Yay for Blog Number One!

Ok, yes, it's cheesy, but I needed something to get me started.  I haven't attempted to blog in probably 3 years!


Anyway, so, this is the blog for my 2012 challenge to myself.  Last year, there was a challenge posted on Facebook, requiring participants to hand-make an item for the first five people to comment when the challenge was posted.  Which, technically, I got done.  The last item, as of today, has not been shipped out.  Since some of the other people who did that challenge were a little late on shipping, though, I'm not too upset about it.  At least I made the item...right?


Moving on...


So, the challenge I gave myself for 2012 is for me to make or upcycle 12 items.  I wanted a bigger total, because five was so small that it got continuously postponed until the last few months of the year.  I figured 12 items and a blog about them would help keep me accountable. Sounds simple, right?  I LOVE crafting!...Here-in lies the problem.  Over the last I-don't-know-how-many-years, I have acquired by purchase/gifting/inheritance/etc. WAY TOO MUCH STUFF.  Some of the crafting supplies I've ended up with were from supply stashes that grand-relatives hoarded, so who really knows how many accumulative years of stuff I've actually got.  So late in December of 2011, I decided that the junk needed to go.  I realized that as much as I loved making things, part of the reason I'd kept postponing last year's challenge was I couldn't enjoy it, because I couldn't use the desk I'd christened my Designated Crafting Area.  My desk is a proverbial catching ground for bags of That's-so-neat-I-have-to-buy-it-even-if-I-don't-know-what-I'd-use-it-for supplies and junk mail.  Even the chair is a catch-all.  I have all manner of storage containers and racks and what-not, and those are overflowing with beads and fabric and yarn that were sort of sorted...at one point...

In fact...here's what it looks like...(If you can't laugh at yourself...)

So sprouted the idea that eventually became my challenge.  I get to craft new things, but the catch is, I can only use supplies that I already have.  Because, let's face it.  I don't need any more.  I can't buy anything new, aside from necessary things like sewing thread or glue.  No new fabric.  No more paint.  NO MORE BEADS!  At the end of the year (or sooner!), I intend on putting the items I make up for sale somewhere, hopefully in my brand new Etsy.com shop that I also plan on starting this year.  (My mom wanted me to make the Etsy shop my challenge, but my access to Internet right now is sporadic at best.  I thought I'd just start with something..."easy", instead.)  As an extra bonus, not only do I get rid of items that I've let sit for years by finally using them, I also can weed out the items that I know I won't ever use.  Those items will be sold off as well, in the same Etsy shop or another one just for supplies, hopefully to people who will actually use them.


I've come up with a list of items to make, and I bounced around the idea of posting the whole list, but I'm going to hold off, at least for now.  I don't think it would make much sense to people at this point.  I have my own version of shorthand writing, and I need to find a way to make it more...understandable.  Maybe next to the "descriptions", I could put pictures of the items I'm upcycling, or of patterns...or something like that.  I don't know.  This is far from fine tuned.  I posted the challenge a few weeks ago on my Facebook status and got a lot of suggestions on how to make it better.  The thing that got me the most flack from my mom and my boyfriend's mom.  The original plan was to give the items away, and they told me I needed to sell them, "or I wouldn't be able to fund future projects or get famous."  I also got "yelled at" for taking the advice of one oh-so-wonderful friend that is currently betting I don't finish this challenge.  Said friend stated that if I didn't finish, then I would owe her and whoever else was betting against me $20.  Each.  She THEN told me that if I did finish, she and the betters should get first pick of the items.  I was told by The Mom's that giving people betting I'd fail first pick was stupid on my part.  So now the betters just owe me money, LOL.  No first pick, that's for sure.  (What was I thinking?!)


So that's it.  I have just under a year to finish this challenge.  I have to.  I'm looking at $20 easy money right now if I finish, $40 if you count the other friend who is betting I fail, but called me the other day to tell me about a typewriter key bracelet she saw and wants me to make her a bracelet as one of the items.  I told her a) she's not supposed to be helping me if she's betting against me, and b) if she wants it so bad she has to buy the keys.  I can't buy them, obviously...though I'm not opposed to handouts! ;-)  Although, wouldn't that go against the first pick rule?  Hmmm...I may have to withhold her item until next year!  Oh, I know!  How about if someone who's betting against me decides they want me to make them something, then they forfeit and owe me the $20 right then and there, plus the price of any items I needed to buy specifically for their project?  Sounds good to me!


On that note, I'm off.  Must get to work on my first project, and numerous chores around the house (ugh).  Until next time, I will leave you with a glimpse of what is to come...