Hi, Friend! Welcome to my new blog. If you are a momma, Happy Mother’s Day! Grab your favorite beverage, snuggle in, and let’s get acquainted!
I chose today for my launch date because being a mother is such an important part of my life. It is what got me into scrapbooking all those years ago and it is what keeps me crafting, even though my youngest is a full-grown adult. I also chose this day to launch because of what I want this blog to be. Yes, I’ll share some crafts, but I also want to talk about life, family, friends, and all things in between. So, let’s dig in, shall we?
While shopping with my daughter recently, she said something that gave me pause. We were picking out tops for an outfit and I kept gravitating toward the blues and blacks while she was trying to get me to try a pink shirt. At one point she got frustrated and said, “You don’t like pink, do you?” That question weighed on me for a few days. After thinking about it, I realized I really do like pink and always have. But the problem is I don’t feel feminine enough to wear pink.
Isn’t that silly, that I feel like I’m not feminine enough to wear a color? I love a good dress (very girly), but I also love my jeans (not-so-girly) depending on the day and the mood. This is why that conversation weighed on my, because I had this strange feeling of “not enough” in such a silly manner. Have you come across an instance where you didn’t feel enough of something for a certain thing? I feel most of us have come across this at some point in our lives. You may be asking how on earth does that relate to our craft today?
Well, the focus of the craft today is fussy cutting and it’s pretty similar. I don’t do a lot of fussy cutting because I don’t think I’m very good at it. My borders are never the same and I always have to trim them up. Or the edges are to sharp, or not rounded well. One of the things that I’ve learned with fussy cutting is that it is just cutting. It doesn’t have to be perfect, and in many instances, it’s better if it isn’t. But I do have a few tips to impart.
First, when you have a print that you like, or as is the case with today’s card, images that you stamped that you like, those are good candidates for fussy cutting. For these hearts, I stamped the hearts, then went over some of them with a stencil in a darker color. I loved the way they came out, but the way I stamped them on the paper did not work for what I wanted to create so I decided to fussy cut these.
The biggest struggle I have with fussy cutting is that my margins are rarely smooth and even. To compensate for this, I cut each image apart from the larger page. It is much easier to maneuver a smaller piece of paper. I have also found that if I move the paper versus moving my scissors, I come out with smoother cuts. As for the margin, I start wider than what I want so that I have room to even it out if needed.
In the end, if it doesn’t come out the way you want, you don’t have to use it. You can always save it for another project, or just toss it if you really mess it up. The most important thing to remember is that most people that truly value your handmade crafts won’t notice the flaws, they’ll only see the beautiful craft you made just for them and feel incredibly blessed.
And as for that outfit that I mentioned at the beginning of this post? I ended up returning the blue top I originally purchased and picked up the pink my daughter recommended originally, and I love it!
Leave a comment and let me know what you thought of my very first post for this blog! Until next time!