BLACK FRIDAY

because idiots rush to the stores at midnight! Same thing happens on Boxing day in the UK, (use to be the 27th until they started opening stores on the 26th.) Never have understood the appeal to be honest.

Why are we so obsessed with collecting so much we have to have storage units to put all the stuff we can't use. Personally, after years of hoarding stuff (never got to the storage unit stage fortunately), I have finally started to go the other way. Been having a great time this week clearing out stuff I don't need or rarely use.

I feel really sorry for all the shop staff with this obsession with keeping shops open regardless of the occasion. Use to be when I was a youngster, that you wouldn't see a shop open at Christmas (which in the UK is 25th & 26th), Easter Sunday or New Years day. I think Christmas day is about the only day now that no shops are open but with the clamber for profits being foremost these days, no doubt that will soon go by the wayside.p>

Well, I have been having a relaxing day so far, browsing the internet and watching the Carol Duvall show on Tivo. Tivo is brilliant, means you don't have to watch the ads, you can go walk the dog and still catch up on a program that is currently showing and in the case of Carol Duvall, not watch all the scrapbooking stuff. I love crafts shows and all the wonderful things that are made but scrapbooking just leaves me cold. I have friend who is obsessed with it and she must spend a fortune on stamps, papers, punches, dyecuts etc etc. Still it no worse than me buying stuff for some craft I have seen, liked and bought for. My most enduring passion has been painting but not enough to justify all the money I spend on it over the years.

My current passion is polymer clay and in particular its use to make dolls. I love dolls, I would collect them if I could afford it and my husband didn't think I was going into my second childhood. When the kids were young, I use to love going to the toy shops and getting all the dolls. Unfortunately, my 2 girls grew out of dolls way too early and neither of them particularly played with them. Anyway, I knew about Fimo but hadn't really thought about using it until I saw some crafts shows using it for making beads. Not really my cup of tea but it got my interest sparked. Then I saw an episode of crafters coast to coast where it was used to make some claymations. From there it was a quick browse of the internet where I came across the following website, elvenwork, the art of Katherine Dewey. That has really got my interest sparked. So now I have plenty of clay, made one, not too bad, claymation copied from a book, a cache of books and a hope that this might actually be a hobby that I will get carried away with.

My biggest gripe at the moment is the gift stores that supposedly carry handmade gifts, then you look closely and it been made in China or Taiwan. There is a local store that is called Cabbages and Kings which hires out booths. To its credit, there are a number of vendors who are making hand made crafts but the majority are just carrying 'americana' made in China. Unfortunately, the hand made booths are becoming less obvious, so I tend to visit less and less. Craft fairs are another big sham a lot of the time.

Anyway, from now on I will take note of what I like on the TV craft shows which invaribaly have a internet link. I will then visit the websites which will mostly link onto other websites and a whole new world of shopping is open to me. They usually have list of craft shows they attend as well, so I will take note, so I can see the work in person.