A Mediocre Dabbler

If someone were to ask you "Of the things that you enjoy doing the most, which of those things have you mastered?" what would you answer?

I'd have to answer "None." And that makes me kind of sad.

Oh, sure, I can do A LOT of things that I enjoy doing. In fact, I will at least try something before I decide I don't like it... does that make sense? But the fact is, I've tried sooo many things, thought that I liked it, go out and buy the stuff to do it, then realize that I wasn't very good at it, then put it aside.

Here are a few examples:

Sewing: I just had to have a sewing machine. I thought being able to sew stuff was going to make my life easier. I saved up some money and bought one. It's not super fancy, but it's more machine that I ever needed. I made three valances, did some mending (oh, and made a few Wee Bunnies) and that's it.

Cake Decorating: It began honestly enough for me, trying to save money and making the cakes myself. I was halfway decent at it. I even wanted to take a cake decorating class but that never materialized... so, I stopped. In fact, I haven't decorated a cake or even a cupcake in years! (But, I promised the girls we'd make cupcakes tomorrow, so I'll let you know how that goes.)

Scrapbooking: My friend Angie was a Creative Memories Consultant and as new baby gifts, gave me the most beautiful scrapbooks you can imagine! Of the two, I have completed one scrapbook -- Elisan's first year. Poor Kyla... her book is only 1/3 complete. I keep telling myself that I need to finish it before she realizes her book is incomplete. I figure I have another year or two before that happens. But once I discovered the joys of digital scrapbooking, I never looked back to paper scrapbooking.

Oh, did I mention Digital Scrapbooking? Ah, yes...

Digital Scrapbooking: When I got started into digi scrap, I started off with a super easy software called "Scrapbook Factory Deluxe." It is basically drag and drop. It is so easy to use and I was hooked. But, it was limited. After about six months, I decided I needed to step it up a notch and I purchased "Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0." It was a few notches too high for me and I still to this day cannot use it for more than very minor things like add a drop shadow to a photo, etc. I need to take a class, but that means spending more money! (So, I'm still using "Scrapbook Factory Deluxe" for all of my digital graphics stuff!)

Stamping and Card Making: I did not want to get into stamping... at all! But, my friend Kristi is a Stampin' Up Consultant and she invited me to a card making class. It was fun and they made it all look so easy! (Isn't that always the case?) So, I bought a set of stamps and ink pads. I remember being excited to get my new stuff, but once I got started, I realized that none of my cards looked great. They only looked o.k. I realized to have the 'great' looking cards, I'd need to buy more supplies... but I just couldn't bring myself to buy any more stuff, especially since I didn't even want to get started into stamping anyway!

Jewelry Making: My friend Cyndi got me started in jewelry making. No, she wasn't selling it, she was just making stuff for herself and for her friends. She showed me how to do it and it was easy enough. So, I bought the tools and materials needed to do it. But, did you know, that beads are expensive? Whoa! It didn't seem cost effective to make any ONE item. It was more cost effective to buy in bulk and make several. Well, that was the end of it for me.... Oh, sure, I made several cheap necklaces and bracelets and Elisan loves the stuff I made for her... but that's about it.

There are other things I'd enjoy doing more of, but the cost factor is keeping me in check. For example, photography. I'd love to have a super expensive camera with a huge lens to take awesome pictures with... but knowing me, I'd never use it to it's fullest capabilities. Maybe it's a good thing I "know" myself well enough to avoid the super expensive hobbies!

I'm torn as to whether or not knowing how to do many things badly is better than not knowing how do to anything at all. Realistically, I'd like to get the sewing machine out again and learn how to sew from a pattern. I'd like to eventually learn Photoshop Elements. With both girls in school in the Fall, perhaps I will buy a book and learn. Maybe I'll even take a cake decorating class.

Maybe one day, I'll be able to say I've mastered something, but for now... I'm just a dabbler. A mediocre dabbler.