Glass Etching

It is actually sooooo simple to do, and the results can be stunning. The only drawback of glass etching that I can see is the cost of the etching cream. It is EXPENSIVE! Oh man! A small 10 oz bottle of it was $34.99 at Michaels. Of course you should use a 40% off coupon and save yourself $14.00 to help ease the cost. I also purchased my mirrors at Michaels, for quite resonable prices.

Seriously I got a little carried away once I discovered how easy it was! I started with this small coaster set. Here's how:

Supplies:

piece of glass or mirror

plastic or paper stencil

etching cream

repositionable spray adhesive

flat bristle paintbrush

1. Clean your glass with Windex first, wipe until dry.

2. Spray the back of your stencil with the repositionable adhesive. ( I laid down scrap paper underneath to catch any overspray from the can.)

3. Position the stencil on your glass. Don't worry if you place it crooked or wrong, just peel it back up and position again.

4. Rub the stencil firmly to ensure complete contact with the glass, especially on any small pieces in the design.

5. Using the paintbrush, apply a thick layer of etching cream onto your stencil making sure to completely cover all open areas of the stencil. *Also be careful not to brush any extra cream in unwanted areas!!

6. Let cream stand for 5 minutes. ( I have found that adding additional time is not neccessary and doesn't improve the darkness of the etching very much, but it doesn't hurt if you accidentally leave it on too long.)

7. Wash cream completely off under running water. Dry, and clean with Windex again.

That's it! Just think about all the possibilities with all the stencils out there!

Glass Etching on votive holders is a little more difficult but worth the trouble for the beautiful outcome. When you think of all the glass items in your house that could be spruced up with some decorative etching I hope you'll be as excited as I am!

Catching Up...

What you've missed...

For Halloween EmmaLee was Princess Belle and Ethan was her Knight. She demanded that we call her Princess EmmaLee Belle for weeks afterward! Oh, and I was a scarecrow.

I absolutely love the wig on her. I was kinda hoping that she would too, since she will never have a full head of hair. I've always been open to the idea that she might want one someday, I thought maybe even as early as 5 or 6 years old. Nope, she did NOT like it, just too itchy.

And... EmmaLee turned 4. She wasn't very happy on her birthday, not even blowing out the candles. But obviously she liked the frosting. There WERE stars around the whole border of the cake, until she ran her fingers through it. I actually sat there and secretly watched her do it, I think every kid is allowed at least that on their birthday! lol! What made her finally smile? ELMO pajamas!!!!

My Layouts

Okay, so these are really old pictures in the layouts but I've never scrapped them on anything. And...I actually made everything for the layouts myself!! Pat. Pat. Yes, I'm patting myself on the back.

And yes, I realize that these still need some journaling or explanation...at the very least, a date.

M.I.A.

Wow! I'm just shy of 2 months without posting anything!! I don't know why, there isn't a good excuse or anything. You know how sometimes you just get stuck in a rut, you loose all drive to do anything productive. Well, I fall into those slumps occasionally. Okay more than occasionally, but whose keeping track? Well, I'm back now and I've decided to keep a regular posting schedule. Not sure what that will be yet. Hmmm, maybe once every two months LOL! No seriously, I will try to do at least twice a week, maybe more.

Thats all for now. Question: Does this post count?? lol!

Learning to Design...

I am slowly but surely learning how to design Digital Scrapbooking items. I have been using a trial version of PhotoShop Creative Suite 3 Extended. Technically it has expired so now I have to find a way to purchase it, or something lesser and cheaper! Here is what I have made so far...

A brown wavy paper.

Oops, it looks like I may have some stray shadow at the top, I'll be fixing that.

A brick wall scene.

I envision a graffiti saying next to a photo of my daughter doing something artistic. Or maybe just playing in paint! Actually the only funny picture I have so far is one with her eating a green crayon and smiling with big chunks of wax in her teeth!

Snowman Scene Paper

Let it Snow Word Art

The Snow letters have really cool texture too!

Just a few buttons too.

It's not much but its a small start I guess. I never knew how much you can do with all the tools in PhotoShop!! It's really fun to play around and learn. Plus there are some really great websites out there that offer tons of tutorials on how to make your own stuff!

Here's one:http://www.ellies-treasures.com/scrapbooking-tuts/scrapbooking-tuts.html

Working on Part Three...

So, I've been working on Part Three about my daughter with Netherton Syndrome, but I guess I'm finding it a little hard to write because I feel almost like I am complaining rather than explaining. I think an explanation needs to be preceded with a question, right?

