Reboot.

On April 16, 2013, I made my last post to SoulGlue. Then I stopped: Posting, crafting, cleaning, and eating soft cheeses and delicious beer. WHAT HAPPENED?! Simply, I found out I was pregnant. In the early times, which lasted about a week, I felt pretty good: I wasn't nauseated or tired. When six weeks hit, though, that little peanut made its presence known. I wrote my last SoulGlue post and then promptly crawled into bed with my arch-nemesis, morning sickness.

So cute, right? No! So SMELLY.

Over the next few months, I worked, slept, and watched all of the TV ever. I felt like I could not do anything else, not even crafting. I think part of the reason I avoided crafting was because, well, no energy, but also I could suddenly smell EVERYTHING. Good smells smelled amazing. Bad smells smelled like doom and hungry kittens. My craft room became a hazard zone because of my musty, yet adorable, desk.

New desk, complete with Amy Sedaris
picture and creativity shrine.

                                               
A bit about the desk:
In the winter of 2013, I rehabbed an old IKEA desk that had been sitting in the basement of our former apartment. I covered the desk with fabric--it looked amazing. But it smelled musty as hell. I tried febrezing it to death, ordered super odor eaters from Amazon. Everything I tried seemed to make the smell worse. Because of the stink, I avoided going into my craft room. I shunned it for months until my morning sickness became manageable and I felt like I could be a person again. At that point, I dismantled the stinky desk and replaced it with an even older one that I repainted and decoupaged. Working on that desk helped me to reconnect with my creativity.

After that, I started making again: An owl baby hat, decorations for a nursery, curtains. I even cleaned our house. I felt like myself again, but more round.

On November 18, 2013 at 5:06pm, Gabe was born. He is the most miraculous craft project I have ever made. He is an amazing and persistent teacher. Here are a few of the things I have learned from Gabe over the past 7.5 months:

1. I like being a mom. It's hands down the hardest job I have ever done, but I love watching and supporting as Gabe becomes his own person.

2. Sleep is even more awesome than I thought it was.

3. Personal time is very important. We all need time to be free to be you and me.

4. I want to be better. By better I mean, I want to set a healthy example for my son by doing what I love to do. I want to ground myself in creativity so that I can thrive and Gabe can thrive in turn.

So here's what I want to do with SoulGlue: I want a reboot. Life is upsidedown from where it was on April 16, 2013, and I want this blog to reflect that. With all of that in mind, I will be starting my a-Pair-a-Day project: Every day from July 9 (yay wedding anniversaries!) to August 31, I will design and post a picture of a pair of earrings. On September 1, those pairs will be for sale in my Etsy shop. I'm doing this project so that I can hold myself accountable and move forward with my passion. I'm also excited to finally sell what I make. I will be posting images of the earrings here and on Instagram (SoulGlueCrafts) and Twitter (@SoulGlueCrafts). Check back here for updates and for other craft-related posts.

                                                 Cheers,
                                                      Chrissy