Confessions of a Craft-Challenged Editor

Oh, it's a hard life! I come from a family of artists and crafters. My grandmother sewed most of her own clothes as well as beautiful clothing for all the rest of us. My father was a fine artist who created incredible paintings, drawings, and sculpture. My mother was a knitter and crocheter who made me some amazing afghans. My sister is also an artist and designer who can sew, needlepoint, knit . . . well, she can do it all! Me? Nothing! Mom and Grandma tried repeatly to teach me to do something -- anything -- with a needle. No luck. The joke in the family was that I was a craft-challenged one. Sigh.

But I discovered that my talent lay in writing and editing. I became a magazine editor and decided to just consider that my artistic outlet. Which was fine, but I still yearned to have a "craft" of my own.

Well, about a year and a half ago, I got my dream job. I became the Managing Editor of a gem and jewelry magazine. Wonderful! I deal with some of the best high-end jewelry designers in the world. I love it. But I also discovered a great "side effect" to my job. The company also publishes beading magazines. After watching the beading editors and writers working on their projects for several months, I discovered that it rubs off! I quietly tried my hand at taking some beads and stringing a couple of necklaces for myself. And when I wore them to the office, the beaders noticed. And they liked them! People started asking me to make necklaces for them. Yep, I found my craft calling. And it only took 48 years.

So that's my new sideline. I opened an Etsy shop about a month ago, and although I haven't had a lot of sales yet, I'm loving it. Not only am I doing something I love, but I've contected with the whole crafting community. And it's wonderful!

Not bad for being craft-challenged!

Visit my shop at www.karlakraft.etsy.com to see all the jewelry I have available.

Karla Rosenbusch
Douglassville, PA