Getting it Done

This is my last post on doing more minis.

The single most important thing to getting more done is to Do.

We can talk and plan  all we want but if we don't sit down and do,  we won't get anything done.

You can buy all the tools,  all the kits, make all the schedules you want but if you don't take time to do, then all of that will become nothing more. It may bring joy enough for you as it is and that's ok.  But for me I enjoy the doing and so I do.

I love sharing what I do both from a 'look what I finished' aspect but also the 'how I did it'. Once I am done with a project, it does help to inspire me to do more because I do get feedback from my fellow miniaturists.  

I want others to enjoy this hobby too, so I share my mistakes and triumphs. Not to make anyone feel bad but I want to be helpful. I would rather you learn from my mistakes so that you can gain confidence in the doing. I am actually my own worst enemy when it comes to time management as I tend to make things over complicated at times. But I am learning to rethink my plans in that light because I have written about it.

I propose one last suggestion - share what you do when you are done.  Miniaturists love to look at photos and I find the miniature community to be a very positive one. 

This is my last post on doing more minis in honor of Dollhouse and Miniatures Month - check the older posts to see the previous ideas.  I welcome feedback on this topic.  Did I inspire you to do more?

Happy miniaturing,

Preble

Be Inspired to Do More Minis

Inspiration can come from many sources.  

Fellow miniaturists, miniature magazines photos and articles, real life and our dreams of course.  Here are some ideas on getting inspired to do more.

Get off the computer – I love reading emails from others about their projects, but they can be intimidating.  Or they can inspire you to get going.  The inspire part is a double edged sword as inspiration can get one to buy more or to start new projects without finishing old ones.  Been there and done both.  However I have also seen challenges by others that inspire me to get something done.  This is good but can still slow one down to getting done if the inspiration doesn’t inspire actually doing.

Seeing what others are doing can inspire me to just start doing.  Maybe it sparks an idea on how to do something I have put away due to a challenge I couldn't conquer at the time.  Or it could just simply lead me to doing minis.

Join swaps, contests or challenges – there is nothing like a deadline to get me going.  Be careful that the contest or challenge doesn’t make you lose your desire to mini.  Been there and done that too.  I have done swaps for over 10 years.  I love swaps.  But there came a time when I realized I was only doing swaps.

Be selective about what you sign up for. This is related to swaps but also helping with an event.  Pace yourself.  Don’t sign up or agree to help with everything.

Listen to music - I discovered this very recently.  I find that I am more productive when I listen to music.  Watching tv can be distracting if the show gets interesting and that slows me down.  Also watching tv is multi-tasking and means that our brains are expected to do more at once.  Music allows us to occupy the mind without expecting it to multi-task.  But turn the music off if it does start to distract.

This was day 8 of my new series on doing more minis in honor of Dollhouse and Miniatures Month - check the older posts and come back tomorrow for some more ideas on doing more minis.

Happy miniaturing,

Preble

Mini-traveling

If your excuse is that you travel too much to mini, well then I ask do you ever have down time that you can watch tv? If your answer is yes, then I say you do have time.

Here  are my thoughts on ways to mini while traveling.

• Take a basic tool kit, choose based on your kits.  Can even take a craft knife with you, just follow the TSA guidelines and they should allow.  Consider when you pack to maybe not take your best tools.
• This is when taking a couple of round table or similar small kits is a good choice.
• Have a small container with you for the finished or even in progress item. Another option - take a bag of beads or ribbons that need sorted and the smaller bags that you would sort them into. This doesn't need to be an elaborate case they will ultimately go into.  Just a bunch of small zip bags works as temporary.
• Consider kits that are a lot of cutting.  Just be sure to put the trimmed pieces back into the bag.
• Don't stress over it either, if while traveling the downtime just isn't available.  There is a mindset that will allow you to take the time during travel to work on minis.  It takes some adjustment to thinking it is possible. 
• Take a miniature magazine with you to read or review.
• Or subscribe to mini mags online and read on the digital device.

Today is the seventh part of my new series on doing more minis in honor of Dollhouse and Miniatures Month - check the older posts and come back tomorrow for some more ideas on doing more minis.

