I'm ba-ack!

I've come to a realization. It appears that as long as I am teaching, no blogging will get done during the first semester. If I were reeeallly organized, I would have a plan for this and pre-schedule a bunch of posts to appear automatically. But I'm not really organized. I'm a survival organizationalist. (Yes, I did just make up a word.)

It's not that I haven't been crafting- I have. A major thing happened- my camera was "lost". Therefore I have been unable to document many things in my life, not the least of which are my craft projects. I also missed documenting some important events at school, and some important holidays, including Dia de los Muertos, and the recent Posadas. :( Yet, I carry on.

I've been crocheting for the holidays! I have a couple of pairs of fingerless gloves in the making for some of my dear amigos. I also did another version of "The Garden Scarf" by Michelle Ameron from The Happy Hooker book. If I could somehow create a computer program that allowed you to download tactile feelings, I would send this scarf through the internet to you so you could feel it. It is luscious, gorgeous, and beautiful! I made it with Debbie Bliss' baby alpaca/silk blend. I got a great deal on the yarn, so I'm really happy with it! A friend has also enlisted me to crochet a long scarf from a single ball of alpaca/silk. She's a beginning knitter and she's found it frustrating. I was so happy to find out that she was getting into the yarn obessession! <3

Yesterday I went to an amazing craft fair called "Fusion" and I bought a few awesome items. Wanting to support my fellow crocheters, I bought an amazing cuff from a crafty pair called "fulanas". They were great- very intricate and professional work. Motifs were simple and modern. They used chains and circles to rock out some sophisticated and inspirational work.

And finally, I have been trolling the internet to feed my obession for craft projects, ideas, and products. I found this great blog through Threadbanger, and I wanted to pass it along to you. I'll be making a lot of the cute little crocheted accessories mentioned in the free patterns section. The blog is "Creative Yarn" out of Rome, Italy. Link directly to the free patterns here. Enjoy!

The Stash Conundrum/Crafter's Block

So you spend your life amassing beautiful and amazing craft supplies. You have paper in every color, various and sundry glues, more rubber stamps than one can imagine, and a plentiful supply of gorgeous inks. Marbles, patterned scissors, fabric & thread, as well as yarn, oh! and paint begin to round out your collection.

You might feel a little empty without these items, but you have them for a reason. The reason is so you can CRAFT. The reason is so you can breathe in art in all forms, created by you! It's not there to be stored away, lost, mourned, or forgotten.

Yet, alas, that is exactly what happens to a lot of this treasured stuff!

Personally, I need to be more productive so I can get these crafts going, open my etsy store, and have special, hand-crafted items on hand for gifts.

My problems are only a few.

1. My stash is divided between two countries! When I moved here from Chicago, I took four suitcases. Three were filled to the gills with craft supplies, and one contained other stuff like clothes, shoes, and toiletries. It's been almost two months and I still haven't returned for the remainder of my stash, and almost every day I think of some supply that's still back in the US. *sigh*



2. I am surrounded by inspiration, but I can't seem to find an adequate medium to express what I am feeling. Moving to Mexico has been amazing! Every day I see something new. Everything is new to me. And Mexico City has an abundance of gorgeous public art, museums, architecture, and artisan festivals... Inspiration everywhere! One frustration is that I think that thick, colorful paintings would be a joy to produce, yet I have no training in paint, and no painting supplies to speak of.

See what I mean? How gorgeous is that?

3. Related to number two, with such a proliferation of shapes, colors, ideas, and new knowledge to process, I get what I call "saturated" easily. The ideas swim in my consciousness, and I want to create, (maybe even something for which I have supplies here, and ready) and I get started, then stop. Or I plan it, then stop. Or the ideas come in such great numbers to my head that I lose a few, even though I am journaling and taking inspiration pics...I saw all these gorgeous, colorful things
in one day! I know, right?

4. I'm seriously addicted to crafts. I want to do them all! I was totally in love with paper crafts (and I still am), but, as evidenced in my most recent post, there are gorgeous, awesome beads here. And they're cheap to boot! Yet I can't create a lot of awesome jewelry because... see above. My jewelry supplies are in Chicago. I left them there because I hadn't done that in such a long while. And then, of course, there's ravelry, which makes me love yarn, too!

So, enough complaining. What am I going to do about this?

1. I'm photographing my stash and putting it up on Flickr. This is more of Ravelry's influence! I am hoping this will help me keep my supplies fresh in my mind and inspire me to pick up a craft when I have some time on my hands.

2. I'm tuning in to more crafty podcasts! Portable inspiration- you really can't go wrong here!

3. I'm (as Alison of CraftCast says) "getting my butt in the chair". I'm going to craft!!!

I'm behind! >:(

There have been few times in my life when I've felt so inspired to cast off in all different directions and completely immerse myself in art. I am tuned in and learning so much by my podcasts. Thanks to the new day job, I can watch video podcasts on the train and listen to audio virtually all day. *sigh* But thanks to the other job, I have no free time to actually DO the things I have been learning about. *ugh* However, this weekend will be my first full day off in about 21 days. Unbe-frickin-lievable! Craft with me.

ps- I've posted links to my favorite podcasts under "Inspiration" (on the right side of my blog): Craftcast & Thread Banger. whut whut!!