The Creative Life Series: On Failure

It seems almost unnecessary to write a post to creative types on the subject of failure. Creatives are by their very nature experimental, and experimenting is by its very nature about trial and error. Creatives have an innate thirst for trying lots of new techniques and crafts and methods. Inevitably, sometimes they will work out brilliantly, and other times, not so.

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Crafters in particular understand failure. Oh, we really do. While a musician might play one or two instruments really well, a dancer might have a specialism in one discipline, or an artist might favour oil over acrylic, hobby crafters tend to be multi-crafters. Serial crafters. I have a theory that if you find you are good at one particular craft, you are likely to be equally talented in a number of other, related crafts. For example, a jewellery maker might be good at wire work. A cake decorator might be good at polymer clay modelling. Because of our multi-tackle method of our hobby, though, we naturally experience more failure, because we try lots of things and so there is lots more that can go wrong. And I sometimes wonder if this gets some of us a bit down in the mouth.

Is it failure though? I think there are two types of so-called failure. One is wonderful, while the other is a tragedy.

The "I tried making something and it went wrong" failure:

I have lost count of how many craft projects I've attempted that have gone wrong. In fact, in mulling over this subject I wrote some of them down and amused myself so much that I'm going to share the list with you next week. But did I actually fail every time a project went wrong? Of course I didn't! As Edision would say, I'd simply discovered yet another way of how not to do something next time. I learn so much every time something goes wrong. Sure, it's frustrating, and disheartening - expensive even - when a craft project doesn't turn out like I pictured in my head, or, worse, as it looked on Pinterest (oh, Pinterest, you cruel, mocking mistress!) but making something that no one in the history of the universe has ever made before should involve a certain amount of trial and error. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it, and it would be neither fun or special.

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The great thing about crafting is that there are so many gazillions of projects to make that one failure can teach you a lesson you can apply to many hundreds of other projects in the future. The important thing is that you have fun, and keep on crafting, (there's a bumper sticker right there). The Ancient Greeks used to purposefully put one imperfection into every pot they made as a reminder that no human is perfect. You can tell that story stuck with me because I tell it often, but it's become almost a mantra for my own creativity too, and indeed every other task I take on in life. Strive for excellence, not perfection. Flaws in our work and projects not working out can be one of the best things about crafting, really, because those failures are the moments when we learn so much about our craft, about how materials work, and most importantly, we learn about ourselves.

Every man made item that has ever been is the result of man failing and trying again, failing and trying again. As crafters we have the privilege of being creators, bringing into existence items that have never existed before, and never will again. The failures between starting a project and a finished article we are pleased with are what makes that item unique. There will never be another.

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The "I tried that craft once, but I was crap at it" failure:

Of course, the real failure comes not in ending up with a wonky, er, 'breathable' jumper that only your mother could love. The failure comes in the curse of the multi-crafter, which is this:

Getting over-excited and wanting to try loads of crafts is one of the best things about being a crafter. But all too often it can mean we try a craft, struggle, decide it's not for us, and then declare that we are 'a knitter, not a crocheter' or are rubbish at sewing... and we close ourselves off to the beauty of trying again and getting better and instead rush off to try something else. And then something else...

The only failure in crafting comes in abandoning a project halfway through, and therefore never getting to know it in all its complete, wonky glory, or trying something, deciding we're just not cut out for the world of flower arranging, or glass etching, or embroidery, and giving up entirely. 

And I've done that a fair few times too. In fact, if it wasn't for the amount of times I've gone crying for help to my patient mum or a crafty friend, I'd have plenty of abandoned craft hobbies on my list. But the last few years have brought me a sort of confidence when it comes to giving new crafts a go, and an understanding that the true value comes in having fun trying, not necessarily in being good at it. In other words, a sort of bloody mindedness and devil may care attitude. It's my job to explore and learn!

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You could put the boot on the other foot and say that we have to give lots of crafts a go before we find the one or two that we excel at, and that is certainly true. We can't all be good at every craft, or indeed enjoy every craft. But when it comes to failure, I say we don't sweat the makes that don't work out as planned, and we don't ever utter the words, "I'm not good at xyz" unless we've given ourselves the time and patience to really find out.

The words you're looking for are, "I'm not good at xyz... yet." And you can apply that to every new thing you try in life.

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Crafting. It's clever stuff, ain't it?






P.S: You can read the first six installments of the Creative Life series here.