Happy miniaturing,

Preble

Dreaming is Doing Minis

Doing minis does not have to be the physical act of doing.  It can be dreaming of minis as well.  The more one thinks on minis – the more inspired one will likely be so that when the physical time comes the motivation will be there.

Find ways to think about minis all day long.  I can say that this has helped me in the past.  It can backfire too.  Example, I took a lovely bunny doll to work and sat her on the base of my computer monitor.  I was very inspired to make minis but not inspired to do my work.  I did realize I needed to not have the bunny at work, but at home having minis around to remind me to think about minis is very inspirational for sure.

Dreaming also ties into planning.  Planning what supplies to buy, how the project will be laid out. This sort of planning doesn't have to become real.  It can be just a way for the brain to enjoy minis virtually.

Today is the sixth part of my new series on doing more minis in honor of Dollhouse and Miniatures Month - check the older posts and come back tomorrow for some more ideas on doing more minis.
Happy miniaturing,
Preble

Doing Minis should be Fun

I believe that making miniatures should be fun.  Whatever you do, don't make it a chore.  Sometimes parts of a kit are just that so if you feel bogged down by a chore, then do it. Then switch to something else for a while.  Or do it for a few minutes (short time) and then do something else for a time.  Consider that maybe it is the time of day, time in your week or other things are stressing you out.  

If minis aren't fun, relaxing, enjoyable, then change something. 

Maybe it could be that you have waited too late to make the swaps you are signed up for.  Well, we have a choice to make it and be done with it, or not.  The 'not' part maybe not be in your make up and I get that, so I say to keep this scenario in mind the next time they announce a sign up.  Either don't sign up so that minis aren't stressful or plan ahead.  Don't wait to the last minute.  I am talking to myself here as much as anyone. 

Recently I made the choice to not send in swaps for the QC convention.  It was my first time to not do them.  This was a huge decision for me.  But it was a good one.  I didn't want the pressure.  I do have so many swaps that I wasn't sad when I think of them.  Yes, later I had a moment or two that I wish that I had, but not once I reminded myself the reasons I choose to not do them.

Today is the fifth part of my new series on doing more minis in honor of Dollhouse and Miniatures Month - check the older posts and come back tomorrow for some more ideas on doing more minis.

Happy miniaturing,

Preble

Don't compare yourself to others

This is a biggie! I get it. So-and-so gets a lot done weekly/monthly, whatever. It can make us green with envy of their skills or their time. Don't do it.  Don’t compare yourself to others.  

Everyone works at their own pace and has their own skills plus experience.  Practice makes perfect or it definitely will improve any skill. 

Everyone makes choices every day. So-and-so isn't dealing right now with a sick family member or they never leave the house. There could be any number of things different about you versus them. They could be jealous of you who still has their family around.

Making  minis is not a competition unless you actually entered one. How much you get done doesn't matter to anyone else but you. This isn't a race.  The only prize is the project itself.

Don't stress about the doing just take the time you can and do. Accept that there are things you will not do and buy those instead.  

Accept that there will be things you do that will just take you longer than someone else.  Experience comes from doing.

Today is the fourth part of my new series on doing more minis - check the three older posts and come back tomorrow for some more ideas on doing more minis.

Happy miniaturing,

Preble

Have a Plan to Do More

When it comes to doing more there needs to be a plan.

Don't throw rotten tomatoes, I get it. This is a hobby and planning makes it more like work, but hear me out.

I mentioned previously my friend's motto: It's worth it. Minis are worth doing or you wouldn't have started in the hobby to begin with. I propose that the planning will be worth it too.

When it comes to planning, it can be simple. Prioritizing time to do minis with whatever schedule you choose is a plan.

