Happily Overwhelmed in My Craft Room - The List

A craft friend recently got me thinking about a list I made over a month ago and how this time has been different than most of my "list" experiences. Did you ever complete all the tasks on a list that you made for yourself? I'm sure we all have at one point or another, but I've realized making the list itself gives me some satisfaction, as if I accomplished something by writing it all down. Then I inevitably lose just about every list I make before I've completed any of the things I've written on them.

By making the list I can tell myself that I tried and then blame it on the disappearing list when I don't get it all done. That last sentence just made me chuckle a little. 

Yet, this time I decided to see what would happen if I actually did follow through on every single task and for the past month and a half I've been happily overwhelmed.

Sure, the tasks aren't exactly comparable to scrubbing the toilet and giving the dog a bath, hence the word "happily" in my title, but my list is really important to me, hasn't been easy and I'm actually pulling it all off. Yeah! 

If you're wondering what the big deal is to me about completing a list of things such a taking on my craft space, it's a big deal because I made the decision to live life to the best of my ability and that means finding the time and motivation to do the things that are good for me and my life.

It may seem odd that making paper flowers or stick weaving would fall into self care, but I assure you it has everything to do with it. Not putting things off, being organized and not stressed over a mess, feeling good in your work space, and following through on things that you've wanted to do and try are all part and parcel. 

I've been making the paper flowers for Spring cards, stick weaving a rug, building a loom, needle felting a cellphone case, experimenting with stamped images and new crafting techniques, expressing myself in my first art journal, organizing and throwing stuff out, getting started on a binder/planning project and for the past 3 weeks I've been designing a craft room that promotes health and wellness.

The only dilemma with getting this involved is that I had to put off blogging, but my craft room is almost done and I'm very close to completing some smaller projects.

Below is a photo of what I've been up to and I have these photos of the projects because I plan on breaking some of them down in future posts. If there is a project that you're particularly interested in, let me know with a comment below or via message in GoogleLand or Facebook and I'll make sure to include it.

Stop back and check out the completed projects :)
Happy crafting and have a great day!

30 Signs You're Addicted to Paper Crafts

1. Your desk is known to be covered with scrap pieces of paper and material and there is a ring around your chair that looks just like the surface of your desk.
2. You have partial lines of double-sided tape stuck on your desk.
3. You don't throw anything away because you see a creative purpose for it.
4. Your glue and tape collection has become so large you use a container to organize them.
5. You have pride in the little containers you found to store your beads, pearls and buttons.
6. You've daydreamed about making a craft video and placing it on YouTube if you haven't already.
7. You love collecting fake flowers so you can rip them apart and make your own cute flowers.
8. Your prize possessions are your hot glue gun, scoring board, Xacto knife and heat tool.
9. You're excited when you get more rolls of tape. In fact when you're in need, tape is a perfectly acceptable Christmas gift to receive. 
10. Your eyes light up, like a guy looking at a new sports car, when you buy a die-cutting machine and every time you get something new to go with it.
11. You've not only taken the time to organize your ink and stamps, but you've built your own storage unit.
12. You have curtain rods hung on your walls with ribbon, wax paper, lace and burlap hanging from them.
13. Your craft storage boxes are labeled because you have so many.
14. You can spend and entire day walking around Micheal's, Joann Fabrics and Hobby Lobby and still feel like you're being ripped away when you have to leave.
15. Thrift shopping has become even more fun with all the new crafts you've learned to do.
16. YouTube tutorials have replaced television and you cannot get enough of them.
17. You've started your own blog so you can share your creations with the world.
18. You have multiple pairs of scissors and specific uses for each pair.
19. You freak out like your dad did over someone touching his tools when someone touches your special markers.
20. Having every type of paint brush and sponge brush makes you feel good.
21. Not only have you organized all of your paper by color, but you have organized your scrap pieces of paper too.
22. You've saved the hard plastic covers from foods and craft essentials because you know what to use them for.
23. People often look at what you have used to make something and say, "I would have never thought off that".
24. You find inspiration by following every online Arts and Crafts blog you can find.
25. When you get stuck on a project you just put it aside and start a new one, knowing that something new will refresh your creativity.
26. Your room seems to constantly get smaller as you need more room for finished projects and new craft "essentials".
27. You have to remind yourself while working on a project to eat and get up and move.
28. Filing cabinets and dresser drawers no longer hold just bills and clothes.
29. Seeing someone on Youtube do something smart that you haven't thought of (like storing embossing powder in a container with a spoon) gets you excited.
30. You, too often, find yourself trying to save your project from your tape sticking one piece to another in the wrong position, end up with glue where glue should never be and get tired of picking off hairs from your projects that fall out of cheap paint brushes.
31. Bonus - Making a list called, "30 Signs You're Addicted to Paper Crafts" makes you laugh because you know there are many people who will connect with it.

Happy Crafting!

 

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