Contagious

Activity begets activity.  It's evident in my running.  Once I start I can't stop.  I run one day and the next thing I know I am waking up at 6 am four days in a row to pound the pavement.  I love it.  I need it.

I'm finding it now in other areas as well.  Rather than sitting and watching reruns of Grey's Anatomy during Lion's nap time, yesterday found me on my hands and knees digging through our game and puzzle bins.  Games and puzzles that had not seen the light of day in months were taken downstairs.  A part of me wanted to take them directly to  Goodwill but baby steps.  Once I know they have all the pieces and no one asks where they are, they will be gone.  I know that now.

After I hung the canvases on the wall, I knew it needed more.  So Lion and I got the paints out and went to work.

It was fun.

It was comforting.

It was familiar.

The rhythm we had was so much like the one I used to have with Bunny when she was his age.  The questions about what will happen if you mix one color with another, the desire to paint one after the other, all so similar.  He's even painting his own version of Hamstacks (albiet without the fascinating backstory of French scientists who live at the circus).

And now I'm blogging again.  I haven't blogged with any real regularity in months, maybe even a year.  But here I am three days in a row in a place I haven't been in so long.  I don't know why but it just feels right.  It feels like something I need to do.  My first blogging home But Why Mommy doesn't feel like fits anymore.  I'm still a mom but it's not all I am.  This is freer, there are no expectations here.

I once had dreams of being a style blogger, a craft blogger, something.  Now I don't.  Maybe it's age, maybe it's maturity, maybe it's apathy.  I'm writing for me.  I'm writing about the things I want.  There are no apologies for being gone for so long.  I obviously needed the break.  There are no promises of more.  I may be here in a week, a month, a year or I may not.  But I am here now and I think I'd like to stay.

Busy, Busy

In eight days I leave for the blogging conference, BlogHer. I will be meeting bloggers from all over the country. Bloggers who I read and "know". Bloggers who I read and admire. And bloggers who I have not yet discovered.

I am relatively new to the blogging game having only started But Why Mommy last May. Many (okay 99%) of the bloggers won't know who I am. I need/want to make a good impression.

In order to make said good impression, I am going to be very busy for the next few days. There are clothes and shoes to buy. Pedicures to be had. Business cards to order. But most importantly I want to make a good impression where it counts, here (and there). I also want to get my Etsy shop in good shape.

So over the next few days, I will be running around like a chicken with my head cut off, trying to make jewelry, post it here, get it in the store. I hope that you like what you see.

Renovation

When I first started this blog, I wanted to claim something that was just for me. I wanted to expand my boundaries and push myself. So I challenged myself to craft everyday for 365 days.

It just wasn't realistic for me to do. I have so much stuff going on. I am constantly being pulled in a million different directions all at once. In other words I have a normal life with a family and children.

I could have taken down this blog and held it up to a failed experiment. Lesson learned. But I didn't want to do take it down, I thought this blog could be more than just a show and tell. I thought I could make it into something I could be proud of. So I kept it up. I posted here and there while I was running through things in my mind.

And I've finally decided that I am ready to give this thing a go again. However its going to be different. Its not going to be about me and what I make. Its going to be about bringing creativity into your daily life, sharing that creativity with your children. Its also going to be about taking my business off of life support and getting it up and running. I'm going to be trying new projects, posting tutorials of things that turn out and highlighting some really cool creative people.

So I hope that you will join me in my endeavor. I hope that you will follow my journey and share it with your friends.

Ch ch ch changes

I haven't been happy with the way this blog has turned out. What was supposed to be an experiment in crafting everday, in living a crafty life in the midst of a normal hectic crazy life, turned out to be pretty boring.

It was just pictures and posts about what I had done the day before. The pictures weren't that great and the posts were just plain stupid. "Yesterday I did this". "The other day I made a hat." "Ooh look at this pretty picture I painted." Reading through some of these posts, I was bored and I wrote them.

I did have one good post that I was proud of. It was more reflective of the way I view myself as a writer. And it really captured the essence of why I am creating, for myself and for my daughter, to find beauty in every day things.

But one good post out of fifty-one is not a record I am proud of. I wasn't happy with the blog or the process of blogging so I ignored it. Ignoring something does not make it go away. It does not make it better. It just makes it lonely.

The way to make something better is to work at it. I work at my crafts. I try harder every day to do better than the day before. I am proud of what I have done. I want this blog to reflect that pride. I want this blog to show how I am crafting my creative life, how I am re-building my business, how I am finding inspiration, and how I am inspiring creativity in my own family.

So there will be some changes coming to this space. I'm going to be posting more about inspiration and creativity. I want to find some other people who are doing the same things and have them share their ideas. I want this to be a place I am proud to come to and a place that other people want to visit.

Days 39 and 40

I'm begining to rethink how I'm approaching this blog. I'm still crafting every day. I'm still experimenting with different media. I'm still loving what I am doing but the blog is feeling a bit flat.

Should I continue to blog every day, no matter what I have to say?

Should I post pictures of my days creative activity every day and then type an entry when I have the inspiration to say more than look at this?

I take pride in my writing. I've begun to limit my posts on my other blog and I think the writing is better for it. But here the every day thing is affecting what I have to say. There are days when I'm just playing around and there isn't a whole lot to say. I'm finding it hard to come up with something to write about on those days.

What do you think?

(The picture is some experiments in cutting paper from day 39)