Friday, January 9, 2009

But what about my street cred!?


You know I'm crafty, but did you know I'm hard-core crafty? I represent with the best of 'em. Put me in a crowd of crafters showing off their craft battle wounds and I'll rock hard. ("here's where I heat embossed my finger!" "this is where I jabbed a knitting needle into my thigh!" "this is from the time I snipped my plastic canvas and a piece flew into my eye!" )

A few years ago, a friend I don't get to see much was pregnant and we had a last-minute opportunity to go out to a movie with some friends. I decided to whip up a little customized burp cloth action that afternoon before we got together. As I was applique-ing a little birdie, my embroidery needle got stuck in the thick fabric. Being the hard-core crafter that I am, I grabbed that sucker with my front teeth and pulled like the dickens!

The needle finally gave and came through the fabric, but not before I'd chipped a chunk out of my front tooth. It looked wonky, but it became my greatest battle scar of all, and every time I'd run my tounge over the jagged spot, I was reminded of my undying dedication to craft.

I had my regular check up at the dentist yesterday, and though I've had this same tooth "injury" for years, they just now noticed it and before I could even think twice, the dentist had a drill-type tool in my mouth and was filing away at my precious war wound! Some smoky smell (yikes) and crunched facial expressions later, the notch in the tooth was all but gone. They offered to fill in the last bit with some kind of compoud something-or-other, but I declined.

Sigh.

Looks like I'll need to have a little "accident" with my woodburning tool this afternoon....

23 comments :

  1. I think injuries in the course of crafting are a silent epidemic.

    I made a bag earlier this year and cut my fingers so badly trying to pin through a bunch of piping that I actually had to elevate my hand to get the bleeding to stop.

    And didn't Diane almost set her hair on fire trying to use matches instead of a heat gun?

    My chipped tooth is from softball, though.

    ~S

    ReplyDelete
  2. "Let my life serve as a warning to others" - I use my teeth to try and get stuck needles out of projects all the time. Looks like I should dig up that pair of plyers from my toolbox instead. You crack me up. Great post!

    ReplyDelete
  3. my worst craft battle wound involved a knitting needle and my nether regions (I realized that sounds gross, but I assure you I was knitting!). I won't go into details here but let's just say I now stick to plastic needles.

    loved this post :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ok, you won. I thought I had crafting injuries ... but yours top mine.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow. You are definitely hard core!
    And you win! I wouldn't want to meet you in a dark crafting alley! I'm crafty but I'm a wimp - I definitely don't have the battle scars that you do.

    And yeah, that dental smell is a thrill isn't it?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Maybe you should get a crafting tattoo of some sort. That would be pretty hard core! Then you could stop hurting yourself and just point to the tattoo and say 'yeah. I've bled for my love of crafts'

    I've done all kinds of silly stuff when crafting that led to some sort of craft owie. It does feel kind of noble, in a sick kind of way. ;)

    Craft sufferers unite!

    ReplyDelete
  7. oh god bless ya.. that is one crazy story.. I got scars from hot glue guns.. large.. tattoo burns..

    ReplyDelete
  8. I did the same thing pulling the needle through that really tough fabric you can print pictures on. I still have my battle scar!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I inhaled way too many iron on transfer fumes the other week.

    If you ever let them fill in your tooth with composite, you can turn that into your next craft project, because eventually it will fall off. But never fear, super glue works really well on front teeth bonding-true story!

    ReplyDelete
  10. That's enough street cred for me. Stay cutting edge without the cuts!! Keep keepin it real!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. First of all, I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one gnawing my way through a particularly difficult stitch.
    Though I haven't any chipped teeth to show for it I'm sure it's only a matter of time.

    Just before xmas I was working on an embroidery project. I managed to push the needle through my crusty needle hardened thumb completely, floss & all. What's sad is that I didn't really notice the pain (at first), it was the blood stained floss that got my attention.

    ReplyDelete
  12. That is seriously bad ass. All through my block-a-day project I sported a serious callous on my rotary cutting hand, and now that I'm knitting more, the flesh is starting to peel away from my right index finger.

    Still - that tooth chip was extreme quilting!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I teach art glass bead making, and I tell my students that it is 'as dangerous as cooking'. In other words, it's as dangerous as you let it be. They can expect a few burns or cuts, but probably less than from cooking a salad. Point of information... hot glass looks just like cold glass.

    I've got my own collection of injuries from fifteen years of glassblowing, including a bad finger from a cut (and repaired) tendon, and a few burns from hot glass here and there (my working flame runs at five thousand degrees).

    ReplyDelete
  14. this is so funny! just this week i was sewing a badge on my son's cub scout uniform and managed to chip my front tooth on the needle as well! i thought i was alone in the world....

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hey, your blog was a pleasure to read. I got the link from boingboing.com, and decided I'd come check it out. Anyway, I noticed you said you were self employed as a web designer. Do you have any samples of your work?

    ReplyDelete
  16. you make me laugh my fanny off! what a hilarious post! dang you is funny. xoxox c.

    ReplyDelete
  17. um...that last comment was me. dunno why it came up 'nonomous.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Reading this post made me a little queasy, I have to admit! I know that smoky drill smell from the dentist a little too well unfortunately. Yikes.

    ReplyDelete
  19. ohhhhhh you've got wonderful freckles!!!!!!!
    wish you a supergreat 2009!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Oh Rachel you are too funny! My best scars are where I sliced the egde of my index finger off while cutting mat board out on the floor of my dorm room at school. Probably wouldn't have had a scar if I'd done it once, but no it was one of my favorite tricks. Bright red blood on fresh white boards at 2am for projects due the next morning - bummer!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Just to let you know, I've nominated you for the Kreative Blogger award.... you don't have to play along if you don't want to, but thought I would let you know!

    ReplyDelete
  22. OMG I did the same thing with my front tooth - and not once but twice!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much for your comments! I read every single one of them. I do my best to respond when I can.

Have fun and be nice! :)
XOX
Rach