Caregivers, Worker Bees, and Little Bits of Crafting

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have to care for an aging parent? I did not. Well...I did, but then I quickly realized I am not cut out for the nurturing care-giver and put it entirely out of my head.  That was my sister's job.  I was a worker bee.  I owned my own business, I volunteered with charities that were important to me, and I stayed busy all the time. My sister, Patsy, was the nurturing type. She went to nursing school until her own medical issues put a stop to the, and she always swore she would be the one to take care of my parents when they got old. And she did.  She took care of my dad through recovery from a heart-attack, gall-bladder surgery, and over a year of hospice care. She took care of my mom through all that, too, and I was glad for it...especially since I live 300+ miles away.

Then the unthinkable happened...my sister died unexpectedly, leaving her handicapped, adult daughter and my mother, who was already beginning to show the signs of dementia. I moved my 29-year-old niece to live with me in the city so she could get a good education and learn to live on her own (public transportation should NEVER be underrated!), and eventually, we convinced my mother to move from her paid-off home in rural Texas into a senior living community where my brother and aunt could help take an eye on her. That didn't last long, though, as her needs were far greater than I had known, and she was already incapable of independent living.  Add to that the fact that she had squandered her retirement by pulling all of her investments during the stock market crashes of the early 2000's, and then she lost her job, losing her medical and life insurance benefits in the process.  All that to say that in January, Mom moved into my remaining guest bedroom, and now we have a household of four with some very distinct, and often time-consuming, needs.

Being a caregiver has put strains on my family and me that I could never have imagined, and it's made it even more important to me to get in my crafting time whenever I can. It hasn't been easy, but I've found that if I break things down into smaller tasks, and squeeze them in whenever I have an opportunity, it really gives me the outlet I need to calm my mind, let go of stress, and just zen out for a little while.  For example, today, I had to take my niece to the doctor.  I didn't want to go inside with all the sick people, and I could have sat in the car playing on my phone, but instead I took a portable project (embroidery) with me to work on while I waited outside.  I didn't get a lot done, but it was a lot more enjoyable and productive than sitting in that doctor's office with a bunch of sick people playing "Words with Friends" (nothing against WWF).

The start of some flowers on an apron.

So whether you're a caregiver, a worker bee, or just someone with a lot of hats to juggle, the truth is there will always be things that get in the way of crafting time. Whether it's a deadline a work, a sick kid, a second job, etc., you can't let it consume your life. Making the time to craft is not only possible, but necessary.  We all need those few precious moments of space where we can let go of the stress of the day and find something beautiful in our lives to experience and celebrate. It doesn't have to be a marathon weekend of crafting, or even an hour...just grab yourself five minutes when ever you can while you're watching the evening news, taking your 15-minute break at work, waiting for the roast to cook, or sitting at the doctors office or carpool line.  Just do it. Your body needs it, your brain needs it, and you'll be really glad you did!

More Fun with Friends

I just spent three days milling about the Great American Scrapbook Convention with Jennifer and Marion.  I don’t remember if I’ve mentioned them before, but they are sometimes volunteer “helpers” for various projects I’m working on, particularly my scrapbooking cruises.  This week they were helping me promote the cruises at the convention, which basically consists of a lot of shopping and a little bit of time passing out postcards and goodie bags.  I’m very grateful to have the help.  I could go pass out the cards on my own, but I hate to do things like that by myself.  It just seems to be easier when I have company.

I’m that way about a lot of things.  Just last night, we were discussing movies with friends and they were surprised when I mentioned that I won’t go to a movie by myself.  Apparently, a lot of people do, and they tell me they like it because they can really focus on the movie, but for me, a night at the movies is a social activity.  If I wanted to watch it by myself, I could just wait for it to come out on DVD.  I also don’t often drink alone or swim alone or eat in restaurants by myself.  I prefer to take a companion with me for business trips, to dinner seminars, and even to church.  I especially like to have friends with me when I crop.

Yes, I can sometimes get more done when I’m home alone working on an important project, but nine times out of ten, I forget to make the time to crop if I don’t have someone else here to make it a priority.  It’s just one of those indulgences that I find hard to justify when I have a lot of work to get done.   So yes, I prefer to have friends with me to crop, in many cases just so that I will be forced to sit down and craft.

What about you?  Do you do certain things with friends that you won’t do alone?  Do you prefer to crop with friends?  Let us know in the comments.

Simple Things

Sometimes I get behind on my blog because I simply do not have anything to post.  Or rather, I think I don't have anything to post.  I always try to find something interesting to share, or a project that I feel is worthy of your attention. When I get busy, I don't have time to write out an elaborate post or make a new project just for the blog.  And when that happens, I wind up not posting for a while.

But there's no rule that a blog post has to be a big, elaborate project or a long blog post.  Sometimes, it can just be something simple.  So today I share with you a very quick project I did for one of my clients.  I spent about an hour and a half figuring out the right color combos and stamp placements.  After that, I made about 3 dozen of these in a couple of hours.  The client is tickled, I took on a quick and easy job that I was able to finish, and I feel like I accomplished something.

