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| with permission from Kate's Paperie, for whom I did this illustration |
In the Philippines, and especially in my hometown, there is no Target or Michael's or giant craft store. You can't just dash out and pick up a hand press (a mythical item I've never even seen in real life), a bone folder, or a heating pad. There are no star-shaped punches or gilt frame stickers to be found, no ink pads in jewel colours, no....yes, I'll stop now.
What a good crafter does in this country is go on the hunt. Hardware stores are your best friend. Need an eyelet punch? Hit up a Handyman for a belt hole puncher and pliers and then the local bespoke tailor for your eyelet rings--figure out the rest on your own.
My mother makes jewellery and we'd been looking for wire she could make into links for two weeks. Nothing of the right size or pliability in the local malls. We had to go to the fish market! The markets are in a really dodgy part of town, where purse snatchers operate even in broad daylight. We had to stay close, and hold our bags closer. After several dead ends we wound up in a deep, dark, hole-in-the-wall store that sold fishing tackle. It looked like a passage into Narnia, after all the children had grown up and used it for storage. But this dim, filthy place that looked like the birth of tetanus was, of course, secretly magic.
We found the perfect wire--Seahorse leader line, used in trawl nets. I nervously eyed a set of fish hooks, carefully taped down under the glass shelves to protect unwary elbows, as my mother haggled over the leader line and some guitar strings. Don't even ask me why a fishing store would sell guitar strings.
No glitter, no ribbons, no fancy scalloped scissors. But they had what we wanted, and if my mom hadn't been willing to stomp around a smelly wet market I would never have known where to find it. Wear waterproof shoes and a theft-proof shoulder bag, and always wash your hands. That's hardcore crafting.
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