Being Creative

I have been trying to make a point to be creative often, almost every day if not every day.  With the weather getting nicer, I am spending more time outside with the kids.  I have been able to bring some projects outside with me, which has allowed me to create as well as allow my kids to be outside which they love.

Recently, I have been making dolls, or at least attempting to make dolls.  I remember loving dolls as a child, especially the Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls that my grandmother made for us.  I remember having life-size Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls as well as small ones.  I was lucky enough to have a Raggedy Ann doll for my daughter and a Raggedy Andy doll for each of my sons, made by my grandmother.  I actually have to make a Raggedy Andy outfit for my twin son's Raggedy Andy.  I am hoping to create some dolls for charity, as well as for fun.

 My attempt at a Waldorf doll

Baby Bows Doll in the outfits that my twins came home from the hospital in. I still need to make one for my oldest!

A sleepytime doll that I made for my niece for her Christening

The more I create, the more I realize that I love doing it.  I know that I need to make time to have this as part of my life.  I am hoping to make being creative a major part of my life, and not just something that I do when I find the time. I know that I need to start spending time actually getting good at a craft before I move on to something else. There are many times that I think that I have ADD, seriously, and the creative arena is o different. I flit from one project to another, never committing to fully learning and fully succeeding at the one I am working on. I want to stop being average at the things I create and start being proficient at it.

 I also want to start getting more creative in my cooking.  The farmer's market in town is starting in a couple of weeks and I hope to start buying more local foods and start being more creative with it.  Between my BRCA2 gene mutation (I think I have decided against surgery, at least for now) and my son recently being diagnosed with PDD NOS, I really need to watch what we are eating.  My goal is again to eat more local and to eat way more fruits and veggies (little to no animal protein for me due to the BRCA2 mutation), and decrease, maybe even totally eliminate gluten and dairy (we again have greatly reduced it, but not totally eliminated it, both my oldest and I are sensitive to it).  Part of my problem with cooking lately, is that I am bored and not feeling very creative with my cooking.  I am hoping to get inspired by going to local farmer's markets and even just walking around.  I am hoping to find some good cookbooks and some good online sites that can help to inspire me.

I am hoping to find a job at the end of the summer that will be able to take into account my love of creating.  I am under no illusion that there may not be anything out there like that, but I would love to try to find something.  I still have a few more years before I go back to work full time.  I hope by then, I can figure out how I can do work that I love instead of just working for a paycheck.  I do like being a social worker, but I don't love it.  My husband thinks that it is just because of fear of doing 1:1 counseling, but that is not it.  I don't know that I want to do 1:1 counseling! I'm not really sure I know what I want to do, but I really want to wake up and want to go to work.  Hopefully I can figure out a way for that to happen.

Amy

Handmade Christmas

Christmas cards are stuffed and addressed and ready to be mailed.  No, I didn';t make them this year, though I really wanted to!  I already have way too many projects on my to do list, so I gave up on that project.

The projects that I have to complete are many and I have waited way too long to really have this be a handmade Christmas.  I have 3 wine sacks to sew, which shouldn't be that difficult to do, it's more a means of setting up the machine and sewing.  Along with that I want to make 3 wine bottle stoppers to go along with the wine that I buy.  These may be more time consuming as I either need to do polymer clay or turn them on the lathe (which I haven't use since before grad school 4 years ago).  I have a few felt food items to make for the kids as well as some aprons.  I also want to make them some scrubs to go along with the doctor kit that we bought them.  I also want to make a doll for Eva Rose and then I need to decide on projects for the boys.  I may have to put some of these projects on hold as there are definitely ones that I need to finish by Christmas.  I have the patterns to make silhouettes of the kids for my mom and step father's gift.  I just need to get the black paper to cut them out of and then attach them to the frames that I just bought.  I also want to make a simple scrapbook for my grandmother as she is in a nursing home out of state and failing.  She hasn't seen the kids since March of 2009 just after the twins were born (they were 6 weeks old and Michael had just turned 1).

Wow just reading that list is making my head spin.  I really want to have a handmade Christmas, but I have procrastinated way too long and I may have to put a lot of things on hold.  I know that I can get a few more things done, I just have to prioritize what I have and when I have time to complete these projects!

Looking at this list and thinking of everything else that I have to do, makes me go back to my ADD issue.  I really need to get organized and plan my days accordingly.  I start lists, but then never use them.  I make too many lists and really need to just stick to one.  Does anyone have a good system on getting organized with household tasks as well as appointments, as well as a way to keep track of projects that need completing?

Happy Holidays!
Amy

ADD and Getting Things Done!

I am some what wondering if I have a little issue with ADD.  I have never been formally diagnosed and as far as I know, it was never an issue when I was a kid, but then again, I don't think that many people were diagnosed liek they are today.  Thinking back to being a kid, I can definitely see that I may have had some signs of this.  Mainly it was surrounding homework and schoolwork and keeping my room and house clean.

Now as an adult, when I look at some of the signs of adult ADD, I can definitely see myself having some of these issues.  I get easily overwhelmed, I very rarely start and finish a task, my brain always seems to be thinking of something (I can never truly meditate because no matter how hard I try, I can never stop my mind from thinking about all sorts of things that I have going on or that I find interesting), I get easily frustrates and angered, and many others that I can't think of right now.  Even if there is no clinical diagnosis of ADD, I think following some of the suggestions from people who suffer will automatically help me to deal with things.  One thing is my diet.  I am in the process of giving up dairy, wheat/gluten, and I should probably add in there sugar too, as well as trying to eat less meat (which I am doing way better than I thought I would), and definitely less processed foods.  I am having a terrible time sticking with my diet plan completely though.  The other thing that sounds somewhat crazy, is to look through a paper towel tube when I start to clean.  What this does is gives you a small area to focus on instead of looking at the whole room and getting overwhelmed.  I also need to be better at focusing myself when it comes to projects.  Often times, I start a project and then move on to another one because something else seems more interesting.  Because of this, I never seem to get really good at one thing.  I am only average at everything I try and sometimes average is a little strong.  I don't know if list help people with ADD or if it is just one more thing that just makes you feel like you are organized and able to get things done.  That's actually another area that makes me think I have more of an issue than just sheer laziness.  I start making list and trying things to get organized, but I never seem to follow through.  I really need to look up more on how to help deal with adult ADD other than meds.  There is no way that I want to go on meds, and I don't even know if I have ADD, I just can see myself as having some tendancies.

I have some craft projects that I have been working on for the kidlets and other people too.  I will post pictures later.  These are definitely things/reasons why I started this blog.  I wanted to have less involvement with commercial stores and gifts and everyday items.  I wanted to start eating healthy and less processed foods.  I wanted to start using things I make myself for cleaning and beauty products.  Christmas this year will have some store bought items, some hand me down gifts (which I am so thankful that we have gotten from people), and some handmade gifts.  I am really excited for the handmade gifts for people and I am really excited to start working on getting myself out of this funk that I seem to be in!

Happy Holidays!
Amy