Out On A Whim Wednesday: Inspired By Cathy Taylor

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  I Allow Myself To Measure My Productivity In MSO, NPR and MICR

Outputs.  Inputs.  Blah, Blah, Blah!  I have decided it is time for me to adopt measures of productivity that fit who I am :)  So, here are the measures I came up with:  MSO, NPR and MICR.  Let me help you decipher the acronyms in case you'd like to adopt similar productivity measures for yourself.  MSO = Minutes Spent Outdoors; NPR = Number of Pages Read; and MICR = Minutes In Craft Room :)  I know these aren't the measures written about in the pages of business magazines, but I'm not written about in the pages of business magazines either :)  I'm tired of trying to measure my "productivity" on the basis of some formula ingrained in me by some societal norm I picked up somewhere in the hallowed halls of universities and the cubicles of corporate America.  These new measures are much more about me and what I value as a meaningful use of my time on this planet.  Watch out world!  I'm going to be the most productive person you've ever seen!!!!! :)
I went out on an incredibly enjoyable whim for this week's project (and definitely logged amazing amounts of MICR productivity!).  This project was actually inspired by productivity in the NPR area - I opened up my new issue of Cloth Paper Scissors magazine and was immediately intrigued by an article called The Workshop:  Rethink Alcohol Ink featuring some techniques by Cathy Taylor.  I already had alcohol inks on hand and made a quick run to a local art store to buy some Yupo paper (it is a totally synthetic "paper" with a slippery surface being used by watercolor artists) and some Tar Gel (I think you might be able to use Crystal Effects in place of the Tar Gel...I might have to give that a try at some point).  I found painting with the alcohol inks on this surface to be totally mesmerizing and meditative!  I also kept moving forward when I reached points where I was criticizing my work or displeased with what was happening.  I just plowed through it!  I think I could have kept going and going and going (good thing I have some more tar gel and Yupo paper!).  I am anticipating a very high MICR count as I continue to explore this amazing whim!!!!!