Lost... and Found?

I'm lost... so completely lost.  Or I'm losing it.  I think.

You see, yesterday we had another gathering of the Scrapbook Cellar Chicks.  (Check out this post for a refresher on Scrapbook Cellar Chicks.)  It was a great Saturday - we started early, finished late.  We laughed, cried a little, and did the "catch-up" on what's new in all our lives.  CT not only did a lunch run for us, but then later in the afternoon, Peggy begged CT for a Starbucks run, and since CT is such a GREAT GREAT GREAT guy, he went to Starbucks for the girls.

Anyway, I started with a clean table.  My intent was to start the album for our Disney trip we took last September.  I took out all the photos, the new album, and special Disney supplies I've purchased over the last couple of months.  Well, four hours later, I only managed to finish one very simple and quite pathetic looking page.  Here it is:

Meanwhile, Peggy, Leanne and Cindi worked diligently on all their projects.  Peggy even managed to finish 10 pages!!  Check out her blog for the results.   At one point yesterday, I just hopped on the computer and started reading out loud various posts from our blog buddies.  Well, at least we all got caught up with some of our mutually favorite blogs!

Then, something happened.  This morning, as CT helped me clean up the Scrapbook Cellar, I said to him, "Hey Hon, I need about 30 minutes down here."  CT, of course, said, "No problem.  I'll watch a little TV down here while you work on your scrapbook."

After only 30 minutes, I managed to crank out two pages for the Disney album.  Here they are:

So, yesterday, I thought I was lost.  I accomplish one page in 8 hours.  Today, I managed to create two pages in 30 minutes.  Yesterday, I was creatively lost... today, I'm not so sure.

Tomorrow, CT is off from work.  Before we go workout at the health club, I hope to get downstairs to the Cellar to see if I am still creatively lost, or if I am back on my way to some good, old fashioned, creative scrapbooking.  I'll let you know.  

In the meantime, I'm curious... have you ever been creatively (or otherwise) lost?  What do you do to find your way?

A Day In The Cellar

Yesterday I had the wonder opportunity to spend some quality time in The Cellar with The Scrapbook Cellar chicks:  Leanne, Peggy, and Cindi.  The Scrapbook Cellar is a portion of our unfinished basement where I've set up tables, shelves with supplies, a desk and a computer, all for the purpose of working on craft or scrapbook projects.  Here's me and the chicks: 
 

Photography by CT, our Scrapbook Beeeatch.


So, the projects of the day included Leanne's Disney Album (from our trip to Disney in September):

Followed by Peggy working on some school photos of her son:

 And then Cindi working on a couple of projects, one including an album about "Gratitude":

And what about CT?  We affectionately refer to CT as our Scrapbook Beeeatch.  As the SB, CT helps set up all the tables and lights (yes, I have special lights that provide a more natural light -- very important in order to match the right colors on the scrapbook pages!) and helps carry in the girls' bags when they arrive.  Then, he does a lunch run for us (yesterday it was Italian Beef sammiches.)

CT pretty much leaves us to ourselves to do our thing, but he will check in with us every couple of hours to see how we are doing.  During one of CT's Cellar checks yesterday, we put him to work.  Leanne needed help adding pages to her album, and tightening the screws on the album.  So, there was CT to the rescue.

Our day begins early -- usually around 7:30 or 8 a.m. -- and we end around 4 or 4:30 p.m.  We talk, we laugh, we complain and vent, we provide input to each others projects, we share, we sing to the music (oh yeah, and Leanne and Cindi were singing REALLY REALLY loud yesterday.  At one point I threatened to turn off the music and put on a movie!)  And with all our busy schedules and lives, we manage to pull off this one day a month in the Cellar.  Somedays it is hard - we may feel tired, we may feel guilty about not being with family or that we should be doing other things at home, we may not feel particularly creative, organized, or productive.  But none of that matters.  What matters is that we spend some quality time with good friends, doing something that we all really enjoy.     

Any day spent in the cellar with The Cellar Chicks is truly a perfect day to me.