Getting Crafty

Are you curious about what I have been up to that has taken me away from this here site?

I haven’t been making cards, and I will regret that soon I bet (why on earth is Christmas bearing down upon us so darn quickly?).

I haven’t been baking cookies or preparing for the gingerbread house making party that I will be hosting in a few days, and I will regret that too.

No, I’ve been busy making marble magnets. If you didn’t get a chance to make your own, may I suggest you consult this marvelous tutorial?

Here are my latest creations:

I just love the colours in this one. The shade of the background reminds me a bit of a black chalkboard but the colours of the flowers (which my camera doesn’t do much justice) really pop against the background. I am considering making this one of the sets I give away as one of my prizes for NaBloPoMo.

This is the blue and green version of the paper I used to make Allison’s birthday card. I love certain shades of blue and green together and this is one of those shades that I do like.

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Confession: I am addicted to Michaels‘ coupons.

It began simply: every so often, we would receive a flyer with a coupon to save 40% off any one regular priced item at the local Michaels store. If I thought of something I needed, I would clip the coupon and take it to Michaels and buy the item. After doing this a few times and saving a bundle compared to what I would have paid, I became hooked. However, during this time I also discovered that the Dollar store was a wonderful source of craft items, and I proceeded to buy everything that appealed to me without giving it much thought because it was “only a dollar!”. That was my justification for many purchases that now make me wonder “what was I thinking?”.

My innocent thrill at saving some money at Michaels has become something of an obsession. Every Saturday I wait in anticipation, wondering if this week’s set of flyers will contain one with the curling M that I’ve grown to love. Some weeks it does I head to Michaels with my coupon in hand as soon as possible, scouring the store to find something I need and want.

Sometimes it’s a struggle. The things that I want to use my coupon on—punches, stickers, yarn—are usually on sale and therefore not eligible for discount. Once I bought a book with the coupon, and that was great. Other times I end up buying a magazine—Oprah or Good Housekeeping, which are decidedly not crafting magazines—just so I can use the coupon.

Last week was particularly terrible because I had two flyers and each flyer had the following:

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The whole purpose of the Get Crafty challenges was to encourage participants (gently, mind you) to stop waiting for the perfect time (whenever that is) or waiting until you have all the right materials, or when you’re feeling creative before embarking on a project. If you find yourself waiting for weeks or months for these things to all come together in a certain way before you can finally create, you will probably continue to wait without ever getting anything done (a feeling I know well!).

Sometimes you just have to say “I’m going to do it, no matter what”, grab the supplies you need and get to it. Just as important as doing it is making sure you keep doing it: it’s easy to start things and not finish them, or keep restarting them. These are all traits of a good procrastinator. Many times while making the cards, I wanted to start all over and I really forced myself to work with what I had: if I did something that I didn’t like, I was more likely to cut the offending portion away, or cover it up creatively, or try to convert it into something else rather than start over from scratch. By making your brain work with what you have, rather than giving yourself a clean slate every time, you not only curb your procrastination and reduce the time wasted, but you might stimulate more creativeness in the process by turning something you’d have ordinarily considered junk into something beautiful.

Other ways that you can keep a project going, and prevent yourself from procrastinating on it are:

• gather all the tools and supplies you need ahead of time so you don’t have to keep getting up to get things
• divide your project into pieces and give yourself a deadline for each piece
• tell a friend or family member of your goal and ask them to gently inquire how you’re doing with your plan to complete or reach it.

I’ll be continuing on what I learned from taking part in the Get Crafty challenges, but I thought I should share one of the important things that I gained through this process: a new friend!

Sherry was the one who came up with the idea and she was the one whose comments encouraged me to create every week. She herself is an artist, and I can’t wait for her etsy shop to open up so you can see her work for yourself. When she first left a comment on this blog, I responded and soon realized she lives about five hours away. It’s always fun to meet a fellow blogger who doesn’t live halfway around the world. From reading her blog and the thoughtful comments she leaves on the blogs of others, it was easy to see what kind of a person she was, and I featured her in my positive bloggers entry on Life Tips Daily because of that.

