It’s been a long day. Maybe your boss yelled at you. Maybe you bombed that big test. Maybe you hit every red light and spilled your coffee, and the kids are fighting, and it just feels like you can’t do anything right. Sound familiar?

We all have days like that – days when our confidence takes a hit. It’s not uncommon, but it’s SO important for us to have strategies to bounce back, so the bad day doesn’t turn into a bad month. One of my favorite confidence boosters is – you guessed it – needle felting.

Freestyle Felting

When I’m not feeling confident, I steer clear of my more intricate projects and work on something just for fun. The pressure of trying to do something perfectly can just increase my stress, if I’m not in a confident mindset, so I save my more detailed work for another day. Instead, I select my wool and, whether I have an idea in mind or not, I just start stabbing. Sometimes I know what I want to make. Sometimes, though, I just go with the flow.

As the wool felts down, I begin to get ideas about what it can be. I start guiding it more and more, maybe into a familiar shape, or maybe into something out of my imagination. That’s the beauty of needle felting – there are no wrong ways to do it.

The Payoff

Eventually, as I felt, the stress of the day melts away. Where before I was feeling like I couldn’t succeed at anything, now I have proof that that isn’t the case. In my very hand, I’m holding something that once was a ball of wool. Now, it’s an animal, or a pumpkin, or the monster that lives under my bed. I have proof that I can accomplish something, no matter how small (and cuddly).

Now, I know, starting an unfamiliar crafting project can seem daunting, if you’re having a crisis of confidence. Don’t worry – I’ve got you covered! If you’re new to felting, or just looking to gain more confidence in your felting skills, join my academy! You’ll get video courses, learn techniques, and receive support to get you started, or improve your felting skillset.

No matter what your skill level, you can succeed at needle felting! There are no failed creations, just an opportunity to shape it into something else. You can go to bed knowing you’ve accomplished at least one good thing today – a piece of art all your own.