I allowed myself to sleep in a couple extra hours this morning. I suspect there may be little sleeping for the next two days and nights. I gotta work, work, work!

It’s going great though. I won’t be getting three pieces done. I probably could kill myself and have the set of three finished in time, but I’ve decided not to kill myself doing that. In fact, I am quite content with the fact this one new piece will be done … and it will! The only things left to do are finish one short seam on each leg, finish the bottoms of the feet, stuff the last few inches of neck, and attach the head (which doesn’t actually exist yet). Oh, and I need to figure out a base for it, but I already have some ideas on that, and that isn’t stressing me out any. Nothing is really stressing me out right now, because I am just too giddy about the thing in my head finally existing in reality!

I am also giddy about all the new skills I have acquired while working on this thing. Oh sure, I know how to sew. In fact, I sew very, very well. I’ve been sewing since I was five, so I should hope I know how to sew! But I have only ever applied those skills to clothing and quilts (and the occasional household decorative pillow). I’d never even made a simple stuffed animal before! So to draft a pattern for a three-dimensional creature with a simplified skeletal structure and get the thing put together feels like a huge accomplishment. It’s also opened up some new paths of artistic exploration. Expect more soft sculpture in the future. In the near future too, as I believe after a short break to get my normal everyday life back on some kind of even keel, I’ll be getting to work on the other two pieces I intended to get done by this week. Strike while the iron is hot, and all that.

The greatest thing though? The best thing to come of this all? I feel like an artist. I said that to my husband last week, during an especially whiny moment, and he said “You’ve always BEEN an artist.” Well, yes. That’s true. I’m pretty sure I popped out of the womb an artist, but feeling like an artist is something of a confidence thing. Sure, I made arty things, but I generally didn’t like them, and I had trouble imagining anyone else liking them. Imagining some future me having shows in nice galleries and people oohing over my stuff and liking it enough to want to own it (or at least talk nicely about it) and having people other than close family and friends giving a damn about my creative endeavors? Having people say “She’s an artist” without rolling their eyes? I just had trouble imagining that. Now I don’t. I feel like anything is possible (instead of just saying it is over and over like a mantra). I’ve found the confidence in myself and my abilities that I was always lacking. The sky’s the limit now!

I think I’ve even developed a bit of an ego too. I promise not to become too unbearable. LOL!

I need to make a quick phone call and have one more cup of coffee (and some breakfast), and then my nose gets back to the grindstone. Gotta get this thing completed today, so I can spend tomorrow panicking about all the finishing up details. Tuesday night, I want to get my papers in for the show, and then Wednesday … I just want to sleep all day long. Looking forward to the sleeping! Let me tell you, I am really, really TIRED (but in a good way).