Since I’ve been feeling pretty overwhelmed lately, I thought it might be a good idea to look at my priorities and get my ducks in a row, as it were. I’ve decided to scale back on the dollmaking/sewing. It has, sadly, become another area of my life where I am feeling more stressed than blessed. I’ve removed my shop from etsy and cleaned out my stash a little bit. I’ve begun listing my things on ebay. You can see what I’ve got here.

I’m not saying that I’m not going to sew anymore, but I’m definitely putting it on the back burner. I also put myself on “no mail” on my dollmaking groups. I went through a couple of days of mourning over this. Tender Arts has always been more dream than reality, but it was mine. But it was also stressing me out! Everything I had to do that wasn’t about dolls, made me resentful. That’s probably not the best way to live. And truthfully, there isn’t very much time for playing in fabric, so I was spending A LOT of my time being resentful! So now, my life is going to be about my family, my home and my work.

Funny how something can start by enriching your life, but can end up impoverishing it. When I first started making dolls in earnest, my mother was dying of cancer and my husband was very sick. This was in 2002. We didn’t know then that he would be treatable and ultimately very happy and productive; we only knew that he was miserable and that nothing seemed to be helping. (He has since been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, dissociative disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.) At that time, making a doll was about the only way I had to create something good. I was helpless in the face of those big issues, but turning cloth and yarn into something sweet helped me feel like I could do something positive. It kind of snowballed after that. Too much of a good thing, I suppose!

If you check out my listings you will see that there is more than fabric and dollmaking supplies. I’ve decided to clean out a lot of cupboards! So there will be a mish-mash of stuff. I sure hope that I will continue to have something to blog about- I’ve enjoyed this experience so much. If not, I will probably know soon enough and will make my good-byes before signing off. Whether this blog survives or not, I will be still be enjoying all the lovely crafters on bloglines that are as real to me as my offline friends! (((Hugs to all!)))