Yesterday I reclaimed my youth while whipping up friendship bracelets for a swap organized by a talented CraftSanity Magazine contributor (See Beverly’s hair pin lace tutorial in issue 2.) that I couldn’t pass up. While my daughters splashed around the neighborhood pool, I tied knots as fast as I could to make the swap deadline. The pool doesn’t staff lifeguards, so I did my usual scan of the pool about every 30 seconds to make sure the girls were ok in between all the knot tying.
I didn’t really “have time” to participate in the friendship bracelet swap, but I decided to do it anyway because I LOVE making these bracelets and believe it’s good to make something non-work related every now and then. I eased back into it with a very simple diagonal design and found that I had to scale back from 10 strands to 6 in order make five bracelets by the deadline. I made it to the post office yesterday with about 10 minutes to spare. Ah, the rush of deadline crafting.
After I shipped the bracelets I realized that I photographed the reverse side of them. Oh well, they’re on their way to their destination and that’s the important thing. There was no time for a proper photo shoot, so a few backwards shots with the iPhone will have to do.
I brought a couple bracelets around town pinned to my cargo capris in an attempt to make every spare moment productive, but found the lack of tension slightly irritating. Safety pinning these projects to my jeans worked like a charm when I was 13, but since then I’ve been spoiled with a “My Friendship Bracelet Maker.” The company sent me the product to try after they saw a photo of my clipboard method and kindly enlightened me that there is an easier way to knot bracelets. While I have an aversion to most mass produced plastic products, this one has won me over. Read more about that product here. It allows for speedy knotting and it’s great for kids and crafty moms, too. :)
Ok, I’m off to do some writing and then edit a podcast. I’m really looking forward to returning to the mic. I’ve missed talking to you guys! Enjoy the day!
