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.

Day 35 and 36 - It Was Bound To Happen

Sometimes life is filled with the best intentions. I intend to do something but life gets in the way. That happened yesterday. I intended to blog last night but I fell asleep at 8:00. I felt just like a little kid but it was something I needed. I needed sleep more than I needed to blog so I don't feel that guilty.

But life did not get in the way of crafting. In fact I've been very productive. I managed to finish (well almost finish) my entry for the Anti-Valentines challenge at Dabbled. I say almost finished because I seem to have misplaced my hole punch so I can't turn it into a pendant yesterday (so I guess life did get in the way a bit).



Edited to add: I found the hole punch and this is what the finished piece looks like. I think its pretty cool.

The pendant is going to have two sides. The first is for when you are happy and in love. It shows a red heart with the words love, joy, happiness and bliss. The second side is for when you "have fallen out of love". I has a breaking heart with a black core and the words pain, anger, heartbreak and betrayal. You can wear which ever side depending on your mood.

I also started a new project yesterday (shocking) that I am finding very fun. I hope to show some pics tomorrow.

Day 31 - When The World Is Running Down

You make the best of what's still around.

Yesterday I was happily crafting away on the Dabbled Anti-Valentine's contest when my house literally started running down around me. We had issues with both (yes both) toilets. Neither were flushing well so we called the plumber.

I hate calling people for help. It costs a lot of money and you usually find out that you could have fixed it yourself for half the cost. But toilets are a necessity so I called, only to find out that there was nothing wrong with the toilets or the pipes.

We got a vauge diagnosis that it was a "problem" with the air vent. The guy thought it might be frozen or clogged so we need to find someone to climb on to our roof to find out. Well all righty then.

So now we are living in a broke down house with buckets instead of flushing and I spent the rest of the afternoon drawing cartoon hearts with glitter glue. It kept me from crying, which I guess is all you can ask for in this circumstance.

Day 30 - Casting a Web

Now that I've started this blog, I've been looking for other crafty blogs. I've found a bunch through blog swaps on Etsy. I've also been following links to see where it takes me.

I've found that there are a lot of sites, like Inspire Me Thursday where people all post on a common theme. This week's theme is soup. Last week it was peeling paint.

I like the idea of these types of challenges because they can give you that little spark of inspiration. Some days I don't really know what to do. I stare at the paper and it stares back at me. Blank, white paper can be awfully intimidating especially when you don't have the greatest confidence in what you are doing to begin with.

One of the challenges or contests I immediately was drawn to was the Black Hearts Anti-Valentine Challenge over at Dabbled. I was immediately inspired, drawing all sorts of things from broken hearts to black hearts. Envisioning cards and jewelry all with that theme. I loved it.

Even though I am married and have a built in Valentine, I can remember many years where I didn't. I hated Valentine's Day because it was a reminder that you were alone. So channeling those memories will make the contest more fun.

If this goes well or if I just have a ton of fun, I think I'll be doing more of this in the future.