I think it's one of those really hard things, as a crafter, to acknowledge and accept that sometimes we just don't feel like crafting, and that that doesn't mean that there is something wrong with us, or that we've failed, or that we're letting anyone down. It's a tough thing to accept, though - I know I tend to feel like, well, as long as I've got two hands with which I can keep doing this stuff, I ought to ALWAYS want to do it. But I don't. And I'm really focusing on telling myself that that's OKAY! ;)
Anyway, there are a few work-in-progress going on!
Paint Chip Collage
Last month, I got my bathroom repainted, which meant I had to go to Benjamin Moore. I decided ahead of time that I'd have some fun with it, and pick up some paint chips to play with. At first, I went about it in my usual systematic way (I should take one of each chip!) but then...no, I told myself, let's just RELAX, and have fun with it! So I grabbed every sample that appealed to me. Then, when I'd done that, I went through again and pulled out ones that I really, really loved. At the time, I was planning to do a rainbow waterfall with the chips, but now I have a different plan. In the next day or two, I hope to execute it (though I've noticed that I've been putting it off...I think the prospect intimidates me, what if I do a bad job, as if I have any one's standards to live up to but my own...wait, my own are stupidly high! ;) ) ...but I don't want to spoil the surprise. I hope to have it ready to share by Friday...though it's entirely possible it'll end up being next Friday, instead. :)
Dragonfly and Water Lily Cross Stitch
I've made a LOT of progress on my dragonfly and water lily cross stitch. I've been taking it with me to all of my meetings of late, and because it's on 14 count Aida, and doesn't involve THAT many colors, it's been coming together very quickly. There was one day, last week, where I made two ENORMOUS mistakes, but I ended up deciding to leave them, because one of the beautiful things about a project like this? Unless I tell folks, no one will EVER know the difference. Can you spot them?
No?
Positive? :)
Well, one of the sections along the border, the whole thing is one row to the right of where it should be, and I had to make some other changes to not make it mess up stuff. That's the less obvious mistake. Can't imagine anyone would EVER notice. The other, well, it does look a little strange, but the stylized "stained glass" look hides it well - that lily pad on the bottom? I used the wrong shade of green for a rather large section of it. There was SUPPOSED to be another shade between the darker shade and the two lighter shades, but I goofed. But ya know what? Screw it. Just much too much to undo, so I went with it. :)
(close up on a section that DOESN'T have any massive mistakes. ;) It's a VERY simple pattern, but I do love the colors...
The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron
The other thing that I've been up to is that I'm still working my way through the Artist's Way, one chapter at a time, approximately one chapter per week (it's actually been taking more like 8 or 9 days per chapter, just fitting it in around my schedule). I can't say it's really "doing it" for me, but I've decided to keep at it because I do think I'm getting something out of it, if not as much as I want to. The further in I get, the more I've been modifying the program to suit my own needs. Earlier this week, I switched from writing my daily journal in the evening from writing it in the morning, and it's doing me a world of good. I wake up in the morning feeling fresh and ready, the issues of yesterday are out of my mind. When I write my journal in the morning, all I do is stir up all the mess first thing in the day, and it was leaving me feeling drained and sad. This way, I put everything to rest right before I go to bed, keep my thoughts from distracting me before trying to sleep, and wake up the next day with everything out of my mind. And I no longer get stuck setting an alarm for 4:30 AM so I have time to write before my earliest work days. Definitely a plus. :)
But in the end? My biggest objection to her remains her idea that creativity comes from an external source and flows through us. I don't think that AT ALL, and no amount of reading her work has yet convinced me. I feel so empowered because I believe that creativity is something WITHIN me, that all I have to do is let it have it's way, it's my own strength, my own abilities, my own empowerment. It's funny, because if I were asked to describe it I'd probably use very similar terms to Cameron - I could see someone telling me, "no, you're saying the same thing she is!" But I'm really not - she says that creativity comes from outside of us and we're just a conduit, and I say that creativity comes from deep within ourselves and is all our own. Still, I find her exercises interesting, so I'm going to keep at it, I think I can get SOMETHING out of it, and it's at least interesting stuff to think about. ;)
Read about what everyone else has been making this week, over on Tami's Ami and Crochet blog!!
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