Catherine Chandler Jewelry + Objects

Before I met my fiance, I truly had never imagined myself getting married. The idea of my future contained me, and possibly some other blurry figure, but mostly me. I can remember distinctly the first time Dave and I talked about weddings. It was just a few months into our relationship (we had a slow courtship), and he had recently moved rooms in his house. He was now set up in this big room with screaming green walls. I can't even remember what brought up the topic of weddings, but I remember asking him what he would want his wedding to be like, and he replied that it would be a huge wedding in a church (eek!).

For the past 5 years, we have shared our ideas about our ideal wedding...some of them have changed, some have stayed the same. For the past 5 years, I have planned, dreamed, imagined, constructed, and deconstructed our wedding day. I have researched all the different aspects, analyzing, doing cost-comparisons, trashing ideas. Why? Because I never thought it would happen and hell, it's fun to plan your dream wedding!

People keep telling me not to stress out, that everything will turn out great. Personally, I know from experience of setting up events that things don't turn out great without some work put into them. But, I appreciate the sentiments.

One of the most surprising and lovely things about the whole journey so far is the amount of love and support we have received. It's absolutely amazing. I cannot express how much my heart swells each time someone offers to help, or how excited I am that all these people we love are coming to celebrate our love and commitment together. At the same time, each time there is a disappointment, it hurts far more than it should. I know it's because of expectations and hopes, but it feels like being let down each time. I think I'm doing a good job of rolling with it when these things happen, and I know the big day will be a blast.

I mean, how could it not when we have a typewriter with cursive type-set?!

This month, I am happily participating in EtsyMetal's Blog Carnival. What is a blog carnival, you ask? It is when a group of members from a group, like EtsyMetal, write on a certain topic.

February Topic: Non-Metal/Jewelry Creativity
Tell us about other kinds of art and craft you do. What other media do you work and play with? How often do you get to create? Does it relate to or inspire your metalworking?

Prior to working with metal and creating jewelry, I wanted to be a photographer. I had spent 4 years teaching myself photography with my manual Nikon, which I still love and adore. That camera has never let me down. It probably helped that I lived in an amazingly beautiful place that had phenomenal sunsets, broken down barns, and animals galore to photograph. Once I left college in Australia, my desire for photography kind of fizzled away. Once in a while, I get the bug, though...that nagging feeling of just wanting to leave for the day and wander around aimlessly capturing the world in frames.

Once in a while, I like to sew as well. About a year ago, I designed and sewed a sling for my friend's dog who was getting knee surgery. My friend needed to be able to have a sling to help hold up her dog's back end so that she could go potty and walk around. For me, that project was really fun because I got to design the sling from start to finish. This year, I sewed our tree skirt, which was fun. It didn't come out exactly perfect, but it was a quick and fun project. And for our wedding, I'll probably be sewing something like garlands or decorations!

Since I work with kids during the day, I also tend to do a lot of crafts. I get them to decorate for the holidays by drawing pictures, cutting them out, and putting them up in the windows. We build crazy houses out of toilet paper rolls, hot glue, and paper. Since metal is such a strong material, and you really have to work to manipulate it, I tend to find some incredible gratification during these craft projects...especially if they involve hot glue!

One thing I have discovered that I'm not good at is graphic design. I just cannot, for the life of me, create something I truly like. It drives me crazy, but until I have the money to hire a designer, I'm stuck with my remedial skills in that area.

All in all, metalsmithing is the thing that brings true joy into my life. I excel at it in many ways, and I always strive to learn more. I'm sure if I put the time and energy into other artistic pursuits, I'd be just as good, but they simply don't interest me as much.

Check out what other EtsyMetal members have to say about their creative pursuits!