April 4th is my birthday, and I'll be 52 years old this year!  I've always been a big fan of my birthday, and as I've gotten older, I consider it a time to celebrate life and all the goodness it holds-- the relationships with friends and family that I cherish, my health, the beauty of nature, the opportunities and privileges I have to create and to play!

A couple of years ago, I gave myself a creative challenge (rather, I gave myself permission to be creative) for 30 days during April.  This was my gift to myself, and it resulted in a great broadening of my creativity.  I found through this experience that I really enjoy creating smaller collages.  During this time, I created some of my favorite pieces... the crab (which later became part of the Octopus Garden quilt)...

and the frog and beetles (which later became part of the Wee Green Beasties quilt)...

 

I've decided that it's time to give myself this same challenge!  Each day of April 2024, I plan to give myself at least ONE hour to be creative in any medium.  I want to do some water colors, some textile collage, some quilt blocks, and some digital design work!  

I find that as my little business has grown, it has become increasingly difficult to carve out time to create.  I have become bogged down in managing my employees, helping them to deal with customer service issues, figure out the best method for all the systems involved in operations (cutting, packaging, shipping, managing inventory, etc.)  While I love being a business woman, I realize that for the sake of my mental health and for the growth of Collage Quilter, I need to make it a priority to create! 

Since we have a new office space, I think it will be easier for me to have the quiet, uninterrupted time I require to let my brain focus and achieve flow in a creative pursuit.  I won't need to worry about having people in my creative space, since we've moved all the inventory and fabric to the new office. 

So, I'm off to create!  Wish me luck!  I'll be sharing my progress with you daily!

Monday: April 1st, a couple quilt blocks from my Longwood fabric collection...

April 2nd: work on a new fabric collection...