Sunday Greetings!

I don’t know why the photograph of this card is so funky. I tried different light situations and camera settings but to no avail. You’ll just have to take my word that it looks better in person, where the black looks black instead of gray, and the rose is a deep red and not an almost orangey red. Sigh…

The card is my take on FTL 91 as featured on the Clean & Simple Stamping blog. I did pretty darned good with the sketch considering I’d only glanced at it. Wanting a paper rose that was bigger than any I’d made so far, I used a scalloped Nestabilities die to cut my circle. Did I measure it? No. But I’m guessing it was about three inches in diameter. Prior to cutting my spiral, I ran the circle through my paper corrugator a few times. That softened it up, which made it easier to work with. The corrugation also created an interesting texture as did the scalloped edges. After the flower was done and dry, I used a Cranberry marker to cover some of the paper’s white core. While it took some time to work up the courage to try one of these flowers, I’m certainly glad I did. They are so much fun.

Materials & Tools: Colonial White, Black, Cranberry, Topiary, and Stampin’ Up Kraft cardstock; Black and Colonial White Pigment ink; Cranberry marker; Papertrey Ink Polka Dot Basics and Flourishes Falling Leaves stamp sets; EK Success Diamond border punch; Martha Stewart Five-Leaf Branch punch; Cuttlebug w/Nestabilities Classic Circles set; Scotch Quick-Dry Adhesive.

How is your day going? I got off to a slow start but only because I stayed up way to late last night and have been dragging my butt around because of it. I know. I’m a foolish girl. As an excuse I’ll say I have a lot on my mind and have been in a bit of a funk again lately. There have been a lot of changes at work recently – pretty much one bombshell after another, none of which will improve the quality of my job or life in general. I’ve said numerous times, I’m not cut out for Corporate America. I’m like a square peg trying to fit into a round hole, and I don’t play the game well. And currently, I’m in an area where if you don’t play, you pay. The fact that I’m at least 20 years older than most of my co-workers complicates my quandary. My age is also one of the factors that keeps me from singing, “Take this job and shove it. I ain’t workin’ here no more …” on my way out the door. Man, and I thought life would get easier as I got older.

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately, trying to put the job situation into perspective. The one thing I’ve realized is that no matter how lousy I feel about what I’m being handed, my integrity remains in tact. That’s important to me. While I am in desperate need of a temporary fix (as in a different job in a different department), I have an escape plan, too – an idea to which I need to fully commit myself. Therefore, should I disappear from the blogosphere you will know what I am doing.

Although I have about 40 hours a week that aren’t so great right now, the rest of my life – family, friends, my home, hobbies to distract me – is awesome. And for that, I am so very grateful.

If you’re still with me, thank you for listening.  I don’t like to complain, particularly about my job. If mine were the worst job in the world, it’s better than no job. I realize that and the fact that there are folks out there who are experiencing a world of hurt, because they have no jobs or prospects for jobs. I should instead complain about my rather warped-looking debit card that I just managed to wash and then dry. I guess I’ll have to make a trip to the ATM machine to see if it still works. Doubtful. Darn. Good thing I do 90 percent of my shopping online. LOL.

My laundry almost done, I’m going to go zone out in my corner for a while. Husband is at the golf course and promised to bring me ice cream when he comes home. Can’t wait. I hope your day/weekend was a great start to what will be a great week. Take care, friends. I’ll be talking to you again soon.