Creative Life Series: The Circle of Craft

We all know the personal benefits to being a crafter. There's the satisfaction of playing the creator; of bringing something into existence that would otherwise never come to be, and being in control of the making process from design to completion. There's the therapeutic aspect, the feeling of connection with our crafting ancestors, of continuing their strong relationship with textures and making things without complicated technology. Best of all, there's that indescribable joy of presenting a loved one with something we've made just for them... and their happiness balances perfectly with the long hours we've invested in the gift's creation.

Crafting can be a very personal thing, and a very solitary thing. But the greatest revelation for me since starting this blog in 2011, is that crafting can be anything but solitary, if I want it to be. There is a Circle of Craft, looping through both the internet and real life.

Blogging led to my starting Creatives Unite, so I could sit at home of a Thursday evening in my pyjamas, crafting away solo, and yet be surrounded by a group of friends, all crafting away at the same time, chatting, perhaps sipping tea and indulging in a cheeky piece of cake. If someone's late, they tend to let us know, then we can welcome them in when they burst in through the virtual door, hang up their dripping virtual coat, and plonk down on a virtual scatter cushion in front of the virtual fire. Photos of our makes shoot across the country and beyond during this time. Within seconds of completing a row of crochet I can be receiving feedback on the tension, and encouragement from people who have been crocheting for years. The evening never ends without expressions of joy over our evening's progress and good night tweets.

I have some wonderful friends in 'real life' too - no more real than those crafting away hundreds of miles away from me - but friends I can meet up with regularly and see and share a pot of tea with. You could call this group a separate Circle of Craft, but actually, they are part of the same one - I met them via the online craft community, a community now so vast and far-reaching, that blog and tweet for long enough and the local crafters will always start to identify themselves, as though we have a need to seek out similar personalities and meet one another. This local community has morphed into new and interesting forms, including a craft club, a new WI, a book club and means I have a new set of friends with both shared and complementary talents to my own. Who knew that Twitter could help you feel more at home in your own town?

If our ancestors - those fishermen weaving nets and knitting ganseys, those ladies gathered in the drawing room working on huge, spreading tapestries to keep out the draughts, those knitters making jumpers for the troops during the Second World War - that one day their small circle of craft could reach all around the globe, so that someone in Sweden could praise their work before the last stitch was even completed, so that someone in Bristol could say, 'hey, love that idea, I might try that too!' or that someone in America could help you translate those confusing crochet terms, well, it would have blown their minds.

Whole families, communities and industries have been built around crafting. The Circle of Craft grows ever larger and stronger, and includes everyone, regardless of distance. The benefits to you personally are never ending, and the contributions you can make, limitless.

What's your part in The Circle of Craft?

The Creative Life Series: Overcoming Creator's Block

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So here we are, we have arrived at the last in my Creative Life series. You can read the rest of the series right here.

I want to address the problems of creative inspiration and ideas generation. It’s well documented that anyone who creates regularly will experience barren phases. The well of creative ideas runs dry, the bucket comes up empty. It happens to bloggers, crafters, artists… in fact everyone with a need to regularly produce fresh creative ideas.

For me the adage, “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got,” rings true every time I have this problem. And I’ve learned this:

If my bucket keeps coming up dry, continuing to lower it into the well is senseless. It’s time to go out there and find fresh sources of water.

In other words, get out more.

Each time I’ve found myself stuck for new ideas, whether for this blog, or for craft projects or new button designs, it’s been because I’ve fallen into the trap of doing the same old, same old. Namely, getting up, going to work, coming home again, doing dull tasks like my laundry, making the next day’s packed lunch or washing up… and going to bed. The need to keep money coming in and my awareness that I struggle to be efficient without a dependable routine means that I become dull and my creative output dries up. No wonder when I next sit down with my notebook and try to plan the next few blog posts or designs I keep coming up empty. It’s incredibly frustrating.

So here is what I do whenever the Creative Block of Doom arises.

I’ve said I struggle without a routine. If I threw my routine entirely out of the window I’d always be late to work, my car would run out of fuel, my emails would never get answered and this blog post you’re currently reading wouldn’t exist. And you’d hate me, because I’m incredibly stressed when I’m not organised. So I do little things around my everyday routine to find fresh sources of inspiration. Here are a few:

• I wear a different hairstyle.

• I change the music or radio station in my car on my drive to work.

