QOD is my new acronym for the Queen Of Distraction. I have this problem when I have a huge task ahead of me and other smaller tasks pop up. Instead of prioritizing by order of importance (ie: filling orders, looming book manuscript deadline) I happily push the huge things aside for the “quick little something” that popped up (ie: researching upcoming craft fairs, follow up phone calls, and…ahem…blog posts) Somehow clearing my plate of the little stuff makes it easier for me to focus on the big stuff. That is, as long as the pile of little stuff doesn’t get too big!
So, let’s get this blog post taken care of by distracting YOU! 🙂 There are a few really fun places out there for inspiration that I have been wanting to tell you about. I love to fill up daily on my bookmarked blogs, but every once in a while it’s good to feast my eyes on some different stuff.
I love the blog Print and Pattern. It’s put together by bowiestyle. She’s a designer and trend forecaster in the UK. Each post is full of photos of fabric, ceramics, paper goods, art…anything with print and pattern. It is such a great resource. When I was in the corporate design world, I had constant access to magazines and other kinds of design inspiration. Working at home I miss that and this blog really fills that void for me.
You may have seen this cool stripe generator posted on other blogs. It’s very handy for a quick color combo test when planning stripes for knitting or other types of projects.
This is my much neglected knitting tote (with completely abandoned project inside) I knit this on my knitting machine years ago. I just made up the stripe as I went along. I wish I had the stripe generator back then…
Then there is an amazing color palette tool my husband stumbled across. It’s by Adobe and requires Flash. (I find it works best in Firefox vs. Safari) Here you can try out your own color combos to develop different palettes, then save your favorites. The best part is checking out palettes other people have developed. They are sorted by “newest”, “most popular” , etc.
There, now that I’ve created a time sink for you, I’m going to get back to work.
I really like the bag, the colours are wonderful. I don’t think you need a stripe generator 🙂
Thanks for giving this pervasive “disease” a name. btw, I love Print and Pattern too!
you caught me – i’m supposed to be doing something else, but here i am scanning through all the fun and inspiration in blogland…
xo
please go on…i was using your post as a way to procrastinate from the things i’m supposed to be doing…see, we crafters help eachtoher out.
I do love Print & Pattern and thank you for the new links!
I guess I better get to work now too… or maybe I could surf the net a bit more, it is Friday…
TGIF!
Betz, could you give a little more information on your knitting machine? Like model, size and why you’ve tucked it away? Thanks!
Oh Betz, I’m the same on the distraction front, there’s always smaller more fun tasks to be doing than the main, but obviously we all have to get back to the job at hand. I guess that’s why many crafters work on multiple projects at the same time instead of finishing one after the other…I’ve even heard of people reading multiple books 🙂
Thank you for the interesting links, love the stripe generator and Print & Pattern of course.
i really love that felted tote. you did quite well sans color generator!
I am the worst, and I can see it rubbing off on my seven year old. We have a saying at our house “word before play” which, if you are seven means – put your boots and mittens on first, then if there is time, go look for a book to read on the bus
if you are the mom, means – put your makeup on, then if there is time, find a magazine to tuck in your bag.