I needed (wanted) time to simply sew.

This week, I got it.

Part of what I love so much about my full time job is that we have a flexible vacation policy: just make sure that you’re not stranding your co-workers or being irresponsible with time away from the office, and you can take it. Given that I’d not had time away from the office since April, I figured it was time.

Like all craft projects, there was a certain effort to get acclimated to the new freedom I had this Monday morning. So I cleaned up my house. Typical procrastination, I’m aware. Then I took a little road trip (because, really, it’s been too long since I’ve been able to just drive somewhere frivolous). Then I got to work.

So far, it’s been miraculous! I didn’t realize just how much I’d been wanting to create new things until I had my hands in fabric again (I’m sure I’ll mention it in greater detail soon, but I’m having a love affair with batiks).  Though I love the designs I currently have for sale on Etsy, I had been craving the opportunity to make things I’ve never made before.

I can’t wait to show you what I’ve been working on. Perhaps some new designs will come out of this week, perhaps not. In either case, I feel so fortunate to be able to take time this week to just create. Simple as that.