• I take Bea on a different route on our regular evening dog walk. Twitter followers will know I often ring the changes by seeking out new creatures to talk to as well, which is how I recently came to trip over a goat. Did I just share too much?

...This is Thomas!

• I spend my lunch half-hour researching something I’ve always wanted to learn about. This week it’s how an engine works.

• I try a different lunch recipe. This has been fun because I’m so lazy when it comes to packed lunches usually. Dry ham sandwich and a strawberry yogurt, anyone?

•  I read a new magazine or journal.

• I challenge myself to photograph a small detail to prove inspiration really is everywhere if you look (more on that next week).

These are all tiny little things that help to keep my perspective on life fresh and interesting, because I know that if I’m interested, the inspiration will always come. The main approach I take to tackling this problem though, is to get out more!

Actually, I don’t have a problem with not getting out enough. In your average week I’m lucky to have more than one evening at home (yet another reason why I love the anchorage CreativesUnite provides!), and there’s always something happening in my weekend. Some weeks are so busy that I’m not at home at all. I like to have a full diary, it means I’m challenging myself and life stays fun, but I’ll often find I’m so busy rushing out from work to my evening plans, that I don’t stop and take inspiration from the activities themselves.

Notice more

Now I try to take stock and notice more when I’m out and about. And it’s amazing how much inspiration there is, absolutely everywhere you look. That interesting-looking building reminds me of my love for Art Deco. Could I incorporate that style into my next craft project? I’ve never seen that butterfly species before. Wouldn’t it make a lovely button design? I like her hairstyle. Maybe trying something similar will cheer up Monday? That song lyric about being stuck in a rut, heard in the pub… I can identify with that feeling, so maybe a blog post about getting over creative block? And I write all this down, either in a notebook or on my phone or iPad, because I’m a sod for scribbling notes and then losing them.

I noticed these interesting buildings in Sheffield recently so I snapped them,
thinking they'd work well in a story.

Photograph more

If you find something remotely interesting, quirky or thought-provoking, snap a photo. With all this modern technology around there’s no excuse. Next time you’re at home feeling creatively stifled you won’t need to get out to find inspiration; you’ll have a bank of images from your last adventure. A good way of getting into the snappy habit is to take part in a photography challenge through Instagram or Twitter. ‘Things I’m Thankful For’ and ‘Simple Pleasures’ are popular ones which I’ve found truly inspiring to participate in. #snappyhappy! 

Talk more

People often bring inspiration to me. Because I blog, my interests are pretty much worn on my sleeve, and because those interests mean I spend a lot of time with similarly-minded people, I regularly find that when I’m at WI or book club, round at a friend’s for tea or seeing regular faces at a craft fair, people say things such as, “I was at a flea market the other day and I thought of you when I saw a load of Pyrex.” or, “Anna, they serve Yorkshire Tea here! Have you tried their new blend?” or “Those buttons I bought from you last month. Have you thought about making them into brooches?”

       This made me realise that quite often people know me better than I know myself, but they have a different perspective on my world than I do, so they’re able to present solutions to problems, opinions and fresh inspiration. By telling people about my interests they then reflect ideas back to me, and share similar stories; “Ah yes, I have a friend who loves doilies too. She sews hers onto her handmade quilts.” Bingo! Another idea to play with.

     Social media is invaluable for this as well, with online friends sending me links to sites and events they think I’ll find interesting. Just talk more.

Find events

When I say get out more, you need somewhere to get out to, right? Get on Twitter or Google and you’re bound to find all sorts of events going on in your area. Some cost money, yes. I’m very excited to be going to Folksy Summer School this weekend but it has cost and I can’t afford to go to many of the events in Sheffield I’d really like to. But most of the events I go to are very cheap, costing only my transport, or are even free. I attended a lovely bloggers’ event at Lush recently. Craft fairs, art exhibitions, live music down at the pub, beautiful gardens, picnics, country walks, town walks, craft or book clubs, library events, food fairs… the list is endless. Set yourself a challenge of having a full day out on a fiver. Start a club. Organise a crafters’ picnic. Get out a proper map and plan a five mile walk. See if you can find some live music for free. If you can’t find anything to interest you, sign up for an event you know nothing about, like a medieval joust re-enactment or a mushroom forage – you never know what wondrous inspiration may hit you, and if nothing else you’ll have a tale to tell! I do love a fungi foray.

Some activities don't cost a penny.

