I’m so excited to be writing this post! Because of my excitement, I may waffle on even more than usual. If you lose track of what I’m on about, head to the end of the post where you’ll find the key points!
I told you a couple of weeks ago about my August WiP Challenge. Before I’d got even halfway through the month I had the beginnings of an idea floating round in my mind. So many people were encouraging me and cheering me on, and so many others were saying that they should really do the same thing and tackle some of those unfinished projects. I found myself thinking that maybe I could organise some kind of ‘Let’s Get These WiPs Finished Group’ kinda thing. But my thoughts were all a bit vague and woolly round the edges.
Then I received a message from Charlie near the end of August, saying that she was planning a blog post about having too many WiPs, and would I mind if she featured my August WiP Challenge? As we messaged back and forth I mentioned my half formed idea and Charlie was so keen on the idea that she suggested a collaboration. We’ve been plotting and scheming ever since, and this is what we’ve come up with…
Welcome to the #autumnwal17 (that’s short for Autumn WiP-Along 2017, just in case you were wondering)! Through the month of October Charlie and I will be hosting the WiP-Along as a chance for you all to work on your WiPs as part of a supportive and encouraging community, a place where we can share our frustrations, ask for help and advice as well as enjoying the satisfaction of finishing things (maybe even things that have been hanging around for several months years… Just saying.)
It can be quite a daunting process even deciding what to work on when some of these things haven’t seen the light of day for quite some time. I found that I had several things that sprang to mind immediately – but have since remembered or discovered projects I’d totally forgotten about! My key piece of advice is to be realistic – don’t tell yourself you’ll finish absolutely everything if you know that’s just not possible! I worked on the six projects that were easily to hand and at least kinda close to being finished. At times even that felt impossible! But the support and encouragement from my lovely Instagram friends kept me going – and kept me accountable – and I got there in the end.
We’d just love you to join in, regardless of what you’re working on! It could be knitting, crochet, sewing, papercraft, weaving, candle making, photography… you get the picture. My WiP list has not been decided yet, but I think it may end up including an entire room that I’m currently decorating! Regardless of what you’ll be working on, we’d like to offer you these lovely badges to show that you’re part of the gang – add them to your blog, share them on social media, spread the word and get others involved!
Charlie is the creative genius behind the badges – I’m so grateful for the time and creativity she put into designing them for us! She has also produced a calendar which you could plan target end dates for specific projects or use it to record when you finish certain projects, or whatever else you find useful! I’ll be using mine to keep track of blogging/Instagram posts through October, plus adding when I’ve finished particular projects.
Key points:
- The Autumn WiP-Along will run from Sunday 1st – Tuesday 31st October.
- The Autumn WiP-Along is co-hosted by myself (website: goslingandplumb.co.uk Instagram: @goslingandplumb) and Charlie (Website: lovecharlie.co Instagram: @lovecharlie.co).
- Charlie and I will each be posting to Instagram and blogging about our own WiPs during the WAL, as well as sharing the work of others that catch our eye – make sure you tag us so we can see what you’re working on!
- Join in on Instagram with the hashtag #autumnwal17 or share your work on your blog or other social media.
- Charlie and I are both pretty nice people – please do get in touch with us if you need help/ advice/ support/ encouragement and we’ll do what we can!
- Enjoy the process and be kind to yourself – this is about helping and supporting each other, not about making people feel even more guilty about those unfinished projects!
In a couple of days I’ll be sharing some of the things that helped me work through my projects in August. In the meantime, start thinking about what you could finish in October!
Right click on the badges above to copy/save them and click here for the calendar:
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