Monday, November 1, 2010

Do I need yet another hobby?

Ever since I gave up my booth at the Craft Antique Co-Op, I've had a hankering to open an Etsy online shop. (In case you don't know what an Etsy shop is, Wikipedia says:  Etsy is a social commerce website focused on handmade or vintage items as well as art and craft supplies.)  The problem is, I'm not crafty. I had a lot of linens left over from my booth and wondered what I should do them. Ah-ha! There's my Etsy Shop!

Well, not really. I mean, the reason I gave up my booth was because I really didn't have time for it. The cleaning and repairing of merchandise, the inventory, and selling. If I opened an Etsy, I'd still have all that -- PLUS photographing and maintaining a site, plus packaging and shipping.

So for the time being, no Etsy shop for me.

But that doesn't mean I haven't been accumulating merchandise for that day. First of all, I love handwork. The effort that people put into making doilies, potholders, and dresser scarfs, and all the embroidery, tatting, etc. It's lovely. I can't bear to see the stuff end up in free boxes -- or worse yet the trash. And I can't believe how cavalierly people get rid of great grandma's chair tidies and doilies as though they were just junk.  Hey, your gramma made that with her own two hands.  You might not want it right now, but one day you might say, "Hey, I had something my gramma made and sold it for a quarter."

Shame on you!

Of course, not all of it is in tip-top shape, either. Stains, tears, and linens that are just plain worn out from years of use. I need to sort through everything and figure out what is good, what needs a dip in Oxy-Clean, and what should go in a scrap bag.  (Hey, maybe someone more crafty than me can make it into something else.)  I haven't done that yet, but every so often, I take the stuff out and look at it, which makes me smile.

Is there some project you've got simmering on the back burner for a later time?