~ Personal Reflection ~
July 22nd, 2009 by Holly McMillen
Good Day, Friends!
So yesterday was a day of personal reflection. As I stood in my livingroom having a full blown anxiety attack, it occured to me that my life is way out of balance. While I was able to find time to stamp and play in my studio, take the boys to Blockbuster, shop and eat lunch out…. my house is in major disarray. I got to thinking about my studio. I have so many things that are unused and stamp sets that have never been inked or mounted. Couldn’t that money have been spend better some other way? And that doesn’t even touch on the fact that I have nearly 1000 cards in my studio that are just sitting there in drawers. Why do I do this? The answer is balance. I have none and am desparate to find it.
Of course, the first thing I did this morning (as usual) was to make a card! I did find a ‘purpose’ for it though. I made a birthday card. In a family the size of mine, someone is always having a birthday :).
I have to say that this Flowers of Happiness set (There She Goes) is my ‘go to’ set. There is something so soothing about the symetrical flowers in this set!
Here are my deets:
Stamps: There She Goes‘ Flowers of Happiness (sentiment from Twitterpated)
Colors: GP White, Pumpkin Pie, Pink Passion, SU dps
Ink: Versafine Black Onyx, copics
Accessories: ribbon, stickles, dimensionals, eyelet border punch, swiss dots ef
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Thanks for stopping by! I hope you have a blessed day!
~~ Holly ~~
Holly: Great card, nice bright & cheerful.
I just got done boxing up 156 cards to send to cardheroes.org and still have more that I just couldn’t give up. I also decided to get rid of stamps that were just sitting around as well as catalogs/magazines/etc. in my studio. I feel much better about it but there is still soooo much!
So, I wanted to say you aren’t the only one! And the sad thing, I just got a nice big box of new Papertrey Ink product.
Wonderful bright colours on this card and I love the off set flowers. I’ve been so busy working for DH and taking kids to swimming lessons (and swimming laps while they are in lessons and then we hang out and swim for 30 – 60 add’l minutes afterwards) that I have had little time or energy to do any stamping :C Summer is always hard with the kids home all day, but I just love spending time with them because they grow up too fast!
As for all the cards, you could ship some of them to the lady that sends them overseas to the military service men (can’t recall her name right now), or to the cancer people that give them to families (Lauren Meader’s blog had that info on it) or other wonderful causes. If you have any left over, you can always send one to me 😀 Have a great day.
Holly I know exactly how you feel. I too struggle for balance. With 4 kids at home (I know you can relate) I never seem to get caught up. I do manage to send cards off to various groups but I still have 3 boxes of cards all packaged up to sell but have not managed to actually get organized enough or enough time to actually sell any of them. I only have a small stamping budget but I swear if I never bought another piece of designer paper I could still make cards and scrapbook pages everyday for the rest of my life and never run out. I will pray for peace for you, my friend
I think we all struggle with this from time to time and I think you and me are going through ours at the same time. I have been dying to get more balance in my life but it seems when I focus on one thing everything else falls and vice versa. I’ll be praying for your sweetie and if you ever need anything I am here.
Your card is gorgeous!!!!
Your card is GORGEOUS Holly! I too am struggling to find a balance. I think it’s a common problem in this day and age — or AT my age! LOL Sending prayers your way!
this is a fun bright and cheery card! I totally get the balance or should I say lack there of…I think it is something we all struggle with and unfortunately there is no magic answer…I craft till the mess disturbs my creativity flow then I clean until I get my mojo back and so it goes! Thank the lord I have an understanding dh and dd 🙂
Oh my sweet, dear Holly….I swear I know just what you are talking about…I REALLY do feel the same way many, many times…but then again I realize that my addiction is a healthy one…and you should remember that also…plus, think of the happiness that it brings to people to see your art work. I smile every time I visit your blog! You have been given a gift and you inspire all that come to visit you (You certainly inspire me)! Sometimes I think about the money I am spending on all of this “fun” stuff (and you KNOW it is fun) and I think…when I die, my daughter is gonna say…”she was nuts…” look at all of this junk!” But on the otherhand, she knows that it makes me happy and THAT is MY BALANCE….Besides girl…you are So darn talented…You HAVE to share your gift! Love you…gonna email you about my stupidity soon…I know you can help me on this one.
What a beautiful cheerful card. Love the bright colors you used!
As for the whole “balance thing” I totally know how you feel. If you have cards that you would like to donate to a great cause, my friend and I are currently collecting cards for the troops. I cleared out about 150 from my stash and felt so good to know that they are really going to make someones day.
Hang in there 🙂