When the Creative Muse Strikes…

I completely missed writing a blog post last week. I didn’t even realize it until late in the afternoon on Monday. And I could have written one then, but… my creative muse had taken over my life.

I get creative inspirations a lot. I don’t often have the resources to make them happen in the moment. (And the biggest resource I choose to conserve is time.) So I let them pass. Maybe I will remember some time in the future, maybe not.

Last summer, at Vancouver Pagan Pride, I fell in love with a recycled sweater coat. It was super cozy and fun. And I didn’t have the financial resources then to purchase it. But I decided I could make one. I have a serger, and I know how to use it. I’d just have to collect the sweaters necessary.

That was my plan for the winter – collect sweaters. It didn’t really happen. I got a few. And then I found out you need about 12-20 sweaters. Ha! Onto the back burner for THAT project.

Then, at Spring Mysteries, a friend of mine had one that she made. Fire re-kindled! Suddenly that back-burner project was on the front burner.

I managed to get to the thrift store and find more sweaters. I had a day off coming up, and nothing else planned (I can do homework any time, right?). I even purchased the tutorial from Katwise, the original creator. Game on.

I realized a couple of days before my day off that I *almost* had enough sweaters to make two coats, and that some of the sweaters I had didn’t really go together (purple and brown… I’ll pass, thanks). So, since we needed to go get groceries that day anyway, I’d just stop at the thrift store and pick up a couple more.

Between groceries, and the thrift store, and then needing to wash the new sweaters (and a walk on the beach with my sweetie while the laundry processed – it was a beautiful day!), I didn’t get started on my project as early as I would have liked. So it carried on to the next day. And then I made a mistake – thought I had more of one fabric than I did – and it carried on to the next day. Those next days weren’t as open on the schedule as the first day, so I still didn’t get finished.

And then I had to go back to work.

Long story short, there was a pile of sweater bits on my dining room table for a week, along with a half finished sweater coat. And I couldn’t really think of anything else – I just wanted to work on the sweater coat.

No homework got done. To my credit, I didn’t call in sick to work (it was awfully tempting, let me tell you). And exactly 7 days after starting, I finished.

It’s beautiful, and I absolutely love it. My creative muse took over my life, and we made art. Beautiful, cozy, wearable art. And now she can go hibernate again for a while so I can catch up on all the other work I put off while I was obsessed. I mean, creating. The second sweater coat can wait.

When the creative muse strikes, all you can do is give in and create. Have you ever felt obsessed with the urge to create something? Did you make a masterpiece?

Blessings,

Mary