Defeating Crafty ADD

It has been one of those weeks.  We lost a sweet family member and now another is far away and in critical condition in the hospital.  All of our heads are just spinning.  I made it home for one funeral and now am waiting on healing for another.  I am need of some serious healing and focus at this moment.  So I craft.

Isn't this cross stitch from andwabisabi adorable?  I might need to make it.

I'm pretty sure we have all had moments when we have sat down to craft, but our brains are all over the place.  Not the best recipe for creating something you love.  It can be done, however, with a bit of refocusing.

I want to give you some ideas (and refocus myself) on how to make the most of your crafting time.

Idea #1:  Make your space work for you.

My crafting space can either help or hinder me when I want to create.  I am a neat freak.  I own it.  I just can't focus when things are messy.  For me, it is important to keep things put away when I am done using them.  Now I am NOT a keep things completely hidden away kind of girl, but I do like my displays to be intentional and as neat as possible.

Idea #2:  Decide what you want to do.

What kind of things do you want to create?  What kind of holidays are coming up that might need a card or a decoration?   Getting things gathered and having an overall goal for the month can help keep some momentum in your crafting.

My September To Do List:
~Cards:  Uncle G., Amy, mom
~Holiday:  Halloween decorations for the mantel; cards for nieces and nephews
                  Christmas:  Notecards for Isabel's teacher
~One month finished scrapping (project life and layouts)

**I try to work a BIT ahead and have a general idea of what I want to make farther, out, but putting them on this list would just feel overwhelming, so I only add a reasonable amount that can be finished.

Idea #3: Get stuff ready

It is no surprise that I am going to tell you that you should make your own kits out of your supplies.  LOL  I am the Counterfeiting Original.  Take a look at the list of things you want to do and start pulling what you need to get it done.  When you only have a few minutes you will have half the battle done and will be able to make progress throughout the month.

For my list this translates into:
1.  Making some kits for cards
2.  Pulling anything I might want to use for Halloween decor and cards
3.  Putting together a "box" of project life supplies for the month.

For my cards, I know I need something general for a man, a birthday card and something geared towards my mom.  I looked through my box of pre made cards to see if I have anything that will work.  I actually found two that will be perfect (sometimes I make cards for fun based on challenges or sketches.  If I don't have a recipient in mind then I store them for later).

I was excited to dig around for my Halloween Decorations (although I suspect I will also dig into my regular stash of paper when the time comes to create).  I also made sure my Silhouette files were sorted so I could easily find my Halloween digital purchases.

I then had the almost daunting task of pulling some stuff to make my Project Life easier.  I flipped through my photos to see the theme and then pulled some cards, embellishments and stamps that seemed to fit.  I will probably pull more stuff, but this at least gets me started.

And because I can't help myself, I went ahead and put together a kit from CSI's Casefile No. 137.

Idea #4:  Get rid of distractions.

What is it that holds you up when you sit down to create something?  My biggest issue is my computer.  I get SO distracted since I also work from my office and often end up doing "just one more thing" before I get started.  My new goal is to shut it all down, so I can create uninterrupted.  Let's see how that works.  LOL

What is distracting to you?

It was good for me to write this all out and have a plan going forward.

Back to "School" for mom!

Photo Credit

**Be sure to check out the awesome birthday party that used these props!

August was swept away with back to school shopping, an unexpected trip back home to say goodbye to my Aunt, another trip home for her funeral lead to an over stressed and now sick heap for the last few weeks.  I am on the mend, although my heart is still sad, and ready to get back into some sort of crafting groove.

What better way to get some crafting on then Paper Trey Ink's Stamp-A-Faire?  I am coming at it a bit late for entering anything, but at this point, I just need a jump start of Mojo and am happy that there are so many entries to help inspire me.  Plus the pressure is off to get these done in any sort of time frame.  (I am typing this as I yawn...at 12:40 in the afternoon.  I am determined to have one day where I don't feel the need to lie down.  That probably means I will want to go to bed around 7:00, though.  LOL)

I am starting with their Timer Challenge (since I am OCD about doing things in order).

First up is to pick one of their color schemes:

I love the soft pallet of this one, although I am going to let some of my pinks punch it up a bit.  I am DETERMINED to use up some of my 6x6 pads.  Seriously.  I collect those stinkin' things, but use them up?  LOL

I pulled my papers (I will show you in a minute) and checked which sketch I wanted to use before I pulled some embellishments.

**I am ignoring the instructions for my first card and just going off the sketch.  LOL  I am living dangerously, except now I feel the need to pull more stuff and do a second card following the directions.  I have a problem.

I started with a great sheet of blue paper with roses in different shades of pink.  It hit the entire color scheme in one sheet of paper.  I added an additional plain blue paper, a light pink pattern and a tone on tone white/cream pattern.  I love my enamel dots, so I had to add those and some labels.

I thought the flowered paper would be fun for the focal point, but it was too busy for any sort of sentiment.  A die cut with a sentiment on it solved that problem nicely.  A bit of layering and this card came together very quickly (well under the 20 minute goal...more like 7 minutes).

Alright!  I completed something!  Now to get it into the mail instead of putting it in a box to sit for a year.  We make cards for a purpose, right?