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All Work, Stress, & No Play

Hey Sweeties,

I know it’s been a while and as usual, when I hit a stretch like this, there is always something going on.

  • I haven’t put out a video since the Spring’s Bloom digital release.
  • I had to skip the events that have taken place for the last few months.
  • I went back to work.
  • I also got hurt/hurt back to back from December up until March.

I have yet to get out everything I’ve been planning. The biggest project I had going on has been delayed. I’ll talk more about that on Patreon. With that being said, I guess I’ll be shifting the focus and redistributing my time and energy….and of course I went back to work and that takes up most of my day.

At first, the big delay hurt my heart because I already waited for so long to get started… but delays happen for a reason. Never consider your delays as a negative setback or a permanent roadblock. It’s God’s way of saying that you need to make a turn or stop to work on some things before moving forward.

I think I’ve been so focused that I’m unfocused and someone in the group pointed that out today about themselves….well, she said something in that realm, and that’s how I applied it to myself. What she said cleared my clouded mind.

Now let’s talk about me getting hurt and/or sick. I don’t remember what order it went in but it was one thing after another.

  • I hurt my shoulder. I think it’s my rotators cuff. To this day, it’s still bothering me. That’s my dominant arm, I ice cakes, lift stuff, etc. And it’s still just ugh.
  • I got bit by a spider. That wasn’t too bad, it did itch alot and dried out my skin pretty bad on my foot. Still kind of nurturing that skin back to where it was. (Never thought I’d use that word again after the “Nuture”)
  • I hit my head while washing my hair. You know how you lean over the tub and put your head under the faucet? Well, that’s normal, but I cleared the faucet and hit the side of my head on the cabinet. I was a little out of it and that had me down for 2 or so weeks. Like a real brain rest.
  • Next, I started working…which is a good thing, but thats when my knee started bothering me, one of my toes blistered up, swelled up and peeled like crazy. By the way, my knee and toe are doing way better.
  • And last, but not least, I got this weird ass cold. It was sore throat and ears, lost my voice, congestion, and then this dry cough. If I smelled the wrong, it triggered a coughing fit. If I didn’t control my breathing…on comes a coughing fit.

None of this can explain the amount of sleep I lost for about 4 months. I pretty much ran on fumes everyday. But it does explain my absence.

This has been a wild ride, but I did lose weight. I wanted to lose 30 pounds, but instead stopped at about 20-25 pounds. This was the most effortless weight loss journey I ever been on. What was easy about it was I didn’t overthink what I was eating. I completely cut out sugar for 2 months though. My sugar came from fruit. I cereal every now and then. I may have even slipped up and bought a bag of gummy bears and twizzlers, but I didn’t overdo it.

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5 Things to Help You Become Better, Creatively

assorted color great board decor lot

Hey Sweeties,

Sometimes, it seems my blog has no direction, but it does. That’s ALL THINGS CREATIVE. I have cookies, cakes, and crafts. When you’re creative and have a head full of ideas, you get bored with doing the same things repeatedly.

In the same way, I wasn’t a crafter, I wasn’t a cake decorator or an artist, BUT I was always creative. Nothing ever stood in the way of my imagination and creativity. No one should stand in your way. So first, I learned to draw, then bake, I learned to decorate, and I soon learned to craft. I can take food and make paper or take paper and make food. Worded weird, but you catch my drift. There are many things I’ve seen that I like as a food or non-food and feel like I should bring them to the other side. And no, I’m not the only one out here doing this, but I’m the only me, doing it my way.

With that being said, this blog post will put you on the starting path of combining what you love and want to do and making it what you imagined. It doesn’t necessarily have to be baking and crafting. You can be a chef and a clothes designer. Here, I will use what I do and show you how to apply it to yourself.

Baking & Understanding It

Like anything else, baking is one of those things that some of us love but can’t do. Some of us don’t know how to boil water. It doesn’t have to be rocket science because it’s not. One thing I can tell you about baking is that everything matters. When I say everything, I mean eeeeeevrrrrythang!

The boring definition of baking is the process of cooking bread, cakes, etc. I define it as a form of cooking that requires you to be the most accurate, or what you’re making isn’t going to turn out right. It can be in adding the ingredients, the mixing, or it can be in the baking. The best thing to do is pay attention. If you’re reading a recipe to understand what you’re making, read it twice and look over it again. Don’t dive into it thinking you can throw stuff in the bowl and make a dessert. Yeah, there are one-bowl wonders, shortcuts, and substitutions, but before you think about a shortcut or substitution, learn the basics….that’s with anything.


