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OK... so I have an idea and try it - eh... not so good. But I just can't seem to push it aside and move on. I waste incredible amounts of time trying to make it work, doing it over, fussing with it.
Meanwhile - I could have made 5 other cards with the time I spent fussing with the one idea. Why cant I just say "OK - that didn't work, lets go try something else".
Does this happen to other poeple too? Or is it just me? For those of you more experienced - is this part of the learning process (or am I just obsessive LOL)?
How do I break this habbit so I can actually get some cards made! Honestly - I can spend 3-4 hours working and reworking an idea when I really should just toss it and move on. Help!
Sometimes I feel that like you I spend way too much time making a card. There are times when I spend hours coloring it and then don't like it and throw it out. There are also times when I post a card and am not happy with it and take it all apart and do it again. I think sometimes I expect too much from myself and am way too picky. I do find that lately I just keep these cards that I am not fond of and move on. Maybe it is part of the learning process.
Don't feel that you are alone. I think we all go through stuff like this.
The main thing is that you are still working on projects and enjoy it.
OK... so I have an idea and try it - eh... not so good. But I just can't seem to push it aside and move on. I waste incredible amounts of time trying to make it work, doing it over, fussing with it.
Meanwhile - I could have made 5 other cards with the time I spent fussing with the one idea. Why cant I just say "OK - that didn't work, lets go try something else".
Does this happen to other poeple too? Or is it just me? For those of you more experienced - is this part of the learning process (or am I just obsessive LOL)?
I wish I could--I can with personal creations, but not with work-related creations. Oftentimes, I have to work with specific products or images, so I don't have the option to toss it aside and move on, when it's not panning out. And, yes, I understand your frustration completely.
__________________ Julie Ebersole (JulieHRR once upon a time . . . )julieebersole.com"So shines a good deed in a weary world." -Willy Wonka
I feel your pain--all the time, LOL! One of my husband's Air Force instructors once used a sentence that comes to my mind after several hours of stampin' frustration, and I still hear it in his southern drawl:
"It was a good idea that shouldn't'a seen the light of day."
I feel your pain! I actually have a little card stand on my nightstand where I put cards that I am not quite sure how to really complete it with the perfect touch. I end up starring at it before I go to bed and when I wake up in the morning. Crazy, huh? One would figure that I would get over it and just get it done...generally, something comes to me within a day or so.
Sometimes I just put the frustrating card aside for a day or two and then look at it later to see how I feel. Many times I have a whole new outlook for it when I look at it when I'm not frustrated.
I actually liked your first (frustrating) design better as it really featured your coloring by leaving the white space.
I sometimes take a card to my husband who is not afraid to say...I don't like the colors, it needs something or the background is too busy etc. I appreciate his honest advice because sometimes a stamping friend will say it's great just because they don't want to be critical. Non-stampers can be your best sources for honest advise.
I have a name I call these frustrating times " stamp loop". This is when you have spent way too much time "over thinking" your work in progress. When I find myself in a loop it's time to go on to other things.
Been there, done that. It's that head thing-you have the mental image that you can't translate to reality. It may be all those ink fumes we inhale. They give us hallucinations and makes us psycho. Seriously, I think we are our own worst critic. I looked at your samples and did not see any problems with either.
Been there, done that. It's that head thing-you have the mental image that you can't translate to reality. It may be all those ink fumes we inhale. They give us hallucinations and makes us psycho. Seriously, I think we are our own worst critic. I looked at your samples and did not see any problems with either.
I must echo these sentiments. Being a newbie, I looked at the watercolors and just sighed. I have not been able to master this technique yet. I thought they were lovely cards, although I did prefer the second one. The use of more color made the peacock jump out and it became the focal point of the card. Go dig it out of the trash woman!! lol
__________________ �:*�*:�My next house won't have a kitchen. Just a bunch of vending machines and garbage cans.�:*�*:�
I can spend HOURS on one card until I get to the point where I don't want to just rip it to shreds. Then I look at it the next day and think of all the things I should have done differently that would have made it much better. I have made very few cards that I am completely happy with. I always seem to think if I could just get some set that I have seen others make fabulous cards with, that that would turn it around for me. Doesn't happen. I guess every card can't be a WOW card, but you have to just keep trying!!!
I have had to force myself to put something aside and move on to something else. It was hard at first, but I realized that this is supposed to be enjoyable not frustrating. Unfortunately, my stubborn streak will rear it's ugly head and not let me set something aside until I am satisfied. I am slowly getting better with my obsessiveness for perfection..not!
It happens to me all the time. I can sit forever trying to get something to work for me. The worst part is that when hubby asks how it's going and I tell him, he knows exactly what to do. GET OUT OF MY STAMP SPACE!!! Where were you 2 hours ago????
I have a box right near my work area. When a card or part of a card is just totally frustrating me I put it in there. I know I'm not giving up on it, it's just a saved "treasure" for another time. I have used those pieces of cards so many times and been glad to have them.
