I have Craft ADD

I have just diagnosed myself with Craft ADD. I think I've known it for a while, but I am finally read to come to terms with my condition.

I am so envious of those women on Etsy who are carefully honing their skills in one craft area. I guess after you make 72 chenille "lovies" you can be considered proficient. I guess after the 51st whip stitched, hand embroidered t-shirt you can be considered an expert. I guess after hand painting your 48th name to be glued on a door plaque you can be called the queen bee. I am not proficient, an expert or the queen bee of any one craft. I cannot focus, I cannot commit, I have craft ADD.

I'll admit when I get rolling on something, my projects do turn out quite nicely. That is, IF I finish the project. I am actually the one in my friend group who friends come to for ideas and support in the craft realm. I even get 'ooohs' and 'ahhhs' over my stuff. But I cannot stop switching and I never seem to focus.

One day I am a lack luster seamstress, whipping up baby blankets or an easy sundress. The next day I am back to digital scrapbooking. Two days later I am cross stitching that awful holiday sampler I swore I would finish. Next Wednesday you might find me spray painting an old piece of furniture on the side of the house just after I finished stamping 5 cards. Before Thanksgiving I might dabble with floral arranging. Who knows?

There is a mysterious black hole of a Rubbermaid bucket, a graveyard if you will, for crafts of yesterday or yesteryear sitting in the closet in our playroom. My husband has made the mistake of touching it a few times, even opening it, only to get glaring eyes and a snippy comment from me. "What do you mean THROW it out!? I NEED those random wooden letters P, F and X. And don't even think about touching that pale mint green paint- I am going to paint that bookshelf soon. Ummmm, of course I was planning on using that 3 pack of foam brushes! Yes, those 6 yards of bumble bee fabric have a purpose!" It's true, I get overwhelmed, frustrated, bored or all three and toss the wares into the bucket of doom, never to be seen again except on the year of a garage sale. Please note, I have never given in and let that bucket see the light of day or its contents a new owner. I keep it buried in the closet, my special little treasure.

Please tell me I am not alone. Not in respect to my craft bucket (though I imagine I am certainly not), but in reference to the inability to focus. I cannot be the only loser with craft ADD, right? I cannot be the only one who aimlessly wanders the aisles of AC MOORE thinking and dreaming about what I can get into next and what I can create.

Wait a minute! What's wrong with that? Is there something bad about being a thinker, a dreamer or creator? Maybe I actually want Craft ADD. Maybe I do not need to find a cure for my condition. Maybe it is good and wonderful and I shouldn't be envious of those Etsy people! Who wants to be stuck making 72 chenille lovies to sell? Not me! No, they should be jealous of me- the Craft ADD mommy. Yup, I think I am happy testing the waters in the world of crafts. Sure, I don't get much accomplished and spent way too much money. But, I am enjoying myself and my time. Isn't that worth something?

Wow, I feel better! And I am glad I've talked myself out of getting that prescription to keep my Craft ADD to a minimum. Now pass me that 3 pack of foam brushes, I have some crafting to do!