A New Beginning

Welcome to my new blog! In the spirit of the new year and in light of a tumultuous 2008, I’ve decided to start my blog anew.

Why am I calling this blog My Handmade Life? For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a maker. I love making things- beautiful and useful things. When I’ve finished a project, it’s not just about how pretty or well-made it is, it’s knowing that it will serve a purpose- keeping belongings safe, clothing clean or little fingers warm.

I read Alice Walker’s Everyday Use in a college course years ago, and it has always stuck with me. It is about two African American sisters. The elder moves away and becomes “cultured” while the younger stays home with her mother and continues to live in the traditional ways of their family. When the elder sister returns, she wants to take her family’s heirlooms back to the city and treat them as priceless artifacts. The younger prefers to continue using them as her family always has. In the end, the mother decides to let the younger sister keep them because she will put them to everyday use, as was intended by their makers.

This Christmas, while furiously knitting to finish all of my gifts on time, (I didn’t quite make it) something occurred to me. I have sent so many of my handmade objects out into the world as sales or as gifts, but I haven’t made many things for everyday use in my own home. This year, I am resolving to change that. In fact, I’m going to try to change a few things this year:

• Create more objects for our home (quilts, towels, aprons, etc.)
• Create more objects for ourselves and our kids (clothing, toys, etc)
• Blog at least twice a week
• Be better about documenting my projects with photos
• Have a vegetable, herb and flower garden- however small or fruitless (sadly, I’ve never had a green thumb)
• Donate at least ten handmade items to a charity like Dulaan.

Whether I make any progress on these goals is yet to be seen, but I hope to spend a satisfying year trying, and sharing my experiences here. Since I do run two crafty businesses, you’ll also see occasional business updates, but they won’t be the primary focus here.

Here’s to 2009!