During the course of the challenge, I noticed two things that Sherry was using that I loved: pretty chipboard letters and the cutest rub ons I’d ever seen, made to imitate ribbon and stitching! Ever generous, she shared where she purchased them, but when I tried to find them I didn’t have any luck, a fact that I mentioned to her her passing.

Well what should show up in my mailbox a few days ago but a gift of those very two things from her! They were unexpected but certainly served to brighten up my day. I wonder if it’s a coincidence that a relationship that was strained up until then was mended on the same day, soon after I received Sherry’s gift.

While these gifts are lovely, and I will enjoy using them, the true gift is Sherry herself: reading her encouraging words, both in response to my entries and on her own blog, and getting to know her better are gifts that I will treasure most when this challenge is long forgotten.

I apologize. This entry should have been posted last night but what I have discovered over the last few days is I’m drained. I am currently not speaking to someone very close to me and that combined with working long hours have led to me not being in the mood to talk much.

But I’m at work and it’s my lunch break at work so I’ll take a moment to share with you the results of the challenge. My first attempt at painting will not be shared due to its awfulness (you may wonder if I ended up deciding to share the photo anyway when you see the final result). Let’s just say I’m just getting the hang of this painting thing shall we? Better yet, let’s just look at Jummy painting as an experiment. There wasn’t much thought that went into this painting except that I wanted to experiment with black, white and purple:

I bought all my supplies at the dollar store and while Dollarama has never led me astray, they did this time. When 12 or so paintbrushes cost $1, you will likely have some problems with them, and I did: they shed like an animal and unfortunately you can see the “hairs” in the lighter shades on the painting.

Speaking about the painting…here it is:

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Today is the final day of the 4th Ready Set Craft! - The Get Crafty Challenge and the challenge was Crafter’s Choice - you were encouraged to make whatever you wished. I decide to delve into the world of paint and it was fun. I felt a little silly because I decided to paint whatever came to mind. There was no goal or idea in mind, just to paint.

Unfortunately, a post-painting rest period turned into sleep, and I was unable to grab a picture of my creation this morning before work. I won’t be home until much later today so I will be squeezing in my creation just two hours before midnigh!

If you’d like to see what Sherry made, please visit her site and read her entry. She always gives me such great food for thought. If you recall, in my last entry, she asked me a question that I thought I’d have time to answer over the weekend but I never did get around to answering. I will answer the question What have I learned through challenging myself? over the next couple of days.

Lesson 1: Accountability
When Sherry first suggested the challenge to me, I was excited because of the timeliness of it. I would finally be using all those supplies I had collected and kept buying, day after day. I would get to try out techniques I had read about or seen online, and perhaps tools that I hadn’t yet had a chance to use, or hadn’t used lately (paintbrushes!). It was a challenge, one that I had accepted, and I couldn’t let my partner in crime down.

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We all have fears, but do you have any fears as an artist or creative person? Are there techniques that you’re afraid to try, or mediums that you’re wary of working with? How did you overcome your fear, or challenge yourself to try something new?

For me, that medium is paint. I’ve never really painted, except for what was required 13 years ago when I took a (required) art class in highschool. I am not comfortable painting because my drawing abilities leave much to be desired and don’t all good artists sketch things first? And abstract art…isn’t that only for true artistes?

Of course not! So, for the fourth Getting Crafty challenge, I will be challenging myself to paint. I am not yet sure what route to go: do I grab a paintbrush and paint and just practice techniques? Or do I lightly sketch something and try to copy it? Should I go with my first creation, or head to the dollar store and buy a few canvases to experiment on? How will I judge whether something, especially if it’s abstract, is good? What is good? Whatever I do, I’ll be sure to share the result with you.

I must admit I’m nervous about this challenge…but we’ll see how it goes.

Sherry asked a question that I had been thinking of addressing after the results of the final challenge are posted but I think I will spend some time covering it before the weekend is through. Her comment was:

You have to tell us now Jummy…after 3 weeks of challenge and the beautiful cards you’ve made (even with the pointy prongs biting you!!), have you enjoyed this? Have you had fun? From the look of the cards you’ve done, it looks like you’ve enjoyed this!! And I seriously and sincerely hope you will keep it up…not just the knitting, but all kinds of wonderful crafts and art…you have a good eye for colour and combinations…share it with the world!

For those who have been challenging themselves for a while, how would you respond to this question?