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What to do when interest in a project fades....


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Hi all!  It's been a while since I've been on.  I've been lurking but since finishing my Gypsy wagon we've had three birthdays in the family including a 16th and an 18th, plus of course the driving test etc!  It's been a big month for my daughter especially!  However, last weekend she suggested that we go out to the craft cottage to tidy and sort.  I haven't used it lately apart from storage.  It was too hot this past summer so I did my wagon at the dining table inside instead.  Hence the cottage became a dumping ground.  But we made excellent progress on Sunday and I've pottered out there a couple of times since.  I'll finish tidying today.  I have a few 1:24 projects I could do - just little kits from China.  A coffee shop, a greenhouse and an underwater house which I'm going to do steampunk style.  However it's my Pierce that I really ought to work on and finish.  I intend to sand the outside completely back and re-do it - so it's very much a chore.  My family have been sitting beside my lounge chair next to the fishtank for most of this year - it was too hot for them out there, and I know they'd love to get back into the finished house.  In fact as we speak Norm is sitting there watching me, silently imploring me to complete his home!  It's just that I've lost motivation for it.  I have no real passion for it any more.  I'd prefer to get into my treehouse....which is semi-started from scratch.  How do you all stick to things until they're finished??  Do you make deals with yourself or is it simply because you're loving the project???  Would love some suggestions for how to become interested in my huge (why did I get such a bit house for my first 1:12??) house!!

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I must confess that I don't.  I have about four projects going on right now... and then there's the roofs that I never seem to finish getting the shingles on.  I'm  fortunate that I have enough space in my work area that I can have them all sitting out to work on when I get the urge.  I used to beat myself up over not finishing them, but then I realized that the only one I'm doing this for is me so it's more important that I'm enjoying myself than completing the project.

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I don't always finish everything - in fact, I sold the Sugarplum after only completing the interior and exterior - no decor, because I just wasn't excited about it any longer. My New Orleans is sitting about 1/3 finished, and I have two flower shop room boxes, interiors papered and decorated,  that have sat for over a year. This is supposed to be fun. Not a race and not a chore. Get rid of the guilt and just move on to something that does excite you. You can come back to the Pierce someday, or never. If never, there's probably someone out there that will be happy to buy it with a lot of the construction already done. For me, smaller projects that can be completed in 3 to 4 months is about all my interest and attention span can handle. I like many varied and short term projects to choose from. Remember, this is all about enjoyment!

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First, I’m not sure any of my houses are ever finished unless I sell them. I like to revisit projects and even make changes or additions later.

I have a lot of admiration for others who can start a single project and work on it exclusively to completion. I just don’t seem to be wired that way, and it’s not the way I work in Real Life either. 

So yep, I typically have several projects going at once, and sometimes I just lose interest part of the way through. After agonizing about it one day I realized that the ones I lost interest in where learning experiences, and sometimes they were really more about trying a new technique than finishing the project. I currently have two 1:12 houses unfinished that I have no plans to finish. I also have two 1:24 houses that are each mostly finished, but will get some attention at some point and will get finished because I plan to sell them. In the meantime, they are all carefully wrapped in plastic with their associated parts and on a shelf out of sight so that I can focus on the project or projects that make me excited to do this work. :) 

My advice is no guilt...no shame! Wrap that big boy in plastic or find it a home and put the family by the fish tank into some other temporary quarters, and dive into whatever project makes you feel creative and inspired! 

As KathieB says...it’s the journey, not the destination. Enjoy it! :D 

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Well since I'm working on the Pierce right now I can say I know how you feel . I do love the house and it's uniqueness. That said it is big and I have had to take many breaks . I made other things that didn't take to long the mermaid, I dressed all the dolls for the house also some real life house projects. . I actually started planning the next project which I'm still trying to make that decision. I have a hard time working on to many dollhouse projects.  Do you have a plan for the house or as Holly would put it has it told yo what it want's to be? I do know this after the Pierce is done it will be a real long time before I do anything that big again. 

I never understood room boxes but now I do. Quicker to the finish line I even have a lantern waiting in the wings to do in steampunk.  

