Middle of the Project Doldrums

 I have this issue with most of my projects, where if I let them slide for more than a few weeks, I get stuck.  I have a 3/4 done sweater, a beautiful 1/10th done lace shawl, one and 9/10ths of a pair of socks...it's terrible.

Now it's happened to me with one of my favorite creative outlets.  I discovered letterboxing a while back, and I got hooked.  What was cooler than taking my (at the time) two year old out on mini-scavenger hunts with stamps and ink?  After I got entrenched in the culture a little bit, I decided my tiny, pathetic, store bought stamp not only wasn't cutting it, it was nearly an insult to the whole art.

So I bought my first carving block and tools, and picked up a new addiction.  I carved stamps for my son and I.  I carved stamps for my sweetie.  I toyed with the idea of carving stamps and planting letterboxes, but I knew that was more than I was ready for.  More time went by, and I decided to plant a hitchhiker.  My first baby to be released in to the wild would be one that would travel from spot to spot, and wouldn't be seen by everyone in the area.  Thus far, it hasn't really been seen by anyone, but that's another story.  It's not my fault I apparently picked an unpopular letterbox to leave it in...

After that turned out quite beautifully, I started making more stamps.  My son got a box for his birthday, and a hitchhiker that started in the box.  I loved how much fun it was to put together, so I started two more.  One is the Hollybat above, as commemoration of my friend's visit to Atlanta.  The other is the symbol of my church.  But then I started working, and I let them drag on...

Now I'm in a rut with both of these carves, and I'm having a terrible time motivating myself to do the research.  For the Hollybat, I need to find a location and make the clue.  I know where I want it to go, but I'm disinclined to visit downtown in this weather, and do my research.

The Emerson stamp just needs a clue and a letter requesting permission to keep it on the property of the church.  It's also probably require me to delve in to the history of Ralph Waldo Emerson, which sounds undelightfully boring.

So my real question is, how do I get back the fire for a project I let drop?  I feel like my projects are a reflection of my real life relationships.  Once the initial excitement is done, I have a hard time finding that feeling again if I spend too much time apart from someone.  Unless I keep up with people constantly, I have very little drive to see how they are doing, and making plans to see them again.  It rather makes me feel like a bad person.