OCD…moi??

I’m beginning to worry a little (or a lot) that maybe I do have a bit of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). When I go into something, I just jump in and have to have to drown myself in it for awhile, then go onto the next thing. My craft room is beginning to bulge at the seams because of it! Yet I have umpteen dozen unfinished projects lying around here and there that I’ve lost interest in.

I started papercrafts by simply making a little mini-album for my mother, about eight years ago. It started life as a card, but grew into a mini-album. Then, following on logically, I got into scrapbooking. Yes, in those days, all my supplies were in a shoebox and one 12x12 plastic sleeve for my paper. Now, no telling how much cost is involved, it’s spilling off the shelves in my craft room: three ceiling-to-floor shelves, two tables, and umpteen cheap-o plastic drawer towers. I’ve got all the gadgets, tools, latest papers, books about cards and scrapbooks and (ahem) organizing craft rooms.

Then recently I also started sewing, specifically patchwork. [I’ve sewed since I was about 14 years old, so that’s not new, but when I moved to the UK, I had boxes and boxes of fabric (full yardages for clothing, not scraps) and patterns that I ended up giving to Goodwill Industries and the Salvation Army thrift shops (the U.S. versions of charity shops).] So now I’m starting over with collecting fabric for various sewing and patchwork projects, and had to go buy more storage for it. I’ve bought a dozen patchwork/sewing books and magazines, and even subscribed to one or two. If you want to read about that, you can go to my new sewing blog. I may someday combine this blog with that one, but for now they’re separate as I don’t know if many people who would look at one would also be interested in the other.

Okay, I decided to back up slightly and learn something new…. something small, something that wouldn’t take so much room. So at our last crop I started learning to knit. Just a couple needles and a few balls of yarn, right? Well, I found out I need another pair of needles as mine weren’t just right, and the yarn wasn’t right for a beginner, either, as it’s a twisty kind that is difficult to knit. Mmm…. but frankly, knitting may not be among my obsessions. I found it really slow and fiddly. Besides, how many knitted scarves can one have? I already have a closet full of ones I’ve bought. Anyway, my dear friends that I meet with once per month tried to teach me to knit at our last crop. Actually I think we’re all getting a bit antsy to break out into other crafting areas. One of us was doing beading:

A couple others were doing knitting:

One (bless her!) was attaching all my charms (collected over the last 15 years) to a charm bracelet. Maybe we’re all getting restless.

So, this week in frustration at feeling a bit “sucked in” with fabric purchases, I picked up a deck of cards and decided to teach myself some card games. A pack of cards fits into my handbag and goes anywhere, right? I started with Solitaire and found a video online (this lady is good!) that explained it perfectly, even the strategies. So for THREE DAYS solid I’ve been playing Solitaire….. my poor husband just shakes his head in disbelief! But finally, after all this time, I actually WON my first game and here’s the proof:

Yes, I know it’s supposed to lay out in order of the suits, but at this point, I’d used all my cards and was ecstatic. 

Oh, I’m not completely done with papercrafts…. oh, no. I finally joined the local W.I. (Women’s Institute) and have offered to do card making classes. Watch this space!!!