Doing the same things every day means that the brain has to look inwards for inspiration. While this can be a useful exercise in resourcefulness the brain does also need a constant supply of stimuli to keep the creativity flowing. I promise you that a world of inspiration waits for you just outside the window of the room you’re sitting in right now. Have the adventure of your life finding it.

Creative Life Series: My Favourite Books on Creativity

As we start to near the end of my Creative Life series, I'd like to bring your attention to one of the main pillars of my own creative soul - books. You all know how much I love books, and I really love books about creativity. I've racked up quite a reading list over the past few years, and here are some titles that I return to over and over. It's so comforting to think that if you have any of these to hand, you need never be without inspiration or your creative mojo ever again!

 

I love Keri Smith. I bought this book, Living Out Loud: Activities to Fuel a Creative Life in 2007, and it changed my whole perception on how grown ups create and view the world. I realised I had lost that unique magical perspective kids take on life, and I was inspired to start embracing creativity through play once again. This book contains all sorts of fun activities (and stickers. STICKERS!) and I must have come back to it dozens of times in the last six years. 

Speaking of which...

If you're nervous about being free and messy in your creativity, I wholly recommend you get yourself one of these. Keri Smith is a genius. Fact. 

Next up, a more refined, disciplined approach to creativity. Twyla Tharp is a professional dancer and choreographer, and I must admit that her book The Creative Habit: Learn it and Use it For Life took me a little perseverance to get into at first, and I ended up listening to the audiobook as well. Once I did, I was hooked, and really found myself identifying with Twyla's way of thinking. This really is a book about habits, which of course can be hard to form, but if you want to make creativity an everyday habit in your life and work, this book is really worth investing your attention. 

 

One of the bastions of the world of books on creativity is Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity; a book I've mentioned a few times on this blog. Don't be put off by the quasi-religious undertones, Cameron makes it clear that spiritual leanings are not necessary to getting the most out of this course-in-a-book. The way I practise creativity is based heavily on what I garnered from this book. From the concept of morning pages to the idea of the artist's date, if you want to become more creative you really can't fail with this one. I've even backed my copy to stop it wearing out with use. 

 

Time for a fun one. Jurgen Wolff is a rather clever thinker, and here he's come up with one of those 'dip into any page for instant inspiration' books. A lot of ideas in these sorts of books can be a little samey, especially if you read lots of them like I do, but this one genuinely contains lots of fresh notions, and it acts as an excellent confidence booster too. It also introduced me to this! 

So those are my staples. Now for a couple currently on my Kindle:

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I'll report back when I've finished them both! Do you have any recommended books on the subject of being creative? I'd love to hear them!

Creative Life Series: The Creativity Date and the Creativity Box

 "Every child is an artist. The problem is to remain an artist once we grow up." ~ Pablo Picasso

I think of myself as a creative person. My interests, my approach to solving problems, my button business and my dreams for the future all revolve around creativity. It has had such an influence on my life, particularly in the last two years, helping me to discover new crafting hobbies, make things I can be proud of and that build my confidence, introducing me to lots of fellow creative sorts through this blog, and acting as invaluable therapy during the tough times, that I am increasingly passionate about helping others to discover and strengthen their own creativity too. The benefits it can bring are boundless.

Creativity, in my view, is a muscle. The muscle is always there, but some people carry it around with them their whole lives, never using it, or even being aware they have it. Others use this muscle when they need or want to ‘push’ something; when they need to come up with a solution to a problem, when they want to make something or write something or perfect dancing the foxtrot. The most creative people actively invest time and effort in the ‘creativity gym’, exercising this muscle. These folks know that the more you use your creative might, the faster the ideas come to you, the stronger your creativity gets, and the more creatively fulfilled and happy you can become.

This knowledge, combined with the fact that, let’s face it – being creative is ridiculously fun – is the reason I started doing two things a few months ago.

1. I started scheduling in a ‘creative date’ in my diary every month. This is different to Creatives Unite in that I don’t actually work on a craft or art project during this session. It's a little like the idea of an 'Artist's Date' Julia Cameron puts forth in The Artist's Way. 
2. I put together a Creativity Box, to use during the date.

So what do I do during this date?

Well, I make a cup of tea.

I take my box and some cushions and plonk myself down on the floor, or on a grassy spot at the park.

Usually my canine companion joins me.

I take my brightly coloured felt tip pens and my sketchbook…

…and I play.

