A battle with perfectionism

I have been thinking for a long time that I would like to start a creative journal. Somewhere to collect my ideas and inspirations; somewhere to store photos and magazine cuttings: somewhere to experiment and practise new techniques.

Just over a month ago, I bought this pretty A4 scrapbook from Paperchase.

For a month it has sat on the shelf: looking pretty but unused. I think this picture sums up the problem...

...large, blank pages. Blank pages that offer endless possibility. Blank pages that are crying out for embellishment, improvement and life.

But also, blank pages that are as terrifying as the blank page of an exam paper.

Those blank pages have awakened the worst of the perfectionist in me.

The perfectionist questions everything:

"What if you make a mistake?"

"What if it's not good enough?"

"Why do you want a creative journal anyway? You're not an artist!"

Until last night, the perfectionist won and the scrapbook stayed on the shelf.

And then the voice of reason (in the form of my other half) stepped in and said,

"Why don't you just do a cover page? You're not going to cover it (since you bought a pretty book) so you should make a cover page to make it your own. You could do some doodles. And you can always work in pencil first, if you're worried about making a mistake. And if all else fails you can take the page out and start again."

And I knew he was right.

So last night, I finally committed pencil to paper. And pretty soon moved onto pen. So now the first page at least is no longer blank.

So far, there is a large ring of flowers which will have a photo of me in the centre (if I can find a nice one)...

... and some doodled lettering to make it my own.

And do you know the best part? I'm REALLY enjoying it! After all, it doesn't have to be perfect! That was the whole point. This journal was meant to be a place for experiments and for fun.

And it's very relaxing!

After a couple of very stressful weeks, it is a real joy to be able to focus on something so completely and drive all the worries out of my head for a little while.

I'm not quite finished yet - there are still some spaces to fill - but I wanted to share the journey so far.

Talking of journeys, the Creative Crafting Summer Blog Tour gets under way today. The first stop is The Old Button where you can sign up for a Christmas craft swap. Click on the picture below to join in.

You can also find the latest edition of the Creative Crafting magazine here.