Sunday, March 22, 2009

chain of crafts

secret craft
When I was little, I would collect shells at the beach every year. Eventually, the practice came to a halt because, well, we had a lot of shells. A LOT of shells. These days, I do collect small beach stones, but I limit myself to one per beach and/or visit. However, in Cape May I collected a bloody ton of seashells, but I had a reason. A good one.

About a week ago, I was tagged in a facebook note by my friend J. It was an offer to make unique, handcrafted items for the first 6 people who responded to it. Well, J is an extremely talented craftsman, so I jumped on that offer like white on rice, believe you me. There was one caveat however, which was that by responding to the note you were agreeing to make the same offer. That gave me pause. I am as crafty as a pickle--did I really want to commit to this? Then I remembered that this was J makin' me something, and immidiately wrote my own little note.

This is how it works: it is essentially a chain letter, only instead of curses, there are crafts. Get it? You offer to make things (and I use "make" very loosely, it can also be something compiled, such as a CD) for six folks who in turn offer to do the same for six other folks. There can be overlap in recipients--the above mystery shell thing is actually for J. It's understood that there's a personal element to each of the gifts (as opposed to making a batch of cookies and distributing them to six people), and when it's done, you send it via snail mail (ideally catching the recipient by surprise). The only commitment is that it's finished by the end of the year.

Fun, right? I was wary at first, but have had a blast so far brainstorming, collecting, and creating. I'm sharing this here because I know that the interweb is full of crafty folks and this "chain letter" is a really unique and creative way to keep in touch with the people you love! If you like the idea, I encourage you to go forth and curse people with crafts!

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