Secondly, taking steps to keep that schedule is also planning. It could be you put it on your calendar so your family knows this is your hobby time. Or it could be getting a toolbox and project boxes set up so you can use the dining room table and easily put away again. If you don't have  a dedicated workspace that allows you to leave the work in progress unattended, then consider a way to pack it up quick.  Another miniaturist described having a drawer that a tray can go in.  The tray is what they work on and the drawer is where the tray goes when needing to allow things to dry or put away until later. Another way this could work is to have two drawers or boxes.  One that holds the bits and bobs that are part of the work in progress but not used yet or not ready to be put away.  The other then holds the project.  Maybe not with a tray but it allows the project to be put away.

Thirdly, it could be setting goals that this week I will get the kits for this room assembled, next week I will paint them, the next week will be choosing and ordering the wallpaper for the next room or whatever. The OMB challenge on Quarter Connection is one a month bunch, to do one project or portion of a project each month. Remember they're your goals so if you fall short it's ok. No point to dwell on it just keep moving forward.

Working with kits often leaves us to think that we don't have to plan.  But we do.  Every decision that is made including whether to use the colors the kit maker used or not, is planning. 

Having a Journal/Plan – this just means to either think about what you want to do or to actually plan what needs to be done.  This is just one way to get organized that will help to be more productive when you go to a show or the hobby/mini store.  It also helps to know what needs to be done next so there isn’t time wasted trying to do something you don’t have all the supplies for.

Today is the third part of my new series on doing more minis - check the two older posts and come back tomorrow for some more ideas on doing more minis.

Happy miniaturing,

Preble

Be Organized to Do More

Yesterday,  I talked about two ways to do more.

• Prioritize your hobby
• Do minis often: daily/weekly/monthly

Today, I will tie this in to my blog title: the organized miniaturist.

I believe that being more organized can help you do more. But it isn't a requirement by any means.  Organizing most of your miniatures and supplies can make you more efficient, which translates to more time for making minis.

Sometimes just the act of organizing is enough of a mini fix.  And I say it counts towards making minis. Being creative may work better for you to be messy, but everything doesn't have to be chaos

I believe for me too much chaos clutters my mind.  I often find it best for me to stop adding to the mess and do some clean up. I find that my clutter stems from two directions: the belief that I am going to need that something again in a while or just laziness. The latter may be due to time I have available to do minis or it could be I just kept moving along with others aspects of the project. Regardless of what it sterns from when I come back,  that mess weighs on me until I do clean up.

Generally when I get to a point the mess is bothering me it really isn't the mess so much as I may have lost interest in the project or I have lost my momentum or motivation to complete it. Rather than allow my mess to rob my joy of minis,  I do the clean-up. I do put away. I may get some right back out but it isn't the same mess that was bothering me before. 

This is a new series - come back tomorrow for some more ideas on doing more minis.

Happy miniaturing,

Preble

Let’s Do Minis

October is Dollhouse and Miniatures Month

Here’s a new series on doing minis more

Far too often I hear people say they wish they could get more ___ done. Fill in the blank with whatever you are in to.

The  key to doing more is the doing.  It really is that simple. Right now I wish I was doing more minis. But there are many reasons I haven't. I won't to go in to details,  we all are busy and have things going on. Minis are a hobby and hobbies are often the first to go when other things consume our time.

I had a friend once who said she tried to do minis every day.  She has long passed but I will never forget her slogan: It's worth it. Her last name  was Worth so it was a play on her name but also she believed her hobby was worth spending time on. 

This I believe is where our challenge is. If our hobby is truly important to us then we will find the time. We will prioritize it within our day or week or month. When it comes to our time we all get the same amount. We all make choices on how we spend our time. People who are productive with making minis are choosing to spend their time with minis. Don't stress when you choose other activities over minis.  That is your choice. 

My friend felt that daily was what she wanted to do. Small chunks of time will add up.  For someone with health issues this may work better. The key would be to be able to either set  up quickly or leave it out and be able to come back. This latter works for me as a have a separate room now. But I still do the former for small aspects of a project at times.

For those days or weeks when minis take a lower priority, it is ok. Minis will keep unlike family or friends. 

Stay positive and avoid thinking about time lost. Life is too short to spend it lamenting the undone. Instead keep playing whenever you can.

This is a new series - come back tomorrow for some more ideas on doing more minis.

Happy miniaturing,

Preble