“But instead of flowers, it should have fish.”

Her friend jumped in with the idea of making one. My heart soared when I heard her ask, “I wonder if you can image-transfer onto leather?” She was one of “us.”

One of my friends doesn’t buy gift wrap but tears off a piece of the white butcher paper she buys by the (gigantic) roll and, with colored markers, writes words of good will and humor to fill up the blank space and then wraps her gifts with the finished product.

“It’s silly to spend $5 on a roll of gift wrap that someone is going to tear off and throw away minutes after they look at it. This is cheaper and more personal.” An added bonus is you always have wrap for any occasion.

Years ago, I would meet the occasional person who did cross-stitch or tole painting or collage — whatever seemed to be the “in” craft of the moment, but now I am running into artists everywhere — ones who take charge, jump in with both feet and ignore the rules.

Often driven by the need to have something unique, people are eager to learn and have a hunger to create something. I take out my knitting and someone asks me to show them how (happened when I went to get the oil changed in my car!). I give someone a handmade card and they call me up at 9 p.m. because they just bought $50 worth of rubber stamps and want to know how to make cards with them. Random conversations with people I’ve met in elevators, restrooms, and grocery stores have yielded beaders, clayers, knitters, glassblowers and others. It seems we are drawn to each other by the common need to create; the need to put something different and unique in the world, even if it’s just our own world.

The Craftster forum meets those objectives. It’s an easy place to get blissfully lost in, looking at the items talented people have created, participating in swaps, and getting helpful advice on just about every craft under the sun. People who started out in the paper-craft section start showing up in the beading section. Crisscross Craftsters, those with multiple crafting interests, are a growing population.

The recent popularity of such shows like Trading Spaces (TLC), Pimp My Ride (MTV) and Craft Corner Deathmatch (Style) have definitely done their part in contributing to the increase of do-it-yourselfers. Whether tricking out an old Chevy Nova or making a computer desk out of MDF and bowling balls, creative teams are paving a new road where people are no longer intimidated by the “experts” and have a sense of accomplishment and confidence in their abilities to make something fabulous.

Art/craft as a hobby is also very therapeutic. As the demands of life grow to stressful proportions, people are constantly on the lookout for ways to relax and alleviate some of that stress. Cathy Pugh, a university graduate student counselor, recently took a rubber-stamp class because it, “looked like fun, it seemed easy and I was looking to do something creative.” Her primary craft of choice is cross-stitch, which she finds relaxing and easy to do while watching television. Last summer her cross-stitch won a prize in the county fair. But recently she’s ventured into rubber stamping, taking a class through a local store. (Let’s not inform her that stamping is the gateway craft to about a million other media, it’ll just scare her at this point.)

For whatever reason it is that we are driven to create, others seem to be very willing to jump on our bandwagon. Luckily, there are plenty of extra seats and we aren’t as particular about the destination as we are the view. Continue to share your art and embrace the beginners who aren’t as bold with their creations as you. Think of it as doing your part to cut down on road rage.