Some of my first mandala stones. Don’t judge! lol 
I remember it as if it were yesterday. My very first mandala stones. The excitement of a new hobby! The smell of paint again after 4 years of no painting was exhilarating. I was obsessed and it was awesome.
Even though I was having a blast making all these pretty little mandala stones, I was also making all the newb mistakes. If I hadn’t been so obsessed with creating my own collection I’m sure I would have quit out of frustration. Now I can see that I used all the wrong tools, paints, and rocks. This led to wonky shaped dots, incorrect spacing, watery flat paint. The frustration, thankfully, didn’t stop me from experimenting and trying new things. My experimentation led me to making my own tools and stencils and that’s what changed the game for me. Dotting is much more enjoyable when you set yourself up for success from the start.
Here I’ll be brave and share some of my earlier stones. I’ve spared you the worst of them as I hid them all over Tampa for people to find as part of the Tampa Rocks facebook group. These first fails ended up being the seeds of something great : )
Do you remember your first stones? If you’re new to dotting, are you finding yourself frustrated? It may not be your fault. You may need to find what works for you. Share your experience with your first attempts at dotting below.
