The Meaning of VALUE to me.

I have given this a lot of thought throughout my life.  As a single mother of three boys, the idea of value has morphed as my education has increased.  And being transparent, as my budget has allowed.  When my boys were young, I sought out the least expensive way to feed them.  I looked for durable but replaceable plates, glasses and rugs.  I needed to ensure that I had my budget on lockdown so I could continue to afford to take care of my boys. Micro plastics, disposable economic concerns, mass production in foreign countries and sustainability was not part of my budget nor focus for many years. 

This slowly started to shift as I read more about growing landfills, plastic being absorbed into foods, recalls becoming a normal occurrence in life and the mass production of everything! The more that my sons brought home handmade gifts, my concept of value shifted. More recently we have the concept of Artificial Intelligence (AI) shifting the concept of human value in a new direction. I believe the value of people cannot be calculated by AI.  It cannot be replaced by our disposable society.  It cannot be replicated in any mass production market.  This is most specifically evident in handcrafted items. 

While I watch my friend individually iron each fold on a dog bandana to then run through her sewing machine, unpick messy lines and do it again, I see value.  While I sit and marvel at my brother’s ability to take sterling wire and wrap it around sea glass, he carefully matched to make earrings, I see value.  As I hear stories about shucking oysters pulling out pearls to painstakingly match them to metal trinkets that make my heart soar, I see value. 

I see people judge value by unrealistic measurements.  I did not take the time to wash, iron, cut, iron and sew.  I did not look at stones or glass side by side to find their close match for symmetry.  I did not learn how to shuck and clean gleaming pearls.  They did.  I cannot measure the amount of time it has taken them to become so apt at the process to make it look easy. I cannot measure their passion in comparison to what I did not attempt to do. 

Is the value that they took the time where you did not?  Or the value that they had the skills honed over years of passionate attention where you do not? The value is that they DID. 

I know for me, the concept of value has shifted away from my snap judgement of what I think something ‘should’ cost and has taken root in the concept uniqueness.  I find value in the not quite perfect stitch. I find value in the story behind the craft. I find value in the human that is offering their hard work to me for my judgement and care. 

Do I still search for the least expensive tissue paper to wrap a gift? Yes.  Do I still scrutinize each seem for durability? Yes.   However, I recognize that when I am looking for something that is handmade, I see value well past the concept that a sweatshop or production line can create a knockoff item for pennies on the dollar. 

Handmade is heart-made and that is near priceless to me.   There is where I find value. 

What does value mean to you? 

Fear and faith…and a little about what I am learning lately

When starting and developing a company there is a lot of initial fear.  So many of us have been told that we ‘can’t’ or ‘shouldn’t’ or are not ‘enough’.  To me, those are swearing words. More than what society tells us are cuss words, these along with ‘stupid’ and ‘shut up’ are words I am shutting out of my life.  They tend to do more damage than help in our lives. 

I sat in fear for much of my life. I let my actions and reactions be centered around fear.  This is a hard place to get out of.  I have worked for over 20 years to move past the ingrained fear that has been trained in me to have learned this powerful lesson this past year. 

Fear and faith are the same…the focus and results are different.  With both fear and faith, you are fundamentally believing in something that is intangible.  Fear comes from your brain protecting you from uncomfortable situations that you don’t know about yet.  Faith comes from a belief that you can handle those situations. 

The example that continues to show up in books is the concept of driving in the dark.  When you are driving, or as a passenger in a car at night, the car headlights are shining 20-50 feet ahead of you on the road.  Not the whole road, not the whole path, not the whole way home.  But you have faith that the road will still be there past the headlights and that just knowing the next few steps, moments or feet will continue to show you the path.  Yes, the road might turn.  Yes, there might be a bump or pothole that you must navigate but the road is still there.  That is faith.

In that situation, if we only had fear, we would potentially creep along the road.  Or simple stop and wait for the full expanse to be in sunlight.  I am sure you are also shaking your head about how silly that sounds out loud.  That would be illogical, right?  You KNOW that the road is going to be there and that you can navigate it. 

Why do we turn to fear so quickly?  When our lives shift from the known course highlighted in the sunlight to be shrouded in the darkness of the unknown, we still have our headlights.  We need to remember that each part of our lives is truly just the next 20-50 feet. Even in sunlight, you are only traveling one foot at time.  Fear comes in when we try to control what is outside of that little beam or space of light. 

