HaikuCat Creations

 I have been way too in my head about my creativity lately. Worrying about how much I'm not making, how much I'm not posting, how I'm losing steam on some of my projects and not keeping up with them, berating myself for feeling like I don't have time when I clearly have time if I'm doomscrolling, etc., etc., etc., and so on and so forth. Meanwhile, my creativity just keeps trying to poke her head in to say, "It was only ever supposed to be fun. It was only ever supposed to be playing." This is a thing I know, but sometimes completely unrelated life stuff can cause my brain to spiral about my creativity, which is supposed to be a place of refuge, a place of calm. So, I was sitting at my desk looking at some long neglected embroidery projects and decided to actually listen to that little voice and just... picked one up and did some work on it. And that felt like a nice, deep, centering breath. So, that's what I'll show you today. Me, tentatively find...

 Hello, It is Tuesday. Which is two days later than Sunday, which is two days later than the day that I had established as my "blogging day" for each week. I always aim to not be too rigid with the rules I make for myself when I create goals or challenges. Because I know that sometimes the enthusiasm I had at the beginning of something isn't necessarily always sustainable. I like to give myself permission to quit a thing when it's not bringing me joy anymore and I don't like to muddy that up with feelings of shame or guilt. Which is not to say those feelings are completely absent in these situations--I'm just trying not to let them become dominant. Also, I know that giving up entirely on a challenge when I stumble is counterproductive when I could just pick myself off, dust myself off, and keep going. It takes a little bit of introspection to know whether letting go or carrying on is the thing. That's kind of where I'm at, which is probably not unusual...

 I'm not sure where my mind's at right now, but I'm trying to show up for this little blogging challenge I've created for myself anyway. Two days later than normal again, but I never make my own rules hard and fast, so I'm letting that part go. Again. I have a bunch of potential topics for these blog posts in my notes app on my phone, but right now nothing feels appropriate and nothing is calling out to me. I feel like this post is going to be another that's got a phoning-it-in vibe. Oh well. I think part of the problem at this moment is a frustration with schoolwork taking up so much of my brain space, energy, and time. I don't always feel that way, but right now I do. I've got stuff due tonight and even if the actual work of it is only going to take an hour or two, it still crowds everything else out of my brain.  To top it off, I have nothing to show for my weekly creation. I do have a photo to share for Ordinary Beauty. Goose + Tree I just really lo...

 My blog post is coming in late this week because I got behind in my schoolwork and needed to play catch-up on Friday (when I usually blog) and yesterday. Going to keep it simple today. I'm still working on clarifying exactly what it is I want with regards to the Ordinary Beauty project. This past week, here are the photos I came up with: I like this because it's objects reduced to shapes and colors. I edited it as I usually do for my photos, cropping to frame it how I want, increasing warmth, and increasing saturation. I don't fully love it though. Partly because I didn't get the focus on the lamp post very sharp an partly because I'd like it to fill slightly more of the frame. I do really like the way the blue, the green, and the orange look together. Here is my runner-up: This is a "nicer" picture, I think, and it still does fit my criteria of what I'm going for, as it's a more up-close look at a plant than one might normally go for and I like t...

 I have been finding that in the doing of my Ordinary Beauty project, I am further clarifying for myself exactly what I mean to be doing. It's an interesting thing to me because when I set out this challenge for myself I thought I had a pretty good handle on what I meant. But, in the doing of it, I am discovering that sometimes my results are less than satisfying. I look at what I've got and I say to myself, "This isn't what I want." Take, for example, my results from week 5, which was the week of 1/29-2/4. I typically share what I feel is my best photo for this project, along with a runner-up if there is one, or at least that's how it's evolved over this first month of the project. But, this week's best photo left me feeling disappointed. Unicorn & Horse These are some statues in the corner of someone's yard. I think they represent ordinary beauty because I see them all the time, because they are kind of a little joke (they live on the corner ...

 I've been interested in block printing for a little over a year now, though I did have some experience with carving stamps for letterboxing when my kids were younger. I realized recently though that I wasn't experimenting or playing around with it much. The last time I carved a block was about half a year ago.  It occurred to me that maybe one of the reasons I wasn't practicing and playing around with this artform was that I was intimidated by the inking process. I have and have used water soluble block printing ink to make prints. It comes in a tube and has the consistency of acrylic paint. I find it difficult to get the ink on the block in just the right manner. I tend to either have too much or too little. Or, maybe I apply too much or too little pressure when I'm placing the paper to the block or the block to the paper. Of course it's something that requires practice to finesse and get a good feel for, but it seems like the frustrations surrounding my lack of e...