Finding time to create...what time?

There are some days I just struggle to find time to make anything! And when I say 'make' I don't mean dinner, or lunches, or beds! I mean something creative like a painting, some writing, a cloth doll....anything. Do you ever have days like that?

I am very blessed that my husband and I work from home. So I do have time around the busyness of family life to create although some weeks it just doesn't happen. Like this week. Everything this week has been bitsy, too many little bits and pieces of things that mean I haven't been able to pull any creating time together. Apart from this afternoon which my sweet husband gave to me even though our kids, at the time, were running and screaming around our house. He decided that rather than both of us ending up frazzled, one of us might as well do something productive, and I feel very blessed that it was my turn.

So apart from a few minor interruptions of one of my four children entering my study to tell me something, wipe away some tears or put on a  jacket; I have had an hour or so to write and also post on this blog. It has been heaven, just some time (I wouldn't say necessarily peaceful but now the kids have gone outside so it's quiet now....for a minute), to reflect, create and reconnect with my creative self.

Sometimes I actually itch to make something....I just feel the need to sew somethings, or paint something....and I know when I get like this I just need to do it or I take my frustration out on other people. There are instances when I randomly go into my study and just do something, and usually the kids end up following me! Often, when I really want to get things done, I distract them with something else or promises of a game when I'm finished.

Sometimes like in this picture, they just play around me. Actually, I end up sewing around them and the mess they create. But I don't mind really. A bit of creative play can be very inspiring so instead of letting it annoy me,  I try at times to let it inspire me, to be creative as a child, without inhibitions. And who cares about the mess anyway?