A mark of the Fae is that they are impatient. Very few of them can wait long for anything, and most of the time, they loose interest in activities and tasks very quickly. (It's no wonder that even the most skilled little craftsmen, cobblers and tailors never finish their projects unless bribed generously. I mean, you'll likely never find a leprechaun that has ever maid a PAIR of shoes. They only ever craft one.) A fairy that does good work all the time and consistently finishes is not any more ambitious than his peers, he is simply displaying another mark of the Fae: Obsessive-Compulsiveness.
I happen to be just as impatient.
As impatience is almost a required..ahem...quality...ahem...of the Faeries, so is creativity. They always must be creating, making, doing, and so on. But if anything is to be finished, there must be a satisfactory level of instant gratification.
I happen to be just as creative. And it has to show success very quickly, or else, I am ashamed to admit, I quit.
Honestly. In the deep, dark corner of my yet unfinished basement, there is a shelf. Upon that shelf is stacked, until it overflows, the remnants and collections of all my rotating hobbies.
Of course, on the top shelf, where it's easily accessible without having to move too much junk, my wire, spray adhesive, glitter, 15 different colors of glass paint and cellophane for wing making is heaped in a basket, and piled in several large garbage bags on the floor are the scores of flowers and leaves and ribbons and moss and so on that I use to decorate said wings and any costumes I might throw together. Speaking of costumes, two GIANT plastic storage bins full of costumes are stacked against the wall on the other side of the shelf. These are things I still use and will probably always use at least off and on- so at least that hobby isn't a complete waste of time and money.
Below that, two large plastic containers are chock-full of polymer modeling clay from a stint I took in sculpting Fairies. Brandon, my ever doting dragon of a husband, was amazing and supportive enough to buy me multiple bricks of expensive baby skin colored clay, and brick upon brick of smaller sculpy clay of varying colors.Along side those containers, at least seven different instructional books on how to sculpt fairies, dragons, cartoon figurines, life like figures and even some about making patterned beads. In a wooden treasure chest, patches of dyed Tibetan lambskin/hair in probably 12 different colors (for the sculpted fairies' hair), miniature glass eyes of all colors, soldering iron, armature wire, and any other miniature tidbits are stuffed for safekeeping.
A box of random and regularly used tools: Needle nosed pliers, several sizes and differently shaped screw drivers, knives, toothpicks, more wire, hot glue and gun, and varying dental tools.
More baskets full of yarn from my crocheting stint are piled against the wall. One more thing that was beautiful, but took too long to accomplish.
The lower shelves of my stash are full of books of instruction on photography, sewing- along with many MANY sewing patterns that I never learned how to follow- flower arranging, quilting (which I did very well at for awhile), wreath making, piles upon piles of books about fairies, and lore and legends and how to conjure them.
Not displayed on any shelf are the years of ballet, tap, Irish dancing, ice skating, gymnastics, ballroom dance, saxophone, and piano lessons that I took.
My husband is no stranger to this pattern either. He has a 6 foot foam board castle he painstakingly built for a Dungeons and Dragons campaign he mastered, and at least one of my shelves is dedicated solely to his D&D books and supplies for building landscapes and such playing boards.
I can't seem to bring myself to get rid of any of it though. I might need it for something.
Once, I asked Brandon if it irritated him, the money and time I spend on hobbies I never finish or stick to, and he only laughed and said "You don't have tons of hobbies. You only have one hobby: Fairies. And everything else you do pertains to that."
Well, then. I guess that IS true.
So, for my newest hobby, and something I hope very desperately to thrive at, so stick to, and to maybe be able to make some money on, I am learning to upcycle sweaters. I have made 2 sweaters so far, with a zig zag stitch on my regular sewing machine. Scarlet's sweater is pretty boring and dull. I made it out of what I had lying around. So, I intend to make her something else, now that I have a serger- Brandon, again, very wonderfully being supportive, got me a serger for Christmas. (Trouble is, I don't know how to use it!!!)
Lilly's, also made with my zig zag machine before I received my serger, is much more intricate and I must say I am very happy with the outcome- hers is made from multiple black and white patterned sweaters. It's adorable. And I haven't yet taken pictures of it on her because I need to make button holes on it and I don't know how.
Hopefully, someday soon, I will be good enough to produce items such as this:
(To find her on etsy, search Katwise. Though, she doesn't do custom orders, and it's near impossible to nab one of her masterpieces....which is why I decided to make my own.)
