Discussion Day #5 - Life is too short...

Our morning newspaper always has a "Reflection for the Day"  and sometimes the thought is something that strikes a chord with me.  On Wednesday, the quote was "Life is too short to finish every book you start reading," attributed to Dr. Jeffrey Bernhard.  You can see the archive of daily quotes at the Reflection for the Day website HERE.

This quote made me think about all of the creative things I'd like to do and whether it is realistic to think that I could or even should try to finish everything I start.  Most crafters are full of ideas and love to see and learn about new techniques and products.  They often have the supplies for various projects stashed in their home just waiting for the time to come when it is possible to spend the time to try something new.  Sometimes, you can accumulate a huge amount of material only to find that your interests change or a new craft or product comes along and captures your attention.  Then you have to decide what to do next and what to do with the inventory of items you have for a craft that is no longer your primary interest.

Do you have supplies and tools for crafts you are no longer interested in pursuing?  Have you progressed in your level of ability from a basic creative level to a place where you want to go further to explore and master a craft at a new level?  Are there activities and crafts you used to enjoy that you no longer find interesting?

How do you decide that it is time to move on and try a more sophisticated version of your craft?  If you are a knitter and fascinated with yarns and fibers, do you start spinning and weaving your own yarns?  Many quilters I know end up getting involved in dying their own fabrics to get just the effects they want.  If you only use the commercially available ingredients to create your projects will you be fulfilled or will you find it limiting and ultimately frustrating?

When is it OK to just let the old materials for the craft you are no longer doing move on to someone else?  Do you have trouble getting rid of things if you don't think they are going to a "good home" with someone who will enjoy and use them?  Were you brought up to believe that it is wrong to "quit" something?  If you find a better or different way to do the crafts you are interested in should you "convert" completely or just add another set of tools to your inventory?  I am curious to know if you have any thoughts about this - and whether you have let go of the materials and tools that no longer fulfill your creative goals.

Please leave a comment with your thoughts if you'd like to join in the discussion.  I'll be sure to add a link to this post at the end of each post for the next week or so in case you want to think about the topic and evaluate whether there are some things that you should just stop doing to make room for other things that you find more intriguing...

Wednesday was the Senior Prom night in our town and I went to a neighbor's home to watch a large group get ready to leave in a huge limo together.  The girls all looked lovely and the boys were quite handsome in their suits and tuxes.  I took some photos of the flowers in the flower boxes as well as some of the corsages. 

I edited a few of my flower photos and added them to a quick page incorporating the Reflection for the Day.  I may use these flower images for a new project I am working on - more about that soon. I think I will be letting go of some things at our neighborhood yard sale this weekend...

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Discussion Day #4 - How do you decide?

The Graduation was held under cloudy but dry conditions - thanks to everyone who sent positive vibes to help keep the rain away!  It did rain eventually but long after the ceremony - we even got the cars packed up before the rain started.  Here is a photo I was able to catch as the class walked in - I'll share more photos as I make some scrapbook pages to commemorate the day.  

This Discussion Day is posting on Sunday instead of Saturday - between the travels and the Blogger technical problems things are a little mixed up but it's best to just be flexible instead of worrying about a strict schedule.  So here is what I have been thinking about...

I am curious to know how you decide which projects to work on?  If you are a scrapbooker, do you work on an event/trip/holiday or do you stick to a strict chronological order in your books?  Do you think there is a "right" way to organize an album?  I have helped people who decided to make an album years after the photos were taken and sometimes there is a benefit to being "behind" on your pages.  If you have years and years of photos to work with you can make page layouts showing a span of time within a certain theme.  For instance, you can do a composite of the Halloween costumes through the years, first days of school or hanging the stockings at Christmas.

Do you start with an idea for a layout and look for photos to suit or do you start with the photos and then decided which papers, embellishments and titles to use?  Do you always work in the same format (12 x 12, 8 1/2 x 11, 8 x 8) or do you decide based on the amount and type of photos you have.  If you have lots and lots of photos do you try to fit them all in or do you edit down to the very best few to capture the event? Have you started to move toward digital scrapping or are you a paper only scrapper.

If you don't scrapbook but make cards or other projects, how do you decide what to make?  Do you create for the sake of creating and add generic sentiments (Thanks, Happy Birthday, With Sympathy, etc.) that you know you can use at sometime or do you create each card as needed for a specific event or occasion?

When you make a more elaborate project like an explosion box or a mini-album is there usually a purpose - are you making it as a gift or are you just creating to try out different techniques and ideas?  If you don't give away the things you make - what do you do with them?  Are they displayed or tucked away in drawers and boxes?

If you'd like to share a little about your process and how you decide what to make, just leave a comment on this post.  I'll link it up at the bottom of each post for the next week so you can easily come back another day to add your thoughts.  We drive home tomorrow and I have several projects to share with you once things get back to "normal" - whatever that is!

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Discussion Day #3 - A Perfect Day (and some more blog hopping)

I thoroughly enjoyed the Royal Wedding - everything about it was nearly perfect.  Did you see some of the amazing hats?  We lived in England for five years and the women really do wear hats for special occasions.  I loved looking at them in the millinery departments of the large stores.  Unfortunately, I have thick hair and a relatively large head so it was difficult to find hats that actually fit. 

In 1998, my husband and I had the chance to attend the races at Ascot.  It was not the "Royal Ascot" week that you think of in the play My Fair Lady, however, the Queen, Prince Philip and other members of the Royal Family were in attendance.  I did find a hat that fit for the occasion!

