Finish The Old To Make Way For The New & Michelle Ward's Crusade #23

Fall really does seem to be right around the corner now. It's raining today & it's cool. Rain is in the forecast for the week ahead. Is this temporary ? Or is it the long slippery slope towards 'eternal, seasonal gray'? Only time will tell ! There were only a few sturdy blossoms left on the rose bushes; those that struggled to reach 'bloom' are all the more fragrant for their trouble. I save those petals every year in a special basket that has gotten full over time, but, somehow, I seem to be able to keep adding to it. I am finding the urge to sleep more (is that really possible?!). The evenings are brisk enough that I have put the fingerless gloves to work as I knit or sew and I am noticing that the days really are a lot shorter. I am beginning to 'feel' the "H" word. Hibernation. There are moments when that seems desirable as well as moments when the thought of closed windows and doors is almost enough to make me want to run outside and scream! I think about getting my "happy light" out of it's summer time cover, knitting something larger, working on a large hand quilting project, anything that will keep me warmer. I'm feeling the ever more incessant urge to clear the art-full decks, clean my figurative plate, and sweep the proverbial drawing board clean. Fall & Winter are, for me, truly a time to savor moving forward - sometimes finding a new direction with my art.

Michelle Ward issued a timely 'crusade' this month though her Green Pepper Press Street Team, called, interestingly enough "Clean Your Plate". This theme coincided eerily with the thoughts that have been rumbling though my mind. My house is cluttered though I don't like it that way. I like order in my disorder. A place for everything even if I'm the only one that knows where that place is. I become easily thrown off kilter when I become overwhelmed with dead-lines, "have-to-do's", commitments, meetings, & obligations. I need time to day dream, to play, to lollygag; draw, spin, paint,sew,felt to my heart's desire without any of it at all having to be anywhere by a specific time. I need this sort of play time just as I need sleep, food, air, love,h ealth & friendship. I become very peckish when I do not get enough un-pressured time to create; just as I need more time alone than many people do. Some people make New Year's resolutions, mine tend to come at this point in the year when the days are shorter & there is more time to settle in. I want to explore some new things this winter. My requirement for "new things" is that I can utilize them to enhance my other passions of knitting, sewing, quilting or journaling. I want to try to spend some time learning calligraphy - or at least some calligraphic techniques. This can be used in my journals, of course, and in my quilts. I want to paint some more - which will also help journaling & quilting. I want to make enough small crows, felted bags, pen cases & knitting bags that I can begin to sell them on Etsy. The one commitment that I have not yet fulfilled is making a new crow to take in to a local gallery for consideration for their 'roster'. I told them that I would try to make it by the middle of this month - but obviously this has not yet happened, and is unlikely to happen until I return from my sojourn to Houston in October. Hopefully, there will still be interest in my Corvid family.

So my Fall & Winter plans are these (not necessarily in any particular order):

1. To sift, sort, prune & gather my supplies.
   
2. Spend some time getting to know my spinning wheel. Spin some of my fabulous 'new' fiber so that I can use it for felts & knits.
   
3. Clean off my desk to make way for some unfettered space to paint & play.
   
4. Try to tackle some of the mess in my sewing area so that I can, at least, know what tools I have available and where they are!
5. Rest, renew, & enjoy the journey, whatever the journey is. Make the process the most important thing - the end result will be just fine if I do that.
   
6. Stop spending quite so much time online. Just a little - well....maybe that won;t happen - but maybe it will!
   

How about you - what plans do you have for making this one of the most creative & enjoyable Fall & Winter seasons yet ? Let's shed some of our creative light onto the dark Winter days to come!