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Stamp and Tag Play

Hello from Overactive-Imagination-Woman! I hope this December is already full of joy but not much stress for you. It can be such an overwhelming month, where we sometimes think we must do it all and do it all perfectly. And I can imagine a lot of “all.”

I have that problem with crafting and creating any time of the year — my imagination takes off and suddenly I am overwhelmed with so many possibilities, all of which are perfect and lovely, and I WANT to do it all, and do it all perfectly!

Many times it is more enjoyable just to let those perfect visions hang around in my head than try to pull them off — I can’t decide if it is Fear of Failure or Fear of Wastefulness that holds me back! Most likely the wastefulness. Throwing away the things that didn’t work out is aggravating, but on the other hand at least I am actually playing with my toys, not just storing them!

One technique I have recently started using to overcome this, is to limit which tools and supplies I allow myself to use when I sit down to play. This makes selecting from among those ideas much more manageable!

I had the urge to make some small gift tags using two stamps I picked up (on clearance! 54 cents!) from a craft store; I added just a few other things to get me started — my embossing bin, some other small Christmas stamps, and a few markers.

I quickly found that one of these stamps had a problem — a thin spot on one edge where the stamp wouldn’t stamp. Disappointment! I really liked this little postage-stamp stamp! After a few discards, a bit of folded paper tucked under the thin spot got me a couple impressions to emboss. The other stamp, an airmail frame, didn’t seem to have any problems but was a lot less exciting after stamping than I had expected.

After taking the heat gun to my tags, I started filling in the blanks — blank areas on the tags, that is. I love my tiny wooden holiday stamps! They are perfect for gift tags and such! Once I got out my ink pad bin, I was in business — who forgets ink pads when planning to stamp? *sheepishly raising hand*

Experimenting and playing with filling interior spaces and exterior spaces on the tags, I soon had a couple more discards — ugh! I still hold onto that expectation that all my crafty imaginings will turn out A-OK first time, every time. NOT! But that’s all part of experimenting… yes, it is!

Soon I had grabbed a few pens and markers to use. Then I needed some paper and my trimmer to rescue a couple  discards. Oh, and adhesive. Hey, let’s try some Perfect Pearls, too… A few hours, a few tags, and actually a few spontaneous projects later I had quite a mess!

But I also had a lot to show for it. And — best of all — I had one more session of hands-on crafting, at my own skill level, to push me along that learning curve. Fear of wastefulness will probably rear its ugly head over and over, but I will overcome that!

But right now I am suffering from Fear of Cleaning Up! Here’s the After picture:  …   No, nevermind. It’s still there on the table, waiting for me. (to clean up, or craft some more; that is the question!)

Get creative! Get messy! Don’t let your imagination of perfect results keep you from experiencing the joy of doing! The internet and all the skilled crafting masters it brings to us can be intimidating. BUT! — give yourself permission to go ahead and craft, bake, create whatever it is, at your own skill level! Less angst; more FUN!

I love wrapping, tagging, and giving gifts! I wish you a Merry and Happy Holiday Season!

Gail

 

  • Sam - Oooooo, Santa’s bringing me a present? ;) Cute tags!!12.07.2012 – 3:57pmReplyCancel

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