I write down my creative goals for the coming month, and decorate them with bright swirls and squiggles.

I plan blog posts, recipes and craft projects.

I cut snippets and pictures out of magazines, stick them in my smash book and scribble whatever ideas they bring to mind.

I make a mess.

I read about creativity.

I pin inspiring images and craft ideas on Pinterest.

I draw.

I journal.

Children have a natural gift for playing. They spend their days pretending to be dragons and doctors, princesses and puppies. They can make a house out of a cardboard box, a smiley face out of a pizza, and a castle from toilet rolls. They run for fun, cover blank pages with bright colour without an ounce of trepidation, notice the small things and make up stories as easily as they process facts.

Somewhere along the line, we start being told to ‘sit still’, ‘walk, don’t run’, ‘stop being noisy’, ‘don’t make a mess’, ‘don’t waste paper’, ‘think before you act’, ‘it’s time you got your head out of the clouds and faced up to reality’, ‘work is serious and should be taken as such’ and ‘write neatly’. These things are all instilled in us by grown ups who care, and who want to us to become considerate, thoughtful, self-disciplined and self-aware adults.

But we do lose that ability to play, and I don’t believe we’re supposed to. I think we’re supposed to stay curious, supposed to be able to creatively express ourselves, supposed to run through a field of daisies going ‘aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!’ just because, and hey, if you want to pretend to be a dragon it might brighten up that Tuesday afternoon team sales meeting. Just don’t expect Marjorie to ‘get you’.

A creative date once a month is your chance to play, and can bring a world of benefits:

·         Relaxation, or a way to work through problems. Mindless activity can provide a distraction from worry.

·         This is a brilliant way to generate more ideas than you can possibly handle!

·         Gets you ‘in the zone’ ready to work on another creative activity, or tasks such as essay-writing. I often have creative playtime before button-making, and before writing blog posts. It’s a little like the concept of morning pages as also outlined in The Artist’s Way. It readies the mind.

·         Use the time to write in your journal, or cut and paste. This encourages self-reflection and centres your soul so you can think more clearly about what you want from the month ahead.

·         Just for the pure joy of being creative, being messy, playing, not worrying about being perfect, and expressing yourself.

And the creativity box? Just what it says on the tin. A special box in which you keep all sorts of fun stuff for your creative dates. In mine I have:

• My sketchbook/smashbook
• Fun pens
• A colourful messy list of creative goals for the coming month
• Whatever creativity-themed books I'm reading
• A magic glittery, swirly thinking stick. Not sure why. 
• ...And often a selection of crafty bits and bobs for being messy and creative with.

If nothing else, this is a great excuse for some time away from everyday life each month. A chance to do something that requires no planning, special supplies, money or precision, but that can produce really valuable results.

PS: Apologies for the little gap in blogging there; as you'll know from my going on about it constantly, I'm doing my first craft fair today so it's been full-on preparation lately. Will share photos this coming week! 

Creative Life Series: Writing Down Your Creative Goals

We're approaching the halfway point for 2013, and because my birthday is around the same time, I have two 'life assessment points' fairly evenly spaced in my year. I often find myself taking a breather at the proverbial halfway house and reviewing the goals I set at New Year. In December I invested in the inspiring Leonie Dawson's Create Your Incredible Year workbook and one of the most valuable things I have got from it is the encouragement to write down this year's goals, rather than just saying to myself, 'this year I'd like to...' I came up with 100! Some big, some tiny, all important to me. 

It's a funny thing, this writing down of goals. Funny how this simple action has made me so much more focused in the first half of this year. Funny how many of them are being met, seemingly without all that much effort on my part. Others are taking a gigantic amount of regular effort, don't get me wrong, but often simply writing the goal down can seal it in your mind and you'll subconsciously work towards ticking it off the list. 

But something I was really keen to do this year was to write down some creative goals. Last year I came to realise just how vital my creative life is to me. It's my inspiration, a source of happiness, my therapy and gives  me a sense of accomplishment. I had a really creative 2012, and I wanted 2013 to be even better.

Here are some of my 2013 creative goals:

• Learn to crochet 
• Make banana bread
• Come up with five new button designs
• Knit a scarf (and finish the last one!)
• Reach 100 button sales
• Do a 'big' painting (ie, not button-size!)
• Go to the theatre
• Start a new journal
• Make another candlelit project

We often see creativity as something comparable to water. It ebbs and it flows, it comes and it goes, and it's pretty impossible to pin down. I have always viewed it as a force, something that would only come to me if I was having a good day, was lucky, prepared my mind properly. And so it's often the case, but I do believe that writing down your creative goals means you are committed to reaching them, and making that commitment seems to automatically increase the chances of creativity showing up on the day you decide to work on them. 

