Good Ideas

What happens to all the ideas and future projects that are swimming around my head if I die tomorrow? My calendar is finally finished and dropped into my bag and the layout that sat to the side of my desk for a while (months) has all the pieces glued down and I am looking at fresh pictures while mini book ideas invade my process along with things I can do to the many configurations stacked beneath my table. The reality is I always have ideas of things I want to try and papers I want to play with but time and circumstances often pull me away from creative fun time. Couple that with loads of self-doubt and it is very possible that I can leave this world without a trace of my creative chaos being left behind. There are times when I can't see a clear place to start and will pass the hours organizing and cleaning. I don't know if the thought of art undone scares anyone else the way it does me but I am looking to conquer that fear!

I think old age is making me neurotic I don't remember being this crazy when I was younger. There is something to be said about the fearlessness of youth. I wasn't as scared to try  new things as I was not to experience something/anything. I am going to start checking things off my mental list. One of the first things I am going to do is reach out to artistic people I admire and try to collaborate or challenge/inspire one another. Every time I flip through True Colors I am overwhelmed by the beauty and creativity and it makes me want to MAKE something.  So now I am off to do something, make something get an idea or two out of my head just in case I don't make it until tomorrow 
Here's a few of the finished layouts. I  really need to take a few pics of my pretty pretty calendar

Speed

I know life isn't all about how many things you do, places you go, or people you meet but about the enjoyment you get from the little things. So why do I still beat myself up over how incredibly slow I am when I am making things. I am trying to finish my purse calendar for 2012 and I swore to myself I would keep it simple, quick and dirty and then on to the next project and it was all lies. My table is covered in 'must need' items and I am only 6 months in. Tonight I will hopefully finish and then my rant about stickers and rub-ons not having enough 1s and 2s to finish a calendar will be over and I can go back to the never enough Es.

It's time for me to embrace my slowness, celebrate the fact that a layout takes more than 3 hours for me, start to finish. I don't see how anyone does it faster when you factor in coloring and misting with drying and flattening time. Choosing fonts from stamps or Cricut and  having to hand cut when you can't die cut. Picking out papers and ribbons are the easy part! My sewing time is just as slow. Choosing a project, fabrics, the perfect coordinating fabrics and embellishments and the right play-list project. I find old school rap works better for purses and R&B with light pop when working without a pattern. You get the picture. I am just slow and way more high maintenance than I ever imagined myself to be. The up-side is my high expectations only apply to me.

I hate to be rushed, I like taking my time. I truly enjoy the process and since I am being honest with myself the chance of me speeding up just to clear my project checklist is as likely as me giving up Prince (never ever gonna happen). The clutter in my world stays it represents "the next thing". My hands work slower than my  brain, I pray my hands don't speed up and my brain never slows down.

HAPPY 2012

Happy New Years!!! Every year I make a list of things I want to do and plan to do then watch them be ignored, derailed or simply forgotten because life comes in and takes over. Not this year, all I want to do in 2012 is not repeat the mistakes and unhappiness of the years before. I want this year to be different and the only ways to make that happen is to avoid old patterns, go left where I usually go right. Here’s my 1^st left…

  Why Taylor Made? In all honesty it’s my back-up and because this blog will not be typical Gwen-isms on life, relationships (not including my daughter), past pains, family or love I needed a name that would encompass every topic that might come up under the umbrella of creating, motherhood, and W.i.P. Gwen.  If the other blog ever comes to fruition it will be called Pen-Gwen Droppings, which is very fitting, LOL. Taylor Made, however, will be different, I am Gwendolyn Taylor and I love making things, scrapbooks, journals, cards, collages, ATCs, canvases. I am trying to learn how to sew so I am making purses, aprons, hats, skirts, etc. I have a knitting kit sitting waiting on me to start making stuff or at least wasting lots of yarn. And then there’s the most amazing, beautiful, frustrating, uncontrollable creation I have made-to-date, my Renee. I would be lying if I said she would never be a topic when she is the inspiration for a lot of what I do and the reason I often seek peace at my little table. Through all of my crafting and creating and raising Renee I am working on me. I realize I am the most important flawed piece of canvas I have ever attempted to work on, I can’t wait to see how I turn out :)  What I am even more excited about is becoming a part of the “scrap world” again and sharing my layouts, tips and techniques (the failures and success stories). I realized that I have spent the past 8 years slowly withdrawing from the outside world and I really want and need to step out of the door again.  Welcome to my world