You know how you start a project with an idea of how you want it to turn out and then somehow, along the way, it ends up being not exactly what you had in mind? Well, the creative process sometimes takes us on a winding road to our final destination and we should learn to enjoy the journey.
At the Craft and Hobby Association convention this past weekend, I learned a new technique using double sided sticky paper, two stencils, foil, flock and glitter. Later, I had the opportunity to recreate the process and, while everything was going smoothly – or so I thought – I neglected to brush off the excess black flock before removing the top stencil. What resulted was the soft black velvety background you see in the photo, rather than the pure white flock which was to be applied in the next step. The point of my rambling is to be a bamboo (a favorite saying from a former colleague) – be flexible, keep an open mind, and if something doesn't turn out as you thought it should, it's OK, it just might be better! Creating is all about giving ourselves permission to experiment, to try something different, to make lemonade out of lemons.
I thought a lot about the creative process on the flight home and the more I looked at my card, the more I liked it . . . and more "what ifs" came to mind. So come back next week to see where the creative process has taken me.
Big thanks and hugs to Julie Makela, a very talented woman with a delightful sense of humor, who demonstrated the technique I tried to recreate, and to Lynell Harlow, our fearless leader at Dreamweaver Stencils for her encouragement and for giving us such a great product to work with.
And apologies to the attendants on Southwest Flight 2417 for the glitter on the (thankfully) unoccupied seat next to me.
Happy crafting,
Liz
