YouTube Tuesday – Humility Makes Us Human

Good day Clarity family! Simon here with another YouTube Tuesday. Today, I want to start a little differently. I want to talk about Humility.

No matter how far we go in life, humility keeps us grounded. To quote the great C. S. Lewis: Humility isn’t thinking less of yourself, Humility is thinking of yourself less. And that quote has resonated with me.

Whether it be making YouTube videos, playing sports, crafting, cooking, singing, whatever; No matter how long you’ve been doing it, where you studied, who taught you or what you’ve accomplished along the way, we all started in the same place, not knowing anything. We all started without the knowledge and worked to attain it. Then studied, practiced and perfected our craft.

Of course, you could argue “Well, how did the first musician make music, Simon? Huh? Answer me that Mr Smarty Pants!”

My only answer? With difficulty. They were the ones who had to invent the skills and techniques and sometimes even the tools to allow them to create their art.

However, it is 2019 and thankfully, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel when it comes to parchment craft, we already did that for you. All you have to do is be patient and learn the skills that are taught to you.

Which brings me nicely on to this week’s YouTube Tutorial. Groovi makes parchment craft easy for everyone. Gridwork, however, has been a daunting task for many, am I right? You’re not sure if the hole goes here or here, making sure you have counted the space between each perforation correctly, making sure you have enough room on your border for the correct amazing of perforations; it can be a nightmare!

But Barb has created a handy video using the teeny tiny A6² Grids to educate and alleviate the fear of perforating and picot cutting.

Don’t forget, even our lovely Linda Williams (the Queen of Parchment) herself, had to start from somewhere. She didn’t just stroll through the Welsh countryside and think “Yup, this perforating and picot business… Got it licked. Now on to the global financial crisis. I can get that fixed before lunch I bet”

Of course not, she practised, learnt, became a Pergamano Tutor AND Master and is now teaching people how to create amazing pieces of art just like this.

Now back to the topic in question. Humility. Linda and Barbara don’t swan around shows and retreats boasting about how they know everything and how everyone needs to listen to them and that everyone else knows nothing. Good heavens no! They’re here to help, teach and educate the crafting world and as always, you the Clarity family, on the finer details and graceful art of parchment craft. Why, 2 years ago, I didn’t even know that parchment craft was a thing. 2 years on, a few tips and techniques learned from Linda, and I understand how to emboss and perforate Parchment, how to picot cut and so on. And at no point did Linda say to me “How can you not know this” or “I knew this ages ago”. I was helped because, like me… She was in the same boat as me at some point in time.

Right, I’m sure you lot are itching to get started or get back to it if you’ve been parching for some time. But for those who are just starting out and want to get the right and best tools for the job, we have some products you will need to get started including; A6² Straight and Diagonal Grids, 1 Needle Bold, 2 Needle Bold, 4 Needle Bold and A4 and A5 clear parchment.

And where can you find these great products? Just follow this link.

If however, you have stumbled across this blog and are completely new to parchment craft and Claritystamp in general, why not check out the videos below.

Here we have a brief retrospective of Claritystamp. We’ve been around for over 25 years don’t you know, so we know a thing or two.

And here we have a little bit of information about what is in our Groovi Starter Kit; everything you need to get in the groove.

And there you have it! Everything you need to get started right at your fingertips… AND… Right here, for your convenience.

Thank you for sticking with me on this post. It’s been a long one but I think it’s good to take some time, once in a while, to remember humility. As an ancient Chinese proverb goes;

“Be like the bamboo. The higher you grow, the deeper you bow”.

Thanks a lot, everyone, and we’ll see you tomorrow with a TV preview

Clarity Matters. It really does.

Simon