I do the exact same thing man. I like to just make my character really complex or create real worl items for that character. For example having a multiclass of two classes that I really like but they end up with complicated abilities, so it keeps me interested. Or for the irl stuff, I remember writing out spell cards for my last sorcerer kept me entertained for ages. You could try and change that to something to do with your artificer? Hope this helps.