I’m feeling creative again for the first time in a really long time and it feels so good. Not that all creativity has vanished as I have completed some projects, taken on and accepted new jobs, as well as the ongoing, but ever slow process of decorating and finishing the house we’ve lived in for nearly 10 months now, but I haven’t been inspired to really make new things or DIY in so long that it almost worried me. But in the past month or so it’s all come rushing back and it’s a welcome change. It feels like me again and it’s fun.
And because I over-think the state wherein I lack creativity just as much as I analyze the state of its return, I couldn’t help sharing my findings, because that’s what bloggers do, right? And I think it’s a combination of finally feeling a little more settled in our new environment, possibly accepting and being more honest with myself about infertility, cutting my posts back at Babble to 4 a week from 6, a new blog design in the works {coming soon yay!}, and of course, the absolutely fabulous fall fashion collections that are so refreshingly different and yet the same, but all right up my little style alley, I’m bursting at the seams with excitement. Fashion is changing. I can feel it. And it’s what turns my creative button on and up to eleven.
And then the other day after posting my recent DIY Feather Mohawk on my Instgram feed, I received a comment explaining that what I was doing wasn’t relative to her and her friends and that’s why she thought other bloggers were beating me at blogging. Beating me at blogging? I thought… I wasn’t upset by her comment as I could sense that she felt like she was trying to help me somehow, but I was perplexed by it. That’s the thing about less than positive comments, you think about them for far longer and in far more depth than you do positive ones. And though I didn’t respond, a few of my followers did in my defense, which I am always grateful for.
But I spent a few good days thinking about it on and off as if I was trying to get to the bottom of it somehow, and here’s what I realized…
I think by relative, she meant relatable, unless she’s just unaware of what’s happening in fashion right now, and that’s okay too, but is that my fault? Not really, but if she did mean relatable, she had a point, not everyone is going to be into wearing a feather mohawk on top of their head. In fact, most people aren’t.
But then I thought about all my other DIYs, and all of my favorite DIYs, and the ones I did before I shared them on the internet, and the ones I did early on before I even had many people reading, and they were the ones that actually drew people to this little space. And none of them were relatable. Not a one. I mean, a big fluffy feather skirt? Over the knee DIY leather boot spats? A big black flower necklace that I now wear as a crown? My huge sequin and feather shoulder pads? Gold embellished shoes? It’s true I tend to fall more under couture than ready-to-wear and since I’m not a “designer” I’ll go with the words over the top costume-y and everyday attire, so no one gets their feathers ruffled, and I made all these things because they were fun and what excited and inspired me in that moment.
At that time, I didn’t DIY for anyone but me. I made things I wanted to make, that I wanted to have, and thought hell, if anyone else ever wanted to make them too, well here’s a handy tutorial. This was also in a time where fashion was more outrageous and less people were on the internet DIYing fun and fashionable items. Sure there have always been craft and sewing and DIY home sites, but there were very few of us doing fashion DIYs then.
And a few years later it seemed that everyone got on the fashion DIY blogging train, and it was a business, and suddenly there was a strange competitive force behind the scenes that I hadn’t felt in the years prior. And then suddenly I was on some sort of mission to “win” at blogging too, and I chose DIYs based on what I thought was going to be a hit vs what I really wanted to do. And I chose to write about things I thought were going to be well-accepted, instead of what I was really into. And you know what? I wasn’t happy. Who was I doing all this for if it wasn’t for me? And I honestly don’t think my blog was any better off for it, or any of the people reading it either. It wasn’t me.
I thought back on the comment again and remembered I didn’t start DIYing to “beat” other blogs, I did it for me and for anyone who found it interesting to have a little tutorial so that they could do it too. I’m not interested in making the same exact bracelet that every other DIYer is doing or making a statement necklace that you can buy for $10 at Forever 21. I don’t want to make earrings out of plastic spoons, or glue an outfit together, just because that’s not me. I’m interested in really amazing and often-times one-of-a-kind items that you can’t buy anywhere or if you can, cost a fortune.
This has always been my DIY philosophy. This was the thought process I grew up with and held onto decades before I began sharing my DIYs on the internet. I did them for me, and I even sold a few in between to boutiques like Fred Segal. And then somehow, somewhere, in a remarkable place where I found myself again {this blog} I lost my way and my purpose. And I lost my own inspiration and began only doing what I thought was good for the internet, and it wasn’t fun anymore, and it wasn’t until recently that I’ve come out of that mindset and began just doing what I wanted to do again and feeling the same freedom I once was filled with in doing so.
And right in the middle of this amazingly great and freeing feeling wherein I felt so much like myself again, came this comment, from a stranger, as if to test my spirit and conviction. And while it was meant to make me change to fit a narrow standard of what is “cool”, after its initial “shake” and a few days of thought, it grounded me and made my path even more clear and far stronger.
I’ve learned in these past five years of blogging, that on the internet especially, negativity, mean-sprited energy and mediocrity rises fast, and I’m not interested in being a part of that. You can choose to be positive in a negative land and you can choose to set trends or you can choose to follow them. You can choose to stand out or fit in, these are all your choices. The internet is vast, it’s infinite. There’s space for us all to follow our hearts, do what we love, spread our knowledge, share our skills, and create art.
If you think what you’re doing is cool, and it makes you happy. Then that’s what matters most.
When I pulled out all my scrap leather for my DIY Leather Butterflies project the other day, this old water bottle fell from my leather box so I thought I’d share a little, or not so little, project I did nearly ten years before even starting my blog {before blogs existed}.
This is a leather water bottle cover and I was commissioned by the Dixie Chicks {or their stylist at the time} to make nearly 30 of them for their late 90’s/early 2000 concert tour so they didn’t have to remove the water bottle labels of brands they weren’t sponsored by. I think they also wanted them to match their various outfits on stage as well. I had so many different and fun versions and I think I have only one photo of about three of them that I made. Digital cameras were just coming out, so it wasn’t as easy to snap a photo as it is now. I made a few of this particular one {shown above} because it was my favorite and have saved it ever since.
Happy Friday Lovecats!
Thanks for reading my blog and being a part of my life for these last five years 😉
