Two of a kind.....

with enough differences to keep it all interesting!  Today I have two cards using the same Northwoods Rubber Stamp Company image.  I generally like to stamp an image twice and then color it differently....I feel like that helps me initially to "get to know" my images.  I love this rose stamp and had a lot of fun coloring it.  I went more vintage with the color choices and really love to layer blues around the images to create a background.  For some reason it reminds me of Grandma Bess and my Aunt Nell.  On the inside of these cards I have  stamped the sentiment "Everything is coming up roses".  I also went much bigger with these two cards then I normally do. They are app 5 x6 3/4 and I found it challenging to work on a bigger "canvas".  I do think though that I am going to make larger cards more often though as so many of my stamps are larger and I feel I do a disservice to them when I try to cramp them onto a a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2....I often feel that my cards tend to look  busy then.  So, here they are....

I haven't been able to craft much since I took my copic certification class and it has made me somewhat crazy at times.  It has been busy here as we have had several track meets, prom, visits with both daughter's and State Solo and Ensemble for music.  This has all been packed into about 10 days and yesterday, when there was nothing planned, I finally set aside some time to craft and really, it was so soothing to be by myself.  I watched/listened to a documentary off of Netflix and just spent time quietly coloring.  My plans are always to be able to do a bit of craft each day but usually life takes over and craft takes a very distant back seat to whatever else is going on. I really don't know how you ladies who work outside the home or have little ones home all day are able to find time to produce as much as you do.  My hat is off to you! It is an on going challenge for me to find my "me" time even though I know how much better my mood is when I do make time for myself.  I know that I am not alone in this balancing act!  I find that if I keep my various craft area's clean and organized I am more apt to find the time to have fun.  When they are messy I get so involved in the cleaning, straightening and organizing that "my" time becomes "stress" time rather than a more relaxing experience. Hmmmmm, am I just learning the value of cleaning up after myself??? I think so ;-D

I do hope, however, to talk a bit in another post about my copic class experience.....I will say now that I really loved it and feel that I learned so much.  One thing that I can safely admit is that I learned how much I still have to learn!  On that note I will say goodbye and thanks for stopping by!

Be well,
Sheila