Project Inspiration -- Matrices' Journal -- Fur Affinity [dot] net

Project Inspiration

14 years ago General

To contact me outside of FA:
* Email: sara[at]matrices.net
* Social Media: Matrices' Bluesky
* Tumblr
* My "Contact Me" page on my website.

Furry is a fun hobby for me, I love sewing and I love making things, I love improving my skills and trying new tasks. Sadly I work a full time job and so craft time is typically kept to projects for myself, and boy do I have a lot of Ideas I would love to finish!

I have what I jokingly describe as "project ADD" .. start a project, start a project, start a project, start a project, never finish them. heh! Its not a bad problem to have because I'm still often able to finish my projects, it just takes time. ;3

Someday there will be a time in my life where I can take commissions, but for now, furry is just a fun hobby and I am not able to do any kind of sewing project by commission. This includes plush, fursuits, tails, etc. Anything fabric, anything sewn. Sorry everyone!

I always hope to be an inspiration for others, but I get comments from others that they "can't sew" or they say "fursuits are hard to make"...

There is such a thing that I deeply believe in that is called a "Self-fulfilling prophecy" ..What is that? Its the concept that if you make a statement about yourself, you believe it. Even if you do not believe it consciously your brain will make what you say about yourself real. Your brain is affected by the power of suggestion, thats why the placebo effect in medical studies gets real results. Its also why when you tell yourself you can't sew, or can't make something...your brain, through the power of your own suggestion will NOT let you do it!

Changing your attitude isn't always an easy thing, I recommend that everyone tries changing your phrasing to be more positive about things you might not be as skilled at or haven't tried yet. Through the power of your own suggestion you'll find you will feel better about trying something new and feel better about the trial and error process that comes with making a handmade item.

One of my best friends, klickitat told me this quote:
"What's better than perfect?"
"DONE"

So get started, try something new, only you have control over your own life and beliefs, so be willing to talk about something you need to overcome positively and you WILL overcome it! Maybe even pass this journal on to someone who needs some sort of inspiration.

Other than that, I hope to see everyone's projects. Share them with me! I would love to see!!

18 Comments

azurecoyote ~azurecoyote

Anthro Artist

14 years ago

Love this journal!

CharFox ~charfox

Fursuiter

14 years ago

Very inspirational =)

talutie ~talutie

Anthro Artist

14 years ago

Awesome :)

Scruffy the Fox ~scruffythefox

The Beachball King

14 years ago

Thank you for your inspiring words.

blueblitzpup ~blueblitzpup

Professional Amateur

14 years ago

i can honestly say you are a big inspiration to me!
ive been following your tutorials and its gotten me almost to finishing the head, i just need to finish foaming and then fur it :3
but your journal says it all, if you dont think you can do it you never will.

i hope that your words bring inspiration to many!

daalrakken ~daalrakken

Photographer

14 years ago

*a standing ovation*
It must be one of those days today. Earlier today, I was just writting a suiter-to-be about what it takes. Either buying one or making one. The biggest obstacle is ...just getting started. Get into that mind set and do it!

I should know, I had some great teachers and sources of inspiration and guidance. }:=)

JadaOmega ~jadaomega

Fursuiter

14 years ago

thanks for this. =)

I had been feeling agitated about my fursuit and hat works.. and this helped a lot. =)

much appreciated.

Kiva_Roo ~kivaroo

Crafter

14 years ago

That is one of my new favorite quotes. I have project ADD pretty bad too, so it definitely applies. Thank you for this journal

Excelsior-the-lion ~excelsior-the-lion

Fursuiter

14 years ago

My story:

Back in June, I was so jealous of all those gorgeous fursuits. I never had enough money. I live on SSI $830 a month paying $450 a month. I have disabilities.

So on June 22, I turned jealousy into action. I started work on what became Excelsior! July 1st is when I got the materials to get started. I was sure I could not sew or stitch. On July 4th I made my tail that I still wear all the time!

I was sure I could not do good art. I found a style that worked fantastically with my abilities and they were actually good! I'm even now branching out a little and doing well!

I continued to work on the fursuit and so much in my life changed. I was sure I never could socialize well as I have Asperger's Syndrome, I was just recently called a social butterfly because I've been socializing so very much!

