Craft Pick of the Week: Rising from the Ashes

Beyond Robson writers and readers - I owe you an apology. I've been lying low and not writing anything for the past few weeks. It's been a mix of depression, too much clutter and too much busy-ness in my life and I needed some time to get it sorted all out. It's a slow process, but one of the first things I'm doing is getting rid of a lot of stuff. I know that re-examining your life is a common thing to do this time of year, and in the spirit of cleanliness and craftiness I thought I'd give you a look at what I'm attempting to do right now:

1. Weeding out art and craft books. Both the Seamrippers Craft Collective and Blim will take donations of craft books and videos for their libraries. If you have old books that you no longer need, pass them along to those who do. Other books? The VPL is always happy to take donations.

2. Getting rid of craft shreds and supplies. My sister is a school teacher so many of my paper scraps, wool and old rubber stamps will go to her. If you know a teacher you may want to see if they want your leftover craft matter. If you have craft scraps in bulk, the good people at Urban Source on Main Street would be worth talking to.

3. Barter and swap. Too many pieces of wool? My stitch and bitch group is having a yarn swap on January 17th. Bring your leftovers to trade. Or, arrange your own with friends.

4. Left over projects - is that hat you made too large or too small? Donate it to a charity like Hats off to Chemo who will give it to a hospital as a gift to a chemo patient, or sew all those fabric swatches together and give a small animal at the SPCA a blanket.

5. Volunteering at something I enjoy - there are many opportunities to volunteer in the community that involve leading a craft group or creating as a means of creating community.

Have no fear, Craft Pick of the Week is now back to its regularly scheduled program.