I can’t believe it’s What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday again. The last week has gone by in a busy whirl with no time to work on the handmade book I mentioned last week. Not my favourite way to live. I had so much on my mind and so much going on I’ve been feeling very disconnected. I’m not good at busy!
There were nice bits in amongst it of course, some of which I’ve already written about but I was disappointed too.
I’ve been working on a Christening present for weeks and finally got round to trying to cut it out on Friday.
This picture shows the result. A big fat failure.
I was trying to cut out a heart with my Silhouette Cameo containing the details of the Christening. I spent all day Friday trying different settings and different card combinations but couldn’t get anything to work.
I thought about trying to attach some tissue paper to some plain paper and then using the Cameo to draw it out with a pen but I lost heart and ran out of time. In the end I went into town and bought a gift. Very disappointing!
There were a few lessons learned though:
1. Don’t leave things until the last minute
I kept putting off trying to do the cutting, thinking I had bags of time and then suddenly I didn’t.
2. If you’re worried about failing – fail fast!
I put off doing the cutting because I was nervous I wouldn’t be able to do it. I was right but then there was no time to work out something different. If I’d just gotten on with it and failed faster I could have moved on to the next idea.
3. Test complicated designs as you go along
If I tried this again I would design the smallest part of the shape first and make sure that I could cut that out before I spent weeks perfecting the rest of it. If I’d done this I could have made adjustments or done the smallest bit with the pen whilst cutting out the rest or something else. By completing the whole design first I didn’t really have anywhere to go when it didn’t work. Especially with the time constraints.
On the plus side, apart from the lessons learned (?) I’ve taken my knowledge of Silhouette Studio to a new level so designs will take less time in future.
Now I’m going to have a nice relaxing day in the attic. Think I’m going to get out the paints. I’ve haven’t played with them for a long while . . .
Post 20 of 30 blogs in 30 days
Hi there and sorry you’ve had a disappointing time. The Christening present idea was so lovely. But as you say you have learned from the experience. Happy WOYWW Anne x
What a shame about the Christening gift. Sometimes things just don’t go as planned do they?
Happy WOYWW 4th anniversary. Susi #74
I hope you don’t give up all together. In a few days go back and master the design – it may be too late as a christening present but imagine the satisfaction of achieving it!
Happy WOYWW
Laura
94
I completely agree about the time thing. I’m always putting things off, thinking I have loads of time, then suddenly I don’t.Its maddening when you can’t recreate what you can see in your head- that gets me every time. Have a great week, Hugs Shaz #150 xx
Oh dear, I’m sure you are disappointed but you seem to have a handle on seeing the sunny side of things…lessons learned. Self discovery included. Discovering the things that stop us. Good work
Carole 148
Thank you all for your kind words. Have a fun week!
What a shame, I would have been very disheartened too. It is not too late to still give the gift though, as a momento of the day rather than an actual Christening gift. I think cutting lettering is the hardest thing to get right as the slightest error in the settings can be catastrophe. Perhaps a slightly bolder text might help. A really sharp blade on a slow speed, and I have found with things like this it is often better to do a double cut at a lesser depth. I hope you still finish the project.
Diane
53
m sorry to be late in visiting but I’m still on my quest to get round everyone this week. I know it’s going to take some time, but I wanted to say that it’s amazing that the internet can bring together so many likeminded people and I’m grateful that WOYWW has also brought along so many new friends, thanks to Julia.
Aww, what a shame your gift didn’t work out right Gillian but at least next time you’ll have a bit more of an idea of what to do and I’m sure the gift you ended up buying was just as well received.
Enjoy your weekly snoop, especially as we’re celebrating WOYWW’s 4th Anniversary.
Happy Crafting!
Sue @82
x
How disapointing to have trouble with your cutting! Why is it things like this never happen when you have buckets of time and no deadlines…just when you are a bit puched for time!
Happy belated WOYWW4.
Just where did you actually pick up the recommendations to
create ““WOYWW – Lessons From Cameo Fail | Gillian Pearce Paintings and Stuff”?
Thanks for your time ,Pauline
I got the idea from “Not on the High Street” and then created the cutting file myself.