My wishes for the New Year

I had end of the year resolutions and it had been going very well.  Just in a few hours, there will be the New Year.  I will not make resolutions.  There are wishes that I have.  I don't know if they will be granted this year.  I still not sure if I will be doing them this year.  This is why they are not resolutions and more wishes.  Nothing can assure me that my wished will turn into reality.  So, they will stay wishes for now.  I do not have any expiration date on those wishes:

-an hot stone massage.  I often crave for a massage.  I am also tempted to try an hot stone massage.  I am adventurous enough to try it.  I like stones enough to get them incorporated in a massage.  Nothing to loose and a lot to gain from the experience.

-getting better in managing my time.  It is more a goal.  Still working on that.  It may be the work of a lifetime.

-Perfecting the novels I had already written.  I have not worked on them much lately.  I should return to that depending how I am doing with the previous wish.

-Working in understanding the Lenormand's cards.  I want to break the mystery of interpreting pairing of the cards.  In this system, cards are read indiviually but work better in group.  I have problems reading those cards together.  I want to work on that.

-I leave a door open for more experimentation.  I like that and I wish to have more occasion to do it.

I think it is a good start.  Maybe there will be  more wish to add to that during the year.  I like to keep my option open.

Reflection

It is time to reflect on what happen during this year.  It been the year of doing scary things.  I have been out of my confort zone and taking some risks.  It was nice.  Of course, my life was not treatened.  It was more doing things unexpected or not encouraged.  It was also nice to express myself on crazy things (like the recent post on science fiction and those going over the edge by it).  That part of the year felt refreshing.  I think I have opened a door on something amusing.

I had a few elements that was in a continuity.  My return to woodburning was among that trend.  It was not the first craft that I had reintegrated in my life.  It was more the most recent return to something I did a long long time ago.  I am ready to go deeper with woodburning.  I am ready to go into new areas with this one.  I want to do more woodburning now.  When I tried it the very first time, I didn't do it for extremely long.  Now, I want to do more in the future.

This year, I had more time to decide what I want to do, what project I wanted to do, the direction I want to take.  It had feeled go to know more about my aspiration and to know where I wanted to go.  I hope to bring all this to the new year, the longest I can hold on that.

You're too much into crafting when...

-having too much ideas, all at the same time

-too much materials

-"where are the pliers?" (or any other tools/material)

-forget to do any essential (skipping some routine, not untentionally, of course)

-the necessary visit to the craft store if there is a lack of material (you know, didn't bought enough)

-feeling lucky to have excess materials because another crafty project can be done

-getting complaints about the excess materials or tools left around

-the "where did my day goes?" stare after seeing it is already late night and the project isn't near to be finish

-of course, there is the stereotype of the inspired crafter that is a night owl (my case, really, not good for the stereotype)

-"Oups, I drop a seed bead.  Where is it?" (when it happen, I always think "Baby, I losed it one more time" with the melody of the famous tune...)

-"Hey!  I am at work right now!  Stop mess with my stuff!"

Truely, it is hard, hard to be a craft person.

Famous science fiction and strange people

There are people who are taking themselves a bit too much seriously.  Some fan of science fiction are sometimes going too far on some point.  Ukraine seems to be a good place for fan of the Star Wars franchise.  I found an article on a guy, in Ukraine, that had changed legally his name and dress as Darth Vader (Darth Mykolaiovych Vader).  He tried to get elected as mayor of Odessa.  There was a Chewbacca that was fined.  As I look at the (ahem, coughing, hilarious) photos, there also some Storm Trooper that walk around town.  I am sure that Lenin would not approved of his statue being turned into a Darth Vader one.

I just hope it will not end in a battle of franchise (the eternal Star Wars VS Star Trek).  I have heard that some people who dress in Star Trek's uniform year round.  It is less eye catching and less news worthy than a full dressed up character of Star Wars, I guess.  I wonder if there will be an article on cities that can be related to both franchise (the town of Vulcan in Alberta, Canada and Tataouine, Tunesia).

I do like movies like Star Wars and Star Trek.  I am just a bit less tolerent on those who goes way over the top, like the ones in the article.  I find it is just too much.  I don't mind those who goes to convention in cosplay, they are sure have much time to make something amazing.  Maybe it is just me...

Internet VS Books

In this day and age, internet gives a lot of information.  It is great for a quick search.  I just came to the realisation that it can be good but sometimes, I felt in the need to go a step further.  A recent search on woodburning help me in differencing between the internet and books.  It was on woodburning.  I did found a few websites on the topic.  It is is mainly for really first time beginner.  (for example: http://www.wikihow.com/Woodburn)  I am not in this category.  I know a bit but I am not totally a beginner.  I would say I am an advanced beginner, almost into the intermediary level.