So the next time you think you don't have time to scrapbook, remember...there's no rule that says you have to do a big, fancy, 2-page layout and finish it all tonight.  Just find something small to do, like writing up a bit of journaling, going back to those pages you set aside to finish later, or even sorting and editing photos.  Every little job counts, too.  And if you do a little bit every day, pretty soon you've accomplished a whole lot!

Supplies used: Stampin' Up Very Vanilla Card Stock, Very Vanilla seam binding, Tag Topper punch, Crisp Cantaloupe, Coastal Cabana, Baked Brown Sugar and Crumb Cake inks, and the & from "Calling All Heroes" stamp set.  The Stamps of Life "calendar2build" stamp set. Close to My Heart "Cruisin'" stamp set. Assorted letter stamps.

Little Blocks of Time

Yesterday, I told you how I use all that wasted time away from home to work on craft projects, but we all know we have plenty of wasted time at home and at work, too.  It comes in the form of Facebook, Twitter, Etsy, Amazon, text messages, phone calls (I was once on hold with a travel supplier for over two hours!)…the list is endless.

I know someone who gets to scrapbook at work.  Yep, right at her desk between phone calls.  I think that’s amazing!  Most of us are not that fortunate, and we struggle with finding the time to tackle some of our bigger projects.  I have an album that I only work on at retreats.  I would really like to finish it up, but I always feel like I don’t have any time to work on it.  Then I got this blog posting from one of my favorites, Christine Kane, and I just had to share (with permission).

A layout created by Pam Wilemon for Crafty Neighbor

How to Get Big Projects Done (When You’ve Got No Time)

Written by Christine Kane

You’ve wanted to write a book forever – but each year goes by it doesn’t get written.

You promised yourself you’d get rid of all the crap in the basement – and months have passed leaving you grateful you didn’t share your intention with your kids.

You’ve been meaning to set up a merchant account, read that book, start a blog, celebrate your 40th birthday party (six years ago), learn how to knit, practice yoga.

And you keep waiting for that big long sabbatical on a white horse to show up at your door so you can do all of these things you don’t have time to do.

The truth is, even if it did show up, you’d probably panic and spend even more time on Facebook than you do already.

That’s because until we learn how to leverage our small windows of time, we won’t be all that great at using our big imaginary unending sabbaticals.

However, the idea of days upon days of uninterrupted time with no appointments or to-dos has probably served a wonderful purpose for you…

It has become a convenient excuse to not do what you say is your most important dream.

So, you can nod your head and continue to be disappointed in yourself.

Or you can take just FIVE SIMPLE STEPS and start getting your big things done in small windows of time.

Do this:

1.  Define your Priorities by Creating a Master List

• When you begin ANYTHING, start with definition.
• When you don’t define, then you don’t really know what you want to do.
• And when you don’t know really what to do, your small windows of time become meaningless. Easy to blow off.
• Your first step is to make a list of what it is that you keep telling yourself you want to complete.
• Write it all down so you define what’s important to you.  This is your Master List.

2.  Pick one thing from your Master List and break it down into small pieces.

• Pick one item on that list that feels the most exciting and/or do-able to you. It doesn’t matter what it is. Just choose one.
• Ask yourself how to break this item down into small pieces.  What elements could be completed in 20 minutes here, 30 minutes there?  A quick bit of research?  Choosing one limited area of the attic?  Challenging yourself to write the first draft of an article in 30 minutes just for fun?
• Write down those action steps.

3.  Do it.

• Let’s say it’s noon.  You have a lunch appointment at 12:30. That’s a good 25 minutes. You could “hop on line,” go to Facebook, check emails and blow that 25 minutes in a matter of seconds.
• Or you can train yourself to notice this small window of time.  Then, set your timer and challenge yourself to make even a tiny little bit of progress on the priority you wrote down.

4.  Make it a Habit

• Every Sunday, look at your schedule for the week.  Find those spaces where you have 30 minutes to an hour each day. (Yes, you do have them. Take a look.)  Schedule appointments in your calendar. Show up for them. Set your timer.
• Again, this seems simple and small. But it’s huge.
• After all, you’re asking yourself to shift a well-worn habit. You’re choosing to honor a priority, rather than splatter your attention.  Learn to stay conscious for your small windows – and when you have bigger windows show up, you won’t be as daunted!

5.  Set a Deadline

• If you really want to get something done, give it a deadline.
• Promise your best friend it’ll be on her doorstep by X Date.  Then, write a check to your most despised political cause or party.  Give the check to your friend. Tell her to mail it if you don’t meet your deadline.  (I’m serious about this! I have an accountability buddy out there who has just such a check from me in a drawer somewhere.)
• But hey, it doesn’t always take money.

Just now, I challenged myself to write this article in a small window of time.  My day is mostly done.

