Calvinball and my March spending freeze were a gift in disguise. I really dug into my supplies, found forgotten purchases, and I let go of items that no longer fit my needs ( a local Children’s Librarian is thrilled!). The downside- I discovered quite a few Unfinished Projects (UFO’s) or Works in Progress (WIP’s)
My UFO’s
Some of these are aspirational projects. I want to dye my own twill tape, use a white crayon and watercolor paint to create unique backgrounds, and collage wooden beads to use for bookmarks and jewelry. Then there are the “tossed aside” and “neglected” projects. A gorgeous Alice in Wonderland album I stopped midway through, a bin of half finished greeting cards, an album kit with the worst directions this side of the Mississippi, a box of incomplete junk journals and traveler’s notebooks and my biggest disappointment- not finishing my grandchildren’s yearly albums for Christmas.
So instead of berating myself I decided to take an honest look at the projects and make some decisions. 1. Is this worth my time to complete? 2.Can I salvage pieces of the project for something else? 3. Why didn’t this get finished in the first place?
My first priority is to complete the grandchildren’s albums. I’m averaging two layouts a day with about 12 more to go. I have photos selected as well as paper and I should be done in couple of weeks. I sorted through the unfinished greeting cards and I could see why they had been languishing in the bin. Certainly not my best efforts, so I cut the backs off, placed them in my Cricut scrap pile and recycled the rest. The kit with the horrible directions? Took the whole thing apart, found two traveler’s notebooks that matched the paper and embellishments and this project will be completed in the near future.
I took apart a junk journal that was falling apart made a new cover from some of the paper in the photo above and re-did my pamphlet stitch. Looks so much better!
The Alice in Wonderland album will follow me down to the family room. Instead of the deadly phone scroll, I’ll work on this album while watching TV.
It’s loaded up in its own little box ready to make the trip downstairs. My early junk journal creations are a bit of a mess. There was definitely a learning curve involved. I’m going through 10-15 of my attempts, saving pages I like, and recycling the rest. Notice I’m not sticking the leftovers in a drawer to maybe use one day, like the cards that didn’t make the cut (no pun intended ) it’s all going into the recycling bin. I have to admit it is very freeing to not save every little thing cause we are sure there is a potential use for every last morsel of paper. I become too overwhelmed when I let my supplies take over my space.
The last question I asked myself is the hardest to answer Why didn’t I finish the project to begin with? To start with,I am in no way, shape or form a linear person. I enjoy having a number of projects going at the same time. Sometimes I want to make cards, the next day some layouts etc. However a few projects does not mean 20 ongoing endeavors. That’s when I toss things in the corner. Out of sight is out of mind, my best intentions tell me I will get back to the creation but too often new , shiny things take its place. I often miscalculate how long a project will take, case in point, my grandchildren’s albums. Lastly perfectionism is the killer of creativity, yeah ask me how I know…
To sum up, I’m taking an inventory of my UFO’s. What is worth keeping and what can be donated or recycled. Make a plan to complete my projects. Do I have everything I need to finish? Last don’t be too hard on my self I will get around to finishing the projects I find worthwhile. So here is my gift to all of you it is a Round Tuit now go get stuff done!
