SIDE QUESTS AND A NEW COLLECTION

I am embracing the side quest.

Over the years, I have talked about procrastination projects, overflowing craft drawers, and impulse purchases with no intended purpose. You may remember the half-done projects a couple of years ago, where I attempted to clear out spaces by making the project I had bought the materials for. (huh, imagine that – actually using things for their intended purpose… but I digress)

A while ago, I realised that these moments were not actually wasted time or my inability to focus on just one project at a time; they were desperately needed for my creative process and should actually be called Side Quests.

Think about epic fantasy sagas, or even video games; there are always side quests for the main character to complete before the final epic battle. They may need to find energy, to learn new magic spells, to create connections with other characters or to learn big life lessons.

Those side quests are designed to make that final battle or goal easier to reach, or in my case, side quests give me new techniques to try, nourish my creativity in some way and allow me space to mull over projects that are not quite working.

Last week, I was making additional mini moonscapes for the upcoming Christmas markets, and while I was looking for pieces I needed, I found these cute wooden clouds buried under years of stuff. So I pulled them out thinking I would give them a base coat while I painted my moonscapes.

Meanwhile, also sitting on my desk are cats for the Santa’s Workshop Collection and a bunch of tiny wee beasties (that I am not discussing just yet!). And both projects had stalled because I didn’t know the next step.

Additionally, as I was designing the Mini moonscapes, I pulled out my ‘collections’ sketchbook (which is, by the way, another side quest of mine), where I have collated many years of sketches and doodles. It’s like a reference book of LilliBean sketches, and I pull it out often, and inside are pages of flower designs, of different patterns, hearts, birdcages, etc.

So on this day, while flicking through the Collections book, I stumbled across a page I had totally forgotten about. A page filled with cloud designs.

My newest side quest began in earnest.

The Day Dream Collection has been a joy to create and so much fun to design, creating dreamy landscapes with brightly coloured images, and adding crystal raindrops to catch the light.

However, as joyful as they are, this side quest allowed me time to ponder my construction issues with my cats and wee beasties and solve both of those problems.

I always felt a little guilty when I was distracted by what I thought was a procrastination project, often giving myself a hard time for chasing the shiny butterfly, but now I am thinking and talking about them as side quests, they now have a purpose, a value to my work and have become a bit of a super power like the side quests from my favourite fantasy books.

So if you’re like me with an overflowing craft drawer or have a one-day list, why not embrace your side quests and see what powers develop?

Also, if you are interested in owning a Daydream of your own, there are only ten in existence, and I have no plans to create them again, making them a true limited-edition collection. You can see the collection here

OWN A DAY DREAM TODAY

I am half thinking of opening an Insta page devoted to my side quests and random thoughts, what do you think?

From my whimsy world to yours.