Why can't I just sit at home and make things all day?

I've recently decided that I'm interested in too many things. I end up frustrated or disappointed in myself because I don't do enough with crafts and baking, etc because I just don't have the time. I would love to be able to make lots of lovely things, but I never seem to get around to it.

In college I taught myself how to knit, and I made a few things, but then I got interested in sewing and embroidery, so the knitting took a back seat. Now my sewing machine just lives in my closet and I have an unfinished embroidery project sitting on my desk while I'm playing with making books and pretty papers. Meanwhile, I also want to learn to quilt and do some more sewing, not to mention baking and cooking fun things....

So as you can see, there's too much to do and no time to do it. I have to work (especially to finance some of these hobbies - yarn and fabric can be expensive!) and I'm usually away from home for at least 11 hours on the days that I work. Factor in the need for sleep and food and general rest and I generally don't get around to much.

I'm trying to handle this by just putting projects on the back burner. I'm keeping a list of things that I find inspiring or projects that I could make from blogs in my google reader that hopefully I'll get around to eventually. I'm also trying to just focus on one project at a time, so I can feel that sense of accomplishment. For instance, we're having a baby shower for a co-worker today, so I made the new baby girl a fleece baby blanket. It's extremely easy  - you just cut fringes into the fleece rectangles and tie them together - instant blanket! Pictures to come soon...

Weekends

Since I get so few weekends off, I always feel pressure to do something special. This weekend Jon and I explored DC a bit and I got to do some crafting stuff, which always makes me feel productive and happy. 

I haven't been to the Eastern Market in a while, so I drove down there on Saturday morning and Jon met me there (he can walk from his apartment!) I love all the colors...

 

 

And then we had crepes! 

Then we decided to go to Georgetown. We got cupcakes and I took pictures of flowers and stones...

 

and Jon

Then we went to the National Cathedral, because why not? There was a wedding just finishing up and Jon actually ran into his old project manager. It did make us wonder who you have to know to get married at the National Cathedral...

On Sunday my friend Sarah invited me over to do some crafting (we're both doing Elise's class). I was able to finish up a card project I've been working on and start a new book. I was inspired by green and sort of went from there...

 
I like crafting with other people, so hopefully there will be more in our future. In the mean time, I still have 2 days off from work!

Inspiration

I've begun taking an online workshop taught by the very creative Elise Blaha. I don't usually do those types of things. My style is more of a thinking and never doing which can be very frustrating and adds a lot of stress. So in the past month I've started doing. I used to knit in college and I've done some cross-stitch/embroidery projects. 

I like making things for other people, since I'm usually not always sure what to do with things once I'm done making them. The workshop (and Elise's blog) have inspired me to try scrapbooking and what she calls art journaling. I've never done much scrapbooking, since they're so large and seem like they have to be perfect, and if you chronicle one thing, you have to do everything. Elise's approach is much more casual and spur of the moment, and the books that she produces are much smaller and really seem like something I could do easily while not worrying about perfection. 

So I've started working on a few projects and I have some ideas for gifts for Christmas and such. I'm trying to not do too much at once as that can be overwhelming, but just make a few changes here and there. I've felt much less stressed about work and everything since I've started doing some of these projects, so I think it's a good thing.

My current one small change is to try to take more pictures. As Jon has started law school recently, I thought it would be perfect to document. Jon didn't seem to agree and wasn't thrilled with the idea of pictures at his orientation. But, the other day we were at the Law Center and there was no one around, so I insisted...

Law School!!

Serious face