Inspiration

As a stay-at-home mom, I need inspiration for creativity.  Without the constant, everyday interactions with other adults and the outside world that comes from a typical job, I need other sources to keep motivated for my job.  I found one fun source of motivation at the store I mentioned in the previous post (Magical Scraps -- see previous for website).

With the extra riggers of caring for two kids, I was getting to the point of drudgery with my work -- not getting to express my own self and creativity, because I expended all my energy on the maintenance of the household.  Just a bit of inspiration helped me to give my brain and my heart a little needed exercise.

So, it started with a trip to Magical Scraps in Breckenridge.  I oowed and awed over all the adorable kids' and women's clothing items they had.  The Magical Scraps creativity begins by taking a typical t-shirt or dress and adorning it with a beautiful, eclectic array of "scrap" fabrics.  Due to the handmade nature of the products, the prices were such that I could not afford to buy out their girls' section, as I wished I could.  But we did splurge on one clearance dress for Adrianna.

When Scott and I unpacked on Monday night, after we arrived home from our trip, I told him how I admired the Magical Scraps products.  I told him, if I had the skills, I would love to make my kids' wardrobes adorned with such creativity.  And the idea stewed in my head... And then I thought about the T-shirt that Adrianna found at Walmart, and bought with her allowance money for $1.00 -- the one that she had the intention of decorating with fabric paint.  I contemplated it all night, beginning to get ideas for the fabrics and shapes that could go on it...  Oooh, that's where a mind gets out of the doldrums of household work and into the realms of creativity.  Just thinking about the possibilities made me instantly more alert.

The next morning, I pulled out the new shirt, laid it out on the bed, and painted word pictures for Adrianna.  I gave her the option to paint it, as she had planned, or to help me design a fabric pattern to attach to it.  To my delight, she choose the latter.  I gave her a few ideas of shapes that could be applied, and she chose a flower. Later on, I pulled out my fabric boxes, and let her choose (okay, so I guided her on what fabrics would match or clash) the fabrics to sew on.

After tracing petal shapes, I let Adrianna cut them out herself.  The poor girl had to deal with me hanging over her shoulder, tensely admonishing, "Stay on the line!  Oh wait, not that way!"  Thankfully, it worked out that her rest time called her away from completing the cutting.  And during her rest time, the idea dawned on me that she could cut while she was resting.  At no surprise, the sweet girl cut the remaining petals alone beautifully -- and probably much more to her enjoyment.

In the midst of cooking, laundry, playgroup, dishes, and bedtime, I worked, sewing Adrianna's petals onto her new shirt.  Admittedly, I am not an expert seamstress (my seams never seam to be even!).  I had to restitch at least four of the petals.  But by 8:15 last night, I had a product that Adrianna and I completed together in one day.  A product that gave excitement to a stay-at-home mom's week, and sparked the dormant creativity that needed to come alive for a little while.