There are site that have a little bit more information or show some woodburning pens that I never saw before (http://www.patrickfaleur.com/pyrography/,  http://www.scorchpyro.co.uk/Techniques.html and http://www.instructables.com/id/Wood-burning-101-Techniques-and-Tricks/) and some that sound to be a constant work in progress but have a lot of info nonetheless. (http://www.suewalters.com/PyroSchool.html#1)

I was more lucky with books.  I had found more what I was looking for in books.  I had found a book that could field the last gaps that I have to learn (http://www.amazon.ca/Pyrography-Basics-Techniques-Exercises-Beginners/dp/1574215051/ref=pd_sim_14_7?ie=UTF8&dpID=51n5TKbh8wL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR124%2C160_&refRID=10DWT1S6S8SKTG9H7ZQB)
This one is similar to the other but I have not decided if I will take it.  (http://www.amazon.ca/Learn-Burn-Step-Step-Pyrography/dp/1565237285/ref=pd_sim_14_4?ie=UTF8&dpID=51RDHBGv2cL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR124%2C160_&refRID=10DWT1S6S8SKTG9H7ZQB)
I found one that get me excited.  I think it is the type of book that I need right now.  I am more geared into patterns and creating my own projects right now (http://www.amazon.ca/Woodburning-Project-Pattern-Treasury-Match/dp/1565234820/ref=pd_sim_14_2?ie=UTF8&dpID=61ykerHJ6oL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR124%2C160_&refRID=10DWT1S6S8SKTG9H7ZQB)
This one is tempting.  It seems to be complete and have troubleshooting too.  I do not know, at this point if I will get it right away: (http://www.amazon.ca/Pyrography-Workbook-Complete-Guide-Woodburning/dp/1565232585/ref=pd_sim_14_1?ie=UTF8&dpID=617Vz5utQ6L&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR123%2C160_&refRID=01HWZNDC0CW3JK822KZ)
There are other books but I think these will wait a little bit before I have a look at them.  I don't know if I could find them in a local bookstore to browse all of them before buying them.  I may do that after the Holidays.  I am not in a hurry to get them.  I can do projects anyway.  I also think of looking on drawing ressources because I know it is a weak point of mine.

Learning about Baltic Amber

I know that the Baltic Amber is the most common amber in the world and that the famous Amber room was made fr om Baltic Amber.  Now, I know more about all the fuss about the Baltic Amber with this article:
http://archaeology.about.com/od/baterms/qt/baltic_amber.htm
Would be fun to see the amber trade route.  As I search, I found a lot of choice: https://www.google.ca/search?q=amber+trade+route&rlz=1CAASUB_enCA614CA614&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=701&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiRlYCdq9_JAhUEiRoKHctACZcQsAQIJQ&dpr=1
All or nothing.  Which one to choose?  I hate think kind of situation.   I have a legitimate question, my curiosity is awakened and I need to know.  After a quick search, I find more than I bargened and feel a bit confused.  Which one is the best one?  After seeing a few, I guess I can have an idea and it seems logical: it goes from the north to the south, even if it deviate a little bit to go to destination.

The article had wetted my curiosity.  I would have liked to learn a bit more.  There are reference, so I may check that first.  It is amazing the route that some gems can take to end at their destination.  I think it is the first gems that had made the most distance to come at the jewelry store.  If I count the antiquity, it show how the commerce could be developped even with less than modern mean of travel.

I find that amber have something that other gemstones don't have.  Of course, amber is not like most of other gemstones.  I don't know if it is me but amber seems to get warmer quicker than other gemstone when held in the hand.  The colors of amber makes me think of various beers.  I had seen someone working with amber.  I seems easy to work with amber.  Seeing and doing are two things.  I would be game to try work with it, just to see if it is easy.  It is a material that I would like to work with it, at least once.  It is for the experience.  I must admit that I would like to work with many stones, not just amber.  Maybe I will make a list of those stones, get them and do a projects.  There is a lot of things that I would try, I just don't know if there is a place where I could do that with someone more advanced than me.

What is my craft?

Some search for their career path.  Some search for their sexual orientation.  Some search for the meaning of life.  Some people are on quests to find answers.  My question is the same for the past few years: what is my craft?  Of course, being a jack of all trade have it's advantages.  I have various knowledges, I am not a specialist.  I just want to know if I can do something good, even to perfection and better than all the crafting that I know.

It seems evident for other people to know their biggest expertise, even if they can have knowledge in connected area of their expertise.  I can't say the same.  I had received many compliment on various projects that I made.  Nothing had come out as exceptional.  No one had praised me about one of my varied projects more than the others.  So, I don't have any idea where my strong area in crafting are.

I am too close of all the projects that I am doing to be a good judge.  My entourage is like all entourage: they compliment me whatever the result, even if I am dissatisfied with what I made.  I  can see the imperfection in my work.  It is not being a judge of what I had made, it is more with getting a good job, being a bit perfectionist.  I sometimes wonder if the ultimate test is selling my creations.  Could be but I am not ready to do it.  I have my own uncertainty.  I hesitate to put a toe in the selling waters.  I am not the only one to think that, I guess.  I better find a way to answer the question by another mean but I have not find it yet.

Maybe the real question is: what craft makes me special and unique?