Camp Craft

When my sister and I get together be it at my house or her house we always have fun. Days are generally spent in very active pursuits like four-wheeling or hiking or power shopping. Evenings include Yahtzee and Casino tournaments and what we term camp craft.

Camp craft can be making our own spruce Christmas Wreaths like we did in November or beginning a new crochet project or stringing beads. In the photo above I did the three necklaces on the left and my sister, a new convert to the hobby, did the rest. It required two trips to Mama's Minerals for supplies and a couple evenings of dedication.

I am not sure what about stringing beads I find so relaxing but it begins walking through the racks of beads and continues through to the finished product. It is almost like Zen meditation. I don't think that would continue to be the case if this was a business for me as opposed to just a hobby or camp craft, but recently I realized I had strung up far more necklaces than I can wear. Yes, friends have gotten some for gifts in the past. And upon occasion I don't like my creation and cut it apart and begin again. I have been known to do this even with jewelry I buy - suddenly seeing them as supplies.

And with every project I always seem to be left with beads enough to compose another creation. Often I like the second better than the first. All this lead me to take some into the gallery that handles my paintings recently and see if she would like to see if they sell. I just want my costs out so I can do some more. Hmmmm, this may be where I began on mask making almost two decades ago. Or even painting more recently. No, that was wall space issues.

What camp crafts do you do? In the creative journey I think it is important to tithe some of our energy toward play. Stringing beads is play for me.