Jul 15, 2007

do you ever wonder...

if you are getting left behind? i was doing a fair amount of blog surfing (blurfing, is it?) and i was looking at cards by various different people. then i was thinking about my own cards, which i've decided all look the same. i don't branch out much. do you ever feel like you are getting passed by and left in the dust? i just don't have the time, i guess, to devote to keep up on all the constant "new" techniques or the new trends. like the whole papertrey rage. i mean i LOVE those stamps. but for $24 each (i know, i spend that much on some other stamps...) i just can't keep up! i mean i love all 5 that were released just hours ago. and would buy them all if i could. but i don't even own ONE scalloped punch! yet another trend i haven't kept up with. i've had some wonderful friends send me some scallops they punched and i'm afraid to admit i'm not quite sure how to use them!! anyway, i just feel like i'm being left behind with my old card making ways. the last card i made was the first i've ever made where i only used a single layer. turns out, i had to make another layer to cover up the inside! so i still didn't branch out much!

sorry to ramble. just feeling a little off tonight. maybe sleep will help.

7 peeps have to say:

Anonymous said...

Good morning!
I do hope the sleep helped :)

Just wanted to let you know, you are certainly not alone in those feelings of being left behind.

I have found this can be a very expensive hobby! I say "can" because I want to go out and buy every new gadget that comes out, but I know I can't afford to do that.

It is frustrating to read those other blogs, and see the fantastic cards they are turning out with those new gadgets. But, ya know, they were turning out fantastic cards even BEFORE those new gadgets came out.

I wanted to offer you one thing that helps me…
when I go looking for inspiration, I go back to Splitcoast, and browse around in the galleries that use stamp sets that I already have. But, instead of starting with the newest posts, I start at the other end…b.g. (before gadgets :) Just look at what these gals were creating with their “old card making ways”.

I have more to share with you on this topic, but I don’t want to fill up your blog…I’ll send you some more later.

I can’t think of a snappy ending….so I’ll just stop here :)

Adelina said...

Amen sista'! I feel the same way, but it all goes back to the reason we're doing this hobby. It's for us, not to keep up with trends. I got caught up in the spending frenzie until I realized that I can't afford it! So I've just been looking at all the sketches, signing up for blog candy at chances to win the products I don't own and just making cards the way I always have made cards. With limited supplies!

I love your cards! I read your blog all the time.

Tami Bayer said...

I think there is something to be said for classic style in all things. I don't own a bella or a house mouse or a papertrey ink...well you get the idea. I actually get excited when I find a great used psx stamp. So, I think it's definitely ok to set your own style and not be trendy. Do what you love with things that are well loved. Life isn't a race, it's a journey.

Julie Prichard said...

I agree with Tami...don't get worked up over what you don't have....try and sit down and play with what you do have. If you concentrate on making what other people are trying to make, then you will be unhappy if your things don't look like theirs....go with your own flow and learn to love it! On the other hand....take a 'far out' class for inspiration! I am so fired up over my shoe shrine...I can't stop spinning! I have all those scallop punches sitting here gatehring dust....

Allison Rankin said...

I hear ya...I do try to keep up sometimes and then get frustrated when I can't get things to work the way I would like (I can't get an even image with the Text Boxed set from Papertrey Ink to save my life). Personally, there is something to be said with trying to be a "catalogue stamper". I think those are harder to do than relying on punches, DP or the "sexy stamps". (Kurtis is a great example of this!)

Anonymous said...

shhhshhh dont tell anyone but I dont have any of those punches iether! lol. I just can't afford them! and now with the papertrey sets Im glad I dont have the punches so I dont feel tempted to get those! lol. I did get a pair of scallop siscors from Micheals and I use my caluzzle for circles and ovals and then cut them to make them into scalloped pieces :) may not be perfect but it cost $2!
I do have the three papertrey sets but I haven't used them yet! I see all these great cards and I dont know I guess I thought when I got the sets the ideas would just jump out! lol. I need to play with them more! have a great monday!

michelle sturgeon said...

I agree! I do not own a cuttlebug, cricut, papertrey etc...although I do like to look at others' creations! There are some great stamps out there (a few Rubber Romance I like) but first off, I don't like to colour my stamped images, and secondly, I don't need them! I'm very happy with my SU and CTMH stuff I've got! So maybe my cards look boring after a while...I know who my die-hard blogger visitors are and they keep coming back, so I guess not that boring!