My Mind is All Over the Map!

I am new to the art journaling world.  I stumbled upon Donna Downey's Inspiration Wednesday Videos http://donnadowney.typepad.com/simply_me/inspiration-wednesdays/ a few months ago and my life has not been the same! Thankfully I have family in NC who live less than 30 minutes from Donna's studios and my son chose a college in the same area!  I have been fortunate enough to meet Donna and attended her first Inspired Weekend with 19 other amazing women this past November.  Since then all I think about is mixed media and art journaling, the problem is I do not have a lot of confidence in myself.  I spend a huge amount of my day following blogger after blogger, watching youtube video after youtube video, trying to soak up all of their knowledge, but I never put the pen to the paper or the brush in the paint. 

I feel like my mind is all over the map.  I am always looking for the "perfect" idea, the "perfect" technique.  I want all of my pages to be "perfect".  This perfection or lack there of is driving me crazy!  I actually think it is a form or procrastination...if I keep looking for perfect idea, I won't have to put myself out there...

Donna said it herself..."there is no perfection" "if it makes you happy....it is perfect".  The first night of the workshop Donna handed us a blank art journal...filled with pages made of manilla folders and she said "tonight you are going to take these pages and play and make mistakes because that is the only way that you are going to learn what works and what doesn't"....ummmm hello.....I don't like to make mistakes...I was freaking out, but as I sat and watched, these amazing women that surrounded me jumped in and started creating amazing pages they were having fun making mistakes!  It took me a while but I finally jumped in and tried a page or two but I was nervous as hell!

This page in my inspiration journal is my attempt at trying to give myself some confidence in my journey.  Life is not getting any longer and I am sick and tired of holding myself back because of my lack of confidence!  I hope you like it!

What is a Craft Shack?

The Craft Shack is a Recycled Arts and Crafts Studio.  It is a creative environment for ages 10 & up! We believe everybody has some level of creativity in their bones! Some are just naturals and others just need a little bit of opportunity and direction!!! The Craft Shack's main focus is Arts and Crafts with recycled materials. We offer a broad spectrum of craft classes and workshops from mixed media, paper crafting to embroidery, knitting, crochet and so much more! There is something for everyone!