My Name is Johanna and I am addicted to crafts

You are too?  Then you understand. 

Being addicted to crafts doesn't make my life unmanageable.  It makes my craft room unmanageable at times but it makes me so happy and makes me a better person.  I have long extolled the benefits of crafts and hobbies and how it HELPS people.  In our shop we all laugh and say that quilting is cheaper than therapy.  While it is not a substitute for a great therapist (highly suggest that you know one, if not 'just in case') it is such an amazing addition to sanity, stability and happiness. 

This is the latest project coming out of my craft room.  Judy Neimeyer's 4th of July.  Love it, don't you?  It will be the next donation quilt for the Gold Coast Quilters Guild, with tickets being sold for a chance to win it.  Thank heavens I had fellow guild members help with piecing the blocks together.  When I have a project with a deadline I am hesitant to work on anything else, even though I have new toys, projects and ideas piling up like a creative queue.  

The storm before the calm was pulling all of the foundation papers off of the back before it goes off to the long arm quilter.  What a mess (but it's a relaxing process.)

What now, you ask?  

This is a big birthday year for me and I set a goal for myself.  I want to expand my talents and abilities and become an art quilter/fiber artist.  There.  I put it out there.  I will find time for myself to explore new techniques and mediums.  I have signed up for a retreat this winter with teachers that I admire.  Look forward to sharing these adventures.  In the meantime My craft addiction is taking me outside of the quilting genre into paper and other mediums.  Have you seen the planner world lately?  I have always kept and carried planners.  Now there are groups, websites and products to embellish and journal in the planners.  I made my own leather travelers notebook.

Natural leather that I stained red and cut to fit the inserts I chose.  I am enjoying this new journal.  I have inserts for a calendar, to-do list and notes and ideas.  A necessity in my life.

What's NOT a necessity in my life?  This new 'toy'.

It's a loom!  A fancy loom that was given to me by a customer.  I took a weaving class a few years ago using a little portable loom made from PVC pipe and loved it.  When I was asked if I new anyone who wanted a loom I jumped at the chance to explore this fiber art further.  I had no idea how beautiful (and large) it would be.  It is going to be a project to learn how to use it.  Did I bite off more than I can chew with this?  Hmmmm.  In the meantime I will sweep up the paper, clean my craft room and start playing with something new today.  Anything new that is sparking your creativity?