My Craft Evolution

Hiya! I'm back! I haven't been crafting at all lately, the most I've done are a couple of note card sets to give my friendly neighbours for Christmas. But I was just sitting here and thinking...
Thinking and reflecting on how my crafting style has evolved over these past few years. I have been crafting for as long as I can remember. The earliest memory I have is back in the days of Doordarshan (a nationally broadcast channel in India), exclusively, before all the 50,000 channels on cable TV existed! There was something called 'afternoon transmission' (pretty self explanatory, huh?) and sometimes it had craft demonstrations. I would watch it in awe and want to make the 'wall hanging' or a card that they'd show. I didn't have any fancy crafting tools then. I would scour the house for clever substitutes and have fun making, well, something :-)
I think I was probably six or seven years old. I realised early that I had a passion for crafts. (I think I get it from both my grandmas.) I remember the time I cut up my mum's beaded necklace and stuck the beads on to some sheets of paper from my notebook and marvelled at my lovely creation! Mum didn't seem so pleased though *wink*.
Anyway, so over the years, as I grew into a bubbly teenager and then into a confident young woman, I clearly knew I was the 'crafty' kind (surely someone who loves paper and scissors, not the wily kinds!). My friends had labelled me 'creative' :-) I slowly started enjoying buying bits 'n' bobs for my craft. Something that has grown into a sort of obsession now! But, like I said before, I was walking down memory lane and it was heart warming to trace a kind of 'craft evolution', so to speak. Of course, I'm not highly evolved or anything now, but I've come a long way! And one thing I've realised is that while your ideas and design sense are an important part of being 'crafty', the right tools and accessories are a vital element too, oh most certainly yes! I say so because I know how I used to make cards and such before, and although they had the heart warming handmade feel to them, they were not really very professional or very neatly finished. But today, with so many clever crafting tools, creating projects with a nice finished look is such a breeze, while still retaining that handmade look, mind you :-) I mean, rubber stamps, paper trimmers, scorers, tape adhesives, etc etc etc! And my heart swells with joy as I look at my 'half-a-craft-room' that has grown from just a clearing on my table years ago. Thanks to husby darling who has been so tolerant of me abusing his credit card one too many times :-)
Hmmm...so what was the point of this post, by the way? I don't know, really! Well, maybe thankful for some of the tools that I have and can't possibly think of sitting down to work on a project without them. So my list of 'The absolute Crafting Basics' -

1. Paper trimmer (with a cutting and scoring blade)
2. Bone folder
3. Good quality tape runner adhesive, double sided tape and a strong multipurpose glue
4. A good collection of stamps (rubber and/or clear) - some basic images and phrases will do for starters and then if you're an obsessive woman like me, you'll get hooked on to buying  stamps by the dozen!
5. Good quality ink pads and markers/pencils
6. A huge self healing mat to use as a work surface

And then, of course, there are the other things like an embossing and die cutting tool, a heat gun, distressing tool, various kinds of specialty ink pads and such.
Speaking of which, I have my eyes on some items...husby are you reading? *batting eyelashes*

• The yummy, gorgeous Silhouette! Sigh...
• Copic markers and distress inks
• The amazing Bind it All

I'm sure I'll keep adding to that list! We're a crazy bunch, we crafters. Husby always jokes about how crazy I am about paper and stuff. Maybe I should shock him with a 'Honey, I'd like a diamond ring' for a change :-)
But, all said and done, I don't want to sound greedy, I'm so thankful for what I have to work with now. Now if I could just find some time to craft...sigh!