This weekend a friend of mine set me up to go out with a friend of her's that just moved into town, and since we are about the same age, she thought we would get along. We did, but my friend had told her how I am always making stuff and how it is really cool. So she asks me, "So just what kind of stuff DO you MAKE?" Like it was a bad thing. I told her, and she just kind of turned her nose up. ( I did show her one of my braclets and she said "Oh I want two of these-in black, I love black!" Like I was just going to make them for her and hand them over!) Then the topic of conversation turned to old records and how they should be just thrown away. I said, "NO! I don't throw them away! There's a lot that you can do with them!" She said, "What could you possibly do with old records?" All pissy like. So I ran down a list of things, and she said, "God, your like Martha Stewart's daughter! That's insane!" So the first thing that pops into my head to say is 'f you!' But I didn't...I just said that I didn't see the point of throwing something away just because it's original purpose was done for someone.
She kept saying how open minded she was, then the next thing you know, she calls some guy a faggot and starts in with racial slangs. And saying that country music sucks and pretty much anyone who listened to it was stupid. I thought, well I like country music and I am still sitting here with my foot not in her ass, so yeah I fall into that catagory tonight.
So the night ended early with me yawning and feeling like crap. I wet home and looked at all my jewlery, magnets, purses, blankets, and thought, maybe it is stupid. Then I made some magnets yesterday and they turned out really cool, so I am happy again, I just needed to vent about it a bit.
Has anyone else gotten into a mood like that after a conversation like that? I guess I am just too critical of my own work to stay that confident, not to get upset.
I also want to say you don't realize what a great gift an open mind is until you talk to someone that is so closed minded.

Melinda

She's a LOSER! Especially with the whole name-calling and racial thing... not cool!

Good job to you for being crafty, open-minded and creative! You're right, it's a blessing!

oh man... I won't even mention what I think about her racist comments... close-minded is a big time euphemism here.

Instead of feeling bad and doubting yourself, tell her - at least in your mind - to fuck off. I haven't even met her but I feel sorry for her. She probably lives a very shallow, empty life where everything has to be fresh from the store to be good enough to use and then thrown away. If she saw a Monet painting she'd probably say "well, the colors are nice and all - I'm really into purple, but couldn't someone had given the poor man a pair of glasses? or at least a thinner brush? And what's up with this old frame - the paint is chipped" Fuck her.

God, what a bitch. Some peolpe have no creative mind.

Y'know I wonder that your friend is even friends with this person. Sounds like you could look up the phrase "ugly goes clear to the bone" in the dictionery and her picture would be there.

Don't take it personally or as a criticism of your work. Sounds like she criticized everything- she is probably just rotten all the way around.

She sounds like such a jerk. I hope you won't let her make you feel bad again! She is SO not worth it. Keep on doing what you do!

Yeah, some people will just dis anything, cos they're career dissers. It is not about you at all, it is their own negativity. This is not a new friend for you. Thank your other friend for trying to set you two up, and then quietly lose disser-girl's number forever.

Sounds like this person is a little lackin' in intelligence as well as tact. I wouldn't worry about her not approving of your crafting -- after all, it seems like she doesn't approve of particular races or sexualities either.

"I also want to say you don't realize what a great gift an open mind is until you talk to someone that is so closed minded."
-- very true.

what a jerk!

i know what you mean about people's comments making you second guess your art sometimes.

i work in a mostly male industry (sometimes i go days without interacting with another girl!), so primarily men see the things i make, either on me or around the shop.
i have often found that guys (usually the older ones) give me the "aww thats cute" routine when they see one of my creations. like im 3 and i just made mudpies or a paper hat or something.

it gets to me occasionally, but then i am vindicated when i get to say " no, i wont paint your helmet/toolbox/wall like mine" or " no, i wont sell you this jacket for your wife." the same way you felt about making the black bracelets she demanded, no way am i going to waste my talents on some random loser.

this is not to say that guys can not appreciate crafts and diy stuff, or that all girls love crafts (as the orig post shows). its just something i have noticed in my own life.

anyhow melynn, dont let the bastards get you down and i hope you never have to hang out w that girl again. sounds like it would be a very tedious friendship.

sounds like she's very insecure..I've seen this type before. tear everyone else down to make yourself feel good. stay the f--k away from her...those kinds of people are poison.

SHE is the one with the problem.

She is jealous because she thinks she's better than anyone and so therefore any ideas SHE didn't think up are stupid. She wishes she were as cool and creative as you.

As for the Martha slur, people love to bash Martha because they feel inferior next to her. Like, gee, she is there making pine cone bobeches and I can't even get supper on the table every night. So, if you figure people making pine cone bobeches are lame, then you suddenly don't feel so bad because, obviously, anyone who has that much time on her hands...

Kudos to you for being crafty and creative. Some people just can't be happy for other peoples' successes.

Don't think you're lame for being crafty! I think we all feel that way after getting into conversations with such closed-minded people, but really, think of all the encouragement you've gotten from other glitterati and other friends, and it makes it all worth it. Someone kind of scoffed at me once when they asked about my hobbies and I told them that I knit, crochet, etc., and I felt kind of down on myself, but lately, I've been having so many people request handmade gifts or lessons in those things. Anyone who mocks you for it is likely jealous that they didn't think to do it!

She was probably intimidated by you because you're crafty and she isn't. Dumbasses don't know how to express their feelings well, and I think she's a prime example :).

You gals are so great!! I feel so much better. I really do apreciate all the wonderful things everyone said and all the support that I get here!
I talked to my friend today about it and she asked me how it went. So I told her. She took it pretty good. She does understand how she can be.
The girl I went out with was a friend of her's, but shes only friends with her through this girl's parents.
Glitter is just so great, I don't think I could ever find such a wonderful supportive group of people anywhere else. Thank you, seriously, from the bottom of my heart.

Melinda

Just glad your friend understood why you didn't hit it off with her.

I have one crafty friend. She and I scrapbook together and I have taught her to make jewelry and such. The rest of our friends just don't really get it. My boyfriend is supportive, but doesn't really understand how I can stay in a crafts store for hours. I think you're either born with creativity or you just don't have it. You can cultivate a creative mind, but you have to have a smattering of intelligence to get it to begin with.

That's pretty ridiculous, indeed. My dad usually refers to crafts as "crapfts," but I know he's just joking, because he has loved everything I've ever made. And if he happens to be taking me to the store on the way back to school, he happily grabs everything I'm getting from my hands and pays for it. Good daddy.

I go to an art school, and I get a lot of similarly dismal attitudes about it from people who just don't get it. Recently I drove my pregnant cousin to an ultrasound appointment, and the entire time I was in the waiting room, one of the attendant nurses was complaining about how her younger sister wanted to go to art school. She was asking the other nurses, "Don't you think it's a waste of money? What are you going to do in art school?" I was pretty incredulous of the whole affair, and I just stared at her (I had been drawing in a large sketchbook the entire time, too). Fortunately the other nurses disagreed with her, so I didn't feel the need to get up and lecture the woman through the nice little sign-in window. Most people who aren't crafty tend not to realize that art and crafts and whatever are just things that other people want or even need to do. It can be irritating. But I take comfort in the idea that they probably don't enjoy life nearly as much as our sort does. :D

Doesn't anyone understand the incredible scientific significance of this? That girl was stuck in a timewarp! She's really from... THE EIGHTIES! Somebody get NASA on the line!

/sarcasm