So, my prayers were answered and we (along with our little menagerie) were approved for the rental house we wanted.  Hoorah!  The downside of this is the obvious – we have to pack.  Like, now.

We get the keys on 3/20 and luckily have a little overlapping time with the old place so we can do the move over the course of a few days instead of all at once.  It’s also nice to have some extra time to clean the old place up – although I must say – even as is – we are leaving it in much better shape than the way we received it.

So, I think I must declare Maker’s March delayed until April since I have just packed all of my craft and art supplies up in tidy little boxes.  (Waaaah!)  Again, there’s a bright side… there are few things I love more than creating a new space.  I can’t wait to dig into our office/craft room and get all my goodies unpacked and wacky ephemera back on the walls.  It’s always fun to set up my studio – every incarnation is unique and better than it’s predecessor.

I am also starting to fall behind on the 366 bites challenge.  There’s just too darn much going on right now.  But, I’m going to cut myself a little slack and do the best I can through the move – and then jump back on the wagon wholeheartedly as soon as we are unpacked!

I’ve really been enjoying posting more often recently, so I hate to take a break from the blog right now… but again, have to cut myself some slack and know that it is okay that I am unable to do every single thing I want to do every single day while taking on a project like a move.    I might love Wonder Woman, but Wonder Woman I am not.

With that, I’m off to finish some more work and pack my way through a few conference calls.  (Times like these I sure am grateful for work from home days!)

Free dog toy? Yes, please!

The verdict? As soon as she got this in her little mouth, she ran to her den and protected it from the cats with her life. I'd say she likes it.

Oh and a bonus!  You can soak this sucker in water and stick it in the freezer.  Awesome for teething or hot weather!

So, as I sat down with a glass of wine, I decided that if I wanted good news instead of bad news when the news finally came, I was going to have to shift my focus to something a little more positive.  Why not spend some time telling myself I was going to get what I wanted?

Make it happen.

I took out my pencils and some paper and started sketching out a card for when we move.  :-)  Happy thoughts, people.  Happy thoughts.

I really enjoy making gifts, but birthday gifts are especially… um, special.  :-)  Christmas gets super hectic, so although I always have grand plans for gifts, I don’t always make them happen.  But birthdays are a little more manageable and since they are more personal they are the perfect occasion to make something for someone I love.

Last month, my verbose, energetic, culinarily skilled friend Kelly celebrated a birthday up in NYC – and just this past weekend, my Mom celebrated her birthday over in her brand new home in Switzerland.  Two lovely ladies who inspire me to get creative in my own kitchen…  what to make them?  Well, I thought a set of oven mitts would do nicely – and it was a new project for me to boot!

Pattern:  Square Pot Holder from In Stitches by Amy Butler

These turned out to be a little labor intensive, so these are not something I’d replicate to sell but are the perfect labor of love for gifting.

I’m happy and all warm and fuzzy inside to report that both recipients loved their surprise.  :-)  I love that!

Paper butterfly!  Just because, ya know…. it’s butterfly season.

Worked on the husband’s neverending sweater.

Day three’s make was a bunch of paper beads (used an old Martha Stewart kit) strung on some elastic cord.  Busy day around here, so I needed an easy project and this fit the bill!  About 40 minutes total to make it.

Today’s make was a photo of my scissor collection.  :-)

Super secret project that I’ve been working on and cannot yet reveal… But I finished it tonight!  I’ll post about the finished product sometime next week.  :-)  (And no guessing, either!  Don’t want to ruin the surprise for a certain someone.)

So, I’ve had a very introspective first two months of the year.  A very successful introspective two months, actually.  As I’ve mentioned already, I’m back to yoga 3 or 4 times a week.  I’m also back on Weight Watchers and am close to hitting the 10 pounds lost mark.  (Halfway to my goal!)  I’m sleeping about 7-8 hours every night.  I’m drinking a ton of water and green tea.  I’m taking deep breaths more often.  I take breaks at work when I start to feel overwhelmed.  I’m starting to feel like I am pacing my body and mind properly – for the first time in a long damn time!

Through all of this, I have become more aware of what I guess one would call a personal roadblock.  It’s like I have this wall in front of my face – keeping me where I am.  I can move side to side alright…  I can move backward VERY EASILY…. but forward, not so much.  A couple of months ago I knew something was off, but couldn’t put my finger on it.  Now, I can see that it is there, that it is of my own making and that there is something awesome on the other side.  I want what is on the other side.  So, we’ve got to get rid of this wall.

What’s the deal with the wall?  Why’s it there?  Working on that part, but my gut tells me it’s simply a fear of failure.  A fear that I’ll try to get where I want to go, be who I want to be – and fall flat on my face.  I’m a brutal perfectionist.  I’m starting to realize that this trait has kind of become my prison.  It’s easy to live the same day over and over again.  It has become mind numbingly monotonous for me – but it’s so EASY.

Ok, so what do I do about it?  Well, what I’ve done over the last two months has helped me tremendously, so I will continue everything I’m already doing – but it’s time to up the ante.

I need to be more productive on a daily basis.  I’m challenging myself to make something every day for the month of March.  (I’ll try to blog about it!)  It doesn’t have to be a masterpiece or anything – even just a poem or a photograph or an origami crane.  The point is to take even just a few minutes each day to create something.  I’m intimidated by this, but I think it’s a great exercise for me right now.

Also, I am reviving my abandoned Etsy shop.  I’m not pushing into unknown territory yet – nothing too wild.   But, I’m revamping the shop to focus more on sewing supplies rather than my previous mish mosh of apparel, pouches, plush and blankets.  I’ll do a mix of vintage and handmade notions, some pouches, pincushions – you get the picture.  More cohesive than in the past, but still very familiar to me.  My instincts tell me this isn’t where I will land forever, but I know that I need a starting point.  The shop could grow and turn into something else – or it could simply provide me with the motivation and inspiration to start a completely new project.  (Those instincts? Yeah, they tell me that is what is on the other side of the wall.)

Okay, enough talk.  Time to get busy. 

p.s. – “getting busy” is what SteveKam calls Layla’s bathroom business.  I promise you there is nothing more chuckle worthy than watching him walk around the yard telling her “Get busy, Layla!”.  Reason #204 that I love that guy.