So, I have started really pouring myself into a new endeavor, dolls. I have always loved dolls, miniatures, Barbies, etc... and I have never grown out of that. Sadly, while my boys like playing with the accessories, they are not budding fashionistas and do not share my love of tiny clothing. So I have had to keep that alive myself.
About a year and a half ago I found a youtube channel called My Froggy Stuff ( you should TOTALLY check them out, BTW) where Froggy and her family make amazing doll crafts with every day objects and recyclables. I was hooked. Since then I have also found a lot of doll repaints, customization and more detailed and skilled crafty channels to add to my obsession, some being Hexian, Dollightful, Sugar Charm Shop, Nicolle's Dreams, Rainbow Trinkle's World, pipecleaner crafts and I am sure more that I am forgetting. I also follow HMS2 who is not really about dolls but makes wonderfully detailed miniatures in a way that you can follow along.
After all these I began slowly starting to make my own things. Soon I became obsessed with Monster High and Ever After High dolls because they were so much more posable than the Barbies I grew up with. But now they have these Made To Move Barbies that are even more posable! They are amazing and I love them so much! Since getting 2 of those, and now having 4 MH and EAH dolls, I have found myself constantly crafting. At least once a day I am making, painting or planning something. And while I am not yet skilled enough to repaint faces (a face-up as they are called) I am practicing and hope to add that to my skills someday soon.
But I found something else while making all of these things, Happiness. Real, depression defying happiness. Even on bad days. I guess it should not surprise me since I have been using writing and drawing to "self medicate" since I was a teen, but still, I have been surprised how much joy I am getting out of these creations. This "self medication" along with prescribed medication has helped me become a much happier and more fulfilled person in all aspects of my life.
I am finding my patience to be greater, my calm to be stronger, my energy to get things done is increasing bit by bit. I am less stressed at the end of the day, when I can sit down and craft something quick, like a little umbrella or sew a quick outfit. If I am particularly stressed I can do a quick repaint, or simply add little details to something I have to make it more interesting and more personal. I adore it!
Now, only time with tell if this will last, as I usually cycle through my creative phases, but this one has lasted much longer than usual and seems to be helping a lot more. I hope others might find some hope or inspiration from my experience and if you want to follow my doll obsession, I started a community page on Facebook to post more things, https://www.facebook.com/Cherries-and-Lace-1370238816383960/
