Pink of Perfection

One of my favorite things about blogs, hands down, is how you can feel like you can count people as your friends who you might never get the chance to meet in real life. Amber Karnes, of the super fabulous My Aim is True, has long been that for me. Her craft room is a site to be seen, and I’m constantly inspired by a life that seems to be a flurry of friends, good food, creative fun, and lots and lots of colorful, meaningful beauty.

Amber (looking the happiest) with super cute hubby on the last day of her honeymoon

Tell us a little bit about your blog and what the name means.

Well my site is sort of my life in notes and photos, if that makes sense. I talk a lot about crafting, cooking, my grumpy dog, music that I like, stuff like that. The name is a line from an Elvis Costello song called “Alison“.

How did you first get into making, crafting and cooking? Any particularly memorable flops or successes?

I was homeschooled for most of my life, and my mom always encouraged creativity and artistic pursuits. We made a lot of crafts when I was younger, everything from teddy bear bread to a heck of a lot of t-shirts covered in puff paint. I guess I grew out of it for a while, then after college I decided I wanted to learn to knit, just out of the blue. I showed up to a stitch ‘n’ bitch night, and the rest is history. I love teaching myself whatever new thing I want to tackle and making things myself so it was a great fit. I taught myself to cook mostly by experimenting, then from cookbooks and the internet after I went vegan in May 2007. Vegan cooking is a totally different game.

I think my most successful DIY projects have been things around the house. I can follow a craft pattern pretty well but I feel like I’m more creative with interior design and making just so-so things into really special things.

Flops? Ask my husband, I’ve cooked some pretty awful things. A lot of it involves eggplant. Why are those suckers so hard to cook properly?
Dude, I hear you. The craft scene in Norfolk seems really vibrant. Tell us about the 7 Cities Crafters.

The 7 Cities Crafters are a group of crafters and visual artists who sort of represent the indie art scene in the area. We’ve been a group for a few years now in one form or another. We’re a pretty diverse group, most of us are in our 20s and 30s but we have had everyone from high schoolers to 70 year old women come to our get-togethers. We have a monthly meetup where we bring food, hang out and craft together. We also host free skill-sharing workshops where one member of the group will hold a demo and teach the rest of the group a skill like knitting, photography, whatever. They’ve been very popular and we just scheduled several more for the next few months. I got the group going out of a totally selfish desire to meet more creative people in the area, sort of bring them out of the woodwork, and it worked!

What do you think the significance of the crafting movement is particularly for young women?
I think the coolest thing about the crafting movement is the information sharing. I am a big advocate of knowledge sharing, skill sharing, making or doing something and then getting the word out about it so others can do and enjoy it too. One of the
things that makes the DIY/craft movement most appealing is that someone can look at something I did and say, “Hey, I can do that too!” Then they might take the technique I used and put their own awesome and unique spin on it. I love that! I think the craft movement has been a great outlet for young women to be a part of something bigger than themselves. I am going to have a hard time articulating this, and I’m sure some women’s studies major could do a much better job, but I feel like young women have a hard time bonding with other women a lot of times. Men seem like they are just born to support each other or bond with their “bros” but girls are bred by society to compare themselves to one another and compete with one another. I feel like the craft movement has been one way for young women to find their own voice, express themselves creatively, and be a “team” with other girls just like them.

I think you hit the nail on the head — and very articulately, I might add! So what most inspires you?

Community. Whether it is 50 kids at a hardcore show screaming along the lyrics to a local band’s song, a really encouraging comment thread on a messageboard, or an art opening that just blows you away, I think that connecting with other humans who share your interests, passions and beliefs is the most powerful thing ever. When you feel like you are part of something that matters, it encourages you to push yourself harder to make your contribution to that community really count. You become a better and more creative person in the process.

Okay, my crush on you just got fifty billion times bigger. What’s some of the best advice you’ve ever gotten?

One of my mom’s many sayings is “people before things”. I think that’s solid advice, and whenever I follow it, my life ends up being pretty happy and my priorities stay in order.

What are some things on your life list (things you want to do before you die, or as I like to think of it, to feel like your living a great life)?

Write a book, make a truly great piece of art, be my own boss, open a venue for shows, make my family proud, maybe start a family of my own.

What’s your ideal day look like?

Wake up early. Drag my husband out of bed. Throw on bathing suits and head over to the beach with the dog. When we get hot, come home and make iced tea and sandwiches. Take a nap or read a little bit. Have some friends over. Throw some stuff on the
grill and listen to music. Finish up eating and head out to a show where our friends’ bands are playing. Swing by a late night diner and laugh way too loud. Fall into bed exhausted.

could kyla look any more dignified?

If you could invite anyone to a dinner party, living or dead, who would come?

Frida Kahlo, Maya Deren, Katherine Hepburn, Morrissey, David Sedaris, Amy Sedaris, Bettie Page, Chuck Close, Christian Bale, my mom

You just won $100 on a scratch-off. How do you spend it?

Girl, that’s going straight toward buying my Blendtec. I’m on a strict cash-only policy for purchases this year and I’ve been saving up for that!

Wow, your cash only policy is such a great idea. Last but not least, what’s in your fridge right now?

A lot of greens from the asian market, a big pan of lasagna I made tonight, jars of lentil soup from the batch I made on Saturday, some spicy mango chutney from the Indian grocery I haven’t tried yet, phyllo dough (not sure what I’m doing with that yet!), tofu.

Visit Amber’s My Aim is True right this very second. Warning: you may very well become as smitten as I am.