A Little Bit of Stamping (and a melt down!)

To say I have a demanding job is an understatement.  I am 'Business Support' to a busy team of clinicians which is in effect a PA but not just to one person at a time.  Our team has continually grown in size throughout March and April which has brought about lots more bodies in the office, lots more people who need help or want a piece of me and my time and I have become PA to about 3 times more staff than usual.  Everyone is demanding, wanting things just how they like it and they don't realise when they come and ask me to do someting that I'm already in the middle of several jobs and a colleague or two has just popped in before them with requests.  There is only one of me!!!

I seldom have a melt down.  I am usually the 'go to' person that everyone else relies upon but I think the fact that I've had a couple of teary moments (just the 2 mind you) I think shows the level of pressure that's been felt of late.

How do I de-stress these days?

Well I take it to God in prayer.  He is always ready to listen whether I'm crying or not.

I focussed on my latest Bible study because ......

A. I had been neglecting it of late and
B. I needed to get work out of my head so I filled it up with something else

That done I was then able to relax and get my craft on!  These times when I just shut everything else out and spend a PJ day crafting often get me really great results.  See what you think.

 

I started by pulling together a few items I thought I might like to play with.  This 'plain Jane' stamp from Verve just seemed to leap into my hand and I'd spent some time using up scraps die-cutting the WMS label dies whilst prepping for the church holiday club a few weeks back.  I knew they'd come in handy.

 

I only ever buy Verve stamps when they're having a sale and rather than big sets I tend to lean towards the mini Plain Janes.  I just love em!

 

 

I started by creating a small paper bag using my homemade template (see earlier post) and this is it cut out, inked up and just waiting for me to decide how I want to embellish it.  I didn't adhere it closed because I had in mind to use my sewing machine and sew the PTI die-cut doily and labels onto the front of the bag.  I needed to perform this step before it was folded and adhered together in back.

 

 

Because of the text I played around with some die-cut swirls to give it a sense of motion - kinda like wind or waves.

 

 

And I had in mind to add a flag or two - the kind you see sometimes at the top of a mast, just above the sails.  I had picked up a thin card of buttons with an anchor on them at a charity store last weekend when my BFF Jilly and I popped into Stowmarket after the women's coffee morning from church.  This is the second time we've just taken ourselves off after something else and I'm loving the impromptu excursions!  Thanks Jilly :-)

 

 

Once I had all my embellishments sewn on and tucked into place I decided to add some liquid pearls and then gave it a fine spray to give it a real shimmer.  I remember my youngest daughter once sent me a handmade card that she had spritzed and shimmered and I always intended to do the same one day.

 

 

Just in case you're wondering what I used - here it is.  It's called 'spray & sparkle' and was called pearl mist.  It was a bit pricey at £5 I thought but then a little goes a long way and I don't plan to use this on many cards so it should last me a while.

 

 

I took this picture with the light catching it just right so you can see a bit of the shimmer.  I am simply lovin these little handmade paper bags.  I noticed some scrummy wrapping paper in a store window on my way to work today and I can't wait to try one with some of that better quality paper - the kind you get at Clintons or Paperchase by the single sheet.  It's usually a bit more expensive but I bet you'd get bunches from just one sheet!  Perfect for mini treat bags for a party.

 

 

And of course I needed a card to go inside my bag so I simply mirrored the design on a card that was cut to fit perfectly into the bag.  Again you can see the shimmer (it looks like specks in the photo).  For some reason this card was really hard for me to photograph.

 

Anyhow by the end of my time crafting I was feeling pretty relaxed and pretty pleased with my efforts too.  I'd had laundry on the go in the background most of the day and listened to a couple of CDs as I worked.  All that was left to do was go take a long soak in a bubble bath and get dressed before hubby came home from work  Almost doesn't seem fair that I get a day off mid-week as well as the weekend but then I go non-stop most weekends between housework, grocery shopping and church.  I let hubby have a lay in both days - I'm an early birdand I kinda like having the house to myself first thing - he pretty much downs tools on the weekend so he gets his relax time then.

 

And then today it was back to work - still stressful, full on and super busy - but I wasn't letting it get to me today! I actually managed to get in a lunch half hour which almost never happens and took that time to start reading a book someone lent me.  I'll share later.

 

Blessings

 

Suezie