My normal standard of productivity has been pretty low this year, mainly because I’m still working on that craft book I’m trying to write and I’m finishing things for that but I can’t show any of them yet. So even though I’m still making stuff every day, it just feels like I haven’t finished anything for months and months.
Of course, it doesn’t help that I’ve been spending most of my non-book related crafting time knitting and crosstitching – the two crafts that take the absolute longest to finish off.
In preparation for the day we move into a beautiful new home, I’ve been trying to finish off works in progress and use up some of my many different stashes. Especially my yarn stash. I’ve got loads of crappy red heart yarn that I can’t bear to throw away but I hate every single stitch I use it for. So I’ve decided to just power through it, make a bunch of hats out of it and give them away to the teenage girls I teach at church who don’t know the difference between the fancy yarns I pine away for and the stuff I’m currently using. They’ve actually turned out pretty cute and I’ve had some trouble giving them away.
Here’s me in my latest little hat. Cute eh? Almost cute enough to ignore the itching of the plastic yarn.
I also finished a knock-off bracelet I’ve been meaning to make for a year now. I saw a friend of mine wearing this really cool chunky pearl bracelet. It could have easily cost over $100, although I really have no idea because I’m squirrley about money and could never have asked that kind of a question, and I made it for about $14.
I got the pearls for free from Bear’s grandma, so all I did was buy a mess of headpins and a 3-row expander bracelet. Whoop-a-de-do.
But what I’ve really been spending my time on is scrapbooking. I loved it so much I knew I could never really give it up, even though I really got burned my last time around. My friend Chris has been trying to suck me back in and she’s finally succeeded. I’m even considering pursuing the career again, which I swore I would not do, mainly because I really miss the creativity. I miss developing product lines and the camaraderie and the creative push you get from hanging out with other creative people. But this time around I’m going to do things differently. I’m not going to follow the trends. I’m not going to worry about marketing. I’m going to do what pleases me and if someone likes it, hooray for us both. But I’m not going to sacrifice my own style for commercial work. Maybe then I won’t run smack into burn out again.
Hi Tresa, Great layout! Miss you on the message boards. Barbie "Scrappy"
I love to be crafty but am not creative enough to be original. I copy everything. Hats off to you for being so creative. Emilyps in the scrapbook page I think you look like a skinnier version of the Supernanny from TV.
Freakin' cute.You and your crafts. I'm terribly jealous, because I have about 2 years worth of pictures I need to scrapbook, but I'm no where NEAR as creative as you and mine just end up… well, blah.SighTell us more about the move! How have I missed that?
Oh you've missed nothing, D. There is no move anymore. I was trying to be positive when I wrote that. As you can see from the latest post, that annoying little phase is over.