Do you have crafty friends?

amanelle · Joined: 13 Apr 2004 Posts: 347 Location: NC

Okay, I don't have any friends at all, but if I did I'd want them to be crafty.

soapandwater · Joined: 13 Apr 2004 Posts: 945

They've been refusing my attempts at making them craftier. My best friend, however, does crochet, but she doesn't do it anymore. I'm the only one who obsesses over this sort of thing, whether I'm any good at it or not.

That's why I plan on moving to an artsier city. One with real music venues.
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danielepea · Joined: 07 May 2004 Posts: 185 Location: NOLA

Some of my friends are very crafty and some of my friends are not crafty at all. Like me, the majority fall somewhere in the middle.

A few of my friends in high school were mildly crafty and one of them was an excellent sewer. She used to make her own clothes and everything! Another of my highschool friends (who I am still quite close with) is super artistic and made all kinds of crazy stuff for his room.

My roommates senior year of college were quite crafty and we would sit at our kitchen table gabbing and making stuff several times a week. It was so much fun!

Now I know quite a few people who are crafty (most of whom I met through get crafty!) here in the city. I hope that I can find more crafty people in my new city when I move in a few months.

One thing that I think is sweet is when my non-crafty friends have crafty moments. For example, the other day I was trying to decide what to do with the extra orange juice I had from a recent cookie recipe. My roommate suggested that we make ice pops and was quite proud of himself for having such an idea. Hee hee. I'm rubbing off on him.
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lizzymahoney · Joined: 13 Apr 2004 Posts: 804

Friends I thought were crafty aren't, but some I wouldn't have guessed are. Go figure. I work part time at Jo-ann, and some of my coworkers are completely into one type of thing, say quilting. But uninterested in all other aspects of commonly available craft.

A few will say they "don't sew" but they really do, just not with a serger or maybe without patterns. A few say they "don't knit/crochet" but they have some expertise when customers ask for help. Most say they've never made candles/jewelry/sculpey/soap/ or applique, but they really have at least a few times. And some are truly not interested in any sort of craft. Why would they work in a fabric and craft store? Because just like the customers, they watch too damn much HGTV. They want the look of handmade things, but would rather buy the premade crap windchimes or make a fleece blanket while watching TV. I think there's still a kernel of craftiness in them, though.

Now my fellow nursing students have some much cooler ideas. One girl macrames all sorts of beaded jewelry for some of us. Another reconstructs clothing to be something she would like. One designs her own tattoos. And one of the guys cooks a lot, as do many of the women. A lot make their beach wear or halter tops or decorate their flipflops.

A long ago friend was into miniatures. You know the dollhouse stuff. She had to buy $$$ furnishings for her rooms and dollhouses. Fimo or sculpey cakes and flower arrangements, faked paintings and oriental rugs, lots of furnishings like trash cans and cooking pots. Of course I could make all that and make it better, but she really preferred to buy it from someone who made a living at it. I guess it was more collectible that way. Her problem.

sewing stars · Joined: 27 Apr 2004 Posts: 112 Location: Little Rhody

I guess I am lucky, or maybe it is a side effect of having gone to art college, but my best freind is as crafty if not craftier than me! We sell our crafty goodness together at sales, and we often go over to one another's house to sit and be crafty together.

As for my other friends...well mostly they are 'artists' not crafters. I have met some super nice girls on these boards, though, and go to a bi-weekly meeting with them to sit and bask in the crafty glow. It is very nice to be around other women who aren't grandma aged that like knitting, sewing, etc.
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xuli · Posted: Sat May 29, 2004 12:48 pm Post subject:

My bestest bestest friend in the whole world is super crafty, at least as much as I am (she crochets, she taught me to make candles, she sews, we cook together all the time). Alas, she is very far away from me right now, working on an organic goat farm in France. I also have another very good friend who sews, compulsively makes things to decorate her apartment, thrifts, and makes her own stationary.

jennjitsu · Joined: 23 May 2004 Posts: 210 Location: Colorado

I don't really have many friends, just coworkers who kinda double as friends. But I'm leaving them soon. So I'll be back to square one with no friends!
But yes. Like Amanelle, I certainly want them to be crafty.
I'm going to Anchorage, what else in the world is there to do in the winter OTHER than craft?