You know the phrase, 'when the student is ready, the teacher will appear'? In the first half of this year I've met three lovely people who offered to teach me to crochet. A colleague gave me a scarf knitting pattern which should be one step up the knitting skill ladder from my current point. An opportunity to do a craft fair came up so I'm making lots of buttons in the hope of meeting my 100 sales in 2013 goal, and this recipe for banana bread turned up last week. 

Whatever your goals - creative goals, lifestyle goals, health goals or work goals - write them down. What have you got to lose? Any time is a great time to do so... and you now have the perfect excuse to buy a shiny new notebook! (Yeah, as if you needed one.)

What are some of your creative goals?

PS: If you fancy getting started on your creative goals tonight, see you for Creatives Unite at 8pm.

Creative Life Series: What Skills Have You Gained Through Crafting?

Last week I attended a job interview in the hope of gaining more working hours in my current role. I have been to many, many job interviews in my short life, and as every seasoned interviewee knows, you can bet your last pound on the sorts of questions that will crop up. What about these two old chestnuts:

1. "Tell us a bit about yourself."
2. "What particular skills do you believe you can bring to the table?"

However nervous I am, however sleep-deprived, clammy handed and nauseous, I always have a little smile to myself when these questions are presented to me. I have been asked them so often before.

And my answer? Well I could tell them that I am a hard working, ambitious person. That I have experience in working both in the public and private sectors. That I enjoy working as part of a team, and using my extensive customer service experience. I may add that I used to work in the training industry, so I believe I am skilled in communicating effectively to a wide demographic of personalities from a variety of sectors. I may well broadly touch on the fact that I believe I am a creative person, a good problem solver and eager to learn. I can spew out everything I believe a potential employer wants to hear about my - wait for it - transferable skills (shudder) with the best of 'em.

I don't know about you, but I have never once sat in an office and told a suited interview panel that I like painting handmade buttons, am learning to crochet, am often found writing about crafts at midnight and that my perseverance can be demonstrated through the fact that I decorated the outside of my doll's house no less than five times before I finally hit on a brickwork effect that worked for me. When asked about myself I might certainly tell them about my being on the committee for a WI, that I write and promote a blog, that I run a book club and that I enjoy exploring the Peak District in my spare time, but my overwhelming adoration for all things craft? Not a whisper.

And it seems that a great many other crafters out there - hobby and side-business crafters who are not self-employed in their craft full time - feel the same way. We don't count our crafts among our core skills, heavily influencing the way we approach work and life in general. Your love of making your own greetings cards is something you might casually mention to a colleague several weeks after you've got the job, settled in and learned how to work the photocopier (a skill, incidentally, I have not yet cracked.) Your office is more likely to know how you prefer to take your coffee and that your cat suffers from irritable bowel syndrome long before they learn that you love nothing more than whipping up some bunting in front of Coronation Street.

Do you realise how many valuable skills you have gained through being a crafter? I sat down and came up with one of my beloved lists, and I hope my thoughts on this will inspire you to reconsider your own skills set, too.

I believe that the skills gained through crafting fall into two types:

