Behind the Scenes: Crazy Crafty Christmas Countdown

I decided to do the Crazy Crafty Christmas Countdown (C4) because I have been living in a crafty dry spell for a very long time. I mean I craft, but not creative, get-in-the-zone, take-time-to-do-what-you-love kind of crafting. Doing this C4 series challenged me to craft, like, ALL THE TIME.
I HAD to craft. I promised you oodles of fantastic crafty things. (Twenty-seven projects worth!) And I couldn't let you down.
I also love Christmas. And making gifts has always been my favorite thing. I wanted you all to be inspired to make things too. So I concocted this crafty series for you.

What I didn't expect would happen is getting to travel on an amazing creative journey. I know everyone's creative process is different. But I thought, just for fun, I'd give you a peek into mine.

I started out having a head full of crafts that I wanted to make. That was the easy part. Lots of stuff was already up there in my noggin. I crafted, photographed, edited photos, blogged, & scheduled the first 10 projects. A lot of time went into each one of those posts you saw every morning.
A WHOLE STINKIN' LOT OF TIME.
But a cool thing transpired: One project inspired another, & another, & another. It became a whole ricochet of inventive productivity. It was so cool to be in the middle of the magic!

But then we moved. 

In the middle of all this craziness. 

ACK! 

Luckily, those 10 scheduled posts saved me. I had JUST enough time to pack & relocate & get a wee bit settled (not really). All the while the scheduled C4 posts went live each day on the blog. I had to quickly get back in the Crazy Crafty mode though.

It doesn't help me to FORCE creativity. Just sitting there, hoping a super deluxe concept would fall into my lap, doesn't work. So I decided to be proactive: I made lists. (I love lists.)

And my lists looked like this...

One column had a list of projects I wanted to make. Just general ideas like:

a garland

gift tags

food/dessert
gift wrap

Another column included a list of items I had in my crafty stash that I wanted to try to incorporate into a project:

contact paper

wooden spools

canning jar lids

champagne corks

oatmeal boxes

bubble gum capsules

clear vinyl

And a third column listed tools/devices I had that I wanted to use in the crafty process:

wood burning tool

computer scanner/printer

sewing machine

I often grabbed a cuppa tea, put on some music or a movie, & dumped all these items from my lists onto the floor in front of me. And then I would  stare. And touch. And squinch my eyes half shut, trying to picture it into something magnificent. And sometimes this worked.

I felt like an inventor.

And then I realized my lists were almost like those school classwork assignments I remember getting as a kid, where you draw a line from one item in the left column that related to an item in the right column. (Whether it was a math problem, or matching a word to its definition, etc.)

For example: Wood spools + a wood burning tool = DUH!

The creative mess was always constant. In the morning I'd take over the dining table. Ok, I took over the dining ROOM. And then every night I'd shove the mess in a corner so we could all eat. And then I'd start again the next day, setting up my crafty supplies until dinner. I am grateful for my patient family who put up with the consistent whirlwind of disarray & clutter.

The deadline of each morning's crafty post DID require me to have to come up with new projects every day. And though I did panic at times, I always knew that something would eventually come together. And it always did. I just waited. And trusted the process.
I loved living in a perpetually creative world this last month. My mind was always tinkering with the most recently contrived design skipping about in my brain.
My goal was to bring you original ideas. I am so proud of the results. (And I am also lucky to have two creative little girls who helped with a couple ideas as well.)

My crafty passion was fed in a big way. And I thank you for all your kind emails & messages & comments. I loved hearing how many of you couldn't wait to open your inbox every day, to see the latest project in the Crazy Crafty Christmas Countdown. Some of your notes even made me teary-eyed! (Aw, shucks.)
Thanks for visiting & pinning & sharing & tweeting & commenting!

Doing this crafty countdown got me all excited for the coming new year, & making time for the things I'm passionate about. As is evidenced by this recent crafty endeavor: when I actually made time for the things I love doing, I got to go on a fun creative adventure!
♥