Crafting.. VS.. Summer

Summer Vacation!!! or is it???

 

We all look forward to Summer right??!!!?? Warmer days, Vacations, Trips to the Beach, Relaxing in the Back Yard, BBQ’s, Friends & Family…..And Ofcourse.. We dream of all the Extra Time we will have for our Addiction.. uhhh I mean Crafting. 😉 lol

The Reality that I have found … even though I forget every year and have to re-live the horror…. Is we end up having less time in the summer months than we do in the Fall thru Spring time. No matter if you have small children or older ones, the time off and/or hot days forces you to accommodate to their needs in the house. I have a 17yr old left at home and he is just as much “needy” now as he was when he was a toddler. Sometimes I feel it’s worse now than when he was little. Playing with toys just don’t cut it anymore… it’s hey mom I wanna go to the mall, shopping, beach, etc or he wants to get outta town for a few days.

Then there’s the yard… gaahhh The endless weeding, trimming, mowing… I could go on and on with the higher demands of our time. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy it all but when do I have time to enjoy doing my projects and those of us that have blogs, stores, etc the upkeep is just the same as it was before but now you don’t have the time you did before. Those of you that also have a non child related job aka Stay at home mom.. When do you have time?!?!? Your away 8hrs aday, come home and have your house chores plus you will more than likely loose your weekend to cleaning or adventuring with family and friends. I’ve lived both ends of the working world.. The 60+hrs a week and taking care of my daughters… then my injuries turned me into the stay at home mom with 3 kids. I can relate to both… Neither is easy but I will have to say my “working” years were definitely alot harder. I had absolutely no time for my hobbies.

It’s just the beginning of summer and I’m already behind. I took a mini vaca.. 3 days total w/ driving and I’m like a week behind. I have a project I have been working on for the 4th of July. It was supposed to be released today… Cause I wrote it down in my planner… my planner is my boss..hahahaha It’s sitting on a blocking board behind me as I write this post. What was supposed to be a easy pattern, in my mind, turned out to be a hot mess.

I still have embellishments that need to be finished and sewn on but I’m at that point that I don’t wanna even look at it… anyone get that way?? I want the magic crochet fairy to come and wave her wand and make it all done hahaha.

By posting on instagram I thought it would give me more motivation to get’r’done.. All it did was stress me the heck out. When I finished the main project yesterday I did a little happy dance.. Then the embellishments….. grrrrr I had found a pattern online, there was no way I was in the right mind set to make my own.

They look pretty easy right?!?!?! NOOOPPPEEE lol It’s not the pattern.. the pattern is very easy to follow and makes a cute little star BUT See those yarn tails??? The top yarn is the one I’m using, the bottom is the one I SHOULD HAVE USED. I’m not gonna bash on Caron Simply Soft. Its a Great soft yarn for projects just NOT for small intricate stuff. See how you can see the twisted individual yarn strands in the Caron.. Those split when using a small hook.. I have had to redo so many of these little stars it ain’t funny. Because of the projects dimensions I need smaller stars than what the pattern makes. I went down to a 3.5mm hook and cut out a couple steps to make the stars smaller… Simply Soft is NOT the right yarn to do this.

Because of  “Summer ” and the need to enjoy it, spend time with the family, etc… It has, as you have read so far, turned this crafter into a stressed out, panic attacking, pycho. lol The moral of this…Don’t let your craft ruin your fun or ruin the fun in your craft.

Some Handy Do’s & Don’t

1.) Make and follow a set plan.

2.) Make a reasonable schedule to do your crafting, blog, store, etc

3.) Cut back.. If you Blog 2 or more times a week.. cut it back to 1 or 2. If you release 2 or more patterns/ tutorials a month.. cut it back to 1.

4.) Work on whats most important first.. prioritize.. If your craft is for business, example, Etsy store… Make sure you update, stock, etc that first before diving into other things.

5.) Do not worry about disapointing followers and or traffic… Remember its summer, those followers are also out having fun. Traffic will be less in summer months. They follow you for your content/ product not how many times you post, release a item in a week or month.

Summer is a time for family and friends.. yet life still continues, especially now adays when one income is not enough. We must find the balance. We must not fall victom to the pressure & stress.

Always remember… LIVE, LOVE, LAUGH & REPEAT 🙂 ❤