I’m so torn! I love this book and do not want to give it away to some worthy stranger on the internet! I will, I will, worry not!
The name of this book is Crafty Chica’s Guide to Artful Sewing
– Fabu-Low-Sew Projects for the Everyday Crafter. and here is an excerpt from the front flap,
“she’ll show you how to harness the power of her fearless kamikaze sewing style – just dive in and give it 100 percent. Here you’ll not only find out the nuts and bolts of sewing, but learn to have the confidence to blaze your own sewing trail with confidence and flair.”
I’ve met Kathy Cano-Murillo at the Maker Faire in San Mateo and Austin and she is SO NICE, she glows with fun and confidence and that woman LOVES to craft. All of that really comes out in her book, she has a magic of transfering those qualities to the people around her and you just can’t help yourself from smearing glitter all over the place.
I think a lot of people, including myself, sometimes get paralyzed by many things, getting started, finishing, cutting into that beautiful new fabric, I’m not sure if I know HOW to do this thing, oh noes! what if this ends up sucking! OR WHATEVER.
Over and over again in this book Kathy gives you permission to try new things and create and to be fearless. You do not have to be worried that your seams are straight or that your threads match or that you don’t have the most expensive material for the projects in this book, the Crafty Chica will inspire you with so many projects that you won’t be able to stop.
That said, I’m totally going to do some of these projects before I send this out to the winner and then I am pre-ordering it from Amazon for myself. 😛
TO ENTER THE CONTEST!
Leave a comment on this post about a time the thing that most often stops you from creating and how you conquer it.
I will randomly choose an publish the winner on Feb. 24th 2009.
GO!
Fear of the unknown is my downfall. I constantly urge myself to try new things. My confidence is growing and I am slowly discovering I can do anything!
oh it looks fab!
Working from home is great and sucks at the same time. Rather than create, I see the floors that need mopped, laundry that needs done, etc…I end up doing more housework than creative work. I’ve started making myself do chores late at night, so that when I wake up in the am-the floors are clean, the laundry done, and dishes in the dishwasher. That helps ALOT!
I get all of my project supplies together and then I freeze. I think I panic about the whole diving in and starting. Sometimes taking a class on a new technique will get me past being a scaredy-cat.
I had terrible luck with sewing on machines in high school, but wanted to give it a go again. When my boyfriend gave me my fabulous new Janome I didn’t touch it for three weeks. I was so worried I would hurt the machine that I spent a tone of time reading the manual, sewing books, and blogs.
Finally, the boyfriend took my manual out of my hands and said “just sew”. That day I made three tote bags and I have sewn every day off from work.
Now, when I want to try something new and I catch myself going over every net tutorial I can find, I push myself away from the keyboard and tell myself “just sew”.
I usually get intimidated. I think the project will be too hard, or that I will mess up. So I dont evan attempt. I am grateful i have some crafty people in my life to tell my how wonderful I am doing and push me to try new things, and to inspire me. Next project up- my first mini quilt! Eep!
This book totally sounds like me! My biggest obstacle is my thriftiness — I never want to pay for fabric or patterns….so I make bags out of jeans, drapes out of upholstery remnants, and dresses out of old sheets (no pattern, just trying it on about a 100 times during the process). My girlfriends tease me because every project I claim I am just “winging it!”
My family is what stops me from crafting but I have worked at lowering their exceptions of me …sure some mothers kept a tidy home, some wives lavish attention on their husbands…
I craft
My family survive in a home that looks like a bombsite decorated with craft supplies and live off stir-frys and rice
I _craft_
Book look fantastic! What stops me – ugh, the kids, late night tv, blogging, twitter LOL! Onc I have all the materials I am good to go, but not having one thing, which means a trip to the store to find the perfect remnant always stops me in my tracks.
