November Creations and Coming to Terms with Failure

November is nearing its end and it's time for an update of my creations. Things went a little differently than planned (thus is life, right?) and I ended up working on different projects than I had earlier stated. The projects that I have worked on this month have been gifts for Xmas and not so much things for myself. I am working on an embriodery project (pics to come soon). I painted a watercolor for my friend (my first time working with watercolor!) and I think it actually turned out pretty good (pics to come soon). There were a few places early on that I made some minor mistakes but I'm learning not to let those little imperfections in my work bother me.

Speaking of not letting imperfections bother me... The other project that I have been working on is sewing an Xmas dress for myself. I measured out the pattern and sized it to myself but I made an error somewhere along the line in the measurements and when I assembled the pieces I discovered that the dress was too small. The dress has a lace overlay and lining and I already cut all of the pieces to the wrong size. Talk about driving myself crazy. Despite my mistakes I have been trying to be optimistic and take out the seams and make modifications, etc but I have found it difficult to continue. It seems like at every step of the way I find something else in it that I need to modify because of my original mistake. I'm at the point where I'm not even sure if I am going to continue with it or just throw the whole thing out. 

This is something that I have difficulty with in many of my projects. I always want my projects to turn out perfect the first time every time. It is something I am trying to work on: to be more comfortable with "failure" and to just get back on the horse. Also, to realize that just because I made a mistake, that doesn't mean the creation is ruined. In short, I am trying to be less critical of myself. I need to start realizing that I have the ability to modify or to even start over if I don't like something and there is nothing wrong with that! Afterall, even some famous artists have painted and re-painted the same subject, why should I expect to be perfect the first time? Art, like anything else, takes practice and I need to allow myself to make those beautiful messes!

xoxo

V

Introductions and such

I am a new blogger and I;m really excited. I have 2, my other being on livejournal. I am planning on making both blogs very similar. My intent for these journals is to talk only about my current projects and ideas. Those being artist endeavors including but not limited to sewing, cooking, painting and drawing, other topics may include philosophy, poetry, short stories, books, and life. My goal is to make a journal that a stranger could read so I don't want to include a lot of personal information or person specific entries. I will however, include personal thoughts, but not complaints (e.g. school, money problems, family issues). My goal is to have an interesting, inspirational, and even instructional online journal that many people can enjoy. I will be posting my first official topic-related entry soon. Hopefully I will have some fabric soon to start my current sewing project. I am making a Battlestar Galactica Admiral's uniform, but I will talk more about that next time!


Just a little information about me: I'm 21. I live in St. Louis, MO. I'm a total geek/gamer chick and I love creating and viewing art. I also love baking and cooking, and philosophy. I'm currently reading Thus Spake Zarathustra (love Nietzsche!) which I also hope to talk about more in-depth in a future entry. I'm in school for psychology (undergrad) and planning to go to grad school for physical therapy. I'd like to be a physical therapist/yoga instructor and open my own practice. I may talk about the process a bit, though I don't want to get too caught up in that in this journal.