creating....in stages

i've been working on this project for chrissie grace, and am all too aware of how taking an idea from your head to the finished project definitely goes in certain stages. for example, when i received these fabrics from chrissie, i left them out for inspiration, and then when an idea came to me, i sketched it out.

then, with my sketch in mind, i started to lay out the fabrics to see which ideas would work....and which ideas wouldn't work (and keeping fingers crossed that there would be more ideas that work, than don't work...yikes!).

then comes the cutting stage.....this is the one that makes me nervous. i have a certain amount of fabric to work with....if i mess it up, i'm toast. i've vacuumed the floor, done the dishes, eaten three snacks, checked the mailbox, took my dog outside, and swept the back porch, all as a means of "cutting procrastination". i even called my "think-outside-the-box-she's-an-artistic-genius-art-therapist-cheerleading-best-buddy" martha for a pep talk. of course, we ended up talking about lots of things unrelated to the "cutting procrastination" (which is part of the whole procrastination process), but in the end, her advice was simple, sweet and effective: "say a prayer and pick up the scissors". and that's exactly what i did. i'm loving my little pile of cut scraps....and very much looking forward to the next stage....the one where the plan starts coming together....fingers and toes crossed during this stage!