I get in the way of my crafting by distracting myself with other things, internet especially. And a busy household with work and spouse and kids…
ok, this isn’t actually about how i overcome my fear and craft anyhow, it’s about why i don’t so much.
i just can’t help feeling like it has to be perfect. i know, not rare. but first i start thinking about how if i mess it up i can just throw it out, but that would be WASTEFULL! then i start thinking of ‘what would i do with 100 pieces of pottery?’ and then i think i’d give them to someone… who? parents! oh, but then even if they suck they’ll put them out somewhere — and TELL people, like that lopsided fat man pottery thing i made in 7th grade — which was on the glass shelves by the stairs until 2002, because that’s when they moved! ugh!
so, that’s why i dropped out of pottery in college.
My craft desk is usually so cluttered with other stuff: works in progress, magazines, mail, etc. Clearing off the desk becomes enough of a chore that I often put off starting. Maybe the messy desk is just a convenient excuse for my aversion to starting in the first place. 🙂
…my sister kicks my into gear. she is “craftier” than me she been sewing longer and she the one i turn to for advise and instruction and a good swift kick! lol!
thanks,
The thing that gets in my way the most is myself! No more excuses…no time, no place, no supplies, etc. Who has helped me the most is the Crafty Chica! I read her blog about making empanada pin cushions backstage while her husband played in his band. With terrible lighting and all her supplies being portable she crafted an awesome idea. So…I have become a portable eco-crafter! The eco is me being “budget conscience”, aka broke! I use what I have, find, repurpose, “borrow” from the kids, etc. No more excuses! oh…and I have plastic ziploc bags, tote bags and backpacks with various projects to pick up and go at anytime.
Time. Having a toddler and being a business owner, when I do find free time, I have to fight wanting to crash on the couch with a book. To overcome this, I just think about the finished product and that usually is a motivator enough for me to get in that sewing room or pick up the knitting project.
I talk myself out of sewing because my craft room is so cluttered, and even more often, because I’m just afraid to start. I really need a push to get past this, and usually an upcoming holiday or event forces me to get it done. This book looks fantastic, and so motivational!
i try to use lack of room as an excuse thanks for the giveaway
My fear of failure, and an over zealous imagination stimmy me everytime! In my dreams, I can create and be the artist I know is inside of me, but when it comes to the nitty gritty of actually creating, I freeze!
my toddler regularly stops me from creating…she really loves to help! i try to get past this by working when she is sleeping or napping and sometimes taking crafty days where i send her to daycare or a playgroup and then work work work!
I tend to multitask, even on my creative side. I start a bunch of projects, but have a hard time seeing them to completion before starting another one. I combat this by making my craft space accessible to myhusband. It’s easier to finish a project when he’s asking when it will be done and encouraging me.
I get distracted by all things around the house I need to do. Then I think of new projects to start. I have a hard time finishing one. I’m still having trouble overcoming the problem.
Fear!
I know what I want to sew but worry it won’t be as acomplished as other craft activities I am more confident with.
To ge round it I am going to start small but keep thinking big!
I get creatively stifled by repetition. I will find myself making a thousand of the same exact thing for a bunch of other people which makes me feel that I’m a not even remotely unique and I throw my hands up in frustration vowing never to craft again. I get through those times by glaring at my sewing machine for a few days and then tearing up an old pair of jeans or a t-shirt to make something new and original only for myself.
I keep myself from ever starting by looking up too many directions. First I buy all the materials for my Thing, then I spend a jillion hours looking at all the ways someone else would do it besides me and madly bookmarking and randomly wandering off into a tangential land of other interesting ideas and bookmarking those until I get exhausted and overwhelmed and broke (mentally) and quit.
Mine is space: I dont’ have a space dedicated to crafting (except for the couch to sit on to knit) –the thought of pulling everything out for only a couple of hours and then having to put it all away again, is daunting.
My biggest barrier is clutter. By the time I have cleaned up to even find my supplies I am dog tired and don’t feel like creating much anymore. It bums me out and I don’t have a solution yet.
