Happy New Year 2013

Happy New Year! Somehow it's 4 January already, so I should probably get started with my project.

2013 is the year when I am going to try to make something at least once a fortnight, and blog about it. I've always loved making things (or at least trying to). However, having a small daughter who is an agent of Chaos, albeit a very beautiful one, makes finding the time difficult. Now that she is getting a little older, I'm going to have a go at putting the Chaos aside for a little while and making more time for Creation.

I have set myself three rules for my tasks:

1) I'm not going to spend more than £10 per task at the very most, if possible. I'm going to re-use things I have already, or second hand items, wherever I can, and preferably spend a few pence or nothing at all. The tasks might be big (like my first one, which will be making a mini sewing room) or really small (mending something, or drawing). My project is about the journey of creation, as much as the destination.

2) The thing I make can be edible or inedible - so sewing, knitting, crocheting and cooking are all in. The two categories may well overlap if my previous form for cooking is anything to go by :-).

3) I will blog about the end result even if it is a work in progress, not quite finished or even a total disaster.

There are a couple of reasons why I want to try to include more creatives activities in my life. Making stuff is active, not passive. I enjoy it, and can teach my daughter about how fun making things and using your imagination can be.

Perhaps most importantly for me, I find it hugely relaxing, and having an impressive end product is not necessarily the point of the activity itself. I'm a great fan of Oriental philosophy and its key idea that, when you're doing something, you should do just that one thing and nothing else. When you're making something - sewing a straight line, or knitting a row of stitches - you have to focus and just do that one thing. It's not often that we get a chance to do that in today's world, but I feel as though I need a bit more of that simplicity and peace in my busy life as a working mum. Sitting in front of the TV and surfing the net at the same time is starting to fry my synapses.

I have learned some very basic knitting and sewing from books or tutorials on YouTube. I didn't really start cooking until about 18 months ago and put it this way, I'm still at the stage where making decent chucky eggs without getting us all salmonella or burning the pan dry is a genuine achievement. So this blog is not about showcasing any incredible skills or emoting about the joys of slaving over a hot stove.

I'm just hoping to spend a year learning some new skills (including writing), polishing some old ones and making things that will be useful or beautiful. Or possibly neither - but hopefully I'll at least have enjoyed trying and you will have enjoyed reading about it.

My first endeavour starts tomorrow - update to follow next week!