Finding Your Craft Mojo

Many thanks to Jane from Onions and Paper blog for writing this for me particularly as I have lost my crafting mojo of late and I really enjoyed card making when I did it .


“I’ve lost my mojo!” How often do you hear that said? Well, here are some tips for finding it again (assuming you’ve already looked down the back of the sofa). My tips are written with crafting – in particular papercrafting – in mind, but the five point plan could equally well apply to almost any hobby. So I’ll give you the five points first and then go through them one by one telling you how I apply them to my own hobby. Then you can think about how you would apply them to yours.

1. Go back to basics
2. Do your research
3. Try something new
4. Buy something new
5. Take a break

1. Go back to basics

Think about what attracted you to the hobby in the first place, and how you got started – then go back and try to re-create some of those first steps, the ones that excited you and got you motivated to make it a regular hobby. In my case, I started off by watching the shopping channel on TV and ordering several kits containing everything except the glue and scissors. They were perfect for beginners, and I still have a little of some of the kits left so when I am not feeling inspired, I get out one of my oldest kits and make a card from it. Here is a card made using papers from the very first kit I bought from QVC, a Hot Off The Press kit.

2. Do your research

Look at the places you find inspiration for your hobby. For crafting, I have a small collection of old craft magazines, follow lots of blogs, and regularly visit Pinterest. Choosing a photo from one of these sources and then setting out to copy it is a great exercise – naturally I don’t always have the same materials, the same stamps or dies, or the same papers. And I might change a colour here, the position of a ribbon there, or the words of a sentiment. By the time I have finished, I have a completely different card from the one I am “copying”. For instance this card was inspired by one I saw on Pinterest, and yet now it is finished,  the only resemblance is the heart shaped die cut.

3. Try something new

Try using the tools and materials you already have in a different way, one that maybe you’ve been thinking about trying, or one you’ve chanced upon during step 2 and not seen before. Thinking differently about what you have is a wonderful way to reawaken your creativity. Here I have used some papers and embellishments I have had for years to make a card with an unusual fold that I hadn’t tried before.

4. Buy something new

If you can afford to treat yourself, now is the time to do it! There’s nothing like having something new to play with for getting you in the mood. It doesn’t have to be a major shopping spree - for me it might be a craft magazine, a small die or a single rubberstamp. And once you have your new “toy”, resolve to  make at least three things with it while you are filled with enthusiasm.  I bought a craft magazine that came with a pack of printed papers in it, and immediately made six cards from thre papers – here is one of them.

5. Take a break

If you’ve tried all these steps and you STILL can’t find that lost mojo, then you are really not in the mood and you’ll probably be dissatisfied with anything you DO produce. Instead of trying to push yourself, take a break. It may be a few minutes, a few hours or a few days, it may even run into weeks or months, but if you truly love the hobby you will find that eventually you miss it and are itching to get started again. And if that doesn’t happen, then either you have really fallen out of love with the hobby or it wasn’t ever right for you in the first place. When that happens, it’s time to think about trying something completely different!

Interview With A Cat

We've only Jack now so he's going to step up with both paws and fill all the cat content on this blog , he's very vocal and we do treat him like a dog in some respects ~ well I do as he will sit on command to my Barbera wood house style

"SIT "

 

What's your name ?

Jack Black or Cat or "Oi you bl o o dy well get down from the kitchen surface "

What's your favourite food ?

Whatever you're having ...

 

 

What's are your favourite hobbies?

Sleeping , eating hide and seek and sitting in boxes .

 

I'm just waiting on my call up to the England Cat squad for sitting in boxes ..

 

Sitting in boxes is a real skill as there is varying degrees of difficulty ...

I'm hide and seek car champion 2016

 

 

 

Sleeping is an art form , I'm planning on making an art exhibition and of course I'll know that I'll win the Turner prize .

Does life emulate art or is life emulating me ~?

 

How do you feel about Ninjakillercat training ?

Well obviously I've some big paws to fill , I'm assessing the human bean prey and obviously the mortal enemy that is toilet and kitchen roll.

 

 

I've started my awakwardness by peering out the window of course tangling myself in the cream blinds ....

I'm working on my video interviews which will be with you shortly ...

In the mean time please asking me any questions I'll answer them as best as I can ~ it can be difficult typing with my paws...

Are You Guilty Of Saying I'm Just ?

Are you guilty of saying" I'm just ?"

I know I'm guilty of this ! An example is is me saying "I'm just a teaching assistant ! , not a teacher "

Well as I've been told this is complete and utter tosh , of course I'm more than " I'm just "

I'm a teaching assistant which means I'm a teacher and a whole host of other things , it's really important not to do myself down , which means that you shouldn't put yourself down.

I mean if trees could talk would that say "I'm just a tree" ?

 

No they wouldn't as a tree is so much more than just a tree .

Just think of what a tree does for us humans asides from looking atheistically pleasing , it gives us oxygen , provides animals and birds with a home.

My husband had been known to hugs trees , I've yet to hug a tree , I mean I've stroked the tree bark ~ I like that.

