We all make them. Nobody is perfect. Yeah, yeah, we hear that all the time. Yet, when we go on social media, we see perfect lay-outs with crisp white backgrounds. We see crisp stamping and clean lines. And, all those things are great, but they are not the real world. Glue gets out of control sometimes and when we try to “fussy cut” in the real world, straight lines are rarely the result. My original post/video for today was going to be all about creating a grid layout in your traveler’s notebook, but when I hit the editing process, the mistakes started popping out. I put pictures in the wrong places. The layout is loud and busy. My handwriting is not so crisp. I almost deleted all my footage thinking that nobody would want to see my crazy layout with the mistakes. But, then, something changed my mind. 
I have a mini-me that watches everything I do. And that sweet girl is a budding perfectionist. She becomes so immensely frustrated when her craft projects don’t go as intended, that she often rips them up before she is done. And, that makes me so sad. Sad because I see her projects as beautiful. Sad because I know the best way to learn is by making mistakes. Sad that she thinks others are judging her on her final product and not for the bravery it took to start that project. So, I decided to finish editing my video. And, I decided to write this blog post to encourage all of you. Please embrace the mistakes you make in the creative process. Love the variations in your handwriting and the mishaps that happen when you are tired, but still feeling the creative juices flowing. Be proud of yourself for starting a project and even prouder for finishing one…even if it doesn’t turn out as intended. We all have the capacity for creativity and for craftiness. But, somewhere along the way, it all became about only creating the perfect end product and not about our love for crafting. Share your love of crafting with the world, and not only when everything goes your way. Be proud of how you overcame errors, worked around mistakes, and conquered mishaps to really embrace your creativity!
You can check out my video process for this traveler’s notebook layout over on YouTube:
How do you deal with things going wrong while crafting? I’d love to have a conversation below about letting go of “perfection”!
Keep it creative,
-The Scrappy Wife