Sunday, March 23, 2014

Where for art thou Autumn?

Well it sure doesn't feel like Autumn round these parts.
And frankly I'm disappointed.
Every year I look forward to the cooler months. We don't get the serious cool weather like some of you (on the other side of the world) are getting right now.
But it's still nice to have a change of season and be able to rug up in cosy clothes and have the choice to wear boots (for 5 minutes) and to warm up with a hot drink.

What I like about it even more, is I get to work at my bench and use the torch.

I finished that custom order:















And then I finished off my first ever piece with 3 stones:















That piece had been sitting on my bench for a couple of weeks waiting to be LOS'd and set. So other than those two pieces, I haven't done much else. The head is still filled with plenty of ideas. But again I'm going through the whole 'my work is crap and not good enough' phase again. We all go through it and come back around out of it again, so I'm not too worried by it. I've a few things on my mind.

There is a custom order to be done in the next week or so and I've a follow up appointment for an echocardiogram on Wednesday. Once that is out of the way I will do the custom order and perhaps that will help me back to my bench to make new things.

School holidays are just around the corner again. They're for a whole two weeks too! I hope it's cooled down by then, as I would love to take the girls out for some day trips.

Okie dokie then, this was just a short post. Hope it finds you well :)
Em ♥

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Things to do.

I don't know about you, but I can be a terrible procrastinator.
Though at the moment I feel I'm procrastinating because I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with the amount of things I need to do/get done.

We have a lot of baby things to sell on.
And whilst it's not a hard thing to do, it's a tedious thing to do, so I just keep putting it off.

Today I MUST get a custom piece finished and listed. So what am I doing here then?? you might ask. Procrastinating. Hey if I'm going to do something, might as well do it right!

The custom piece I'm working on is a flying owl - a piece like the one I recently posted here and sold - except it's with a different shaped stone.

I (thought I had) decided a while back that I wasn't going to accept custom work, as I find it stressful. And this piece has reiterated why I don't want to do them. Please do not get me wrong here, I am so very grateful for the chance to make something special for someone. But the stress it gives me takes away from my joy of creating. Those of you who make things with your hands will most likely relate to this at some time or another.

When I'm making something large and with much detail, it takes time. However, I can take as much time to do it as I want. There is no deadline. Hence no pressure and no stress (generally if all is going well). The minute there is a custom piece (more so when it is a replica of something previously sold) to do, the pressure is on. There is a deadline and there is also even more pressure to have it look just like the original. Then I become super critical of my work, my ability to even make the piece again starts to wane. Things will not 'flow' properly and mistakes are on the horizon. The pressure of getting it to look just like the original is even more deterring for me - as clearly the customer fell in love with the original and will most likely be expecting it to be almost identical. Really I should probably explain in my policies that this isn't always possible.... note to self ....

My other half says it helps me to push myself. I do agree, partially.
But on the other hand, it seems to push me away from my bench even more. 

Anyway, that is enough procrastination for now. I have to go to the bench and get the Owl finished as I've pretty much hit the deadline. Here's hoping there's 'flow' and no ebbs and I will post a picture of the finished piece once sent off.

Em ♥