And I’m putting my theory to the test.

This took me exactly 25 minutes to write.  No, it’s not a book. But it’s a start.

Christine Kane is the Mentor to People Who are Changing the World. She helps women and men Uplevel their lives, their businesses and their success. Her weekly Uplevel You eZine goes out to over 37,000 subscribers. If you are ready to take your life and your world to the next level, you can sign up for a FREE subscription at http://christinekane.com.

Question of the Day:  What projects have you been putting off, and how can you break them down into little blocks of time?

Crafting on the Go!

Do you ever wonder where all your time goes?  I do!  With two companies to run (Crafty Neighbor and my travel agency, Crafty Neighbor Travel), I am constantly busy running here, running there, finishing this, working on that.  A lot of time gets wasted driving in traffic (especially construction!) and waiting for web pages and computer applications to load, process, or do whatever it is that makes everything seem so S-L-O-W.  And I feel like I never have any time to scrapbook or craft.  One way that I remedy that is to take a little bit of crafting with me wherever I go, and it’s a lot easier than it sounds.

Since I seldom have large chunks of time to work on my favorite projects, I have to make use of the little bits of time I do have…the little bits that seem to always get wasted here and there…for instance, sitting at the doctor’s office or car wash.  By keeping a small project in my car, (usually something that I can carry in my purse or a small tote bag), I can make use of all that idle time.  My favorite projects to carry around these days are knitting and crochet, especially scarves because they are repetitive and I don’t have to read the pattern once I get it started.  I’ve also brought along a notebook for journaling, a sketchbook for drawing, and even my Zentangle supplies.  Photos can be cropped on the go with a small paper trimmer, and Provocraft’s Gypsy is great for portable die cutting projects.

As a travel agent, I also spend a lot of nights in hotels on business-related trips, and rather than while away the hours watching free HBO, I frequently bring some crafty materials with me to work on.  My favorite things to work on are my smash book and my art journal, but I have also worked on 12x12 page layouts during Layout a Day, and I’m getting ready to start on a mini-album to document all the scrapbook stores I’ve visited over the years.  I like projects like these because I can usually get away with bringing only a small paper trimmer and a few embellishments or supplies (think shoe box, etc.).  Just this weekend, I was traveling with my daughter Christen and we both brought our art journals to work on.  The bed makes a great workspace; just make sure you bring a mat to protect the bedding.

Here’s some of what I worked on. 

These are just the beginnings of pages in my journal.  The loose paper will be a Zentangle when I’m done with it.  They are both projects in my 365 Challenge. 

And this is my little travel kit of supplies.  I actually took more than this box on this trip, but I can usually manage with just this box.  It contains my Copic markers, an assortment of pens and pencils, a few small stamps, ink, and washi tape.  I even threw a few small stencils in just for grins.

Speaking of traveling…the reason for our journey to the Houston area was two-fold.  The main purpose was for me to inspect the Carnival Magic cruise ship as a requirement for my CLIA Accredited Cruise Counselor certification.  (It’s a fabulous ship, by the way!)  The other purpose was to visit those three scrapbook stores in the Houston area (because who can pass up an opportunity to shop at a new scrapbooking store?), and the third reason was to promote our 2015 Crafty Neighbor Scrapbooking Cruise! 

I am so excited to announce that the next Crafty Neighbor Scrapbooking Cruise will be:

October 4 - 11, 2015

on a

7-Night Caribbean Cruise

aboard the

Royal Caribbean

Navigator of the Seas

including the ports of

Falmouth, Jamaica

George Town, Grand Cayman

and

Cozumel, Mexico

Starting at just $741* per person!

We have all-new instructors this year bringing a wide variety of projects and styles, and we’ll have an official announcement very soon, but in the mean time, here’s a few hints: 

• We’ll have a store-owner onboard along with a mini-store
• One of the instructors is Copic certified to teach both the Standard and Intermediate Level
• We’ll be focusing on lots of new techniques including more scrapbooking and cardmaking
• Best of all, it’s all included in the cost of your cruise!

Our annual cruise is probably my favorite way to take my crafting with me on the go, and it’s a sure-fire way to get in as much quality time with your craft supplies as you could possibly want!  If you’d like more information about how you could spend 7 blissful days at sea with your scrapbooking pals, just click on the advertisement on the top left of this blog, or visit our website at http://www.craftyneighbor.com

And before I leave…here is the info on the three stores we visited in the Houston area:

• Scrapp’n Savvy; Spring:  http://www.scrappnsavvy.com
• The Scrap Shack; Friendswood: http://www.scrapshacktexas.com
• Croppin’ Bug Scrapbooking; Texas City:  http://www.croppinbug.com

If you’re in the Houston area, try to stop by and visit these 3 stores.  The ladies there were very friendly and they all carry different products.  It will be well worth your trip.

Question of the day:  What kinds of crafty projects have you managed to take with you on the go, and how did that work out?