When I got the body done I was disappointed because after I was ripped off on a deal for fur, I didn't have enough money for getting fur so I had to use a fleece like substitute. I thought it was ugly.

ON a picnic not so long ago a kid came up and said: "you must be a real lion! You don't have a zipper!". It made my day and with all the compliments I got I feel so good about the fursuit now!

I had a bad case of what I call the "I can't". Now I have a case of "I can"!

Almost everything in my life is changing or has changed!

I was usually bothered by the "inspirational" stories as they can set a standard too high for the disabled to reach in the public's eye. But it's how the person achieved what they did that is what is worth learning about. I am no longer bothered by inspirational stories as, well, god dang it! I am one!

I actually did it! I really did!

Matrices ~matrices

Cartoony Artist/Fursuit Designer

14 years ago

I love this story! Thank you so much for sharing!
I love that you've embraced the positive attitude, keep it up and you can do anything :D

Anpumes ~anpumes

14 years ago

I sat in on a couple of the panels you were on during Rainfurrest. It was my first furry con, and I want to say that I'm very happy to call my self a fur. I was a great experience you, the fursuiters and others really inspired me to try my hand at making a suit myself. I'm a full time college student at the moment trying to pay my tuition out of pocket, so funds are a bit tight but plenty of wiggle room for do it yourself work. Using your videos as reference, I've already completed the head base (I really should get some pictures up); still needs furred however. My handpaws are only requiring claws which are done but need to be attached (yet more pictures I should post). Tail should be done Wednesday and feetpaws are being planned. I would never have been able to attempt this without your generous posting of how-to's and tutorials.

Also I love the quote from Klickitat. I have mentioned it to several people and been using it as a mantra to finish my first suit...

Thanks to all who inspired me to try this.

Amari ~irime

Sparklegremlin

14 years ago

Thank you so very much for this inspirational journal. I have to agree wholeheartedly with this journal; far too often folks see my "project ADD" as you call it, on any number of my various projects and lament, "Oh I wish I could do stuff like that." ... but a person CAN! I learned so so so very much from just talking to furries and fursuit makers with their preferences, and from just TRYING your tutorials. My Irime head in itself is a multi-version head, as I made her initially with the 'toasterhead' tutorial and found her not formfitted enough. Thus I went back to work on her, and tweaked a few more things. I think one reason I was so pleased with her outcome is because I got to ponder over the foamwork for so long and make sure it was balanced and gave the 'look' I wanted. It's totally possible to try new mediums, and one just has to look at the positives of the project one is working on.

I want to thank you again for putting up such marvelous tutorials, so that the rest of us Willing to give it a go have some resources with which to take that dive in and try making some fursuit partials for ourselves!

Klickitat ~klickitat

Crafter

14 years ago

“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”

― Ira Glass

SaraCorgi ~saracorgi

Digital Artist

14 years ago

I agree with this wholeheartedly. One of my friends looked over at a badge I was drawing once, and said "I wish I could draw like you. I just can't. I suck at drawing." I said "about a year ago, so did my drawing. But I stuck with it, and now look what I can do! Almost everyone's art 'sucks' at first. But this phase is experimentation, and finding your style. You're not gonna like it at first probably, but just stick with it." Well, my friend didn't stick with it, sadly, but I saw that he had a lot of creative potential. As for myself, I almost quit drawing when i started using GIMP because I thought it was 'too hard', but now I cant imagine NOT drawing! Art is a big part of my life now, and I couldn't be happier. All because I didn't let "I can't" get in my way.

Klickitat ~klickitat

Crafter

14 years ago

My ongoing joke with people is that everyone has good art inside of them, they just need to get out all of the bad art first.

SaraCorgi ~saracorgi

Digital Artist

14 years ago

Yeah, like a bad art purge!~

Henrieke ~henrieke

Traditional Artist

14 years ago

Yes, yes, and also yes! People should take challenges, just do stuff, and learn from setbacks. It can bring you really far faster than you'd expect!

Dorn ~dorn

Digital Artist

14 years ago

I love that you mention klickitat's quote, it makes me think of Seth Godin's speech on shipping your product. You've got to combat your lizard brain, go out of your comfort zone, and ship your product! Check it out here: http://vimeo.com/5895898

Good luck to you! <3

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