I’m a piler. You know, someone that ‘organizes’ by making piles. Sometimes the piles sit and collect dust. In one of those piles on my desk was the lingering layout. It sat for years. Almost 8 years.
You see I took some photos of my daughter’s toes all painted pink when she was about 2. It was August 2006 according to my photo organizing system. I just happened upon an inspirational layout in Scrapbook Trends magazine (one of the many that are no longer published) that same month showing some little painted toes. I carefully placed my inspiration page with the photos and even found paper and ribbon that I wanted to use to create a similar layout. Funny enough the caption at the top of the magazine page says “Fast and Fabulous”. Fast is relative I guess. And then it just sat.
Last spring I traded spaces between my office/craft room and my kids’ play room. During that move I carefully took the box containing the pieces of this layout and moved it. And it sat again until a couple of weeks ago. I was determined to complete this layout and I finally did it! My daughter is now 10 but better late than never. I have one less pile to deal with. I also have a sweet layout that reflects that moment in her life. It feels so good!
The layout itself took less than an hour. I did look for some additional rub-ons and embellishments that I hadn’t stored with my initial supplies but really it didn’t take much effort. Sometimes I think we just get stuck and get in our own way. Or maybe we get out of flow and when we come back to a project it isn’t exciting us like it did initially. I am very excited to hear what Jennifer Wilson at Simple Scrapper has to say about this in her upcoming class, The Finishing Project.
One project I won’t need to finish is this layout. One down, many more to go! In fact, I was thinking of doing another layout to go with this one. My daughter went for pedicures with her friends for her 10th birthday and I thought it would make a fun compliment to this layout. I just hope it doesn’t take me 8 years to do that one. What project has been sitting around your space just waiting for a little push? What do you need to get it done?
Your layout is adorable! I’m glad you started this blog! I, too, have many unfinished projects and, with the help of Simple Scrapper and inspiration from you, things may get finished! Have a wonderful day!
Oh, another piler! Thanks for this honest post, it feels good to know that others have such piles, too 😉
Just today I finally finished a post about some Citra Solv experiments that had waited for more than 2 years to happen. I am eager to challenge myself this year to blog regularly again, there are so many craft tutorials in my digital stash. As you said, sometimes we just get in our own way.
Greetings from Germany
Anke
Two projects come to mind. The first was a vacation to Egypt that I put off because I wanted the album to be perfect and reflect how monumental an experience the trip was. After listening to Elisabeth Gilbert’s book, Big Magic, where she said, ” Done is better than perfect,” I realized I had to finish. I made a page a day and let go of perfection. As a result I finished the two-volume project in two months and it looks amazing. I love it! My kids love it.
The second is an album I want to make when my family lived in Israel for six weeks- and this project has been weighing on my
mind for 9 years because I wasn’t sure how to organize and create it. Since my new mantra is “done is better than perfect”, I am just making the album, one page at a time.
First, so jealous that you have taken a trip to Egypt. It is definitely on my Life To Do list. Second, I just finished Big Magic and as many times as I’ve heard “Done is better than perfect,” it is still hard to do. Good for you for jumping in there and getting it done! Jen