It's Only a Sketchbook...

I pasted this reminder into the front of my new sketchbook...

Hello, and hope you're well, thriving, and enjoying whatever season it is with you, to the max.

This week, always pulled from digital watercolour to splash around its more real equivalent by sunlight and heat...I finally started a new sketchbook.

Why, "Finally"?

I say "Finally," because I'd been dancing around the brink of starting the wretched sketchbook  for weeks...doodling, sticking to digital, or using loose paper. And all because that first page feels more pressurised, somehow. There's a delight in the possibility of filling all those blank pages, yes...but...

-What if I mess something up and have to look at it until sketchbook is finished, every time I flip through?

-What can I possibly do that really represents where I am now for the lifetime of the sketchbook?

And so on, and so on.

If you're ever faced with blank paper, new sketch book, new journal, new project,   (or a blank screen) maybe you can relate?

(I think maybe digital art, with its oh-so-handy "Control Z" function to undo the last action, also makes me, still, more nervous of paper than is warranted).

In any event...

As you can gather from this , I am not only a recovering perfectionist, but also the queen of overthinking. And in the scale of things going on in the world, let's face it, minor points like these are excellent "problems," to have.

And so, I finally stopped myself and just got.into. it. (yay!) by deciding:

1) To create a piece of art to stick in the front *first*.

2) To encourage imperfection, wildness and experimentation in that drawing, and set  that as the tone for the new sketchbook instead.

3)  To remember, in fact, that the whole point of sketchbooks is supposed to be practice and play, not perfection,

4) To bear in mind that "done" is (almost) always better than perfect,  and 

5)  To finish the sketchbook ASAP, so that having things hanging around won't be a problem anyway. 

And so far...

And so far, the new strategy is working. Whenever I open the sketchbook, I see something that I hated as I was doing it, but which in its weird, imperfect and totally overworked way, is kinda-growing on me...

 

and the words of reminder that, "It's only a sketchbook...Go wild and have fun".

Maybe I might even borrow that thought as a metaphor for life in general :-) .

Thanks for reading down this far, and hope it helps in some way.

More soon.

___________________________

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Art is Just Much More Fun...

"Art is Just Much More Fun", by Clare Walker, BoundingSquirrel.com

Hello there, and hope you're thriving.

Today's image is straight from the sketchbook (in watercolour, pen, a touch of wax resist and even some sparkly gold acrylic paint).

And it sums up how I'm feeling...Much better, thank you, with the sun shining, and art calling oh-sooo-much-more than the thousand things with which I'm supposed to keep up or catch up

If you can relate to this, there's a strong chance that it will be in my shop soon in some way.

But for today, it's just here for fun as it says...And to be a permission slip (if you need one) to have more art and or fun in life too.

Have fun with this, and more soon.
___________________________

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Shed-Shaped Card to Print in A Hurry

This is a low-res screen-shot of the shed-shaped card

Hello there, (and yes, as you can probably tell from the title, this *is* the companion post to "Floral Cards You Can Print In a Hurry," from a few weeks ago).

I've just uploaded the design you see above, so that by the time you get this message in your inbox, it should be available to buy and print out in my Craftsuprint shop.

So fingers crossed, if you have a last minute Father's Day emergency this year, it should available to print out out and still look really fun and totally intended. (My huge apologies for not posting this earlier...I got struck down with a monster cold and cough...Yes, in June-that's our weather this year at work, I guess...).

But all's improving now. And should you find yourself reading or needing this after Father's Day, it's very versatile. Sentiment ideas like "I Love You Shed-Loads," and "Happy Birthday" are included on the sheet too. These are year-round winners, and not just limited to male shed-lovers, either...

In any event, hope this helps and is fun for you, and that all is well in your world.

More soon.

___________________________


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