The Creative Charms Farewell Blog hop is continuing through the weekend.  I want to welcome any of you who are here for the first time because you are "hopping" through.  For my project and the full information on the hop, please go back to Friday's post HERE.  If you visit all of the blogs and put the message together you could win the Grand Prize.

I am also participating in a two day Disney Pixar Blog Hop which begins today.  I don't do many blog hops so it is funny that these both ended up on the same weekend.  I am part of the Sunday group so you'll have to wait until tomorrow to see what I have prepared.  The hop will start on Shawn's blog HERE.  If you are on Facebook you can see the event page HERE.  The Grand Prize for this hop is a Gypsy

 I hope you find lots of inspiration in all of the blogs you can visit on these hops. 

Today is Saturday so it is time for our next "discussion."  I have really enjoyed reading the comments and I hope you have had a chance to check in and see what other have to say.  Last week's discussion about "how much is enough?" was very interesting and made me rethink a few things

A few people wrote that they had typed a long comment and then lost the post when they hit reply.  I don't know if there is a limit to the length of the posts in comments on Blogger or if there was another reason this was a problem.  If you have a lot to say, you might want to type your comment as an email draft and then paste it into the comment form.  If there is a problem you could go ahead and email it to me (capadiadesigns@gmail.com) to add to the body of the post.

 Discussion Day #3 -  Time to Craft

Most of us have many demands on our time.  While we may want to spend time crafting, there are always the daily details of life that require our attention.  The internet is a great resource for information and shopping for supplies, however, it can be a huge time sink. If you are constantly reading about projects that others have done and searching out tutorials for various techniques (or hanging out on message boards or Facebook) you might not get a chance to actually make something during whatever amount of time you have for crafting.

If you had the luxury of a full weekend with no other responsibilities (no job, kids, spouse, cooking, cleaning, laundry, paperwork or other distractions) what would you do?  Are there things you want to try that you haven't had time to investigate?  Are you a chronological scrapbooker who needs to "catch up"?  Do you have a project that doesn't need to be done right away that you'd love to complete ahead of the deadline for once?

Are there tools in your home that you have purchased but have not mastered (or even used!)?  Is there a technique that interests you that seems too complicated, messy or time-consuming to try in your normal schedule?  Would you want to spend some of the time attending a class or crafting with others or would you prefer to be on your own with the luxury of doing whatever you wanted to do?

I'll confess that I have a Wacom Bamboo Craft tablet that I was so excited to purchase with the idea of using it for my digital crafting.  I have only taken it out once and I'd love to spend the day getting to know all that I could do with it.

If there is a specific tool or technique that you have questions about be sure to mention it and perhaps another reader will chime in with some helpful tips for you.  I will also do my best to answer any questions you have if I am familiar with the tool or technique.   I'll continue to leave a link to the topic at the bottom of each post for the week so you can add your thoughts at your convenience.

Have a wonderful weekend and happy hopping! 

(The tulip at the top of this post is blooming in our front yard - I'll have some more to show you with that image in a couple of days...)

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Discussion Day #1 - Why do you Craft?

Please tell me why...

I thought I'd get right to it and start the up the first weekly discussion topic as I promised at the end of the Blog Celebration.  Just add your comment with your thoughts to this post when you can - and check back every so often if you want to see what others have to say.  I'll  have a link to the discussion post at the end of each daily post for the week to make it easier to follow along by keeping all of the discussion topic comments in one place.

Yesterday we drove to New Jersey so we could attend our son's Senior Project performance which is happening Saturday afternoon.  He is a Music major (Computer Science minor) and this performance is one of his graduation requirements.  It is the culmination of over a year of work and I can't wait to hear and see what he has prepared.  While we were driving, I was thinking about some of the projects I'd like to work on.  Some of them will require a lot of time and some will require a lot of materials.  I probably could purchase items that would give similar results for far less time and money.

This made me wonder - is crafting a rational activity?  Does it make sense to invest in all of the tools and supplies that we think we "need" just to have them available for what often turns out to be a very small amount of use?  From a purely economic standpoint, most crafters are not able to justify the cost of our "toys" with the amount and monetary value of the things they produce.

So there have to be other reasons to be a crafter.  Some people enjoy working with their hands and manipulating raw materials into objects of beauty.  Others find the time they spend crafting to be a much needed break from the stresses of their daily life.  Crafting can also be a social event if you participate in crops or meetings with other, like-minded people.

Does the act of creating something from your imagination give you a sense of accomplishment?  Do you spend the time and effort required to hand craft an item to show how much you value the person that will receive your finished item?  Is crafting your "happy place" where you can focus on colors, shapes and textures that appeal to you?  Do you need to produce a lot of finished products to feel that this activity is worthwhile or is the process just as important as the end result?  If you didn't craft, what would you do with the time and money that would be available to you?

 Just some food for thought - I am curious to see what your thoughts are on this topic...

Here's something you might like to know...

Creative Charms is doing a "more bang for your buck" promotion.  Send them $1 and a stamped, self addressed envelope and they will send you back $3-4 worth of embellishments.  The envelope must be postmarked by April 30th.  You can get all of the details and the address at THIS POST on the Creative Charms Blog.

 

Thanks for all the nice comments yesterday about my projects for the Core'dinations Design Team call - I'll let you know if I hear anything...

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