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1 hour ago, Khadi said:

 I'm  fortunate that I have enough space in my work area that I can have them all sitting out to work on when I get the urge.  I used to beat myself up over not finishing them, but then I realized that the only one I'm doing this for is me so it's more important that I'm enjoying myself than completing the project.

My workspace isn't that big unfortunately - especially as the Pierce is so blooming huge!!  And that is a really good point you make - I am only doing these for me.....but I do feel a wee bit guilty for the family....

57 minutes ago, My Miniature Madness said:

For me, smaller projects that can be completed in 3 to 4 months is about all my interest and attention span can handle. I like many varied and short term projects to choose from. Remember, this is all about enjoyment!

Yep - that's something I have learned about myself.  The Gypsy wagon I LOVED doing - even the boring bits because most of it wasn't boring and it's so small that even those tedious bits didn't take long. 

23 minutes ago, Dalesq said:

First, I’m not sure any of my houses are ever finished unless I sell them. I like to revisit projects and even make changes or additions later.

I have a lot of admiration for others who can start a single project and work on it exclusively to completion. I just don’t seem to be wired that way, and it’s not the way I work in Real Life either. 

As KathieB says...it’s the journey, not the destination. Enjoy it! :D 

I'm so glad it's not just me!!  I also have huge admiration for those who can complete projects in one go!!  I'm a gemini and I do tend to lose interest pretty quickly.  The thing about miniatures that keeps me so enthused and intrigued is that there are so many different parts to it - woodworking, painting, soft furnishings, creating stuff out of stuff!  :D 

25 minutes ago, NellBell said:

Well since I'm working on the Pierce right now I can say I know how you feel . Do you have a plan for the house or as Holly would put it has it told yo what it want's to be? I do know this after the Pierce is done it will be a real long time before I do anything that big again. 

I never understood room boxes but now I do. Quicker to the finish line I even have a lantern waiting in the wings to do in steampunk.  

Thing is, the Pierce is almost complete.  All the interior is done, all the furnishings, electrical, roofing, windows, soft furnishings.  All I have left is the exterior - which I've really stuffed up and need to fix.  So doors in, decking down and the general exterior.  Then a tidy up of the rough edges and I'm pretty much done.  I've left what I considered the hardest and least interesting to the last.  Next time I'll get it done first!!  And I really do feel for the family.  I'm slowly psyching myself back into it! :D  I don't think I'll do another one this big again.  I do have a half built Chantilly there - I bought it as it is, but thankfully that's a relatively small cottage.  I wanted big which is why I tossed up between the Pierce and the Beacon Hill.  Now I'm ooing and ahhing over the little cottages like Mistledough cafe that Karin's doing!!

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28 minutes ago, Dalesq said:

I have a lot of admiration for others who can start a single project and work on it exclusively to completion.

I second what Deborah said!! Don't beat yourself up. My Laurel is sitting there being used as a cubby storage! I am about to wrap it and store it. I think it is great that you cleaned the clutter from your cottage. I find inspiration when I declutter, I find things that spark my imagination and my memory of why I bought it.  You are not alone in your guilt, but don't let it extinguish those creative flames!

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I’m loving working on a small cottage! Totally know what you mean and I have two GIANT houses in my workroom, part way done and currently being used as cubby holes. I put the Pierce outside under the rose bushes for the fairies. 

Just do what you feel motivated to do. 

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I have a formula you might say about any craft that I do  when I go stale. If  I make a mistake or create something I wish I had done different and I can re do it but am having difficulty motivating myself I leave it alone for some time, then when it starts to bother me  to  undo the parts I am happy with, get it back to the good point, then I stop and leave it alone again.  Later on this unfinished  but  ready to work on project will call me back and I can pick up again. If I try to make the fixing or repairing  part of the build I find it makes me go staler still. Doing it as two separate things works well for me.

Having said that I have 5 houses in various stages right now .

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I got away from the actual build on Brimble's, what with health issues and weather, but I have been making rugs for it and collecting other merchandise for it and planning store fixtures in my nice, cool house.  I only work on one thing at a time because otherwise I get confused as to what goes where.