Today I'm just above water ~ no I'm above water and doing amazingly well .

Yesterday I just had a anxiety  attack and it felt like an elephant was standing on my chest and hula hooping at the same time . No I had a anxiety whilst I thought I was calm ~ it's life funny at times .

On Tuesday I'm just going round to my friends to have my nails done and anyone who knows me knows I'm the least girly girly I know . I'm going to have my nails done at a friends and anyone who knows me knows that this is s big deal for me socially.

Next time you're about to say I'm just ~ stop 

You're more than that

Help Keeping The Family Healthy

I have had a roller coaster of health recently , I am a regular at the doctor and hospitals and I don't even get a Peppa pig plaster when I have my bloods taken ( the meanies ) I won't dwell on the negative of my health but instead the positive . One of the things that did discover was I wasn't deficient in Vitamin D I was insufficient  which means basically I was needed some topping up.

There are various ways that you can top up your vitamin D if you're insufficient and one of these is a multivitamin , and when the doctor told me I was insufficient I did admit to having some multivitamins in the cupboard which he suggested I immediately started taking. Another way of getting your Vitamin D is to get out in the sunshine which isn't the easier in Winter in the UK but hurrah today is the last day of Winter which can only mean more sunshine at some point ! I am getting low on my multivitamins so I shall take the opportunity to buy some today.

Foods that provide vitamin D include:

• Fatty fish,like tuna, mackerel and salmon
• foods that are fortified with vitaminD,like some dairy products ,soy milk and cereals.
• Beef liver
• Cheese
• Egg Yorks

So with this in mind it has also given me a chance to overhaul my diet , I have knocked chocolate on the head for the minute though I did have some rice cakes with chocolate chips in ! I turned down cake only yesterday when I went to a vintage tea shop with my friend , she was utterly gobsmacked at my will power !

I do love my tea !

And we are all getting more exercise , my teen is always playing rugby now at adult level  ( I must admit when I saw the size of some of the players I did think oh my goodness ) Obviously they have all been getting their fruit and veg intake which has now shot up to 10 a day . I do like in particular to go for a walk and take pictures as I go along , yes the walk does take longer but I love to amble in a contemplative way.

Yesterday I had planned to do a seafood risotto only trouble was that I had no risotto which is a major stumbling block when you want seafood risotto!. So instead I used cous cous and with cous you must flavour it so I used some chicken stock along with 2 roasted peppers and carrots. I used mixed crab meat and some prawn for a lovely heart meal combined with some crusty bread. This was all ban of my meal planning and meal planning allows us to be more healthy I think as a family as we can see what we are consuming.

These are just of the ways to get my family and your family healthy , and keeping my teenager healthy is very important especially as he heads to University later this year. And it not just the humans I have to keep healthy it is also the cat Jack and that is more important than ever at the minute as he lost he best friend and our best friend Rollie last week . And he is understandably being fickle with his food at the minute as he is grieving so we are going to have to change his food in a attempt to get him to eat more . I am doing this under consultation of the vet and Jack will have to go in at some point if his eating continues to give us concern.

Jack Black the cat 

This is a collaborative post.

My Struggle With Pillows !

As you get older obviously to look after yourself from what you eat to what you sleep on , I know for certain that I always have a problem with my pillows no matter what I do or which ones I buy they die . I've tried buying both expensive pillows or one cheaper pillow to go underneath and an expensive one to go on top . Now I'm not saying there is some sort of pillow conspiracy going on but I don't think it's a far fetched idea as you might think.

I've tried those memory foam pillows and I'm sorry I find them just a slightly softer upgrade from a house brick , sigh forever am I going to be on a quest for the perfect pillows . Even when we stop in hotels I request extra pillows as I need 2 and everyone has to have 2 so we all match. 

 

When it comes down to it I suppose I'm quite fussy about my sleeping from bedding to pillows I can strip a bed in one go no problem but when it comes to remaking the bed ~ oh my goodness what a chore !!

There are many tips to help you sleep at night and finding the right pillows is just one of them ...

1. Try and go to bed at the same time every night , don't be wandering around found stuff particularly when your husband or partner has gone to bed on time < I'm guilty as charged , ooops!

2. Get as much natural sunlight as possible , I'm all for booking a holiday in the Caribbean but Mr T says " No " 

3. Move vigorously during the day ~ don't sit fir more than an hour , I've been guilty of this of late but I've dusted off my walking shoes and I'm going to get exploring.

4. Limit caffeine ,nicotine ,alcohol and big meals at night ~ well I don't smoke and I've got healthy with my meals of late.

5. Relax before bedtime with activities that are relaxing to you.

And to create a calm and restful sleep environment which I'm starting to do , I 've just had my bedroom window replaced ~ done on the day of Storm Doris !!

And as Mr T has a doddery back then maybe when he's greyer than he is now ( I've yet to go grey my what a miracle of science that is !! ) then perhaps we may look at an adjustable bed from the likes of Adjustamatic.

This is a collaboration post .