Halloween is coming!

Here are some Halloween plate flowers that I made last year.  Need to dig them out and decorate soon!


And another:



The one in the garden I gave as a hostess gift at a Halloween party last year.  I just love those fake leaves with the Halloween plate flowers.  Too bad they fade.

Next week maybe I'll get out the eyeballs and make something else.

What are you doing for your 10 min?

Please report on your 10 minutes for today, (or yesterday if you like), by commenting here.  I will comment tonite or tomorrow when I've done something.

What "counts" toward my 10 minutes

The obvious answer is whatever I say does.  But I've been wondering if all this sewing to make a dress by the time I need it later this week really is in the spirit of my original plan.  I've decided that it is for 2 related reasons.  The first is that I was inspired to make it by the good time I had making my simple lined curtains for the living room which I began as a 10 each day project.  The second is that I am learning so much because it is such a complicated pattern which I made more so by my fabric choice.  I egg myself on with 10 minute promises.  I can make sample practice button holes for 10 minutes, for example.  .Without the 10 minute plan I think that in the unlikely event that I would try to do this, I very likely would have given up by now. 
So sewing again today!

More sewing for me. What are you up to?

Today I plan to sew more.  This 10 minutes routine convinced me that I know how, lol.  Just this morning I realized that since the sleeves are shear I should do french seams which I've never done before.  If I'm to finish the dress by Thursday it will take a lot more than 10 min a day.  Luckily the other thing that motivates me is short deadlines, lol.   Next week after the wedding  I'll be back to other projects, thank goodness. 

Today's plan

Its raining here so I'm released from fall outdoor chores and plan to sew, for at least 10 minutes. What are you doing?
I will also try to figure out how to have the comments show without being clicked on.

What did you do?

Inviting friends to post by commenting here! Later once I've done something, I'll also post in comments.

Concrete and sewing

Yesterday eve I scratched some lines into the mushroom stems that I made on Sunday. That only took a couple of minutes but was very satisfying. Maybe this weekend I'll make some caps to go with.
Sewing: What was I thinking to get plaid fabric for a dress pattern not recommended for plaids! I don't even like plaid. And my sewing skills are not that great. So this morning before work I basted up one side of the skirt to make sure that I really did match them ok. Seems to be fairly well matched. Phew.

Today: Sewing

Today I cut the skirt part of the pattern for a dress I am making. Its complicated because its buffalo plaid light weight taffeta with matching and had to cut in one layer. Tomorrow I plan to finish cutting the basic pieces.

Getting started with 10 minutes per day.

I decided a week or so ago that I had to spend at least 10 min per day furthering a creative project.
I had fallen into a funk. And I got an idea from another part of my life.
When I started saving money years ago I read a fantastic book called: "How to get what you want in life with the money you already have." In it you are instructed to carefully figure out how much you can save every month then ... (turn the page) cut that amount in half and that is what you commit to save! I usually saved more but I knew I only had to save the small amount and for some reason that was very freeing. And during a tough month, I knew I only had to save the small amount. Soo I tried it with my time commitment - Only 10 min. Since then I have completed sewing some new lined curtains for the living room (had the material for months) and broken and shaken 7 dishes for mosaic, made some concrete objects and started to make a new dress. The other part of the rule was that although in my case cooking and gardening don't count toward the 10 min, I give myself permission to feel very good about only doing 10 minutes particularly if I've done something big in one of those 2 areas.
I'm excited about projects again although still feeling a bit sad at times. Funny how our brains work. Taking the first step is so important.
I am starting this blog to write my daily progress and encourage my friends (and anyone else) in a similar quandry to post how they have spent their 10 minutes. I hope we can support and encourage and learn from eachother!