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2 hours ago, Thimble Hall said:

I have a formula you might say about any craft that I do  when I go stale. If  I make a mistake or create something I wish I had done different and I can re do it but am having difficulty motivating myself I leave it alone for some time, then when it starts to bother me  to  undo the parts I am happy with, get it back to the good point, then I stop and leave it alone again.  Later on this unfinished  but  ready to work on project will call me back and I can pick up again. If I try to make the fixing or repairing  part of the build I find it makes me go staler still. Doing it as two separate things works well for me.

Having said that I have 5 houses in various stages right now .

Totally hear you on that, Jeannine. 

It's a hobby, and I want to enjoy it. Sometimes interest wanes, for any number of reasons. I do sometimes feel a bit guilty, but not really. If I try to force interest via guilt, it ends up backfiring, which means mistakes, and that can feed more demotivation. 

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It has taken more than a year to get back to working on the Beacon Hill. Of course there were all kinds of real life drama in that period. I just couldn't focus on construction but carried a low level of guilt for ignoring it. Now the urge to build has returned. Am looking forward to finishing the BH so I can move the Pierce/Bohemian Inn into the craft room and get going on that one, which I expect will be my magnum opus. 

And in doing a reorganization of the craft room the other day I found the punched-out wooden sheets from several projects that are crying to be made up into wall art constructions. I'm eager to get back to doing those, too. :) 

I suppose the moral of my story is simply to go with the flow.  Our lives have many facets, and both inside and outside factors influence what piques our interest at any given time. As Debora reiterated above ... it’s the journey, not the destination. Enjoy it! :D

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Well it certainly sounds like the majority of mini enthusiasts get to feeling like this at times!  Perhaps because we're all such creative people, when it comes to doing the less creative (and therefore fun) parts, we lose motivation.  I finished tidying up my craft cottage today.  It was such a gorgeous sunny day and the sun was streaming in while I was out there.  Now it's tidy again, I think that it'll help with the motivation.  I told myself, next time I come out here it will be to be creative!!  Thanks all!  I very much appreciate hearing from you all!

5 hours ago, Mid-life madness said:

 I find inspiration when I declutter, I find things that spark my imagination and my memory of why I bought it.  You are not alone in your guilt, but don't let it extinguish those creative flames!

You're absolutely right!  I found a heap that spark my imagination - unfortunately not so much for the Pierce!  :D 

 

3 hours ago, Thimble Hall said:

I have a formula you might say about any craft that I do  when I go stale. If  I make a mistake or create something I wish I had done different and I can re do it but am having difficulty motivating myself I leave it alone for some time, then when it starts to bother me  to  undo the parts I am happy with, get it back to the good point, then I stop and leave it alone again.  Later on this unfinished  but  ready to work on project will call me back and I can pick up again. If I try to make the fixing or repairing  part of the build I find it makes me go staler still. Doing it as two separate things works well for me.

Having said that I have 5 houses in various stages right now .

Thanks for that Jeannine - makes perfect sense.  I think I'll do that - fix the outside as in, get it back to a useable surface and then leave it until I feel inspired to work on it.

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It's been so long since I was able to work on anything. I can't wait to get back to doing projects again. I too got into a bit of a slump with the Casa. I think I just ended up doing so much experimenting with other things that not much work got done on the house and it just kind of languished unfinished for a long time. Then the move came up and everything went out the window.

I have to say, I really loved doing my small room box. I'm looking forward to getting my little Paris Cafe to work on before I dive into my Willow or my Glencroft. I think it will be good to have a successful project before moving on to something more difficult. I think those "wins" we get really motivate us.

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14 hours ago, SewMini said:

It's been so long since I was able to work on anything. I can't wait to get back to doing projects again. I too got into a bit of a slump with the Casa. I think I just ended up doing so much experimenting with other things that not much work got done on the house and it just kind of languished unfinished for a long time. Then the move came up and everything went out the window.

I have to say, I really loved doing my small room box. I'm looking forward to getting my little Paris Cafe to work on before I dive into my Willow or my Glencroft. I think it will be good to have a successful project before moving on to something more difficult. I think those "wins" we get really motivate us.

I really love your Casa!!  But you're right - the wins do motivate us to do more!  The success I had with my wagon made me realise that I can accomplish anything I set my mind to. :D Did you move country??

