We spent the weekend away from our children. It has been about 10 years since we planned to spend time away from them with a purpose. The intensive child rearing years can be overwhelming. We got stuck in just planning to get them to adult age and had not planned beyond that horizon. The end of child rearing and the speedy approach of the empty nest is now only about 3-4 years away. So, it was more than time to spend time talking, dreaming, planning and thinking what we would do in the future. We visited the Oklahoma City Museum of Art and saw the Ansel Adams art exhibit and also the Dale Chihuly Glass exhibit.Â
We weren’t allowed to take photos in the Ansel Adams exhibit, so I don’t have anything to show you of the beauty he captured in his photographs.
I have been wanting to see the Chihuly Glass exhibit for years and years. It was incredible and the photos I took do not do his work justice. The blown glass is enormous and he created with bright colors. Imagine the bright colors of my crochet blankets only glowing. Each piece of glass appeared to glow from the inside.
This is a boat with giant  glass marbles. The colors were intense and bright. The same range as the colors in the photo below. This is a ceiling installation in a hallway. The colors in this photo are more true to life.
We also saw a wonderful exhibit of recycled items called http://www.okcmoa.com/see/exhibitions/come-on-down-by-lisa-hoke/
If only… one of the most over used phrases in the English language.
If only….then I would finish that project
If only…I could dance.
If only….I could get a job.
If only…I could travel
IF only….then this would be different
If only….then I could do this…
If only…this hadn’t happened then I could
If only….then my world would be different.
I hate to tell you but the words If Only don’t really have any bearing on where you are going, doing or being. So what? Who cares about the “if Onlies” in life? The words “IF” “ONLY” are really used as excuses. Change the beginning of the sentence and get some action out of them.
I have been feeling overwhelmed lately. There just seems to be too much on my plate and not enough time. I remembered this email that my husband had forwarded to me and decided to take a look. It is from Michael Hyatt. He has experience and common sense. This year I decided that I needed to streamline my business and then I plunged into the 100 items in 100 days Challenge. I have been blogging and stressing about things to do ever since.
Here is Michael’s article:Â http://michaelhyatt.com/086-what-to-do-when-you-feel-overwhelmed-podcast.html
1. Decide that you need to make a change!
I do need to change some things. My schedule needs to be flexible and work with the ebb and flow of this retail business and my family life. I tend to get into ruts and many times say “No” when it should be “yes”. I have some natural built in things that keep me honest about energy and time usage. I need to say “Yes” to change!
What can I cut out of my business or home life? What can I do to change up what I am doing? I am working on some new spins on old items in my shop and some new things altogether. Can I organize things within our family that will allow me to be better organized overall?
3. Automate
I need to automate some parts of my business so that I don’t have to make decisions about little time consuming details. I need to blog and create weeks or months in advance and then decide when I am going to release different  articles.
4. Delegate
I need to plan meals, cleaning and other activities that take me out of the house and away from studio productivity. My family helps all the time so delegating more to them is not possible.
5. Three high payoff activities
These three things save me the most time or pay me the most money for my time ; creating new items, writing crochet patterns, blogs and tutorials, planning everything from grocery lists and menus, to vacation days and business ideas.
6. Productivity Sinkholes
I know that these eat my productivity; leaving the house and studio disorganized, spending too much time on the internet or watching tv, not following through on a task, starting more than I can finish in one sitting when sewing, being afraid of success or failure.
I need to plan when to sit down and sew for extended periods of time. Schedule it in on my calendar. I have already scheduled basic household maintenance things like changing the heat pump filters. It is helping me to remember to do the small things that save money.
I’m not really ready for a paid virtual assistant but I can work on using all the tools available on the computer and phone to help me keep track of expenses and mileage.
I hope all this thinking helps out. I have the beginnings of a plan and now I need to implement it one step at a time.
I finished up these pot holders and coffee press cozies this week. The pot holders have two layers of batting in the middle to keep your hands nice and cool. There is coordinating fabric on the back that I pulled from my supplies and the front is quilted from fabric I had as well.
Here is # 92
#93
#94 and 95
They turned out really nice and I love the thick potholders. I also finished up these coffee cozies using the supplies I had on hand.
#96
#97
#98
#99
#100
There we go 100 items in 100 days! I am so excited about being finished. I have a bunch of new items on the horizon. I did use up a bunch of supplies and it did stretch my creativity. I had fun and finished up a bunch of projects quickly as I was motivated to be able to buy some new fabric! I still have about four projects that are unfinished that I have started during the challenge time and I may continue counting them toward the challenge. I did have to breakdown and buy some new supplies towards the end of the challenge. If I hadn’t started the challenge I would not have been ready for the opportunity that came my way at Java Dave’s! Â I have a ton of things cut out, ready and waiting for me to sew.
The post about being overwhelmed has encouraged me to write my to do list each week. Last year I kept a running list on my computer. I had several lists that kept  work in the front of my mind. I stopped using them after several  comments from my family about how busy it was and overwhelming. Productivity dropped through the floor. So  I will start the perpetual lists back up immediately. Here is my To Do list for this week.
Home and family
Scrapbook page for Home school yearbook.
Baby photo of Sr. for yearbook
Meal with son and daughter in law
Plan meals for week
Mail sr photos out to family
Get Commencement invites out
Organizing
Create shopping list
Clean bedroom
Clean out front flower bed and plant irises in back yard
Work on organizing files (pick one drawer to work on)
Chocolate Dog Studio
Finish pattern for baby blanket
Create  last 10  items for the 100 day challenge!
Complete Calendar planning for shop and home for rest of year.
The Challenge of creating 100 items in 100 days has lead me to some interest recycling projects. Here are some of my favorites. I may use these ideas for my challenge items as they look fun, easy and I already have ALL of the supplies.
I like to recycle when I am creating but I don’t want to have to collect 59 million candy wrappers or bread tabs or plastic bottles to be able to finish the project. I like it to be quick and to the point using  materials that I already have on hand. If I have to go out and buy something to create a recycled craft, I feel like it is defeating the purpose of recycling as a craft. I love the crafts listed on here as I can create them pretty much anytime as the supplies I already own.
The first of April is this week and we have been incredibly busy. IÂ put things on hold for awhile but I am ready to get back to the 100 items in 100 days challenge.
I have these projects started:
The blanket is almost finished. The quilt is almost half way done. The stars are still in progress and the bottom picture is only 1/8th of the way done!
It has been a busy week as we decide classes for our daughter, getting some last minute senior year  things done. I get photos taken today by our son and daughter in law. They are coming over to spend the day with us. We will send out Commencement announcements soon.
Just in case… you ever really wanted a Chocolate Dog Studio cup cozy or French Press cozy, but didn’t want to pay shipping. You can now buy one here in TULSA! I’m so excited. Chocolate Dog Studio cup sleeves are consigned for sale at the New Java Dave’s, at the Farm Shopping center.
I am SO procrastinating on the quilt I started at the beginning of the challenge. I am at the quilting part and it just takes time. I put it up every so often and work on things that finish up quickly. The pulling and pushing of the heavy quilt takes quite a toll on my arms and shoulders.Â
Here is a photo from the time spent basting it with needle and thread. I have moved on to quilting. I am pretty new to machine quilting so I am just quilting in stripes up and down the quilt. Here is the back view.Here is the front. I can’t wait to be finished. The binding is going to be beautiful. I will be making my own bias binding. Hopefully, I will remember to take a few photos of making the bias tape. I have been working on this quilt since the beginning of the challenge and I Â love how it is turning out.
