Swift Kick To Procrastination!

It is typical January weather tonight; cold and windy. I just took Neely for her walk and am tucked in for the night. 

I had a somewhat successful evening. I pulled together all the Scrappy Scribers essays done in Volume 1 and sent it to the Scrappy Scribers group as "Scrappy Scribers Compilation" Volume 1! Beginning on 1/26/14, Volume 2 will begin with a new prompt. I'm hoping to add a few more writers to the group, enticed by some thought-provoking prompts. I also wrote three more short essays for Shutterbox 2013. This is a small portfolio of my camera club experience which I have done every year since I joined in 2009...except this year I am about 6 months late!! I better finish it before I need to work on Shutterbox 2014! 

I feel like I'm on my way again, on my way to achieving a few goals and kicking my procrastination out the front door.

Just a thought

Holidays and Goals

It's early December and, as has been done in the past, I've made a conscious decision to table some of my projects for the month. Trying to squeeze in a poem a day, work on a personal essay, complete Shutterbox 2013, file photographs and format some picture books will have to be set aside for a few weeks. I can't do all of that and enjoy the holidays. There are two things I know I will complete, though. One is to finish organizing the pictures and clippings I inherited from my mother.  These will be sent to their respective sibling, wrapped in a beautiful Christmas box...and out of my cluttered closet for good!!  The second is to finish the third wise man in the manger scene I have been working on for some time. It is counted cross stitch and, at times, can be very tedious...and a killer on the eyes. But the end result is so worth the effort. I've had one wise man complete and stuffed for a few years...but one other has been completely sewn and not cut out and stuffed and the other incompletely sewn. I am almost done with the third wise man, though. By end of this week I should have both complete, cut out and stuffed. A small victory, yes, as I have other figures and animals to sew...but a victory nonetheless.

When the manger scene is complete, it will look like what you see below. After the three wise men are complete (this Christmas) I have the angel, two sheep, sitting camel and a shepherd. Hmmmm, sounds like a 2014 goal in the making!

Susan

You've Always Had The Power

Isn't this the truth? There is so much power, so much strength inside us that we have not even begun to tap our true potential.I ask myself the same question over and over; why don't you just forge ahead and see what happens? Maybe all we need is to ignite the fuse and the fireworks will begin. Not every venture will be a dud. And if you hit a dozen duds in a row, so what? The cost of igniting the fuse is minimal, especially compared to the cost of sitting on our hands and watching the world, and the years, march past. 

We have the power to make our dreams come true...but we are afraid to use it. Why? I think this is the question that we must ask ourselves. Why don't we want to see how far we can push the envelope, how far outside the lines we can color, what life is like outside the box?  Are we afraid someone will laugh at us? Maybe. We all remember being laughed at and teased when we failed at something. Childhood memories are hard to hold down. So maybe the answer is, you don't. Let them go. Maybe they are clogging the release valve. Maybe our power is stuck behind them, waiting to fuel our dreams and those damn memories are blocking the outlet. Bring your insecurities into the light of day and set them free. You don't need them anymore. They are holding you back.

It's okay to stumble. Hell, it's okay to fall flat on your face in front of your worst enemies!! Either of these things means you took off your safety harness, removed the training wheels and depended on the power inside you to keep you upright. It will be rough at first, but each time you pull the power from within, it will grow in strength and become more dependable. If you don't use it, your power will stay stuck behind those damn insecurities until eternity.

Be Dorothy. Believe in your power. 

Susan

Fun time at the Craft Show

Debbie, Peggie and I had a fun time at the Middleboro Craft Show yesterday. Nice crowd, good sales and great laughs. Come see us at our next Craft Show at the Weymouth High School, Dec. 7th.

We will be selling hand made lighted wreaths, gift bags, baby bibs, greeting cards and more!

See you there!

Stuffing time!

No, not Thanksgiving stuffing. 

Elephant stuffing!

Drop by our table and see these cute hand made stuffed elephants at the 

28th Annual L.A.M.C. 

Cranberry Craft Fair

Saturday, November 23rd 9:30-3:00 at Middleboro High School Gymnasium.

Lots of Christmas gifts:
Christmas baby bibs, accessory bags, pocketbooks, lighted wreaths, beaded scarves, wine and gift bags and much more.

Hope to see you there!

Time to do the sewing

Had a successful Craft Show a couple of weeks ago and now it's time to get more sewing done. The next Craft Show is Nov. 23th at the Middleboro, MA High School, 9:30-3:00. Come to my table, Donna Capozzi Designs, mention you read this post on the JOS blog and you'll get to pick out one of my greeting cards for FREE! My two cousins, Peggie and Debbie will also be there selling beautiful hand made gift bags, wine bag, pocketbooks,  lighted wreaths, beaded scarves, bracelets, charms, zipper pulls and much more. Hope to see you there!