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Keith, Love the Judgmemtal Squirrel :) and am going to do what you did with it Kathie, it Will be a great motivator at Times.

as for when motivationfades for a project, been there done that more Times than I care to Think about. i can take the Chantilly as a great example though, When I got it and started collecting things for it initially I had this Idea it would be very Victorian, Dark stained furniture, forest/hunter green wallpaper along with valvet drapes etc. The Shell was all built and I had started the interior when we went in full stop and nothing really motivated me in putting the wallpaper up, I had all the needed stuff too in boxes as I had been collecting things for it fot a while too. So it got put in a corner for,literally years, until I ram Across this black corner bathtub and bought it just for fun. When it Arrived all of a Sudden I got these ideas for the Chantilly, light and airy, Scandinavian colourscheme and it rebooted the whole Love for the Chantilly build again. 

So, for me it was THE start of listening in to the kit and allow me to roll with it that sort of let the inspiration come back. Sometimes it takes me a little distraktion in making a certain little thing for something I want to try out to reastart the muse. 

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What Anna says is very true. I’ve started projects thinking I know exactly what I’ll need, where everything will go, etc and then I’ll begin the build and my ideas will start to change. I’m still learning to go with the flow, listen to the house (as Holly always says). Sometimes that means boxing it back up and letting it sit for awhile until inspiration strikes again. This frees me up to work on something else in the meantime. It’s another reason why I’ll have more than one project in the works at one time. :D 

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Love the Squirrel of Judgement!  We don't have squirrels here unfortunately - I remember watching them race around trees at our friends in Wisconsin!  Yep - agree Anna and Debora.  I spent $300 (yes, it's expensive here because we have to bring it in from the US or UK) on wood trim for my wagon and then didn't use any of it! :doh:

Pierce is now sitting out of they way in my now tidy craft cottage.  I think I might go out there now and get creative somehow....

 

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Okay - you've all convinced me!!!!!  :cucumber:  Instead of feeling pressured to get back to my Pierce I'm going to throw a sheet over it and look at ideas for my next project.  I'm going to go onto Pinterest now and either get enthused about my tree trunk house, or I'd love to come up with a new idea for the Chantilly.  I had always thought that I'd turn it into a little stone cottage that I could live in when I'm elderly and on my own!  :D  However that's kinda boring, so now I'm going to think about other ways of doing it.  So off to Pinterest, off to your albums to get some fresh ideas and enthusiasm!!

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That is great that you allow yourself to get recharged and get some New energy. I can fully understand the shipping adding Anne Dimensional the materials purchased as it is thesa,e feature having things shipped to Sweden, unless it is within the EU.  

For me I usually have more than one build on the shells are more or less put together and then it is the interior decorating that can take ages, but that is also due to a few differ ET things, one is that I have an image of how it wants to look and then I either have to figure out a way to make it so, to gather the materials for it, trial and error and then finish it and pursue the Next detail etc etc. OR I need to Hunt for that perfect  detail and that can take some time.. (can we say white based Chandelier for the music room), sheesh) 

in the Steampunk build,the hold up right Now is the seating/chairs as I sort ofknow how I want it to look, I just have to make that come together, then it is the the Wall shelfing end the pipes to master as well, but that is something that is like untangling a thread so to speak. 

The seaside cottagereally needs is base to get finalized so that is a little thing to get going, bit as i still haven't got that pictured in My mind, (got some rough sketches to start with but no get-it-Done-Will ....) 

and in between I threw in a "must build a hacienda" just because... 

meanwhile I use My sketch pads a LOT, as I have a few different ones, the one for the baker Street build (My beloved Emerson Row) where I collect ideas and plans where to get things from,

the ones with ideas for pet stuff, 

the one for the bus, aka but turned into a house on wheels, a bit on halt as we are going to see how it settles, I need to. Listen a little more to it I Think...

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Today I got sidetrqcked a little and endes up making this little "faux wrought iron" firewood thingy, perfect little something to get the creativity going.

I am mullig over a fabric choice as I do Love the pattern, but not the colours, ie it is a bit "too" teal and as i want it to compliment the Table runner (the trim behind the chair) so am looking for something else to redress the chair with. 

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