Being creative in small ways

I signed up for this last night - very exciting! I figure it's just the thing to get me producing small creative stuff, and thinking creatively, rather than feeling like I have to take on a huge project and then feeling so daunted I don't do anything about it. Creativity IS the small stuff which is part of everyday life. Creativity is one's perspective. So yeah, here's to changing my perspective and undertaking some smaller, funner projects.


I guess this is an example where the creative process was fun - a cardboard castle for my daughter, complete with drawbridge (Piper's inscription: Keep Out, Bad Ones!) and horse, and probably other characters to come. I didn't feel like this needed to be perfect - that always makes it more enjoyable. I was pretty set on painting it grey, cos, you know, that's what colour castles are. But Piper was determined that it should be pink, so pink it is. Just let go, Bec, let go, and see what cool stuff happens! I love the end result - a pink princessy castle. What a joy painting is - I had forgotten. I also love how the horse turned out, kind of wobbly looking, and with a patchy painting job (courtesy of Piper), both of which mean it is totally unique. I so often follow patterns these days, that it was a lovely reminder of what I/we can create just out of a single thought.

Lunchtime

Lunch today: toast, boiled egg, tuna, and veges with chilli hommus, consumed while perusing the latest issue of Frankie.

My partner is away til Sunday, and my parents are looking after my three-year-old, so it's just me and Jas hanging out. Cooking becomes an even lower priority than usual!! Quick and dirty rules the day!

Jas and I headed to IKEA today, with the intention of picking up some drawer dividers for Piper's playroom. Everything gets shoved into the drawers in there, and then she can't find anything. When the mess is overwhelming, she doesn't seem to play in the playroom anymore (who can blame her??), which defeats the purpose of having a playroom in the first place, to slow the spread of toys to every single corner of the house!

So yes, IKEA. I was pretty single-minded. RESISTED the strong urge to purchase an easel and carpet to add functionality to the room. My partner will be glad to read this. He's pretty against anything new coming into the house, seeing as we leave for Canada in six weeks and will have to pack everything up then.

After putting in a good effort all afternoon, Piper's playroom is clean and rearranged. I just have to deal with the piles of stuff in the hallway, and hope she doesn't find the bags destined for the op-shop!

On a different note, I've been enjoying one of the latest CraftSanity podcasts, with Amanda Blake Soule (aka SouleMama). Just appreciated her openness. Hey does anyone know if anyone's interviewing Australian crafters? I'd love to know...

Flashback Friday

Can't believe it's been a week since I last posted! I guess I haven't done too much crafty stuff, although there's always knitting on the go. Actually, I did wake up one morning with a compulsion to sew something, a prototype of an idea, and I worked at that in all the little spaces I had that day, but now I need to make the next stage - how's that for secretive?! I will post about it when it all comes together, but yes, it's made for a boring blog this week.

And I can't even find a musical flashback photo - bummer! Here's a photo of me anyway, with my Mum and Dad in 1981. Tonight my friend Anna and I are hosting a craft space at my place, from 2pm til 10pm. We've hosted craft nights before, but I felt like we hardly got going and then it was time to wind it up, hence the early start. I also felt like I was forever jumping up to make people cups of tea, so this time I'm just going to leave all the stuff for that on bench. I'm not talking masses of people here, just our friends who are interested in making stuff. I'm hoping to finish the tea towel I started at the stitching night at Meet Me at Mike's, and perhaps tackle the next bit of the prototype, but I want to set low expectations so that whatever I achieve feels good! I could even post some photos, now there's an idea...

Before then, however, there's a house to tidy!

Here's Piper with the one finished crafty item of the week, a spider who came together 20mins before I had to dash off somewhere. So yeah, no finesse, but Piper was happy!

First challenge?

Just came across this on Ric-Rac's blog (which I'm enjoying!)...

the Chocolate Lollipop Yo-Yo Cushion Challenge: to create an original cushion made from the Chocolate Lollipop range of fabrics, and to also incorporate Yo-Yo’s into the design.

A patchwork shop in Ballarat has set it up, and it's tempting to have a go, just to get the creative juices flowing. I find I often feel daunted at the thought of having to come up with something original, but that's mainly cos I just don't do it that often. Once I'm immersed in the creative process, something generally always comes together, and at the very least, being immersed in a creative space is a good place to be, even if nothing tangible emerges. But as I said, I haven't had much practice lately at making something up from scratch, and it's why I think I should enter this challenge, not to mention the bonus 6" square of the Chocolate Lollipop range which you receive "for inspiration and a starting point"!

And hey, I could learn how to make yo-yos! They look cute, and that's another technique for me, even if the cushion never comes together.

On a different note, I finished Pipsy's *pink* scarf yesterday. I was originally going to use two different shades of Noro Silk Garden yarn, but in the end I didn't like how they looked together - one was more subdued than the other, and the combined effect was a scarf that looked rather too brown for a three-year-old! So I ended up using the brighter ball and a pink-mauve-blue rather fluffy yarn that I've had in my stash for ages. SO satisfying to use it up! I enjoyed knitting the scarf (in mistake rib, so slightly more texture than a normal rib), enjoyed the mindlessness of it.

My parents were over in the evening, and after trying to cast on provisionally for a hat for me, and failing, and deciding to find a tute online somewhere sometime, I pulled out more stash yarn (rather ancient, I think!): Little Bo Peep natural yarn - undyed, lanolin left in.I have two different tones, and have had in mind for a while to knit up some mittens for someone for Christmas. (They live in Canada and might actually use them!) So I started on the rib cuff of one of them, on rather loveless plastic needles, which I bought in a rush a couple of weeks ago. If I'd thought about it a bit more, I could have ordered some lovely Brittany birch hardwood ones - *sigh* Next time...

Must hit the sack, even though I find it hard to tear myself away from all the amazing posts listed in my Reader...