Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Just stop!

It may seem like I am not working as diligently on getting the crafts done or on posting them.  That is definitely not so... I've been working daily on finishing a knitted blanket.  Anyone who has knitted a blanket before (bedspread size) knows it takes quite a while and I'm even using fairly large needles!  It should be done within the next week. 

In the meantime, I decided to take an interlude and do something that was a bit quicker, just to keep the momentum going.  

My mom told me this story about when she was younger and into doing crosstitch kits.  She said she had an Amish looking crosstitch kit - you know the country looking types that were popular in 1980s decor, except she had bought it a few years earlier before she started making it.  When she finally got the time to make it, she said she was sitting in the living room with my dad, probably both watching tv, but she was also working on the crosstitch kit.  And she wasn't very motivated and finally said to my dad something like "I'm not sure I still like this crosstitch kit", to which he replied, "Then, why are you still doing it?  Just stop."   And that was a revelation, so to speak, that she didn't always have to finish what she started, that it was simply okay to give up, to quit and no crafting police were going to come out of the wordwork and tell her she must finish it. 

Well, I think I needed someone to tell me that on this latest craft.   I say this over and over, but the packaging looked so beautiful.  The very small directions must imply that this is a super-easy craft and any dummy could do it.  I've should've known when I started.  First, number 653 of why you do a craft when you initially buy it - the floral tape in the package didn't stick anymore.  So I searched and found the floral tape that I had bought for one or reason or another 10 years ago and still had - unopened - and found that one no longer stuck either, so I opened another one of the flower craft kits ( I have 4 of them) and grabbed floral tape out of another one - which kind of sticks. 

But I'm just not into this craft and easy directions or not, some of the flowers just aren't turning out the way I expected.  Seriously, this flower looks pathetic.

 Some flowers were easier.  The accordian style flowers - well, I made them when I was a little kid.  And I think I need a pretty background like the one on the package, instead of the miscellaneous piles of newspaper, homework and backpack!
This one took quite a while to get it just so.  And it still doesn't look quite like the picture on the front of the package.  (I hear someone saying "Just stop!  Don't feel guilty about a failed attempt - just stop!")
The verdict?  I'll probably leave it out for a week or two and then throw it away, but I would have been better off buying fresh flowers or some nice fake flowers that they sell at all the craft stores.  This craft is not for me.  I have a second of this exact same craft (really, see the previous post) and the 2nd will be given away.  I have no desire to do it again. 
 
Projects Completed:  5
Projects Given Away:  2+