Sunday 8 October 2017

Hmmmm...... *thinking aloud*

I have been rather lax with blog posts of late.  I can legitimately plead mitigating circumstances, including a week-long holiday with lovely friends, but I now really need to get my act together.

My 100 Day Goal is going reasonably well *cough* and daily micro actions are gradually being ticked off my assorted lists.  However I don't feel as though I'm making nearly enough progress, so from now through till Christmas I need to be more focused and determined.

Now where have I heard that before...?  

Ah.
Right.
That would be here.
*sigh*

With just 196 days till my 60th birthday the clock is ticking and the looming deadline for getting my book finished is now in sight.  I've been doing something every day with that goal in mind and today I did this.........


It might not look like much to you, but I'll have you know I had to brave our spider-infested shed to root out enough of these stacking boxes, then de-web them. *shudder*
Making the labels was the easy, fun part and trust me, there's precious few of those involved in this project.

Each of those boxes constitutes a different section in the book... all of the different doll's costumes and accessories.  It didn't look much as one side of a printed A4 sheet, but translated into 27 separate boxes, each of which is a separate chapter, it's a tad more daunting.  

Some will be quicker and easier to complete than others.  The majority of the text/instructions are already written and formatted so it's really only the photos to do.  
As I'm doing them all myself  (and I'm clearly no David Bailey!) the results are unlikely to be super professional, but as long as they clearly illustrate the various steps for each costume I'll be happy.

I'm aiming to complete photos for three costumes a week, so the entire costumes section should take 10 weeks.    
Say 12, to allow for idleness, incompetence, procrastination unforeseen contingencies.  
Then there's the other chapters, on tools and materials, basic skills and techniques, wigging, etc.  I reckon they'll be another 10 weeks or so.  

So that's 22 weeks.

Out of 26 weeks (6 months)

Which only leaves 4 weeks to tie everything all together, thoroughly proof, edit and quadruple check.

It's going to be a damn close run thing. 

And of course, I don't have the luxury of committing 100% of my work time to the task.  There is still the increasingly brazen wolf to be kept from the door, not to mention continuing with the drastic downsizing of all the stuff in my workroom.

No pressure then.......


4 comments:

Megan Schetsche said...

I LOVE the stacking boxes! A book in the making in 3D! This is such a well organized way of doing things, and I'm sure being able to see into the boxes, you will feel very pleased with the ones that are finished/near finished, and motivated by the ones that still need to be filled. Cheering you on!

Sandra Morris said...

Thanks Megan....
The stacking boxes were the only way I could think of to properly organise all the components for each of the dolls/costumes, otherwise I'd simply get into one ginormous guddle.
I can also keep notes and aides memoires in individual boxes too... either relating to amendments to the already written text, or presentation ideas... whatever.
I'll separate off the ones which have been completed and photographed as I go, so I'll always have a visual representation of those still to do.
A bit clunky perhaps but it works for me!

SusK said...

Sandra,

You’re my hero! Not just for tackling this monumental task but for taking on a shed full of, shudder, spiders. I personally have severe arachnophobia and nothing can send me scuttling faster than the sight of this eight legged monster :-) The other night one of them had the sheer audacity to have settled itself on my side of the bed! This was not a small one but what we call a wolf spider, very big and very black. Hero hubby to the rescue 😊❤️. Anywho, color me extremely impressed with your very impressive project! I shall continue to follow even if from quite afar.

Much affection,
Susan

Sandra Morris said...

Susan....

Even the name 'wolf spider' make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and sends shivers down my spine.
I'm tempted to Google it to check out just how awful it must be but I'm desisting as I don't really want that image in my head.
This time of year here in the UK we have large black spiders appear... I'm told that contrary to popular belief they don't come in from outside but live in our houses all year round and only come out of hiding to mate.
Like me, Small Dog is terrified of them and we both give them a wide berth until they can be caught and relocated. *shudder*