Start Every Small Art Project with a Come Back Box
If you've ever struggled to restart an unfinished art project, this simple Come Back Box keeps everything together so you can return to your creative work whenever life interrupts.
My Come Back Box
It's my simple system for keeping an unfinished art project together so I can pick it up again whenever life interrupts.
One of the best things I've done for my creative practice goes way beyond organizing art supplies.
It's a box.
I call it my Come Back Box.
For the last several years I've been making small pieces of art like art on a tea bag. Most of them become pages in my Tiny Stories Journal, and I can usually finish one in about 45 minutes.
I rarely make them in my studio.
Instead, I work in the evening in my recliner while my husband watches his westerns on the television. I like having a some background noise while I stitch or glue down bits of paper and fabric.
I didn’t have a problem starting a project. The problem was keeping up with all the tools I used while I sat in my recliner.
The scissors ended up on one sidetable or the other.
The pencil disappeared into the chair.
The needle was never in the same place twice.
Every interruption meant rounding up the tools instead of making art.
So I made myself a simple rule.
Everything, supplies and tools, for this project goes into my container with a lid.
The container isn’t fancy. A shoebox or a cigar box works. Even a cookie tin would work. As long as everything I need fits inside and the container has a lid, I’m set.
What I keep inside My Come Back Box:
my project plus the fabrics and embellishments I'm using
small scissors
needles and embroidery floss
a pincushion
a gluestick
a pencil and a notecard
anything else I know I'll need
But here's the most important part.
The box is about more than staying organized.
It's about making it easy to come back to my art.
Life interrupts all of us.
Family.
Fatigue.
Fixing dinner.
Sometimes I don't touch a project for days or even weeks. Before I close the lid, I leave myself a breadcrumb. I write one sentence about what comes next.
I created these printable Come Back Cards because the hardest part isn't finishing a project. It's remembering where you stopped. Before closing the lid, write yourself one sentence about what comes next.
I've made these Come Back Cards for you. Download them and use them however you'd like.
If you enjoy ideas like this and would like to hear from me every couple of weeks, you're always welcome to join my newsletter. If not, I hope these help you get back to making something you love.
Maybe it's, “glue down gauze for the clouds.” Or, “stitch birds in the sky."
When I open the box again, I don't have to remember everything.
The note reminds me.
I spend a minute looking at the fabrics, touching the pieces, and reconnecting with the idea that started it. Then I simply begin again.
That's what my Come Back Box really is.
It isn't just a storage box. It's my way back into the work.
It's the little system that carries a project from the excitement of starting all the way to the satisfaction of finishing easily. Even with life interruptions.
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