Why Dream a Little Dream?

I often ask myself why I should dream a little dream, when I can dream a BIG dream?

I have a hugely inspirational group of friends on my different social networks, but mostly on my favorite, Plurk.com  These wonderfully talented artisans hail from all around the world, and specialize in sooooo many different art forms, it really makes my head spin.  I spend half my time looking at their shops, wondering how on EARTH they made these gorgeous pieces.  Glass work, polymer clay, scrapbooking, jewelry, metal work, sewing, book making, you name it, I probably have a friend who has a least dabbled in it.  And it was this fabulous group of people that made me want to try all these different art forms.

And then I started looking into the prices of tools, the space requirements, and realized that my tiny little 1100 square foot home would never hold all the equipment I would need to start any one of these art forms.  I was pretty sad at the thought.  But it started me along the whole "What if..." line of thought.

"What if there was a place I could learn this particular art form?  What if there was a place I could go to try my hand at some of this stuff?"

Then, another thought crossed my mind, and that was that I have no immediate neighbors who are interested in the things I am interested in.  After talking with a lot of my friends online, I realized that this was a common problem.  And this also started my "What if..." line of thought.

"What if there was a place I could go and craft, and talk to people who are like me?  What if there was a place I could go, work on projects and leave them there, so no little fingers could get into them?"

And then, since my boys were still really little at the time, I started wondering what I would do with them, while I went to this Crafting Nirvana.  And, yep, it started my "What if..." line of thinking once again.

"What if there was a place where I could go, craft, leave my stuff there, talk to people who share my interests, bounce ideas off of, AND have reliable care for my children?"  

And with that, my dream was born.  I know that my dream will be a long time in coming.  It will be expensive to start.   I will need a lot of land.  I will need a lot inside room.  I will probably need a lot of insurance.  BUT I think it is do-able.  A place where people can meet.  A place where people can learn.  I already have a pool of people that I can hopefully convince to teach classes.  I want space for a gallery, where artisans can sell their work.  I want a little craft store that sells at least basic supplies.  I have picked an area to do this, that is convenient to hotels, and major highways.  Now, to make my Dream come true.  And if you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them!!!