Thanks for the give away. I’m sure I’ll figure out a place to put it if I win! 🙂
I would say fear of failure is my biggest downfall. Actually, for craft projects I’m not just afraid of failing, I’m afraid of creating something that is less than perfect. As to how to overcome this I’m not really sure… I guess I just need to set my expectations lower on beginner projects.
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I’m definitely intimidated by lots of projects. Things always seem harder than they really are.
I also tend to think of a million things I want to do at once, then get frustrated and do nothing creative. It’s so hard to stay focused and not get overwhelmed!
1. Not making time 2. Wasting time when I do have it
I conquer these by doing projects on the move (eg knitting while I travel to and from work).
Or I pick the smallest aspect of a project as my target for an evening’s crafting – like only cutting out the fabric or doing hems. If I’m up for more after that, I carry on, and if not, I stop.
What stops me from being creative? I want to do everything. I want to see everything. I want to experience everything in life.
I want to be a student full time. A traveler full time. An artist full time. A fantastic cook full time. I want to be the best lover full time. I want to be 100% committed to everything I do. I want to submerge myself in every aspect of life. Sometimes I get sad when I realize that that’s not possible. When I find myself not doing things I like for weeks at a time because I’ve been so caught up in something else.
I stop and try to evenly distribute my love for life and being creative, in everything. I don’t see it as making time, because all I have in life IS time. I can’t make it, it’s always there. It just depends what you fill it with. Everyone is in control of that. If you love being crafty, then you have to learn how to associate that into your everyday life. You have to apply your creative self to everything, from making breakfast to a school or work presentation. Or else you’ll never be truly happy.
this books looks fabulous – definately need help in the ‘becoming fearless’ department. Only restricted by myself I know but a little nudge in the right direction never goes amiss! Lovin’ the crafty chica, she’s one inspiring lady!
What keeps me from creating? Nothing anymore! I used to by stymied by things that don’t really matter: cleaning house, paying bills, sleeping. But no longer! As Francesca (Meryl Streep) told her kids in a letter after she died in “Bridges of Madison County,” “do what you have to to be happy in this life!”
This book looks SO magnificent. I could sure use some sewing inspiration and hope I win!!
The thing that stops me the most from being crafty are my health disabilities. I have serveral. The way I conquer them are I craft in incriments. It may take me longer to get a project done, but I tend to be stubborn and independant when it comes to new challenges, and crafting with disabilities is definately a challenge.
~Heather~
too many ideas! I just think and sit a wonder what I should do first – crazy!
i am short on cash, have no sewing machine, and live with my parents 😛
its hard to come by supplies and and time to do all the things i want, but i have amazing friend sthat give me stacks of extra supplies i can use, and who needs sleep anyway?
Time, time, time. Not enough of it! And there are so many things I want to do!
How have I (partially) overcome this seemingly inssurmountable obstacle? Get involved with 4-H. As an Arts & Crafts Project leader, I MUST have at least one project ready to teach the kids each month. There’s nothing like deadlines to shift around time for doing what you want to – now HAVE TO – do.
My co-leader says I have at least as much fun doing the crafts at our monthly meetings as the kids.
I’m also involved with the Camping & Outdoor (nature) Project, Fashion Revue (sewing) Project, and Plant Science (gardening)Project, so I am FORCED to make time for some other hobbies, as well.
I seem to punish myself by not allowing myself to go into the craft room to do what I love until I get the “chores” handled by telling myself that the little blocks of time won’t be enough for what I want to do in there but I can handle a little bit of constructive “household activity” in that time allotment. I know myself well enough to know that I want to finish the project I start if I go in the door and the ideas just rush to meet me as I step into the supplies waiting ever so patiently for me. Oh how I adore the though of being retired and grabbing my coffee mug and heading for that room every morning! Right now it’s tough just to decide what I want to do first on weekends when there is time! What’s on top usually wins!
Going in a different direction here: I have a college-age daughter that would LOVE to put this yummy book into use!(Translate: I’d love to win it for her for Christmas). She already is a crafty chica & this would just nurture the talents she has. Thanks for the giveaway & peaceful holidays to all. 🙂