Sami Stamps

First Place: Jackie Schachter!
I love the edging of Jackie's die cut and the pattern on the dress of this little girl is simply adorable! Jackie, your coloring, embellishment and paper choices, and layout is all beautiful!

Jackie, please e-mail me at sami@adayfordaisies.com to claim your $12.00 Gift Certificate to the Sami Stamps Shop!


Second Place: Caroline Woodhall!
Caroline's card is a beautiful example of this months challenge to add a die cut. She executed it perfectly. I love the clean cut lines of the die cuts. Your coloring of the image is also beautiful, so tender and sweet which showcases the image perfectly.

 

 Caroline, please e-mail me at sami@adayfordaisies.com to claim your $8.00 Gift Certificate to the Sami Stamps Shop! 


I also wanted to share this little anecdote with you. I didn't write it and honestly I don't know who did. It was shared with me by a friend who found it off someone's blog. But if you need a note of encouragement today, please read it. =)

It was a sunny school morning and I was walking Magoo to the bus stop. I don’t often walk him to the school bus. He’s in second grade and pretty independent and I’m usually busy getting myself and his sister’s ready. I’m semi-nocturnal and I sleep later than I should most mornings. When it’s time for school, he says goodbye and heads up the hill to the bus.  As we got half way to the bus, Magoo reached out and grabbed my hand in an uninhibited way that I knew wouldn’t happen many more times. I squeezed his hand, felt the rare Seattle sun on my face, and told him I loved him. I was nearly perfectly happy. 
Nearly.  Just at that moment, the thought came into my mind.

That’s awesome that you’re walking him to the bus stop and putting on this “mother of the year” act today. What about yesterday and the day before that? You hardly ever walk him to the bus. He’s probably holding your hand because he’s so desperate for the love and attention you haven’t been showing him.

My bubble burst.
 I am a pitiful mom, I thought, as I looked down into his smiling face. Then another thought came. Kathryn, what is wrong with you? You are being an awesome mom in this moment. Your child is happy. You are loving him and caring for him. He’s well fed and dressed. You’re walking to the bus stop in the early morning and you’re already wearing a bra for heck’s sake. Do not rob yourself of this moment’s joy because of what you failed to do yesterday or what you fear you might not do tomorrow. 

This started me thinking of all the times I do something good while beating myself up for all the times I haven’t been perfect. 

Wow. So you cleaned the kitchen today. What a cookie? That dirty rag has been on the counter for a week and those dishes you so righteously cleaned are from breakfast three days ago. You are embarrassing. 

That was really nice of you to offer to watch your friend’s kids while she had surgery. Remember last week when you knew your neighbor was suffering from depression and you drove right by with a wave because you did not want to get sucked into the drama? You don’t really care about people. Not all the time.

How destructive are these kinds of thoughts? As I said goodbye to Magoo and started to walk back home, my mind started to shift. I thought....

Drops of Awesome!

Every time you do something good, something kind, something productive, it’s a drop in your Bucket of Awesome. You don’t loose drops for every misstep. You can only build. You can only fill. 

I walked Magoo to the bus. Drop of Awesome!

I fed him fruit with breakfast. Drop of Awesome!

I told him I loved him. Drop of Awesome!

I wore a bra and brushed my teeth before schlepping it up that hill. Two fat drops of Awesome!

All day long I changed these words in my head. I picked up that tootsie rool wrapper off the frong porch instead of stepping over it for the eleventy hundredth time... Drop of Awesome....

As I added up these drops of Awesome, I found that in those moments I actually became the person I had always wanted to be. You may not think you can change permanently but you can change the next choice you make. And you can change that one next tiny choice, you may thinkg, I got this one Drop of Awesome but I may never be able to get another one again. 

And that’s okay. 

You made the right choice once. And in that moment you were the person you want to be and that is a triumph. One morning you woke up and the first words out of your mouth were positive so you were a morning person in that moment. Bam! Drop of Awesome!

You do not need to wait three months to be who you want to be. Pick up ten things right now and say, “Drops of Awesome! I am someone who takes care of my house. That is who I am. I have proof.” In the end its all about allowing yourself to feel joy and allowing yourself to be proud of the small victories of live. This builds momentum and you want more drops in your bucket and when you don’t get as many, you pick yourself up and say, “What can I do next?”

Sadly I'm not wearing a bra just yet today....I guess I can rule out that drop of awesome. 

But I did kiss my boy this morning.

I Fed him oatmeal.

I drank a green smoothie. 

I picked two talented ladies to receive Gift Certificates to my shop.

Paid my bills.

And I'm just about to go throw on some jogging shoes.

Those are my drops of awesome so far today.

What are yours?