And we have so many things in our lives shouting at us to fear the unknown or what is outside of this space of light.  I have drowned in that fear before.  I have sacrificed my well-being to that fear, and I have made the active decision to stop. 

I will no longer live in fear.  I will trust in my next steps and have faith that the path is still there for me and that I will figure it out.  Learning, trusting and faith are what I surround myself with these days.

My Craft Dealer was born to be a safe space for home crafters that might not have the full resources demanded by other online consignment platforms to turn their art into income.  This is the safe space for that initial step. 

ALL home crafters are welcome. 

We don’t live in fear here. 

How do you picture your VERY BEST day?

As a mother of three boys, my ‘best days’ are always with them.  Since becoming a puppy mom to a Great Dane/Mastiff he needs to be there.  In my mind, my boys (and puppy) are laughing and smiling.  We could be doing anything. That is not really the point. It is a feeling that this is what I am meant to do, be and have around me.  Content and feeling a sense of purpose in life.

I wholeheartedly believe that the feeling of contentment and purpose can crop up while you are on the path you are meant to be on.  It has always been like that for me in my life. This was my experience last night while I was meeting home crafters at the Craft Lake City Holiday Market in Ogden.  The layout was amazing! The crafters were wonderful and the art they created was awe inspiring.  I had a great time connecting with so many of the folks that were sitting behind their tables willing to display and showcase their labors of love. 

I was scared at first. Nervous that this grand idea of ours was going to start tumbling into smoke as we were laughed at or shunned.  You know how all the gremlins and negative thoughts that pop up in your mind can start to run wild?  There was only a moment of that while we walked into the building and started to meet folks. 

As soon as I entered the building, I knew in my bones that this was the moment of purpose that provided me with a sense of peace.  Did everyone love to chat with us, no.  Did everyone fit the concept of what we are creating at My Craft Dealer, no. 

However, everyone was kind, compassionate, and honest with their home crafts. The crafters were receptive to me while I shared the vision of this company that Sandi and I have. I loved each moment.  It was a long evening walking around and chatting with folks. It was amazing to meet people that we might be able to help by expanding their customer reach.  Each time Sandi and I walked to another table, I had a renewed sense that this is the path that we were meant to be on.

I am grateful and humbled to work with these amazing souls. 

First Steps…the hard steps

First steps are typically the most difficult steps. They tend to be full of doubt and fear. They circle your dream and can hold it hostage. For me, the first steps of this company were HUGE due to the learning curve. I knew I wanted to offer a solution to my friends. I knew that there was the gap for home crafters between creating gifts and making a business out of their crafts.

What I didn’t know was how to set up a business. I didn’t know how to create a website, how to sell online (without the state tax office or the IRS freaking out on me), how to do the bookkeeping, how to promote, how to …well, everything! Hard steps, scary steps, difficult steps.

Worthwhile steps.

I keep hearing about books, podcasts and even slogans on coffee cups about being about to do hard things. We can do hard things. I can be scared and still learn how to launch a website. I can be afraid that this is silly and talk to the bank about setting up a business account. I can tell people about my business and not shrink back and wait for the laughter. I can do hard things!

And I believe that everyone can. Sometimes that hard thing is finishing a project. Sometimes that hard thing is picking up the next project without knowing how to do a step on the process. Sometimes that hard thing is organizing your craft supplies.

Sometimes that hard thing is being proud of what you created.

We can all do hard things. We can all do amazing things. I believe in you, and I believe in me. I believe that life is lived in the hard first steps that we all take to fulfil our dreams.

The magic of inspiration

I believe that each of us has magic in us. I have always been on the lookout for something that was meant to be in that special way that only magic shows us. I see that magic in my sons when they talk about solving a ping in an engine, earning a prize in a game, or completing something that was hard. I see it in my friends when we experience something new together, solve a problem, hug when we are scared or sad. I see magic when I visit bead shops, quilt shops, and fabric shops. I see magic when walking down yarn isles or hearing friends talk about different types of stitches or markers, so you don’t slip a stitch. I see the light of reluctant pride when someone gifts a homemade craft. And the moment of uncertainty in their work.

I watch my friend’s eyes light with magic when she talks about how she can make these tags, costumes, elf ears for her son, or shelves for her kitchen purposely burning wood to make it ridiculously lovely.

It’s this moment of light and wonder that bursts out into the world. This moment that mass produced, inexpensive items simply cannot capture. The moment where human hearts spilled a little and made something that could never be replicated. That moment of magic.

We all have it in us. Each of us express it differently.