Extreme last-minute presents
This one was made for my son's teacher as a Christmas gift. We put a small tin of hand cream inside, and she really liked it. At first his teacher checked out the handcream and thanked my son for it, not realizing that the "real" present was this little omiyage pouch, until my husband pointed out that it was handmade by yours truly. The teacher was really happy and amazed that I made her present when she realized. I guess I should be flattered because this means that the little bag didn't have a homemade (in the worst sense of the word) look... Also, when you make things by hand for people they still do not know the half of it- they don't know that at 2 am you were still madly hunting through your craft stash for beads big enough to go on the ends of the drawstrings, and that you took a photo of your creation on top of your purse in your lap in the car on the way to school 8:45 am before giving it away and blogging about it ;o)
Ha! Man oh man, too few realize all the work and time and planning involved. I'm always running around trying to find the perfect color, perfect fabric, perfect charm...and half the time what I get as a response is sort-of a shrug. So I make things for very few people now, and aim to choose the ones that value the object and the time and the craft. Last year I made a very intricate mosaic--time consuming and expensive to make--and though she seemed to like it, the comments from the group of friends was, "wow, I bet you could sell that for, uh, $75!". I didn't say just the supplies cost me close to that, and I've seen mosaics not even close to that nice for over $500. Whatever. I try.
Posted by: Barb | December 20, 2005 at 03:52 AM
This is really a lovely piece. I too have taken pictures at the last minute (in a box with the tissue before closing) hoping someone will love it as much as I enjoyed looking for that perfect bead, color, etc to finish. Is this type of fabric orgami covered in one of your Japanese books? I really like the pattern.
Posted by: Joei | December 20, 2005 at 04:08 AM
I love this one, and I love the one you made me too. You are so gifted with your hands my dear. And I do definitely appreciate the time and trouble that goes into making these little treasures ...
Posted by: Sophia | December 21, 2005 at 01:12 AM
beautiful bag! now if only I was a teacher in your school district ;-) I guess I'll have to learn to make them myself. thanks for a link to the book!
Posted by: kelly | January 04, 2006 at 10:33 PM
cutie cute bag!
Posted by: Mosaics | April 13, 2007 at 10:03 AM