My best friend from highschool was pretty creative. She could paint really neat surrealist pictures. Nothing like Dali, but really strange yet intriguing. She would decorate her room in such a way that it reminded me of a coffeehouse that does slam poetry readings. She had the coolest low-to-the-ground round table and we'd sit and do art or read at it. She didn't like it though and got rid of it. I wish I had grabbed it!

jennjitsu

Dawn · Joined: 14 Apr 2004 Posts: 78

I don't have very many friends, and only one of them is crafty. I used to belong to a great Stitch & Bitch group and was rapidly becoming friends with those cool ladies, but they have since all moved away. The one crafty friend I have is married and recently had a baby, so we don't really get to see each other much. When we do, though, it is nice to have someone to talk about art and crafts and new supplies with - someone who "gets" the whole idea of sewing your baby's crib set and making bibs versus buying them at the store. We also go thrifting, and she finds much better stuff than I do. I would definitely like to have more crafty friends, but not too many do stuff like that here, it seems. At least, not many people my age. People oooh and aaah when I stamp images onto colored index cards - they think it's a big deal and that it takes a lot of work and skill. This is how non-crafty the folks around me are.

Fortunately for me, I have great aunts who are super crafty, in addition to being the smartest people I know. I turn to them for crafty inspiration and help with my projects.

:o)

quixotic · Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2004 8:24 pm Post subject:

some of my friends are crafty, some aren't. all of them know that i carry my knitting around with me everywhere and aren't surprised when i whip it out at the pub. some of them make fun of me about it, while others ask me what new stitch i'm using and how to do it.

i'd say that my crafty friends are in the majority, which is nice. but sometimes i have moments where i want to talk about everything but crafts, you know?

x
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brdgt · Posted: Thu Jun 17, 2004 8:36 am Post subject:

All of my friends, including my husband, are super crafty - except for my bestest friend, she's not crafty at all - but hey, that way I can really impress her with gifts that I hand make :)

Most of my friends have super crafty parents/grandparents and learned skills from them, and/or live diy/indie lifestyles where they value making things themselves.

CraftinFool · Joined: 14 Apr 2004 Posts: 809 Location: New England

2 of my closest friends make gorgeous beaded jewerly and their creativity and artistic abilities make me very jealous!

But none of my friends do crafts similar to what I do - crochet, knit, cross-stitch, felt crafts, paper crafts, etc. I wish they did - it would be fun to share it with them.

But most of my friends are into cooking and use that to express their creativity.

hiatus · Joined: 13 Apr 2004 Posts: 16 Location: CA

ianthe*blossom · Joined: 19 Apr 2004 Posts: 15 Location: KCMO suburbia

My very best friend sews, but doesn't do much else.
My best friend at work does embroidery, cross-stitch, knitting, crochet, and tatting.
My husband is quite the artist, and cooks the most divine food (which I say is crafty, as he is very imaginative). I want him to go to culinary school, but it's so expensive.

belettepetite · Joined: 27 Jun 2004 Posts: 21 Location: jerz

no :(
i only have one or two girlfriends, one crochets but thats all. so im all alone in my crafting. thats why i love these forums!! you guys are my crafting friends. its always nice to show someone (one of my guy friends) something i made and theyre so impressed because theyre artistically defunct. makes you feel good.
my boyfriend likes to draw and do photography. . . i secretly think i inspired him to start.

Karen · Posted: Tue Jul 06, 2004 3:20 pm Post subject:

No, which is why I a. started a Stitch 'n Bitch and b. opened it to women & men of all ages who do any portable craft. I've met all sorts of people & been inspired to try new crafts.