Friday, January 25, 2008

Time for Myself - and a Card!

Do you ever just need quiet time to yourself to just decompress from your day, regardless of the time of day? Well, that's me, right about now. It's EARLY Friday morning, but I just can't go to sleep. I walked in the door about 45 minutes ago from work and while I know that I should already be sleeping as I have to get up early for work tomorrow, I just can't bear the thought of just walking in the door and basically going straight to bed. Plus I love the quietness of my home too - in a way it is comforting (does that sound weird?). This is actually the time of day that I love to stamp and scrapbook, (hence the screen and blog name) , although it is a bit too late for a week night. If I started a card or even work a page at this hour, I might not go to sleep at all. It often takes me so long to create, I'm sure it would be time to get ready for work before I know it! LOL.
So anyways, after getting changed out of my suit, washing up, and of course, giving all of the kiddos a kiss in their sleep, here I am on the computer, surfing around and just spending time with myself. I had a relatively late night last night too and did just go to bed, so I just didn't want to do it again tonight. It is so easy in my line of work (coupled with the commute that I have every day) to work all day and just go home to bed during the week. Not that I am complaining - there are many others in different areas of finance that work much longer hours and through the weekends on a regular basis. No weekends in the office for me (I work from home after the kids go to bed if I need to), and I do overall balance my time between work and my home life with my family.
Anyways, so I figured that I would post a card that I made over the weekend in between doing the eP challenges! I based it on Amy R's Friday sketch challenge from a couple of weeks ago. I liked the simple layout and thought that I could do something creative with it. I have been on a coloring kick since the start of the new year and picked an image I could watercolor. I still am loving the Doodle This set from SU. I haven't tired of it yet - maybe it is just because I am just getting started on using it! LOL I used BG Two Scoops PP - I really am having fun using the different sheets from the 6x6 pad and this sheet is one of my favorites - I already used up the 2 sheets of this pattern from the pad. Anyway, I used a bunch of reinkers and my aqua painter to color in the flower. I am really trying to practice my shading techniques, thinking about where the shadows would fall and stuff like that. I took a couple of art classes way back in HS, so I can kinda draw on that, but beyond that I am on my own!! But I like the way this one turned out.
The tag for the sentiment was done with an SU punch and the sentiment is a partial image from LAD - Sketched Sentiments. I embellished with a rhinestone brad and some Costco ribbon. You know the funny thing is that I have had this box of ribbon since last year (before I went on my hiatus) I just happened upon it one day we were shopping there. Little did I know at the time that it was all the rage on SCS. I think that I remember reading on Amy R's blog that there is a new series of the ribbon in a box out now. Maybe I'll get a chance sometime soon to see if our Costco has it. Although Murphy's Law and knowing my luck, it won't be there because I will be purposely looking for it this time, kwim? LOL :)

Anyway, as another random papercrafting thought is spilling out at this hour, I am taking the plunge and trying out Copics. I picked out a few colors from eP in the sketch tip (along with some other goodies, of course) and will give it a whirl when I get them in. We'll see how it goes, because I have NO idea how to use/blend with the markers. LOL I just have seen so many pretty creations that I want to try too!!
Well. I should get to bed as I have to get up in a few hours and now that I have decompressed a bit from my busy work day. For the few and far between that stop by every so often, Happy Friday!! I'll be back again this weekend.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Maria! super cute card today- love that background paper!!

AmyR said...

Very nice - I like your coloring! Thanks for playing along with my sketch!