Practice, practice, and more practice. Everyone has ruined pieces during the learning process. Don't know about Florida but here Tandy gives free classes. For inspiration I look in the forum at pieces that well experienced artists have made. I will pick something I haven't made yet and make it as many times as it takes for me to be satisfied with it. have you tried a starter kit from Tandy? They come with everything you need to make several projects,(including tools). I just bought three or four tools a month and maybe a letter set a month till now I have enough to make anything. Plenty of instructional videoes on the Tandy website and Youtube also. Also, the good people on this forum are not stingy with information! Keep at it!