Closing up shop

After five (six? I've lost count...) years, my heart just isn't in crafting 100% anymore. As the indie craft world has changed, I haven't been able to keep up the pace to change with it. I still love making things and will always dabble, but actively producing with the end result of selling (and the marketing that goes with it) just doesn't fit into my life anymore. My day job is more demanding -- and more fulfilling -- than the one I had when I started disCARDS. I'm involved with crafting in a different capacity now, as an organizer and volunteer coordinator for Handmade Arcade. My house has become an endless source of frustration and joy as I've begun to re-focus the creative energy I once dedicated to crafts on decorating and renovating.

I just don't have the time or motivation anymore to be as creative as the new crafters who pop up every day, and though I realize there's not a limit on how many people can be part of the crafting community, I feel like it's time for me to step aside to symbolically to "make room" for some up-and-comers who have a lot more passion and "can do spirit" than I do.

I've taken breaks before, and made statements like the one above many times, but I feel like I need to do something more definitive this time. There just isn't room -- literally and figuratively, in my home and in my life -- for this anymore. Closets and miscellaneous boxes in the attic store an absurd amount of craft supplies and unsold inventory and they're starting to be an energy-suck. I'm struggling with this because I truly love what I've made and don't want to give it away for nothing, but I also need to be practical and MAKE ROOM.

So... what am I making room for? Writing, for one thing. I've started blogging for Teal Cat Project, which I'm really liking. I had missed writing outside of work, and for a while, crafting had filled the creative space that writing once did. I'm also in the brainstorming stages of a new blog about living spaces in TV and movies, where I hope to explore everything from decor to architecture to class signifiers and ways that homes on screen capture the zeitgeist of the time they represent.

I'm also just becoming more mindful of my own personal space, and I'm beginning to feel that my collection of crafting materials is encroaching on that space. I will always love art supplies, ephemera, vintage things, and quirky things. But now, even when I have the cash to spend, I'm choosier on my thrifting excursions, because I think of where the things will ultimately end up. I'm beginning to follow the "one-in/one-out" rule more than I have in the past (not 100%, but I'm getting better at it). It's much easier to "edit" when your house has only four, tiny closets built in 1925. Particularly when you realize that eventually, the attic where you've been dumping everything that doesn't fit in those closets will need to become a functioning room of the house.

That said, I will be appearing at Handmade Arcade for the Holidays on Saturday, November 12 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Downtown Pittsburgh. It may be my last show -- but who knows? In a year, I may feel differently. I'll be selling my usual products, but will be phasing out some items (jewelry, button flowers) once they're gone. I'll also be selling most of my supplies (in the form of "bricolage kits"). After Handmade Arcade, I will be selling most of my remaining supplies. My goal is to only keep the supplies -- mostly card-making materials -- that fit in two or three medium storage bins in my (tiny) home office. If you're interested in any of these materials -- vintage book pages and covers, beads, buttons galore, ribbon, fabric, and more -- please let me know!

I hope to see you at Handmade Arcade! Of course, I'd love to sell out of all my items and see some familiar faces as a proper send-off, but more importantly, I want to see Handmade Arcade packed and full of energy! That's what made me get into crafting in the first place, and no matter what happens to disCARDS, I still want to be part of that and see it thrive.

Thanks for buying my items and reading my blog these past five (or six!) years. It's been fun and I've met some great people along the way! I hope you'll follow me to my next adventure (once I figure out what it is!)