Trying something different: 4 Things I've learned

This weekend I tried something different, or rather, something I haven't tried in a looooong time. My friend, Nadine, had a Stampin' Up party at her home and I attended. It was quite a full night and definitely an experience! It was fun hanging out with other crafty-minded women for an evening and I learned a few things about myself:

1. Following directions in German is difficult for me, but not THAT bad. I should experiment with anleitung auf Deutsch (directions in German) more often. Words like twist, tear, bend, punch, etc. are just not in my German vocabulary! I've been adding/deleting blogs from my blogroll lately and have found some fun German craft blogs, so they'll help me move that way.

2. Directions for projects are not all bad. In general, I don't like following directions with crafts. Sewing, usually, but crafts, not so much; there's a little rebel streak in me! Still, it was a good thing to have them this weekend because it helped me learn a few new techniques that can be used anywhere, so directions can be good!

3. I have my own style. Since the projects we completed were pretty strict in terms of which papers and elements we could use and how the completed project should look, I found myself struggling to make a project 'me' and not just a copy of the example. Part of this was the directions/rebel issue, part of it was me and 'my look'.

4. Trying something different definitely gives me new ideas for other, often unrelated, projects. It was fun to dabble in something different for an evening and while I doubt I'm going to become a die-hard scrapper or card-maker (I'll leave that to Nadine and Tina!), I definitely learned a few things that I'll be mixing into other projects down the road -some even this week!

Vielen Dank für die Einladung, Nadine!  =)

Have you been trying anything new lately? What have you been learning?