CCC: Gifted project #1 - Cows Diamond Painting

 Starting a new series within the CCC Wednesdays, posting about gifted projects, sharing creations I made on prompt or as a crafting kit. I love these because they are genuinely the kindest presents from friends and family, who know how much creativity means to me. They are also pushing me to try new things and techniques.

And this one is a prime example. I have seen diamond paintings everywhere before, my Tiktok algorithm went through a phase of showing me several ASMR DP videos on my FYP. So when I got this kit for my birthday back in September, I was excited. Especially because of the cows, the vibrant colours and it was a decent size, not too small, but not impossibly big. When we went into lockdown for the third time in January, I knew that getting it done will be my priority. Little did I know how long it will take.

First, I thought it will be mundane because it doesn't require creative input, it is very repetitive. You pick up a "diamond", place it on its designated spot. You pick up a "diamond", place it in another designated spot. Dull, huh? No. What created abundance of serotonin for my little control-freak brain is the millions of ways I could organise this single step. I had to decide if I go by sections or colours, do I mix the two and do colours within sections? How many times can I pick up "diamonds" before I have to wax my wand again (this is not real terminology, but when you do this for weeks on end on your own, you start talking to yourself about it and give names to things)? You challenge yourself to go by speed, to estimate the amount of "diamonds" needed for a section.

I have chosen my strategy to go by colours, meaning I only have to have one bag of "diamonds" open at a time, which helped immensely as I was working on this while sitting on my bed and a cat around. I couldn't risk accidental overflow. Plus, it meant I could work on it while watching something, being able to just focus on one colour at a time made that possible.

And this is the thing, I am a severe multitasker. Usually this is a good
thing, I benefit from it at work for sure. However, I definitely push it to the danger zone. I often feel like if I am doing one thing at the time, I am not efficient enough, I have a lower sense of achievement when finishing a task. So when I spent most of my evenings watching Netflix, films and other things, I feel like I am wasting time. But if I worked on the DP during a film, I could reflect on the progress by the end of it, and I didn't feel like I wasn't doing anything with a purpose. It also stopped me from going on my phone all the time (need for split focus and multitasking, unfortunately one thing rarely occupies my focus nowadays), which made whatever I was watching so much more enjoyable. What's even better, I could share the experience with my partner, and I will forever remember that the top right corner of this DP is his handy-work.

So would I do it again? 100%. Definitely recommend.

Follow @CasaCookieCrafts on Instagram for more pictures.