So Many Dishes

Online ads can be enticing. They can be annoying. They also can inspire you, and that’s what happened to me about three years ago.

I had occasionally seen ads for diamond painting kits on Facebook, and been intrigued. It had been quite a while since I’d done any sort of craft. I’d done a fair amount of needlework, particularly counted cross stitch, until carpal tunnel syndrome made it painful to continue. I did a few scrapbooks, which was fun, but it was quite an investment in supplies, and I began to lose interest.

Not long after I saw the ads for diamond painting kits, Ken decided that he was going to try his hand at a hobby he’d enjoyed as a kid, building airplane and ship models. He ordered a kit and the necessary supplies, and clearly enjoyed the time he spent working on his model.

I decided I needed something to do, too, besides reading. (This was before I started blogging). I watched a couple YouTube videos, realized that I could try diamond painting for a small investment. If I liked it, fine. If not, I’d be out less than $20.

I discovered that I really enjoy diamond painting. It’s a cross between paint-by-number and cross stitch. You put small plastic beads, called drills, onto a sticky canvas based on the key stamped on the canvas. I find the process very relaxing—almost like a meditation. I’ve made a bit more of an investment since that first cheap kit from Amazon, working now on a lighted board set on a small tabletop easel frame, but it’s still an inexpensive hobby.

A good friend of ours runs a framing business, and he’s framed a couple of my projects. The one above now hangs in our dining room. It’s the largest picture I’ve done, and I love the colors.

One of my projects has become a mystery: it has disappeared! I’ve put a few finished pieces in simple magnetic frames to hang, and I had planned to do that with the one pictured above. Thanksgiving was close, and I hadn’t gotten a frame yet, so I hung the canvas on a skirt hanger in the guest room closet. After the holiday, when I went to frame the picture, it wasn’t where I’d left it! Since Ben and his wife had stayed in the room over the holiday, I thought perhaps they had taken it with them to frame it for me as a Christmas gift. Apparently not. I have no idea what happened to it, but it’s not in the closet. I’m glad I took a photo, to prove to myself that I wasn’t imagining that I did it.

I’ve found a hobby that I really enjoy and intend to stick with. I’m already thinking about what project I want to do when I finish my current one.