Handmade gifts as "limited editions"

a little card I whipped up with watercolour (wash) and pen

The thing about handmade cards or gifts is that even if you make five or ten of them, if they are handmade, they are all unique, one-off "limited editions", and as much as you strive for perfection, each one is bound to have little mistakes here and there. But I don't stress if I make a wee mistake, even if I have to cross some writing out, it's all part of the beauty in wabi-sabi. (Although it seems that the idea that the Amish deliberately created imperfections in their quilts is a myth.)

Here is an old Persian proverb which best captures the essence of practicing imperfection: “A Persian Rug is perfectly imperfect, and precisely imprecise.” Just like the best of home made gifts.

I have found though, that over the years, and even in the course of making a particular homemade gift series (eg, a series of ten little books or something), I have had a marked improvement over time with what I create. In fact, I have been making home made gifts since I got the idea during midnight mass, on Christmas Eve, 1997, when a deaf priest (whose assistant "signed" his sermon for the deaf community in attendance, creating a beautiful shadow of her dancing hands from the candlelight on the wall behind, but that is another story) suggested that the true gifts we receive are God-given and to share them at Christmas is the ultimate in holy service, and all we need to give at Christmas. I took it on board, and spent the next year beavering away at some simple home made gift projects, things created with my own little god-given gifts and talents. To be honest, I got a mixed reaction, as my gifts were rather inferior to what is available in the shops*. But I didn't let it stop me, and my gifts got better and better as the years passed.

“He who hesitates because he feels inferior is being surpassed by those who are busy making mistakes and becoming superior.” –Henry Link

I think to worry about making mistakes ruins the fun in gift-making and stops one improving by just doing. It's not that I think what I produce is anything special or superior, but as I have said, there has been an obvious improvement. Most of all, I know I am blessed that I have the gifts, time and desire to keep at it, and maybe people get some joy out of my limited edition handmade gifts. I know I treasure something that has been made by the hand of another, whether it is an embroidery sampler, a handmade book, a piece of jewellery or a jar of pesto. To me it is like holding something in my own hand that has been touched by an angel.

* I actually feel guilty when I give shop-made goods, as I hear bad stories about Asian factory workers and their working conditions and wages. I worry that they are putting sad energy into the things which get sold in the shops. I may sound like a fruitcake here, but I worry in case I am passing that on.