Hello Friends!
I have finally decided to jump into the cyber world and share my creations with other people! I have been crafting for what feels like a life time! Seriously though, I grew up crafting: stamping, scrapbooking, sewing, crocheting- I just love to make home made things and hand made items have always held a special place in my life. I am a full time occupational therapist which if you are aware of the historical background of the career field, it began in the arts and crafts world and the very first OTs were called the arts and crafts nurses- so my career is fitting to say the least! I absolutely love my career field, I can't even call it a job because that word just holds this yucky, 9-5, mundane connotation and my career as an occupational therapist is anything BUT mundane! I work with the elderly 4 days a week in a home health setting and I work with some amazing children 1 day a week in an outpatient clinic. It challenges me, keeps me on my toes and constantly has me learning new things. It is so rewarding, BUT at the end of the day I have to take some time for myself and that is what I love about crafting and specifically stamping. I can have the most emotionally exhausting day at work but give me some paper, ink and stamps and I can craft all my worries away.
You may be wondering why I have deemed my blog and business page " Stamp by the Beach." Well for one, if I use my name, everyone would spell it wrong and nobody would ever find me! The main reason I chose this particular name was because I live 45 minutes from the beach, I have grown up in the panhandle of Florida since I was 5 years old and it is my home. I have been in the area for 20+ years and you would think that I have the most beautiful tan and I frequent the beach on a regular basis- oh I wish! I am about as white as you can get and if you stick me on the beach, you might just lose me in the pure white sands of the emerald coast! Anyway, it was two years ago, my mom and I were driving through town and I looked over at her and said " you know it's a shame, we live in paradise! People come from all over to vacation in this area and we live here and don't even appreciate it!" That day we bought beach chairs and vowed to spend every Monday sitting on the beach enjoying the scenery and listening to the rhythmic sounds of the waves. Well... we bought the chairs and mom actually did make it out a couple of times, but life happened and my chair still sits on the wall of my garage ready to be stuck in the sand and enjoyed. That year my grandmother was diagnosed with Cancer and within 3 months she was on hospice and we were saying our final goodbyes. Then my mom was diagnosed with an allergy to the sun- seriously we have lived in Florida for 20+ years and NOW she is allergic to the sun!? Anyway, the lesson I learned in all of this, you have to enjoy the time you have and take full advantage of what you have in front of you, because you just never know what the next turn in the road will bring. There is something so therapeutic about the beach and enjoying the natural beauty, you can feel your worries whisked away in the salty sea breeze. That is what crafting should be and that is what I believe Stamping can be! You do not have to be creative, you don't have to be innovative or even artistic! I love Stamping because you can recreate beautiful things and it doesn't matter if you cased another crafter's ideas or if you came up with the design on your own- when you deliver that hand made card, you are sending a paper hug that was folded with love and pressed with care. In a world where everything is electronic, busy, fast, and the only things that show up in the mailbox are bills and ads, we ALL need some happy mail. Just a little reminder that someone is thinking about us- a thank you, a birthday wish, a thinking of you, or a simple hello. You have the opportunity to put a smile on someone's face and whisk away some worries, if even just for a moment. Come stamp by the beach with me!
I have finally decided to jump into the cyber world and share my creations with other people! I have been crafting for what feels like a life time! Seriously though, I grew up crafting: stamping, scrapbooking, sewing, crocheting- I just love to make home made things and hand made items have always held a special place in my life. I am a full time occupational therapist which if you are aware of the historical background of the career field, it began in the arts and crafts world and the very first OTs were called the arts and crafts nurses- so my career is fitting to say the least! I absolutely love my career field, I can't even call it a job because that word just holds this yucky, 9-5, mundane connotation and my career as an occupational therapist is anything BUT mundane! I work with the elderly 4 days a week in a home health setting and I work with some amazing children 1 day a week in an outpatient clinic. It challenges me, keeps me on my toes and constantly has me learning new things. It is so rewarding, BUT at the end of the day I have to take some time for myself and that is what I love about crafting and specifically stamping. I can have the most emotionally exhausting day at work but give me some paper, ink and stamps and I can craft all my worries away.
You may be wondering why I have deemed my blog and business page " Stamp by the Beach." Well for one, if I use my name, everyone would spell it wrong and nobody would ever find me! The main reason I chose this particular name was because I live 45 minutes from the beach, I have grown up in the panhandle of Florida since I was 5 years old and it is my home. I have been in the area for 20+ years and you would think that I have the most beautiful tan and I frequent the beach on a regular basis- oh I wish! I am about as white as you can get and if you stick me on the beach, you might just lose me in the pure white sands of the emerald coast! Anyway, it was two years ago, my mom and I were driving through town and I looked over at her and said " you know it's a shame, we live in paradise! People come from all over to vacation in this area and we live here and don't even appreciate it!" That day we bought beach chairs and vowed to spend every Monday sitting on the beach enjoying the scenery and listening to the rhythmic sounds of the waves. Well... we bought the chairs and mom actually did make it out a couple of times, but life happened and my chair still sits on the wall of my garage ready to be stuck in the sand and enjoyed. That year my grandmother was diagnosed with Cancer and within 3 months she was on hospice and we were saying our final goodbyes. Then my mom was diagnosed with an allergy to the sun- seriously we have lived in Florida for 20+ years and NOW she is allergic to the sun!? Anyway, the lesson I learned in all of this, you have to enjoy the time you have and take full advantage of what you have in front of you, because you just never know what the next turn in the road will bring. There is something so therapeutic about the beach and enjoying the natural beauty, you can feel your worries whisked away in the salty sea breeze. That is what crafting should be and that is what I believe Stamping can be! You do not have to be creative, you don't have to be innovative or even artistic! I love Stamping because you can recreate beautiful things and it doesn't matter if you cased another crafter's ideas or if you came up with the design on your own- when you deliver that hand made card, you are sending a paper hug that was folded with love and pressed with care. In a world where everything is electronic, busy, fast, and the only things that show up in the mailbox are bills and ads, we ALL need some happy mail. Just a little reminder that someone is thinking about us- a thank you, a birthday wish, a thinking of you, or a simple hello. You have the opportunity to put a smile on someone's face and whisk away some worries, if even just for a moment. Come stamp by the beach with me!
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