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Across the Fence:  How do you set aside "creative" time?  |
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wallflower
True Blue Farmgirl
101 Posts
Holly
East Walpole
MA
USA
101 Posts |
 Posted - Aug 28 2007 : 7:32:33 PM
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All you wonderful creative farmgirls out there. . .I have two school age children, and find it difficult to set aside time to "create." Do any of you have tips or ideas for creating time to work on whatever it is you love to create?
Holly 
visit my blog at http://handittoholly.blogspot.com |
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abbasgurl
True Blue Farmgirl
1262 Posts
Rhonda
USA
1262 Posts |
Posted - Aug 28 2007 : 9:13:18 PM
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Hi Holly,
I sometimes stay up until ungody hours of the morning to work on things when the house is quiet. I am a major night owl. As I get older it seems this becomes harder to do.
When I was considering opening my business, I decided that I would need to schedule a few hours each day to work in my little studio here at home. I knew nothing would get done if I left it to chance. So, school is finished by 1 pm, and then everyone here has free time until 4. At that time, I close the studio door, hang the "nobody gets in to see the wizard" sign & tell the boys not to bother me unless they are bleeding or on fire. My guys are 17 & 14, so 3 hours of time to do whatever they want is a treat for them as well.
Around 4, I emerge, start dinner & do whatever other things are needed around the house.
If your kids are in school (we have homeschool), the hours while they are out of the house would be a perfect time to be creative. It might help to have a list of projects you want to get to, and a basket or bin with the needed supplies all in one place. This way you are not searching for supplies when you have time to be creative. If the kids are home all day, be sure they help out with chores. This will give you some much needed time, plus chores are good for them in so many other ways. Then schedule free time for everyone. Kids need free time too! 
I am fortunate to also get blocks of time once a month when my guys go camping with their BSA troop. Dad goes too, so I have the house to myself. Very nice indeed.
A hand stitchery project can be done anytime. While you watch TV or movies with your family, while you wait for appointments...anywhere you have few few spare moments. I am not a very good "sitter", so I always have a project & a book wherever I go!
I hope that helps. I'm glad you asked this question...I'm interested to see how others do things as well!
Blessings,
Rhonda
I'm a one girl revolution. |
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Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - Aug 28 2007 : 10:54:18 PM
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About the only time I can manage crafting time is if the kids are in school and I have a day off (I sub at the elementary school and do ALOT of volunteering) and when I stay up very late at night..that I do alot! I rarely ever have the house to myself more than a couple hours at a time..and spend that time milking and doing garden chores mostly...haha. But..I know from experience (3 grown sons too) that the 4 I still have at home (ages 12, 11, 10 and 10) will grow up soon and I will miss having them with me so much..so I can't complain. I keep a project in the car all the time for when I have to wait somewhere, and right now it is soccer season..so I will get small projects done during the games.
Jenny in Utah
Inside me there is a skinny woman crying to get out...but I can usually shut her up with cookies
http://www.auntjennysworld.blogspot.com/ visit my little online shop at www.auntjenny.etsy.com |
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paradiseplantation
True Blue Farmgirl
1277 Posts
julie
social springs community
Louisiana
USA
1277 Posts |
Posted - Aug 29 2007 : 04:50:19 AM
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Rhonda, you and I think alike! I also have the 'Wizard' sign, and it also signified that you'd better be bleeding or dying before you opened my door! Even though we don't have kids at home anymore, there is so much work to be done on the farm that I could easily lose any creative time I need. It's really a matter of making yourself set aside some time. Do your children have 'down' time right before bed? Maybe that would be a good time. To me it sounds horrendous, but my Aunt Dot used to get up an hour earlier just to work on her cross-stitch or whatever other project she was working on, before leaving for work. Me? Me and mornings don't agree, so I'd rather stay up an hour later. I will say, when my kids were younger, it was hard to grab that little bit of time. I hope you're able to find your time, though.
from the hearts of paradise... |
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lisamarie508
True Blue Farmgirl
2648 Posts
Lisa
Idaho City
ID
USA
2648 Posts |
Posted - Aug 29 2007 : 06:04:20 AM
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My dh leaves for work at 5 or 5:30 in the summer. So I have a couple hours after getting him out the door to work on my stuff before I wake my daughter. Early in the summer and later (like now) it's not even light enough to see outside to do anything out there until 6:30 or 7. I love this time of the day. It's very quiet (except for my dogs wrestling each other) and I can get a lot done. I also work on things when we are all sitting down to watch a movie in the evening and if it requires a work surface, I just get out an old tv tray table. I have a hard time sitting still to watch a movie without doing something with my hands anyway.
In the winter, I have lots of time in the morning and evenings when it's too cold to do anything outside. Unless we get a lot of snow. But I do much more crafting in winter than in summer.
my blog: http://lisamariesbasketry.blogspot.com/
My Website:
http://www.freewebs.com/lisamariesbasketry/index.htm |
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Brew Crew
True Blue Farmgirl
676 Posts
Molly
Arizona
676 Posts |
Posted - Aug 29 2007 : 08:50:22 AM
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I usually try to cram in some creative things during my little ones's nap time. Also, they have a STRICT bed time (to preserve my sanity) and within about 5 minutes of shutting their bedroom door, I have a project or book in my hand. Some days, if I am feeling really brave, the kids get their own creative project to work on with me. Such as: If I am sewing, they get scrap fabric and safety scissors and make doll clothes or something, or if I am yarning they get the reject colors and the huge plastic crochet hooks. They LOVE participating and it only takes a little extra patience to stop and guide them though things every once and a while and then of course there's the clean up! But, well worth it if you have a project that needs many hours that can't be done in 10 minute incriments!
"There is a Happy Dale far, far away. . ." -Arsenic and Old Lace |
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KYgurlsrbest
True Blue Farmgirl
4853 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4853 Posts |
Posted - Aug 29 2007 : 09:07:53 AM
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I don't have children, but my mil told me that when my dh and sil were little, she made all their clothes, household linens and curtains, her clothes, costumes, etc...AND worked full time during the day. She said they had a strict bedtime, and even if they weren't sleeping they were in their beds. She cleaned up the kitchen from dinner and then went upstairs to her sewing room in the attic and sewed, sometimes until 2 am, because it was so freeing for her.
She said that if she didn't MAKE the time for herself, she never would and would grow resentful of her husband AND her children.
"She was built like a watch, a study in balance ... with a neck and head so refined, like a drawing by DaVinci"...
NY Newsday sportswriter Bill Nack describing filly, Ruffian. |
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Across the Fence: How do you set aside "creative" time? |
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How do you set aside "creative" time?
