~ The Winds of Grace ~
June 11th, 2010 by Holly McMillen
Good morning, Friends!
I’m going to come right out and admit…. I’ve been struggling to stamp lately. It’s not a matter of mojo, it’s a matter of desire. You see, I have this coping mechanism that we call ”avoidance mode”. I go into this mode when I feel overwhelmed and right now my stress level is through the roof. Weirdly enough, it’s not all bad stuff, but the sheer volume of things has me reeling. I am working on shaking off some of it, but until I can do that, I’m to a point of nearly shutting down.
I am forcing myself to stamp, though. As much as I struggle, I know that the act of stamping is relaxing and helps to distract my brain. So, today I decided to do this week’s challenge on the There She Goes blog. We are working with this sketch this week:
Not sure you remember, but back when I first got this By The Sea set, I was stumped by the image of the dock/beach. I decided that now that I know what image really is, I need to do ‘er up right!
I went against the grain and used non-traditional beach colors. I think they do have a sort of ”sailing” feel to them, though.
Here is a close up of the sentiment:
Here are my deets:
Stamps: There She Goes’ By the Sea
Colors: Buckaroo Blue, Real Red, GP White, CK Power Pad dps
Ink: Versafine Black Onyx, Tim Holtz’ Tea Bag distressing ink, Copics
Accessories: Jute, Circle nesties, hole punch, dimensionals
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Thanks for stopping by! I hope you’ll pop over to the There She Goes blog and play along! Hugs!
Holly
Love that sentiment! How true it is…we just need to look up and see all that we can be thankful for! I love the colours you used. Up in our neck of the woods, the ocean is that dark blue and the sand is darker too so it’s perfect to me 😀 Your pier (loved how you turned it into a tree actually!!) looks wonderful and I love the twine on the card! Lovely colouring and sponging – wish my “forced” stamping turned out this good!
I too can get overwhelmed at times….not knowing all that is involved for you, I’m taking the liberty of sharing a few things that have helped me (hope that’s okay!). Make a list so everything is down on paper and you know what to do when – feels wonderful being able to check things off the list!!! I also live by the motto: How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!! Don’t look at all you have to get done, just chip away at it by doing one thing at a time. Have also had to evaluate all I am doing to see if something needs to go, even if I love doing it because a burned out mommy is not a very nice mommy to be around!! Plus being an introvert by nature means I need alone time and if I don’t get it, I turn into a very grouchy mommy LOL! Hoping things settle down for you so your mojo can flourish (((hugs)))
This is gorgeous Holly!! I’m so sorry to hear you’re overwhelmed with stress. I hope that it eases up for you in the very near future. I do understand what you mean though. Sometimes I feel like a hampster on a treadmill and keep wondering why I don’t step off . . . LOL! Big Hugs, I’ll keep you in my prayers! Jerri
Love your card Holly, hope things get better for you!! Hugs girl!!