Crafting can be a messy time-intensive affair. In the best-case scenario, you end up with a beautiful item you love and are proud of. Worst case scenario, well, I think we all know. Yet, I don’t believe that all the tears and work and time we pour into our project, even if it ends up a craft fail, go without its impact. Whether we refined our skills and learned how to improve our techniques or catch ourselves in old habits with each craft we learn.
Inevitably learning skills and competencies in one area of life will translate
to skills and competencies in other life areas. There are many lessons of
life I learned through crafting. And though there are many to talk about, I
share with you 3 major life lessons I learned through crafting.
1. Read up on a topic.
Honestly, when was the last time you
informed yourself before you started anything? Understandably, some things are
more interesting than others. Some things seem easy to do. So, why should we
read up on things? Why should we look at the instructions before doing
something? Well, the answer is clearly and loudly going through your head right
now. We know what happens if you want to assemble the Flatpack while discarding
the instructions. It might go well, or quite regularly go all pear-shaped.
More than once, I bought crafting
supplies and thought it was easy enough to wing it. Well, I can show you enough
proof of mishaps I could have avoided by just informing myself in advance.
Since I started reading up, informing
myself and reading instructions, my projects work out the process
work smoother, and I am quicker to create freely and be really creative with
the technique. It saves me time and patience.
2. Be Patient.
I used to be the kind of person that
could not see a project to a finish, wait for the paint to dry or work on details.
The result was often messy, mostly a bit lacking and, well, unfinished. I can’t
count all the projects that fell apart because I couldn’t leave the glue to dry,
the fingerprints on painted boxes and surfaces because I wanted to continue
rather than wait for the paint to try.
Over time, I learned to wait. There is nothing more frustrating than an
avoidable blemish on a project I like or having to redo everything. While
crafting, another inevitable lesson is that certain things just need time and left alone to work out.
While there is a need
to check the progress at times for some things, we need to put our impatience aside and wait
for some things to finish the process on their own. Constant checking, readjusting
and fiddling around won’t hasten the process but for sure will leave a mark on your
project. And then, a watched tea cattle never boils. So, I learned to put away
some of my projects overnight and continue working on them when the time is right.
3. Never
give up.
Some crafts can be incredibly
frustrating to learn. For me, it has always been crochet. I remember my mum desperate
to teach me when I was about eight years
old and how bored I was at the sheer never-ending strings of single stitches,
which my mum always judged to be irregular and thus not good enough to start on
perhaps easy but more interesting projects (We had the same drama with
embroidery and cross-stitch). What has changed now? My crochet work has by no
means improved in its quality. (Ok, maybe a little.) In fact, my granny recently inspected a scarf I
am working on and did not even need a second to see some mistakes in my
pattern. Still, I will see this scarf through because I am getting better with every new row, and my technique improves, and I am gaining confidence in the skill
I learned. I do not deny myself to advance and progress because my rows are
not perfect. I am starting, and I don’t need to be perfect.
So whatever project and craft I start next, I know it does not need to be perfect. Practise makes perfect, and I just need to start.
What crafting mistakes have you made?
Do any of the lessons sound familiar to you?
I am looking forward to reading your
comments.
If you craft yourself, do not forget your
creation on Instagram with the hashtag #craftjournaler
Let us share our ideas!
Feel free to roam about and find more ideas on this
blog. How about some more home decor ideas?
Until I see you next time remember: Keep colourful
and craft more :-)
