Creating Friends

There's a heap of craft supplies festering in my basement "to do something with someday" and I have a small group of friends that come together regularly to create. Usually we work on our own projects while eating, chatting, venting, and laughing our way through the evening. It only seemed logical to start using up some of our surplus stuff as we recently gathered to "pimp" a Barbie doll. 


Yes. I'm aware it sounds a bit immature for adults to spend an evening altering a doll. Yet, it was interesting to see what surfaced as we worked, inadvertently exposing our individual personalities and quirks as we created. I'll share just a few observations.


"Anne," who specializes in organization and efficiency, though never having played with dolls, predictably began and completed her doll in half our time, following through with her well-thought-out plan and happy with the fashionable result:

The rest of us, impressed, doubled our efforts.


"Carrie," incredibly talented and ever questioning, started strong with a concept, painting Barbie yellow (the color of the third chakra, which gives us our unique strengths and confidence), added some funky leggings, and then got stopped, unsure of how she wanted to finish. The rest of us agreed we liked her just like she was:

"Eva," a skilled crafter with a terrific creative energy who latches onto an idea and immerses herself in one creative project at a time, felt that perhaps she put just a little too much bling on her doll. To the rest of us, she looked perfect: 

And I, who likes to improvise on any of my fledgling ideas and see what develops, let loose and managed to start two Barbies, which I have since finished. In the spirit of sharing among creating friends, here they are:

At the end of the evening, our friendships had grown, and perhaps we found a little subconscious self-therapy in the exercise. 


What do you do to share creative energy and create strong friendships?