March 14, 2020
11 Comments
Hiya sistahs! I haven’t written in a while and I thought we could catch up :)…
There are so many stressful things happening all around us.. CORONA VIRUS, money issues, work, children, health issues, .. it’s been a crazy 2019 and 2020.. for me anyway. I suffer from anxiety and it has been at an all time peak lately. HMMM I wonder why LOL
I have been surfing the internet and noticed that there is a SLOW STITCH MOVEMENT which intrigued me. So I looked into it a bit more because I LOVE hand embroidery and I LOVE being slow LOL. I actually love pairing slow stitching with stamping… just stampy your image onto fabric and stitch away! Basically what it is, is that while you stitch and layer and stitch you FOCUS.. you are MINDFUL.. you are IN THE MOMENT. I have learned a LOT this year about self care, about being in the moment,mindfulness and enjoying the moment you are in because you will never get that moment back. I have become very mindful and very grateful throughout my day. I take a moment every so often to STOP.. just STOP.. light a candle.. light a palo santo stick, hold a crystal.. create a ritual and focus on the moment. During these times I don’t think about what I am doing tomorrow.. what I HAVE to do tomorrow.. what my kids are doing.. work.. finances.. I try to make my mind stop.. even for a minute. I meditate, I journal and I stamp.
I think we all need a little break from reality.. we need to stop comparing our work to others and just simply enjoy what we are doing.
Let’s stamp.. Let’ be mindful, let’s enjoy every step of the process.. from inking up the stamp slowly making sure the whole image is wet from the ink, let’s take our favorite colours and favorite mediums…and colour.. focusing on every stroke.. watching the colour pour onto the paper. Let’s shade the image with a darker colour focusing on the shadow… let’s die cut and focus on the shape..let’s stick our paper layers onto card stock and let’s continue this process to rest our minds from the stresses around us. We deserve it don’t we? I think we do.
So I ask you sistahs…
ARE YOU WITH ME in this SLOW STAMPING movement? Hashtag all your creations with #slowstamping.. and let’s make a difference. Let’s spread the word.. Let’s de-stress… let’s relax… and let’s focus on the moment. The moment we have for ourselves.. and let’s really truly enjoy it.
Mwah to da sistahs who are gonna go SLOW
Slow stamping that is 😉
Em
Oh, Em, I am sooooo with you. I’m “retired” and spend part of every day at my table, which is actually what I call a Sunday School table I got at Office Max years ago. Tall heavy cardboard divider with my cardstock solids in front of me slightly to the left…. stacking divider at the left end, within reach, with all my stamp pads…. tape on my right…. you get the idea. I start stamping and coloring and completely lose track of everything… and just relax. It’s Heaven. I loooove taking it slow. I’ve been taking it slow for years actually. Just enjoy. I’m in.
Thank you for that. I am sitting at my computer in the soft morning sun rise and listening to the birds. Feels like spring. And I read your morning slow read and am so relaxed right now. Thanks for a great start to the day. Have a good one. No, have a great one.
Cheers
Thanks for that mindful message. I am gonna go slow today, and attempt to color up that turtle with Pencils. I am pretty proficient with Copic, and and learning pencil. I find coloring with them very meditative. Maybe the world was telling me to learn them as a way to help me be mindful, or mindless ??
This is so true.
I have been trying to do #thedailymarker30day challenge, which is the same thing you are prescribing. 10 minutes, half an hour, or more, we all need those precious moments to focus on what pleases, comforts and relaxes us. We are important too. XxX
Thank you for a post that makes us slow down and take the time to enjoy everything around us at the moment. Thank you. Also thanks for introducing me to slow stitching…wonderful idea. Must give this a try. Have a good weekend.
I am sooo with you on this one…2019 started out okay, but by mid-year things really have gone down hill…..My Dad passed away in July. Then my older brother passed away in September. In February, I lost my job of 40+ years. We listed our house and have sold it, but there has been so much back and forth for the past two weeks, I haven’t slept. Now we have two weeks to pack up and get out of our house….we have lived her for over 30 years, raised our daughter here. So much stress!!! I have been trying to color, but things just keep happening! I told my husband that when we get everything packed, some of my card making/coloring supplies are NOT getting put in the Pod which will be in storage for at least a month, if not two! I am packing some supplies in the car for our journey into the unknown. We will be moving across the country to be closer to some of my family. Keeping my fingers crossed that things go smoothly. Now, I’m going to go practice mindfullness and color!
I am making my Easter cards. I am going to try not be as late as I was with my Christmas cards. I am also making some Christmas cards for next Christmas. I was very late with my Christmas cards last year & I am hoping to not be late again this year. Maybe if I stamped them all first & put them on paper & then colored them & embellished them, I would have them all done on time. I am someone who takes a long time to color anything & make a card. I don’t know how to make a very simple card & I never have. I feel if I am a card maker, I should make a card like Hallmark but better, not like what you get at The Dollar Store. That’s why it takes me so long to make a card. So I guess that would be slow stamping. Tonight I made a belated birthday card for my aunt. It’s also for a coloring contest. I had to use 5 colors that they picked for me. I think I nailed it. It’s pretty but it’s not colors I would have picked for it. However, I think my aunt will love it! I with you with #slowstamping.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. This is a time we could have never imagined. We are all in this together and appreciate anything to help those who might be struggling. Please stay healthy and yes, live in the moment!
“Slow” and “anxiety” are my unofficial nicknames! Lol! I am working on being mindful techniques.
Wishing you love and luck!!
Wow, you are so right! I’m so glad I found this post, because I really needed it! I’m a very busy woman, and I’m really excited to be taking today for myself in my craft room; and because of this, I’m going to slow down and really enjoy it! And I’ll be doing that with your 3 Reindeers stamp set!
I’m in I’ve been sick for a very long time so all I can do is slow stamping LOL
I’m praying for some healing and some answers and hopefully they both come soon then maybe my stamping wi. Improve again. It’s nice to be part of a group and not feel alone