Practice Makes Knowledgeable

Sep 11

Written By Stacey

We all know practice doesn’t necessarily make perfect…

But, it sure can make you knowledgeable.

I engraved at Bloomingdale’s Big Brown Bash this past Saturday. As always, I had a ton of fun engraving. But, it also reminded me that practice is so important to being able to keep improving in this craft.

I bought a Stanley food jar to practice on in anticipation of the event. Most often, when I engrave, it’s on glass. I still practice on glass bottles at home. Since I haven’t engraved metal tumblers as regularly as I did when I first started engraving, I thought I could use a refresher.

But, as I have this tendency to fall asleep after work these days 😴, I never got around to it. Instead, I took it with me to the event in case there were no testers there. But, once I got set up, the customers were so excited about getting their tumblers engraved, I never even touched it!

Everyone had a different idea for their personalization. I love that kind of excitement!

Truth be told, for me, I think of everything I get to engrave (or paint, or foil, or calligraph) as practice…even when I am at an event. Personally, I find it difficult to believe one could ever reach the epitome of perfection where there’s just no room for growth. So, while I do my best on each item, I still look at all of them as a chance to improve what I’m doing every time.

It also acts as my own Jedi mind trick that helps me get into a creative groove and not completely freak out about the price of the item in my hands. 😅

Now, that doesn’t mean that I take unnecessary risks at events…because one thing you will learn in practicing behind closed doors…what does not work.

Case in point, the next day, I got to practice on that food jar I bought.

I usually draft with a White Stabilo Aquarellable Pencil on most surfaces. I used it for the event. But, since this jar was already white, there would be no contrast. So, I tested the surface with a tiny line using a Black Stabilo Aquarellable Pencil.

It was a big nope for me. First, while the white pencil can be used on metal, the black pencil I have doesn’t boast the same capabilities…and while sometimes things that were not necessarily specified for a surface can just work out, this did not…And it nearly didn’t come off my brand new jar either. Now, it was a tiny line, and I could have engraved right over it. But, that bit of memory will help tons when I do have a white object at an event..like those beautiful, white, Parfums de Marly bottles.

Not only that, but the solution I found could come in handy too…

Instead, of using a pencil or drafting the phrase blindly, I used Calligraphy Engraving Guideline Washi Tape from Ink Me This. The tape works perfectly for this jar since I could draft right onto the tape rather than the actual surface of the tumbler.

Practice for the win!