What You Don't See

"Hello, my name is Sandy, and I'm a Pinterest addict..." No. Really. My niece is an addiction counselor, and she'll get mad at me for saying it, but I actually go into physical withdrawl if I don't check Pinterest at least 5 times a day. There are SOOO many great ideas that I can tweak to make my own, or at the very least copy down to the last detail.  

If you check out my "Project List" tab, you'll find a list of items I'm working on. I have completed many of them. But I am also sneaking little things onto the list. They are not going up just yet, because my wonderful husband is coming home from Afghanistan soon, and I want to give him SOMETHING of a surprise. Some things turned out really cute. Others did not.  

But the main point of my Pinterest addiction is that I am using it to make the most of my time, to be productive, and to keep from getting into trouble. Which happened recently. I started following a FaceBook page about military spouses, and ended up in the middle of turmoil that I should have seen coming. I took it personal, and I let someone rob me of my happiness. When a craft is attempted, it's not robbing you of happiness, it's teaching you a lesson about patience and following directions. When a human being hurts you with words, you find yourself dredging up all the demons of people who said mean things to you in elementary school, or the bully who beat you up in high school. All that negativity is stirred up, mingled with the hurtful words, and sauteed with  self doubt with a heavy dose of self pity.  What you get is the normal person's version of The Real Housewives of New Jersey! Yuck.

So, I'm going to stick to my crafts and my DIY and my projects.  Every post on Facebook will involve happy thoughts, rainbows, and sparkly rainbows... ok maybe not!  But I will be positive. And I promise I won't tell anybody to "Bite Me", even if they SEVERELY deserve it.  Now, let me get back to making curtains out of incredibly beautiful and inexpensive fabric!

FOCUS!

So I'm having issues with time management and focusing on projects to completion.  Painting the master bedroom furniture is taking more time than I thought. The fact that I'm sleeping on the floor is part of the reason I'm hoping it goes faster. I can't make paint dry faster, and I can't start anything else until it's done because it takes up so much space.  To say that I'm frustrated is an understatement. So, here is the list of things to be done before Allan comes home in two weeks:

1. Paint both dressers, headboard, and footboard. This is taking FOREVER between sanding and drying and painting a second coat.

2. Make the duvet cover. But first, get all the fabric and get it pinned together. This is not going to take time, but it WILL take space.

3. Make the curtains. Measure, cut, and pin the fabric so it's ready to go as soon as it's time. Again, the issue is space for this.

4. FIND a rug, then paint it. I never thought it would be so hard to find a stinking rug!

5. Order the vinyl cling. I'll just have to order it this week so it has time to get here.

6. Find three closet doors, get the photo blown up, then glue them to the doors to make a screen.

7. Find a chair!


As you can see, this stuff is mainly FINDING things, then taking care of it.  So much to do, and so little time to do it. I need to have the majority of this completed by next Wednesday so I have time to clean up the immense MEGA MESS I've created with all my projects!

So, now comes the most difficult aspect of this huge endeavor: paint, then while waiting for it to dry, go find the rug. Get the closet doors and picture done last since this take the least amount of time.  Oh, and clean up your stupid sewing room! You need the space to get the duvet and curtains done!

I hope this helps me to put things into perspective. The last items will be pillows. This will take time because I want to be specific with the fabric.  So check with me again next Monday. I hope to be further along than I am now!

In the Beginning...

I was always told the most difficult aspect of creativity is a blank page. "They" were wrong. The absolutely most frightening aspect of creativity is having so many ideas and projects that you can't decide where to begin. There are days when I feel like a hungry kid in a candy store, trying to decide if I want to try somebody else's idea, create something of my own, or just sit down and fold laundry. As always, laundry loses out!


The best/worst thing I ever found was Pinterest. How great is it to find all these fantastic ideas, and organize the pics and links to go back and find them later? "Why is it the worst thing?" Again- look at the laundry!


I'm here to share some basic ideas, and let you follow my path to creative enlightenment. I will "borrow" and "try" ideas that I find on other blogs and sites, and let you follow each step from shopping to finishing to decorating.  As with all "art" and "decor" we must give credit to the artists who showed us how to do it, but also give credit to ourselves for making it our own.


So, let's begin our adventure!