Decorating Cakes & Cookies

I’ll show you my tips, tricks, and things I’ve learned from others on my cake and cookie decorating journey. For the non-bakers and non-crafters, you can apply this same thing to what you’re doing. It will take a bit of thinking outside the box, but you can make any “Technique With a Tweak” work when you’re getting creative.


Where Baking & Crafting Meet

Here is where it all comes together. For me, it’s where baking and crafting meet. (If you’re not baking and crafting) For you, it will be where your first love and your new love meet. Learn to merge the two and make them work together. You may not think this is important, but it will save you time and money when seeing how interchangeable tools are. It’s not all about shopping at a specific store or catching every sale (BangQuality)!


All-Around Crafting

My ideas are what they are, from the heart. When looking for inspiration, I can see forty different versions of the same thing but come out with something completely different. I’ll show you how to look for inspiration, make it for others, and not fall in the line of duplication; kids call it copycatting. Before anyone takes offense, there is nothing wrong with duplicating, but there is no growth or creativity in that. You want to be the creator, not the assembly line.


Brainstorming, Planning, & Getting It Done

You have the right the underthink and overthink everything, but doing too much of either can hurt your process. If you underthink something you want to create, you may not like the finished product. If you overthink it, you either don’t finish it because you’re overwhelmed or bored with it. There’s a reason people say “less is more” and “more is more.” I’m going to help you figure out if you’re a “less is more,” “more is more,” “balanced,” “chaotic,” or “moody” type creator. When you figure out what type of creator you are, we’ll go through brainstorming, planning, and getting it done.

  • We know brainstorming is when we generate ideas and put down things to figure out what we want to create.
  • Planning takes what we have and brings it all to one cohesive idea.
  • Getting it done is what it is.

Not to say we have to plan every little thing we do. We can wing it. Winging it is good when you want to get something off your chest, when you want to relax, and enjoy what you’re doing without thought. The only thought is to do it. Not saying you’re going to love it, but do it. Even our biggest, most well thought out plan doesn’t give us what we want at times. Don’t get discouraged.


Conclusion

I said all that above to say this. If you want to learn how to take your creativity to another level, not in one place but many places. Let’s see how far you take your imagination, not how far it can take you. So instead of letting your imagination lead the way, hold your imagination’s hand and walk by its side. You’ll never stop coming up with ideas, and you’ll never want to stop creating.

Over the next few posts, I will talk about each part mentioned above, how I apply it to my life of creativity, and show you how you can use it in yours. You’re gonna learn some crazy terms like “BangQuality” and “Technique with a Tweak.” There are a few things you’ll get used to as well, like “Learning How to Buy It.”

Join me for future posts, videos, and whatever else I have for this 5 Things to Help You Become Better, Creatively series. Make sure you subscribe to the blog and turn on your notifications. I’ll be posting once per week.

See Y’all Later!!

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Its been a minute, but I’m here…

Hey Sweeties,

I know is been a teeny stretch, but I’m still here. I have an update or two for y’all.

WBCM PICS Page

The PICS page has been updated for February. If you haven’t checked it out, be sure to head over and get your inspiration for the month. It’s all about love and togetherness…. Every day should be about that! Build on it and get creative.

Patreon

In the beginning, the only tiers that had access to full tutorials were the Silver and Gold Tiers. As of last night, the Bronze Tier will also have access to those tutorials.

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After the Holiday and into the New Year

Hey Sweeties,

I know I skipped the last two days on posting, but I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday or whatever you celebrate with family, friends, volunteering, etc. This holiday was a bit of a bumpy one, but I still enjoyed my family.

What’s Happening?

12 Days of Christmas…Girl you’re late!! I didn’t do the 12 days of Christmas cookies, but that doesn’t mean I won’t. I’m thinking about going live for those cookies, but we’ll see. I don’t want to plan for this, and life takes over again.

Happy Mail Giveaway and Mini-Games… This will be taking place within the Where Baking & Crafting Meet Facebook group.

December Daily… You’ll see those posts for the 25th, 26th, and 27th before the day is out. I had to enjoy that family time this weekend.

I have some thing fun coming up in January. I don’t want to announce it just yet or jinx it. Work may be a little crazy due to peak season. We’ll see.