Half Finished

I am the queen of half finished projects. 

I get a brilliant idea in my head.  I rush out to the craft store.  I start.  And then I don't finish.

My room is full of baskets containing unfinished crochet projects and yarn that didn't quite make it into a project.  The craft room of doom contains piles of beads, empty canvases and a dormant sewing machine.  Even if I finish a project there is no guarantee that anything will be done with it.  It may lay forgotten on a table or a shelf for months.

Last year we repainted our green living room a lovely latte color.  It is brighter and lighter but it lacks the punch that green had.  So one day when the kids were painting, I decided to join in.  I grabbed three canvases, some mod podge, textured paper and a bunch of paint.  I glued, papered and mixed the paints on the canvases.  It was fun and I was pleased with the results.

I had every intention of hanging the canvases on the living room wall near the TV. 

I meant to do it, I really did.  But I didn't.

The canvases were added to the piles in the craft room of doom.  Every time I saw them I meant to hang them, I really did.  But I didn't.  I did nothing with them for months.

And then one day in a fit of inspiration, I hung them on the wall.  The organization may not be the greatest but they are on the wall.  I finished something!

Day 16 - Creating A Mess

Today's post is a cross-post with my other blog But Why Mommy where I blog about all things related to my family and my daughter Bunny. This post is all about our differing approaches to the creative process. (There is no picture accompanying this post because I am very close to finishing a hat I started yesterday - to replace the one I lost. And I want to show it in all of its glory tomorrow.)

Bunny is very creative. She loves to draw and color and paint. It makes her happy.

And seeing her happy makes me happy. I love that she loves art. It makes completing this challenge so much easier that I can sit down and create along side my budding Picasso.

And her approach to art is very inspirational. She just dives in. She doesn't care what people think. She only wants to put the paintbrush, crayon or marker on paper and see what comes out. I love listening to her little comments as she is going along. "Oooh Daddy's gonna to love this." "Isn't it pretty, momma?" "When I'm done its gonna be so nice."

She's all about the process. She doesn't sweat the details because its going to turn out just fine. She doesn't agonize if there is a mistake because there are no mistakes. Every stroke belongs on the paper just where it is.

Now she and I have received about the same amount of artistic training, which is to say none. However, I often freeze when it comes to the output because its not what its supposed to be. Its not "art". I've seen art and what I produce isn't art. So I get frustrated and scrap project after project because its not perfect.

That is why I am loving the challenge of creating everyday. I have to throw caution to the wind. I have to get over my preconcieved notions about what is or isn't art. I have to let go of the hang-ups I have over my abilities or lack of abilities.

In other words, I need to get in touch with my inner three year old.

Day 15 - Cold

Its cold here in Wisconsin. Well I guess that is a bit redundant because it is Wisconsin in the wintertime so of course its cold. What I mean to say is it is downright frigid outside, like we are living in a giant freezer.

So what do you do when its cold? You stay inside under a blanket and sip hot tea. And of course you research vacations to tropical locales which you of course cannot afford.

So then I ususally turn to the next best thing, looking for things to keep me warm. I have discovered a host of wonderful knitwear makers on Etsy. Seeing these fabulous designs make winter seem not that bad, even though it really is.

The first designer is Melissahappystuff. She makes the most wonderful hats. I bought one of her hats last year and it made me so happy every time I put it on. Unforunately I lost it yesterday, so now I have to find a new creation of hers. Maybe this one?



The second designer whose creations I covet is Fringe. One look at the gorgeous cowls and neck cozies and you know you'll be warm no matter the weather. This one is currently my favorite.


I also love the capelets in part because they harken back to a simpler era and in part because they are just so beautiful. I'm thinking this one would be a nice addition to my wardrobe.



Above I've also shown the piece I started yesterday, its a long scarf with a wave pattern on the edges. I haven't decided how thin it will be. I guess we'll just see how it goes.

I've also shown a scarf I did last year with a different wave or ruffle pattern. I just love it. The color is a lovely taupe with a hint of metalic. Unfortunately the metalic in the yarn makes it a bit itchy for every day wear, so its more of a special occasion scarf for now.

Day 7 - Miscellaneous stuff

I started this "project" without any real set goals as to what I was going to do while crafting. I was just going to go with the flow, which is good and bad. Its good because I can have a day like Monday where I manage only to crochet a row of a sweater (which needed to be redone yesterday by the way).

But its also bad because some days I don't know what to do. Should I paint? Should I draw? Should I make jewelry? Should I crochet? Should I collage? Should I do a little from column A, a little from column B with some column Z thrown in?

Yesterday was one of those A, B and Z days. I did a little bit of everything but not enough to have something to show for it. Which is fine, I kept my resolution. But it kind of makes blogging about it boring. But since I've resolved to blog anyway, you my dear readers, get to hear about a lot of nothing. Lucky you.

Over the weekend I bought the book Lotta Prints by Lotta Jansdotter. Which is about printing with things like stencils, leaves, potatoes and linoleum. I bought it for inspiration and to try out some of the projects (its not really a project book but this is what you need to try x type of printing).

I thought I'd try making my own stencils first but I didn't have the supplies. So I figured I'd just put the book aside until I could get them. But when I opened the phone book a leaf fell out. I forgot Bunny and I had collected them during the fall and pressed them with every intention of using them later. Well now was later so why not try leaf printing? I hadn't done it since girl scouts it might be fun.

It was kind of fun but dried leaves don't really hold up too well. They tend to crumble a bit when you move them around. The ginko leaf completely disintegrated over the course of the experiment. The juniper leaf lost several needles. So while the effect was cool, the practice was kind of messy.

Day 5 - Crafting from My Sick Bed

I along with a mulitude of others have been hit by some sort of flu bug. At first I thought this would be the end to crafting (and posting) every day. This seems to be right about the time millions of Americans give up their resolutions. Was I going to be one of them?

Early on it sure seemed like it. There was no way that I could get up and sit at a table to paint (I've taken 5 breaks while posting this much already). I could grab my sketch book and doodle for a while. But that would require finding my sketch book and I didn't really feel like doing that.

So there I lay on the couch cursing the world and my husband who gave me this stupid bug. I was being subjected to a toddler trying to amuse herself by jumping on me and having toy dinosaurs dance on my legs. It was fun. Time to cash it in, pull the covers over my head and forget this day ever happened.

But then I looked over on the side table and a ball of yarn. I could grab it without really moving so I reached over to see what it was. It was a sweater I had started to crochet for my friend's baby. Huzzah (as she would say)! I could lay on the couch and crochet a row. I didn't even have to lift my head very far off of the pillow. My resolution would remain in tact for one more day. Yippee!

And now that this has been posted, I'm going back to the couch. (In case you were wondering it took 2 hours to write this post - now that is dedication).