Fantasy Fiber Journal Cover by Diana Gonzalez

“Don’t bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.”

-William Faulkner

Copycats. Remember when you were in school, and someone would copy your work? It’s pretty common to look on websites like Craftster and Flickr for inspiration on your next project. You may even pick up a craft book to look up a new technique. It’s normal. Copying, however, does not need to be.

Step outside yourself. Challenge yourself. Within your creativity, as humans, we always try to add limits to things, to places, and our life. For some things, limits are a good thing; they can teach you discipline and control over life in general. But within creativity, limits are not a good thing.

I had a gym teacher who once told me to never say can’t. Maybe every gym teacher says that. But this particular gym teacher, was one that I will never forget. I’m really not much of an athlete. So this was his way of encouraging me, and the other skinny awkward kids in my class.

In art and creativity, never say can’t. Never. Never say you can’t. You just keep going. You keep trying. You continue to work at your creativity, and your creative process. Don’t compare yourself to others either. Just be what comes naturally to you. Be proud of your work. It doesn’t have to look like something out of “Paper Crafts” magazine, or “Somerset Studio”. It only has to reflect the statement of who you are, and what you feel inside, the way you look at life and the world around you.

Create, don’t imitate. That’s the key.

Recently, I finished the first of a few projects. I used the Fantasy Fiber by Art Institute Glitter. That stuff is so cool! Do you know, you can iron it on a low setting, and make your own fiber? That’s awesome! That’s what I did.

That’s a close up, of course. This stamp is from 100 Proof Press, stamped on hot pink paper from Stampin up, I think.

Oh, this is an altered notebook. I forgot to mention that. This is probably going to be an Xmas gift. The fabric I made with the fantasy fiber is layered over some textured black paper.

Nice, right? I really like how this turned out.

So it’s easy to use fantasy fiber! Just put your iron on a low setting. I don’t have an ironing board because I frankly only use my iron for crafting reasons. So I just layed out some fantasy fiber on the table, spread out a little bit in the shape of the paper size I’d like. Then, on a low setting, I iron the fibers lightly and slowly. It gets fused together and forms a fiber! So cool! I love it! These are great for collage work. And cards. Wow.

Anything else? Meh. Not much to tell really. I have a couple new books I’m working on, and some jewelry making swaps. I have been really into the swaps lately. They’re fun and a good way to get me making things without cluttering my home too much.

The Craftaholic