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Ok, I need some inspiration, advice, whatever you may want to call it....I absolutely love stamping. I don't have a lot of time to do so, however, and when I do get a chance it seems my efforts tend to not produce what my visions had in mind. I know that several of my closest friends and relatives say I am a perfectionist or that I worry too much about things and overwork things and therefore try too hard.....I "own" all of that, lol (Dr. Phil and Oprah hahaha). That doesn't get ink to paper soooooooo.....do any of you have old stand by's or must do's that help you out....I find I do fine when with a group such as a stamp camp or party but when I try to come up with things on my own and be adventursome it doesn't work out...I am talking color combos, cutting and sizing for layers etc.....I have quite an array of items to work with but am always missing that one thing that would be perfect so I improvise.....I do CASE stuff and that works out ok but still need some "Rules and Regs" to follow I think.....let me know what you think or what things you try to incorporate to make your stamping experiences great....I appreciate it....
It is to the point where I am afraid to send my cards because I am afraid what others may be saying....or I myself look at them and say....that looks terrible....what should I do.
Laurel, first of all, I think we are all our own worst critics!! I am forever second guessing my work! I think the main reason I do on mine is because I do layer, but I don't usually add all the added embellishments that others do. I feel inferior at times, but still keep going. You need to find what is good for you. In all honesty, I get more compliments from family and friends on my simple cards than I do on the ones that take forever and have more techniques/embellishments, etc.
This weekend a friend came over and we did nothing but stamp. I have a hard time MAKING time for me to sit and stamp by myself so when she called and said she wanted to come over I was estatic. Although I do come up with things on my own, it's so much easier when you are sitting with someone to bounce ideas off of. We weren't even using the same stamps or doing anything remotely similar, but the ideas just kept coming for both of us. LOL, I have a bad habit of mounting my sets as I go, one step at a time as I use them.... I actually pulled some sets out this weekend that I hadn't mounted and forced myself to use them so I would mount all of the stamps in the sets!
BTW, everyone loves to get cards - you should know that by now!! I brought in 6 thank you cards to work today for some girls that took me to lunch and bought me flowers on my birthday - they loved them and now my work is brightening the office around me too!
There are already 8 card sketches and 1 scrapbook sketch in there. These have been a great inspiration for me !!! I look at the sketch and I browse through the samples I have saved pictures of and combine different ideas that I've seen with my own ideas. Sometimes I CASE, but I don't know any of the specific rules of CASEing, so I just make sure to give the person credit !!!
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I totally agree with Karen - we are definitely our own worst critic.
The way I start a card is by looking at the gallery here. I usually end up seeing a color combination that catches my eye. I always seem to have a stamp set in mind, but the color combo stumps me. So by using the SCS gallery to look for colors only, it helps. I too use layers to add punch. But sometimes the simplest thing will work better. The crimper is a great item. Or even a tag attached with an eyelet.
Just use the gallery as a big idea book. Look at color combos, then look at embellishments. Maybe take the ideas you like from a couple of cards and put them together on one card.
But it does help to have a stamping buddy to bounce ideas around with. You could try asking your kids for their opinions, you know. Children have very good taste in colors and what looks good.
Sue
__________________ Who would have thought that paper, ink & rubber could create a priceless keepsake or give me treasured friends.
I'm right there with ya, Laurel! I will sit for hours, going back and forth, back and forth, on ONE FREAKING CARD! I go out with The Girls for a Stamp Night, come home about 1 am, and I only have ONE card as evidence! It takes me forever! But back to you.....
What I have done to try and combat this issue is to look at a BUNCH of cards on SCS and save them to my favorites file, so I can quickly go there for inspiration. By doing that, and scouring the Gallery, I noticed that so many cards have the same layout, just small variations. Once I noticed that, it's taken it down a notch and seems a bit more manageable, for my anyway. I don't agonize over it as much anymore, but I think that has just come over time.
This is just what I have found. Hope it helps! And don't worry so much about it - I love getting cards from people - anyone! - and I don't care what it looks like! It truly is the thought that counts!! Good luck!
Speaking of colors..... that's another thing I used to agonize over. :? I'm attaching a list of color combos that I got from somewhere (I apologize for not remembering who to give credit to). I've seen others posted here, but this one is VISUAL so you can SEE which colors go together. Maybe that will be one less thing you have to worry about.
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I have a couple 'stand by' layouts that I use when I'm 'stuck' and just can't get going. Someone else said use the sketch challenges on here...they are truly WONDERFUL and along that same idea. I LOVE using the inspiration sheets for color combinations. They are always good and often unusual choices. Kimm B-T's site, the one listed above is also EXCELLENT!
Give yourself a break. It has taken me a long time to feel comfortable evan half the time when I sit down to create. I strongly believe in CASEing. Start by copying what you love. Look through the catalog and notice what pages strike your fancy. Copy those color combos. Make some kind of cheat sheet for yourself with your 20 favorite color combos. Find a card layout you like, then make the same layout in as many stamp sets as you can. Most of all, play. Let go of the critic and let yourself be in kindergarden again. So nice to color and cut and play.
Finally, let me tell you: no matter how homely you think a card is, to the uneducated, non stamping eye, anything handmade is AMAZING. Just send them off and make more.
My last advice. Always try to include one embellishement like ribbon, brads, eyelets, something. One embellishment will take the ordinary to WOW. One will do. Don't overdo.
Yep, perfectionism is probably the culprit, it is with me.
After I choose which set I want to use, and which type of card, one thing that has helped me (and this is very hard to do) is to force myself to look solely at the layout of any card at random. I try to ignore sets & words used and focus on using my choices with a layout similiar to this.
CASEing doesn't really work for perfectionists who are their own worst critics because the original will ALWAYS look better than your own -- at least in your own eyes.
It's still really hard to do, (even years later because everyone does such cute things.) But, using a different stamp set has really helped me feel that my "creations" had value. Since you can't compare apples to oranges, you don't feel like you came out on the wrong side of the challenge.
Ok, it's really weird psych & logic but it works, in a weird logical sort of way, lol. HTH
Need some assistance please.
