As you might have gathered my foray into undertaking a 100 day project / challenge, has somewhat fallen short of that target. I felt pumped to start it but after a couple of days I realised it just wasn't for me, even though the concept and the theme appealed I just couldn't get into.
Sure it's meant to have an element of perseverance and I'm not one to shy from that, I always aim to see things through no matter how hard it is but this ended up being a little bit of a creative buzz kill or if it was a good day it did spur me to work on other ideas, absolutely nothing to do with the 100 day project.
So I nipped it in the bud before I felt like I was wasting any more time.
Stray from the Line | Blog
Ive been mulling over the idea of doing something daily, aside from my usual bits and pieces, to keep me a bit more focused, that is creative, and I actually feel like I've achieved something at the end. Not sure what mind, but perhaps a sense of achievement. I think I found what it is I want to do and I got to my outcome through watching the Skill Share course The Perfect 100 Day Project: Your Guide to Explosive Creative Growth by Rich Armstrong.
This isn't something ground breaking and many people have done it, and I know from my Instagram that many a folk I follow have done their version of a 100 days challenge/ 100 day project. For me at the time it wasn't something I felt I could achieve or wanted to for that matter.
Now though, why the hell not?
If nothing else it would be worth a shot, and perhaps it will help me keep track of the days?
And by 'ish' I meant that I made an apron instead
I've had this pattern by Janet Clare knocking about for I think a couple of years? One of those purchases that you think you'd do straight away but end up pushing it down the endless crafting list. I came across it again, and I have no excuse at the moment not to make the time to... well make it. Not only that if I could figure it out, and not make a hash of it, make one for my mum (coming soon!). Shout out to my print maker mum!
Ironically, I didn't quite have enough fabric in my stash to make it, (what were the chances?) so, I did have to do a small order but I made sure to make my purchase to support a small UK business and doing my utmost not to just order for the sake of ordering.
Now the pattern itself calls for 2 lots of 2 metres of linen/cotton fabric but with a bit of checking and getting fabric with a width of 1.4 m, I actually only needed to get 1.5m (x2) of linen which saved a little bit of money. I purchased some lovely bio-linen from Dragonfly Fabrics in a teal and grey. In hindsight I wish I found some slightly more colourful linens but you know it works nicely - and I can add to it (more on that later). Upon it's arrival I gave it a gentle wash, ironed and let it dry completely before tackling it the next day.
As I enter another week of being at home, and trying to keep sane. I thought I'd dig through patterns/ideas past and see if any of them could be reused. I came across my Hi Honey pattern. Which I thought you might like to turn your hand at stitching. So, if you'd like to simply click the download button below.
As I turned another year older, the UK went officially on lock down. My heart sank and the world seemed just that tad more darker and scary. Reality struck and needless to say my mind went through all the emotions and I hit a dark place for a while. Not quite the way I wanted to start the 'celebration' of my birthday... but it happened and eventually, I climbed myself out of that pit. As I got lovely warm wishes from people, and was able to celebrate in my own way with family. There will be another day for proper celebrations and trips abandoned picked up once more (was meant to be in Denmark today - Lego House another time!).
So, where am I going with this, well I decided that one thing I could do is offer a little something to brighten / make people smile a mini competition of sorts, nothing to complicated to win a freshly painted by me picture of the following:
Several months pass and a new year and decade has arrived. One might say with a bit of a dull thud. Can't say this year has been very kind and even now as I write this it's hard not to feel a little overwhelmed with the current world crisis.
However, with my new found time working at home I am determined if nothing else to make the most of it.
So what am I am doing?
Firstly, making sure to finish projects that I've abandoned from lack of motivation or distractions. This is an interesting exercise in perseverance and trying to come up with ways of using some things made that never really had an actual purpose in mind. Case in point is the following piece... I stitched this to create a TikTok video (I've been dabbling, don't judge).
It's been a little while since I've taken a moment to sit down and craft a blog post. I thought that I would do just that while the weather is awful outside, and I have a fresh pot of tea within in reaching distance.
A lot has happened since July's post, I got myself a new job, went on holiday and have been making bits and pieces ever since. I'm still figuring out my routine as the weeks pass since my holiday in late August, especially now that I am back to work. Still, it's a nice problem to have!
So what have I been making?
Oh, I've made a couple more dice bags...
I've been a touch busy of late. In between the job hunting (I quit my job last month), I've been getting back to creating dice bags, amongst other crafty creations.
I finally got round to making up a mini version of the drawstring pouches (see above) I have been making to start using up my Liberty Tana Lawn fabric stash. There a few new prints I rather like the look of but before I can consider purchasing I really need to make a dent in the pile I have already!
I've also made two Bard Dice bags, in the classic size of 19 x 16 cm, which will hold more dice, the mini version comfortably holds one set, which is perfect for the extra-special ones. This version of the Bard class symbol is a little more time consuming due to the nature of working padded satin stitch but I love the 'domed' effect. One has already flown off to their new home, and the purple one (picture above) can be found on my Etsy store.
I've already got more designs to stitch up including three commission requests that I am currently looking into, I've just got to get my head around how I want to work out my commission rates but I am looking forward to the possibility of working on a multi-class design.
