Snip & Scrap Feature
I’ve always had perfectionist tendencies when it comes to my own creativity – my mum recalls me as a kid with pages and pages of crumpled-up paper next to me. Wasn’t art meant to be relaxing? Why did I find it so stressful to create a drawing or painting from scratch? Fast forward to adulthood, and I still find it difficult to make time for art, because it comes with this old pressure to be perfect.
That all changed when I discovered vision boarding back in 2017. I remember time flying by as I sat with scissors and a glue stick in hand and a mountain of magazines to look through. It felt so familiar and nostalgic – most of us in the session hadn’t used scissors and glue for years, and there was something really intentional about flipping through magazine pages for inspiration rather than scrolling on a screen.
The act of choosing, cutting and sticking ready-made images, words and graphics liberated me from my perfectionism while still allowing me to be creative and think about what I wanted for my future. I was desperate to share what I had learned, so back in 2023, I hosted my first ever vision boarding workshop.
Serendipitously, it was here that I crossed paths with Amy for the first time who was looking for a partner to curate thoughtful gatherings with. Together we started ‘Something Good Retreats’: Vancouver-based ‘pocket retreats’ – small, sweet pauses that fit into a single day. We started Something Good because we needed it too – as two people juggling full lives and full calendars, craving a pause that didn’t require a flight or a full weekend away. Our retreats are based around our three pillars: Move (a yoga class) | Nourish (a delicious seasonal lunch) | Create (a creative workshop), and our motto is ‘Come as you are, leave a little more yourself’.
March’s ‘Create’ pillar was sponsored by Snip & Scrap. The wonderful leadership Coach, Norma Serena Hogan, led a ‘Future Self’ workshop that blended mindfulness, journaling, and nervous-system education to help participants reconnect with their inner compass and imagine what comes next. We then put our vision for the future on paper using Snip & Scrap, magazines, and a joyful array of crafting materials – paints, gold leaf, and stickers (that made our inner children very happy). The finished boards became personal keepsakes – visual reminders of intentions participants wanted to carry into the season ahead.
I was so thrilled when I learned about Snip & Scrap, ‘the magazine designed to be torn apart’. Marisa and I lived together for a year, and I have never been around someone so creative. Sometimes before I’d even had my breakfast, Marisa would have completed a painting, or as we watched tv she’d be making jewellery or sketching designs for her fashion line Faun Studio. I have one of her paintings in my home and it always reminds me to try and bring creativity into my everyday. One of the most common things I hear when hosting workshops is ‘I’m not creative.’ But creativity isn’t limited to artists – it’s how we dress, cook, show up, plan, and imagine our futures.
Here are a few pages from Marisa’s beautifully designed magazine that accompanied this article:
