Thursday, July 29, 2010

Surf's Up BABY SHOWER

So I am throwing my friend a baby shower in 2 weeks and I am so excited I have been making all kinds of decorations for it!! You know me, I tend to go a little overboard sometimes...

The baby's nursery will have a beach/Hawaiian theme so I wanted to keep the baby shower along the same lines... but I really didn't want to do a Luau... So it's beach/surfing themed!!

Here are the invitations- I made them with a new stamp set that I got from my Close To My Heart consultant. (The palm tree and birds on the envelope are from a different stamp set). I used the Mod Podge Dimensional Magic stuff to make the surf boards glossy and thick.
So cute right?!





I saw an origami pineapple on this awesome lady's blog (here) and I totally thought they would be so cute for the baby shower!

So here are the Pineapple decorations- I think I might hang them, or I could put them in a large bowl for a table centerpiece. What do you think?




I learned how to make them from this YouTube video. In case you want to make some for your own upcoming parties!! I used scrapbook paper instead of origami paper, since that's what I have laying around.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Welcoming New Friends!

Well, we have had a lot of new traffic coming to my blog from our new friends on FaceBook via the
Netherton's Syndrome Research Group

And we say WELCOME! It really is comforting to meet all of you out there who are going through the same thing as us. I am truly inspired by this lady Carly Findlay who has Netherton's and has not let it dictate how she wants to live her life. She looks happy, and outgoing, and most of all she is not afraid to be herself no matter what anyone else thinks! Check her out!

Also the story of an adorable little boy named Jack really hits home for us. So many things that he and his parents are going through are all too familiar. They are doing an amazing job raising awareness in their country and fund-raising money for Netherton's Syndrome Research. I really admire their positive approach to their situation. They have done interviews, newspaper articles, etc. and have really gotten the word out there about Netherton's. They have set up a website: Netherton's Syndrome so go check it out too!

Anyways- thanks for visiting! And there are links to my specific posts about EmmaLee and Netherton's Syndrome in my side bar under my profile and pics.

Or- Everything related to EmmaLee, including pictures here:
EmmaLee

Sunday, July 25, 2010

New Stuff For Sale...

I've been working on making some more desk organizers to put up for sale on my Etsy shop... Hopefully I'll get those finished and on there this week! Check out what I do have for sale!!

(images are linked)






Saturday, July 10, 2010

Baby Onesies... with the CRICUT!!

Some friends and I got together for a craft night and wanted to learn how to make "freezer paper" shirts.  We used onesies since two of the women just had babies!!  There are tutorials all over the web for using freezer paper as a stencil and having the Cricut cut out your design to use. Just Google "freezer paper shirts" and you'll see...

Here's how we did it:


1. (Not pictured) Cut your design out of freezer paper using the Cricut or other die-cutting machine.
2. (Also not pictured) Iron your freezer paper stencil (shiny side down) to your fabric using the cotton setting, no steam. Iron a scrap piece of freezer paper to the inside of your fabric with the shiny side up, this creates a barrier so the fabric paint doesn't bleed through to the other layers. We also put a piece of cardboard inside to give it stability.


3. Dab on fabric paint using up and down motions instead of brushstrokes. Paint a thin layer, don't use too much... Like I did, or it will soak through the edges of the freezer paper and look bad. (Don't worry, it can be fixed if yours does this too.)


4. Let dry for at least 15-20 minutes, then do another coat of paint. Let that dry another 20-30 minutes, then paint on any details you want and let dry again. (I know, it's a lot of waiting!)

It can take several layers of paint to get something like this adorable Poodle onesie my friend Carolyn made:


5. Finally... carefully peel up your stencil, maybe enlist an extra set of hands to help hold the fabric.
6. Ta-Da! Then you can add your fine details (we used puff paint) and iron on jewels.





Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Desk Organizers

A little over a year ago I taught a class where we made these Desk Organizers for a Father's Day Craft, of course not in these colors, I made these ones here for my sister and me.


There are 8 little drawers, 2 on each side and the center is a hole for holding pens, scissors, whatever.

I used to make notebooks out of cardboard and these inexpensive notepads, so I made one to match for my sister. Some of the drawers have dividers in them too!





Try to ignore the blurry spot on all the photos, apparently my lens was dirty and I didn't notice...oops!

Since I made these I have found some very similar things online in various places, but my original inspiration was based on this mini matchbook advent calendar. There is a great tutorial for this HERE.  I believe the top of this is 4 x 4, and I made my desk organizers quite a bit larger at 8 x 8.



Just a question... Do you think anyone might be interested in buying one of these? Or maybe a whole set of matching desk accessories? I am thinking of making some more to put in my ETSY shop...which has been vacant for like a year! I don't know, just a thought.

*Edited* I now have some for sale in my ETSY shop! Check it out!!

Linking up here:








Monday, July 5, 2010

Staphylococcus Aureus - Staph infection

Our first run-in with a skin infection, which is supposed to be very common for individuals with Netherton's Syndrome, was last November. The skin culture showed two different types of Staph on her skin and it was obvious that something was not right. She was in agonizing pain, wouldn't let anyone touch her, hug her, pick her up, even pulling down her pants to use the potty was too painful.  The infection started on her legs, at least that's where I first noticed the discoloration and bumpy appearance, but soon began showing up on her torso, back, and arms.

