When time permits, I occasionally stop by a fellow teacher’s office for some hot tea. He has a special hot pot that allows him to heat up a fair amount of water, and late in the afternoon a few of us often stop by for a brief chat and hot tea break. I bring my own Earl Grey tea bag, and others bring their personal favorites as well and maybe cookies now and then. Every onces in a while, I’ll see some cheesy bag of Lipton in the mix, ick. What amazes me is that they will not spring for the good stuff when we are talking about less than a dime per bag. Maybe it’s that they aren’t that discriminating, but seriously, anyone who drinks hot tea regularly must be able to tell the difference. For me, I think life is too short to drink hot Lipton when I can have my Earl Grey.

And the same goes for craftying. I am always fighting the urge to “save” my special supplies, the good stuff, for some kind of perfect project that I’ll make in the future. I maybe get this from my grandmother who kept new towels and sheets packed away in the linen closet to be used only for guests. I’m not sure who these guests where since I never saw these items being used. As a result, they stayed pretty and fresh and tucked away but were never enjoyed.

I’ve had the same problem with some gold metal clay my husband bought for me. He does this to me sometimes, buys me super expensive wonderful supplies that I’m terrified to use. Then he will ask me about them. Where are they? When am I going to make something with them?

With the clay, I kept thinking I would make prototypes of my designs in silver first and then, when I had perfected them, I’d use the gold. But, of course, the prototypes never materialized, and now I was running the risk of my clay getting older and older. One 3 gram package I had managed to open and use a few months ago when I was in the middle of working on my metal clay book. I was in the metal clay groove and feeling fairly confident, but even then, I kept to a couple of very simple designs. But, the other package was 10 grams! I don’t have to tell you that with the cost of gold now, the pressure was on, big time!

Finally, yesterday, I pulled all my metal clay tools out and cracked open the package and just went for it. I ended up making 9 charms, five of which I plan to use on a necklace design. I still kept the designs pretty simple, and I’m fairly sure they will work out. I just have to fire them, and as I type two charms are firing in my little hot pot.

Like my tea, I realized that it is just crazy not to use the good stuff! So, I challenge all of you to crack open your own special package of supplies that you have been hording and get busy! Life is too short!