After moving into a new (bigger) home a year ago, I started surrounding myself with these items at a rapid rate and I think I have hit on the reason why.
I need beautiful things. Beautiful things that brighten my day and make me smile. It’s a necessity, not just a desire to fill my life with pretty, crafty or intricate handmade items. Things
that I can look at and know someone has crafted an item so that I may enjoy it
as much as they do. Maybe they were up until the small hours of the morning
just to finish a new design. Maybe that was after a full day at work and
putting two kids to bed, getting their kit ready for the next day, but still
finding time to fit in an hour of craft in between cooking tea and catching up
with Bake Off. A need to glance across the room at a wall hanging or tuck into
a flavoursome cake, and know that someone put a little bit of their own soul in
there to make me happy.
The ‘need’ has made me look at the things I buy very
differently. Now before whipping out the debit card to buy a bag, a purse, a
scarf, a photo frame, even a loaf of bread, there is a little voice inside my
head asking “could you buy this handmade?”. The answer is often yes. In fact
more often than I thought it would be, the answer is yes. For instance, I have
refrained from buying myself a much needed new wallet after mine is fraying at
the seams, and instead commissioned a designer I met at a craft fair to make me
one. And she will make me one that is the colour I want, has the features I
want and will be made to make me, her customer, happy. Last week, I did not hop
on over to the John Lewis website to buy the, admittedly very attractive,
doorstop that I saw in a home magazine, but instead looked through the crafters
commenting on the Handmade in the UK Facebook page I follow and ordered one
that matched my colour scheme and used the fabrics I chose from a selection the
maker offered to me.
It couldn't be simpler really. When I need something for the
house, an accessory, an item of clothing, a foodstuff, the little head voice
just repeats its simple question. “Could you buy this homemade?” And when the
answer is yes, I go and buy myself a little bit of the love, happiness and soul
that will be crafted into my completely unique purchase.
