Craft With Me Series
Why I started this Craft With Me Series. I took a workshop recently with Catherine Lash that guided us toward an artist statement of purpose. I had a full blog post about it here. We chose words really quickly kind of like a gut instinct. Mine were create and experiment. When I sat with them and defined what they meant to me, I landed on making freely, trial and error, and not limiting myself. She guided us and said I'm at my best when I'm free to make without restriction and let trial and error lead the way. That freedom is what lets me communicate what I believe in and that the "why" behind it isn't really about me. It's about giving other people permission to do the same, to experiment, to try and fail, and to stop limiting themselves in life and in art. That's the difference I want my art, my content, and my purpose to make. Read the full blog post about it here.
Ever since the workshop, I've been finding ways to live out that purpose more intentionally. I had a long conversation with my husband about feeling burnt out from keeping up with social media and chasing algorithm hacks. I wanted to make and create freely without thinking about what I need to sell or how to go viral.
Then I got a project with a brand where I was supposed to cross stitch and I had so much fun doing it. My very next thought was, how do I sell this, how do I make short-form content from it and will it be trendy but I told my husband that cross stitching really has no practical purpose, it's just going to be a card or a bookmark. I spent hours thinking about it and talking myself out of it.
My husband said why not just do it for the fun of it. Do a long video. It doesn't have to be practical and it doesn't have to be trending. It's just to make and share for the fun of it. Even if no one watches, it'll be slow and peaceful, and maybe someone, one person wants just that. I immediately said, "Woah, you just gave me the best idea ever."
Using the words from my artist purpose, to create and experiment, this is my new Craft With Me series. It has no real practicality or purpose other than making freely with no limit. It's a whole hour of me making because I want to and you can make along in the background in your own craft room.
My very first episode is a flower cross stitch, full process, no talking. I hope this ASMR video keeps you focused for the hour, like those "study with me" pomodoro videos. I hope it helps you stay off social media while you craft or study and I hope it motivates you to finish your art or craft project or whatever you are working on. You might hear birds in my backyard, the sound of cross stitching, and cars or planes from time to time but I hope that helps you know I'm right there crafting with you. Here is the video below or linked here.
Tell me in the comments what you're crafting and where you're joining from. I'd also love to know what kind of videos you like to watch and which crafting projects you want to see in full-process form next.