• Maths - Measuring out pieces for a woodwork project, working out how much fabric you need to make that skirt, calculating volumes for candle-making, my maths muscles often get a workout in the planning stages of a craft project. And I hate maths. 
• Resourcefulness - Crafters often have an expert eye for turning something old into something new, or for making something out of nothing. It's an important life skill, and helps you to appreciate what you have, save money, and makes you a pretty awesome problem solver. 
• Making homewares and gifts - Us Brits in particular tend to spend a fortune on our personal castles each year, and if you tallied up what you spend on gifts over a twelve month period the total might leave you feeling less than generous. Being able to make gifts saves a tonne of money and means you can give unique, personal gifts, made with love and care. No one else in the world will own one. That's a special talent. Being able to spruce up your windows with homemade curtains is handy in these financially tricky times.
• Social media and IT - If you write about your crafts on a blog like me, or simply like communicating with other crafters online, you'll have skills and experience in social media. Companies pay good money for that knowledge, you know! Being able to get a message out there effectively and inspire a reaction from your audience isn't a skill to be sniffed at. Big brands invest thousands in perfecting their online voice every year. And I use IT skills I've gained through messing about on this blog every week in my day job.
• Photography - Perhaps more one for those who sell or promote their crafts in some way, but I never want to stop learning about photography and how I can improve. Great photos equals sales and a stronger readership for me. I want my photos to tell a story, and that sort of insightfulness isn't something everyone thinks about. 
• If you can do one craft, what others can you do? Few crafters stick to just one craft, but have you thought about your (I'm going to use the phrase again, sorry)... transferable skills within your love of crafting? For example, if you can understand how flavours work together to make a special recipe, you can think about how plants work together to make a great kitchen garden. If you can paint, you can probably have a good bash at drawing too. Crocheters may find it easy to understand french knitting. My doll's house hobby has provided me with experience in modelling clay - which led to my setting up a handmade button business, woodwork, painting, sewing, soldering and electrics, upcycling jewellery, plaster moulding, designing, sanding and paying attention to the tiniest details, and I have had cause to use every single one of those in other crafts since. This isn't about being 'good' at crafts - it's about the skill of being willing to tackle something new and learn from it. 

The other types of skills are...

• Self-belief and self-confidence - Call me sentimental, but I passionately believe that these are the most important skills you can ever gain from being a crafter, and one of the reasons I set up Creatives Unite. And yes, they absolutely are skills, requiring practise, development and investment just like any other.
• Selling yourself - Whether you're literally selling your handmade items or whether you're learning to talk about the fact that you're an amateur baker with pride and confidence at that next party, any hobby means you will find yourself telling others about it in some context at some point. And if you do make money from your crafts, it's something you've had to become good at! Well done if you have this skill - it's an uncomfortable one to learn.
• A sense of adventure - Being a crafter means embarking on quests into the unknown and often having no idea what the outcome will be. Some personalities can't cope with not knowing exactly what's going to happen next, so well done you if you can launch yourself into a new craft with all the wonder and enthusiasm of a child, learning as you go. Not everyone can, but if you do you'll find life in general a little easier to cope with, and loads more fun too! I love that quality in a human being.
• A desire to learn - As above. If you want to be a success at anything in life, from your career to your education, speaking Portuguese to dancing the Charleston, a desire to learn is pretty important. Being a crafter must mean you have this quality in bucket loads. 
• Problem solving - From learning how to make something new to finding a way to complete a project when it all goes wrong (we've all been there), to fashioning a storage rack for your scarf collection out of wire, problem solving is second nature to crafty folk. Try mentioning that on your next team-building day. 
• Team working and building a sense of community - If you've ever worked on a group craft project such as a charity granny square blanket or a bake sale, you'll know that there's no i in... well, team crafts. And the real-life and online crafting communities are a great for encouraging others and getting honest feedback on your work.
• Teaching - Some crafters teach workshops, and can consider themselves excellent teachers. But have you ever shown a friend how to knit, or your child how to dye eggs? You too are a teacher! It takes skill and patience to share your knowledge with someone new to your craft. Without teachers our crafts could not live to see a new generation of makers. 
• De-stressing - Far too many people rush from one day to the next these days, and aren't very good at winding down. Many of us don't notice the effect this has on our health until it's too late. If you're able to wind down through craft, you have a valuable talent indeed. It probably means you can keep your head in a crisis, too. 
• Creativity - Creative people are pretty special, and creativity can be used in every area of life. It's a gift I believe we all carry, but by being a crafter you are showing the world you already know how to use yours well.

I'm not suggesting you walk into your next interview and reel off the above skills. We all adapt our behaviour to the situation in which we find ourselves, and I don't think that the answer: "Why do I think I can do this job? Because I'm a whizz with a glue gun, that's why!" will score you your next job. I did use some of the above points to answer those typical interview questions in a more authentic and honest way, however, and am pleased to say it worked. But this blog post isn't about getting you your next job - I'm no careers advisor. Write down a list like the one above for yourself, because you'll be surprised at the skills you never knew you had. Knowledge is power, after all, and perhaps once you have acknowledged that you're a cracking teacher, calm in a crisis and capable of seeing answers where others see problems, you'll find yourself operating with more confidence and self-belief in all areas of your life. You'll be a better crafter, too. 

So, what skills have you gained through crafting?

PS: You can read the first in the Creative Life series here.