The last time it was most likely contracted from a dog with a staph infected wound we had been around. I say most likely because it is VERY rare for a human to be infected from canine staph. A google search, which believe me isn't always accurate, gives many reasons why humans don't contract staph from dogs. The first and most important one is that humans have a skin barrier. Your skin keeps harmful bacteria out of your body, and since staph is not airborne it doesn't get in through your nose or mouth. The rare occasions are when humans have an open wound around the infected animal. EmmaLee doesn't have this skin barrier. She is that rare exception when staph becomes contagious from dogs through her open skin.  Now, I'm not a doctor...or even an expert on infections and types of bacteria...but I know more about my daughter than any professional ever will. I don't claim to be smarter than them, just more intuitive to my child's needs... "a mother's intuition" sums it up.  Granted, there is no proof nor evidence that the last infection came from that dog,... but I just feel it.  It makes sense.  The only logical source for the infection.  Coincidence?   No.   Maybe in these circumstances it is normal human behavior to find something to blame for someone's pain and suffering,...that's fine. I'll admit I just need to make something responsible for causing this trauma in our lives.  If I have nothing to explain this, how will I ever know when or how it might occur again?

It has. Saturday night EmmaLee was in so much pain that I took her to the E.R.  I think it was quite easy to diagnose this time since we now knew what a skin infection looks like, feels like (to her) and it's course of action.  It started hurting several days before. I knew something was happening, and her skin was different than normal (for her).  I feel so bad because I am the type of mom who says, "quit crying", "just get up and walk" (even when it hurts), and "okay, if you won't let me help, do it yourself".  Yes, bad mom.  I just know that the second I feel for her, really understand that she is in unbearable pain, I can't hold it all together anymore.  I've felt like a wreck these past few days, puffy eyes and always on the verge of tears. I can't stand to see my baby hurting like this.  We were changing her clothes to go to the hospital and she said something that just broke my heart. She says through sobs "I can't believe this is happening to me. I can't handle this."  Yes I know... me either.  Just writing about it makes me cry again.

Anyways, we got her on some antibiotics which seem to be working already. She still hurts, but she's not crying.  She's tough.  I hope I am helping her become a strong individual, but it sure feels wrong sometimes. I don't let her feel bad for herself, or make excuses why she needs special preference.  Don't misunderstand, I love my daughter more than anything, but I don't want her to become someone who feels like they were cheated in life and can never be happy or have a normal life. I want her to understand her uniqueness and then get over it, not dwell on her differences and wish for better things.  Acceptance, that's what it is.  I want her to accept it, and move on.  I'm sad to admit, but it took me a long time to accept our situation.  Trust me, dwelling on why things happened this way won't change anything. Wishing for things to be different, leads to disappointment and anger. I love her and I have to be strong for her, even though it's hard for me. 

Sorry for my random train of thought, I just needed to get it all out. I'm sure she'll be better in a few more days and back to her usual silly self again.


Oh, and she now wears glasses. At first I was apprehensive about the whole thing.  I mean, doesn't she have enough to deal with without adding this?  But I want her to have good vision, and now that she's been wearing them for a couple of weeks I can't imagine her not having them. She's just so darn cute. Anyways, it seems like glasses are becoming so commonplace nowadays that it hasn't been an issue even once. I remember when I was in school, yeah I say that like I'm old :-), and kids were just plain cruel to kids in glasses. I guess we will see what the school year brings, but for now hopefully we can get past this infection and just enjoy our beautiful Alaskan summer... except for that darn rain! Lol.

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Fishy Friends Quilt - Used My Cricut

Here it is all finished! My second quilt kit from Quilts For Kids.

My First one is HERE.



You can kinda see the quilting stitches on the front of the quilt... see the waves along the border?



What a cute little Crab!! He's definitely my favorite!

Okay, here comes TONS of Photos :-)




Here's the little sew on label they send with the kit for you to sign it and name your quilt.

I guess it's kinda like a little tracking device too, or it can be if the child who gets your quilt goes online and tells the story of how they got it and how they felt, then you can see who it went to because your name's on there, but online it's mostly just quilters who tell their story of making it.  Whew! That was a run-on sentence if I've ever seen one!

I'm not sure how often this actually happens, Downy's website has TONS of stories written by Quilters and Receivers of Quilts. But do they ever find the other person who made/received the quilt??    I don't know.


Here's a close up... I was really glad that everything worked out right so the waves were perfectly on the edges...

Okay, so now your wondering exactly what this quilt has to do with the Cricut right?!  It's gotta be the cutest way to make a template EVER!


These Cute Little Guys are from the Life Is A Beach cartridge. I just love the fishy kiss lips and is it just me or does that little one look kinda evil?




Crabs and Waves are from the same cartridge.


There might be an easier way to do this, but I was having a difficult time outlining the fish when it was just cut out of cardstock- they kept moving around on me!  So I used Freezer Paper and ironed it on there to trace around.


I'm using one of those purple disappearing ink fabric markers, one problem.... It kept disappearing TOO FAST!!! I had to re-trace those suckers like 3 times before I was done stitching!


I lifted up his little mouth flap so I could get the smile line drawn on there.


Here's that creepy evil fish again.  Can you see in the background the puffy fish that's already sewn?  First I planned out where I wanted each one to go, but I ironed them on and traced them one at a time, then I just filled in the spaces with bubbles.




I had to go out and buy this nifty presser foot, called a darning and embroidery foot, from a local sewing machine store.  The photos actually make my quilting stitches look pretty good, but this baby has a lot of imperfections... I guess that just gives it character! 

Other than a sample block to practice on, this was my first go with free-motion machine quilting.  I am way happy with the way it turned out regardless, and I'm sure it will make some little kid out there who's suffering happier for having it.  Okay here's the finished product again...




In case you were wondering, which you probably weren't, Yup, I'm already almost finished with the next one. It isn't a kit from them (Quilt For Kids), I just bought some fabric to make another one that I will hopefully have finished this weekend so I can send them back together.  I LOVE making things for other people, mostly I just love making crafty things, but I have no need for a baby quilt around here so it's nice to have an excuse to sew... :-)  
(Let's not think about all those OTHER sewing projects I have half-finished lying around here! I'm having too much fun with this!)

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