Secret Underground Society?!

[Effylicious]

I don't know, maybe I'm the only one here, but it seems that in my town, I'm one of the only few crafty people--and the only one under 50. It seems as if EVERYONE does what I do on this board, but here in the real world I'm pretty alone. I mean, my friends are impressed with my "creativity" and my sister is shocked how i have such dexterity with these short fat stubby fingers [[ha ha]], but I don't really have anyone to talk to to discuss crafts with, at least not in the way I do them--when some of my friends think of crafts, they speak of cutesy scrapbooking and needlepoint--like ducks with bonnets. Oddly enough, though, I just started taking up crochet--and all my friends think I'm an old lady.

Anyone else get this sort of thing? Doesn't count if you live in the city 

[TriggerChick]

me too! I just graduated with honors in "Clothing, housing, and design" so I thought that the girls and guys I met there would stick around and we'd do recon's together until the end of our days -sighs dreamily-. Actually I didn't think that, but I didn't think I'd be a loner! And myy friends who do do crafts, do scrapbooking, which I'm not fond of. I live in the city, but we're only probably about 500 pop. above being officially called a city, so I still consider ourselves a town. LEt alone the fact that 75% of the town are mexican mennonites so.... GR! lol, from crafting, to raving about my town. Yay, for me. Yes, but I agree with you, Effylicious. wow, that's an awesome name.

[Pedeka]

Im not quite in a secret society or living rurally. People around me just think I'm wierd for re-doing perfectly good things. Except for my father. He has 2 Masters degrees in fine arts and taught at the University and the Art Museum and has been on the design teams at Libbey Glass and General Motors. Craftiness is, if not actually frowned upon, not considered anything to be taken seriously. No matter how much time is involved or how amazing it turns out. If it's painted on canvas thats one thing. If it's painted on the side of your dresser, it's an entirely different matter I guess. LOL C'est la vie. All we can be is the best ourselves that we can be!

[Pedeka]

Not to gripe about the Father though. He is WAAAY cool and does some of the most amazing things. Sorry.

[kattghoti]

I think the more time you spend at craft stores (for instance, working at one that requires you to ask people what they're making), the more people you find who follow the "No Tea Cozies without Irony" motto.  Then again, I live in Minneapolis, so it may just be my location.

[WandaM.]

Well, I AM 50 and live in a small town (pop. 1000), and it's not any different for me than it is for you, strangely enough. I am sure there are people here who do crafts too, but I really don't know them...but I do know they are more the 'ducks in bonnets' types of crafts.

A long time ago, I used to meet with a group of much older quilters, and that was pretty cool, but most of them died or moved away. The group disbanded. And that wasn't really the type of craft philosophy you mean, but they were a pretty loose, open-to-other-ideas group, as far as quilting went.

I only had a couple of friends who crafted and their things were more traditional, for the most part. And now they are either moved away or too busy or just not really interested in crafting any more.

My DH and kids aren't really into my craft stuff, but I do have one sister and a grown niece and nephew who think I am really cool.   I have sent them paper dolls of myself with paper copies of my actual clothes, and odd accessories... and they love my sock monkey stuff and my online Barbie scenes and stories. And laugh (with me, more that at me - LOL) at my shoe tree in the front yard.

Yesterday my grandson (10) and I were in line at Walmart, behind this lady that I sort of knew. She is a big-time gardener and asked me what I was doing with my plants etc. this summer. I told her that my gardening this year consisted mostly of the non-living variety... that I had collected all kinds of shoes, spray painted them in bright pastels and hung them with fishing line from the tree in front of our house. She was kind of puzzled, and didn't 'get' it, but everyone within ear shot was shocked when my grandson said, loudly, "Yeah and remember you painted all those dead cockroaches too?!" All eyes were on me then! *blush*

(Weird) Wanda in South Texas

[GloryB]

Painted COCKROACHES, Wow!  Hope you took a picture, You have got to show us, please, pretty please.
My granddaughter is 6, so I know how embarrassing they can be.
I'm 57, and live in a village of 700.  There are a few ladies in town that knit, but I'm not well acquainted yet.  And there is a quilt shop here, but it's only open weekends and during the summer.  The owner is a teacher,  and everyone in the quilting group are teachers.  So, I'm kind of left out there.

[WandaM.]

No, unfortunately, I didn't get any photos and they are all gone now... The original idea was to create jewelry from them. I had several people on another craft site interested in them for an open craft swap. But I couldn't really get the kinks ironed out. The roaches were a little lightweight, and they were not that sturdy - kept loosing legs or antennaei (sp.)...and about the best idea I could come up with for the 'settings' or whatever you call it, was to encase the roach inside a crocheted wire 'cage' of sorts. But then I couldn't get that to work right, and gave up. It just turned out to be too problematic and aggravating.

Ah, well...such is art!
Wanda in South Texas

[ConcreteJungler]

This phenomenon is not limited to small towns, I'll have you know.  I live in a great big city and none of my friends are at all crafty.  They are completely unimpressed that I've sewn my own handbag or made my own jewelry ("Why didn't you just buy it?").  Even the fabric stores I go to, when the counter help asks me what I'm making as part of their sales patter, they look at me like I'm crazy.  And I have learned that my politics are generally not in sync with the organized, and very opinionated, crafting groups in my area.

Maybe it's my town.  You can buy anything here.  So why would you make it?  Well, phhhhht.  I am really looking forward to the day when my knitting skills are at the point where I can make my own "Sandman" sweater from Logan's Run.

Anyway, the point of my diatribe is thank goodness for Craftster!

[Schmoo]

You're SO not alone-I'm 38, live on an Air Force base in family housing amongst YOUNG married couples. I am, on average 14 years older than my neighbors. None of them are crafty, and when they find I sew, the first thing is "oh, you make quilts?". Is that really the only thing that they know for sure people sew? I mean, do they go around naked all the time? NO, they wear clothes that SOMEONE has sewn, those jeans didn't make themselves!

I actually get irritated when someone comments that I'm "crafty"-most of the people doing the commenting have no idea what the craft possibilities are out there, they think of crafts as things children do and think I must be some sort of teachers aide in an elementary school. 

I have little interest in scrapbooks either, but as with all crafts, if it turns your crank then have at it! LOL! I bake bread, love to cook, love to sew...I'd get along great with so many other women if it weren't for the sticky fact that I'm a long time atheist....Most of the military wives I know are either the newly minted ones that still worry that they can't breathe without their husbands help, or the extremely religious ones that have a whole buncha kids and are at church all the time. I have little interest in being either, so I also have no one to spend the day drinking margaritas and sewing with any more....