There's just something about the calendar switching over to November that brings on Christmas plans. Not that I haven't had plans all year, but November crystallizes and accelerates them. The truth is, big craft projects for Christmas need a lot more lead time than November. But there are lots of little things - cards, tags, packaging, tree ornaments, etc - that can be made very quickly. Presents for family and close friends I've had planned for a while, so I've done a lot of preparation for them, and November is the month that I need to evaluate whether they will actually get finished! Tanith kicked things off with a Christmas craft party over last weekend, and I've been spending lots of spare minutes stitching.
I'm involved in several exchanges over at RPG Geek this year: a Christmas card exchange and two present exchanges. One of the present exchanges is just games off people's wishlists, but the other, a less formal, smaller exchange in the 'Tavern' (the off-topic forum area) is a mixed bag of stuff related to their gaming and non-gaming interests. And we don't get told who our targets are until mid-November. I'm crafting three of my five cards (the other two I'm buying, as I want to send 'Australian Christmas' cards to some overseas people and I'm not in the mood to stitch koalas). And I'm also making a card and a tree ornament for my Tavern exchange target. This means very quick crafting - trying to figure out what I can make that relates to their interests and won't be too time consuming.
I love making crafted items, so I don't mind putting the work into these items (and current state of unemployment does at least give me plenty of time to work on them). But I do sometimes wonder if I'm being silly to do these for people I don't know.
Even when I look at my own close circles of family and friends, there are people for whom I rarely make gifts. Sometimes it is because it is difficult to find things they'd like that I can make - my husband falls into this category, one of the reasons I'm so excited about the Rogue Trader cape I'm making for him. I know he'll actually use this. My brother is another - he has a very tight list of interests, and is streamlining his life. As I can't craft weightlifting equipment, I'm stumped on what I could make for him. But both of these guys have hung around crafters for long enough that I think they would at least appreciate the work that went into a present. There are others, however, who shall remain unnamed, for whom I am reluctant to make presents because I don't think they realise how much work is involved and don't appreciate them. The targets of my various geek exchanges are people I've only met online, and talking about roleplaying. I have no idea what category they will fall into. Will they see them as special craft items or just another card?
Or is that a relevant question? If I've enjoyed the process - if I've enjoyed researching their interests through their profiles, and finding a suitable pattern or card design, enjoyed the crafting - then does anything that happens after they leave my hands matter? If I've had a good time and am proud of my work, does it matter whether the recipient appreciates the work involved? Does my effort 'require' suitable acknowledgement to make it worthwhile?
Questions I'm pondering. Meanwhile, back to stitching...
Journey through crafts, ethical fashion, maths and history with two sisters.
If you enjoy doing it and want to do it, and aren't losing out on anything else to do it, you shouldn't worry about whether they will appreciate it or not. If you had to prioritise, of course you would put the people you know would love handmade gifts first. But if you don't, why not?
ReplyDeleteI mean, I sure as hell stopped planning interesting fun lessons for the classes who I know don't appreciate them, but with an unknown class, I'd always put the extra effort in until I find out otherwise.
True. Until I know otherwise, I should assume they'll 'get' it. I was about to say 'it isn't as easy to tell as with classes though' and then realised how foolish that was. I've done enough lectures where I tried 'something new' and got blank stares in return, only to hear in end of semester feedback surveys that they liked those ones the most.
DeleteThose wacky students.
DeleteIm not as prolific a crafter as you guys obviously, although i do love to make cross-stitch of all kinds as gifts, including cards, but i have always found that women in general alwasy appreciate a crafted thing, and older people always appreciate a crafted thing, like you said because it hsow you took time to work on something for them which is a sign of caring and emotional commitment, which the majority of women and older people recognise and appreciate. younger men i wouldn't bother unless it was for my own personal enjoyment of the creation process. That said of course these are horrible generalisations and only my option :D
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing wrong with some horrible generalisations! They help form social norms :)
DeleteThanks for the comment. Everyone is right, if I get personal enjoyment out of the creative process, it is ok.
There does seem to be something to those generalisations. Do you think females are easier to craft for too? I was at a craft market today and idly looking out for a present for a young boy and there wasn't much to be had. I could have bought years worth of presents for a little girl.
DeleteI emailed your brother about his birthday/Christmas requests and he said he was now into household things, linen and towels particularly. So if you want to craft him something he might appreciate a tea towel with a stitched band or pillowcases. His colour scheme is red/black/stainless steel.
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way you do when worrying about wasted effort, but with someone you don't know it can be worth a punt. It may turn out to be a new aspect to the relationship. Good advice from Clarificus Rex, too.
Mum
That's a good point, that it might turn out to add a new aspect to things. I do like spreading the Word of Craft.
DeleteI like that idea of it adding something to the relationship. You never know with people until you try!
DeleteMmm, tough question. I feel an across-the-board reluctance to do things for people who I know don't appreciate it. But I do also enjoy craft for craft's own sake. And it was a really fun day! It's good to have someone at least acknowledge the work you've done for them, I think. I'd be sad to think of any of these cards just ending up in the bin with no second thoughts about it!
ReplyDeleteIt does suck to give something you worked really hard on and have it go unappreciated. But still, it sucks to have a purchased gift you spent ages thinking up go unappreciated too! I guess we all have people like that in our lives.
DeleteIt sure was a fun day! I'm still do excited about those magnets. Everyone can expect magnets from me in the next year or so :)