I just got done making a card with a background from two days ago. I had worked and worked on that background and could not get it to work with my card two days ago. So I threw it into my treasure box. Today I needed a background for a stamped image -- and, man, if that background piece wasn't the perfect fit! Which really made me happy!
I understand your pain! I think part of it is that some days my "stamping mojo" is on a roll and I can crank out card after card, and other days I feel like the mojo never woke up or never had its coffee or maybe it's just having a PMS day. :p LOL
I also think the reason that I keep going with an idea, even when it doesn't seem to be working, is that there are times when it actually turns into a great card - it just takes some work to get it there.
Louise - the treasure box idea is great! I may have to try that out.
Know what's funny? I'll spend hours agonizing over a card, doing 2 or 3 or more versions. Finally I either get to something I like or decide I'm done and it's going to happen at class whether I like it or not. When I show the cards to people, inevitably someone picks up the card I still don't like and says, "This one's my favorite!"
Don't know if that helps or not, but it kind of helps me when I'm feeling frustrated by a card... :-)
__________________ Geojlc --I never met a craft I didn't like!
"It was a good idea that shouldn't'a seen the light of day."
I'm so glad I'm not alone!!! Susan - I might post that saying in my craft corner.
Louise: I love the idea of a treasure box - I have one for scraps and sometimes spare backgrounds go in there - but maybe I should open it up to other "card parts". You have a great Blog BTW.
I guess you just keep trying and eventually you get better at knowing what really is a good idea before you start.
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Originally Posted by LouiseG
I have a box right near my work area. When a card or part of a card is just totally frustrating me I put it in there. I know I'm not giving up on it, it's just a saved "treasure" for another time. I have used those pieces of cards so many times and been glad to have them.
I just got done making a card with a background from two days ago. I had worked and worked on that background and could not get it to work with my card two days ago. So I threw it into my treasure box. Today I needed a background for a stamped image -- and, man, if that background piece wasn't the perfect fit! Which really made me happy!
I have one of these, too. It is a great feeling when something you created days, weeks or even month's ago, fits beautifully into a new project!
Yes, I most definate have that problem...ask my husband. I last Delight In Life card I made took me 4hrs to do which was on a work night too. My husband keeps calling me the procrasinator (spelling maybe wrong). It does drive me nuts to come up with an idea. How do people do it sometimes? It's like I have all this stuff and can't figure out an idea, is there something wrong with that?
I feel your pain! I actually have a little card stand on my nightstand where I put cards that I am not quite sure how to really complete it with the perfect touch. I end up starring at it before I go to bed and when I wake up in the morning. Crazy, huh? One would figure that I would get over it and just get it done...generally, something comes to me within a day or so.
That seem like the perfect idea for me! Sometimes I'll keep myself awake thinking about a concept and trying to figure out the best way to execute it. It doesn't matter how many cards I "could have" done in the meantime, when I have an idea I need to see it through. I'm actually having a complete creative block right now. I may be frustrated now but it's better for me to work on making the card perfect and really be proud of it than to just say that's "good enough" and walk away. Does that make me a perfectionist? No, just crazy!
It is not unusual for me to take 2-3 DAYS to make a card. Sometimes I finalize my decision on the base color of the card and then it sits on my work table for a day or so until I add something else and then it starts to take shape - but I'm never satisfied, so there it sits for another day. When I put a card together 1-2-3 and I love it - I'm shocked! . Boy I love to stamp - really I do. I'm always amazed at the group of ladies who participate every day in the challenges. I can't think that fast.
__________________ ShariW
Trust in the Lord with all thine Heart-Prov.3:5a
I'm just a beginner at card making, but I have been creating and crafting all my life. I think this is just part of the normal creative process. Artist's don't just think up great ideas and complete them without going though a process of trial and error and periods of frustration. And very few ever create masterpieces every time.
You have to think of the work you do as a progressive learning experience. Even people whose work is very good go though a process of learning, and they don't just sit down and whip out one fantastic card after another with out some trial and error.
You just have to find what works for you. After a period of time, I just set something aside when I get frustrated with it. Sometimes I will look at it at a later date and see immediately what it needs or I may decide that it just didn't work. I just don't get in any hurry to thow it out. Sometimes, cards that I don't like are the ones everyone else does like!
Sometimes, I will take it to a mirror and look at it through the mirror and can see something. I have also found, after scanning my cards and seeing them on the monitor, I can see what a card needs that I didn't see before.
All of this just makes it that much more exciting when you get that card that you are really thrilled with!
Too funny! I think we're at opposite ends of the elephant. I'd be frustrated if I felt I had to pull a card from my head into reality with any time frame. I love messing around with ideas and love that I can close the door when I have a work-in-progress. For the quick cards, I go to my "recipe box" or come here, but most of my pleasure comes from those "playin' around" cards that sit out on my table for a long time (and SCS is also responsible for most of that inspiration, too!).
Does anyone else ever get hung up???
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