It does prove very therapeutic to write my feelings down, and tell our story. I guess I'm just wondering if anyone is even reading it. I would greatly appreciate some comments with any questions you might have about us. Sure, ask anything... about the disorder, about our family, our life, etc.

-Anna Dawn

Part Two- The Diagnosis

Netherton Syndrome.

Netherton's is from the Ichthyosis family.
Pronounced ick-thee-o-sis.
Don't know what ichthyosis is? Go here:
http://www.ichthyosis.com/Show_n_Tell.htm

There is a lot of random information on the web about Netherton Syndrome. Here are a few sites that I have found and know to be the most helpful and accurate.

F.I.R.S.T. Website
(Foundation for Ichthyosis and Related Skin Types)

http://www.emedicine.com/derm/TOPIC431.HTM

http://www.cafamily.org.uk/medicalinformation/conditions/azlistings/n235_2.html






EmmaLee was five months old in this picture, but she still looks like a newborn! This is about when we got our final diagnosis. The doctors had been telling us for a few months that it was probably Netherton's Syndrome, but all the research we had done only made us wish harder that it wasn't.

EmmaLee and I flew down to Seattle to the University of Washington - Medical Genetics and Dermatology Department. The Doctor, Virginia Sybert, is said to be the Leading Pediatric Dermatologist in the NATION. We felt like we were going to see royalty or something! She was so nice, and really listened to my concerns and questions. She was able to answer some odd, but valid questions I had that no one else had been able to answer. Such as, will EmmaLee ever be able to scar? Which the answer is No. It was a very validating experience to learn so much about all the things we had been seeing and experiencing while learning how to take care of her. We knew what happens with the disorder from dealing with it every day, but now we knew WHY it was happening.

Short Explanation: EmmaLee is missing her Epidermis (which is the top layer of skin). Your epidermis has many important roles, such as maintaining body temperature, keeping germs and bacteria out of your body, and most importantly holding in your body's moisture. The second underlying problem is that due to a genetic mutation, she also Overproduces skin cells to compensate for shedding them. Combined, these two defects cause her to loose water through her skin, causing her skin to dry very quickly and peel off. Sometimes shedding an entire layer of skin each day. The redness is caused by the lack of the epidermis which also serves as a protective layer for all the many blood vessels that lie so close to the surface. EmmaLee's blood vessels are all but exposed on her face. She scratches and bleeds very easily.

Whew... that didn't really feel like the short answer did it? Well it was. There are so many different complications and effects this has on her body, but that is the basics.

Part One- The Disease

First of all let me start by saying that it is classified as a syndrome, not a disease. Although it does fall under the definition of disease, it is much more complex and thus called a syndrome.

I have adopted the term "disease" to try to signify the severity of it to onlookers and rudely inquisitive people.

Don't get me wrong, I welcome questions and would much rather explain it openly, but I do admit that my blood starts to boil when I hear whispers and comments behind my back as we pass strangers in the aisles of stores, "What's wrong with that baby?", "Oh my gosh! She got burned!","Look at that red baby!", and the most recent "What color are you?".

Once put to paper, so to speak, I guess they don't sound quite as bad as I interpret, but the tone in which they were uttered makes a vast difference.

Most of the time these comments are not made to my face and do not require an answer or explanation, and in previous years I was deeply upset by them and would hurry away trying to put as much distance as possible between us.

Lately I have confronted these ignorant exclamations and tried to explain that it was not caused by trauma, but genetics.

This is my answer:

"She was just born this way.
She has a rare genetic skin disease, and she will have it all her life.
There is no cure, only treatments.
It is not contagious, so you can't 'catch' it.
But she is still such a happy girl!"

Then I kiss her cheek.

And continue to answer their questions,
but now they are phrased delicately with concern and sympathy.


Part Two-The Diagnosis...coming soon.

I Want It Giveaway!

So, there's this awesome giveaway of either this whole kit...

Or this mini kit...

Designed by Flergalicious. Check out her blog here:

http://flergalicious.blogspot.com/

You can check out her store here:

http://scrapbookgraphics.com/xcart/manufacturers.php?manufacturerid=42

The giveaway is being hosted by: Growing in Grace Magazine (image is linked to website)

Going Digital. I think I'm getting the hang of it!

I am really loving this digital scrapbooking stuff! But I still havn't decided if I am ever going to actually print out any of these layouts. Not sure how much it will end up costing if I only put one or two pictures per layout.



















This layout was done with a free downloaded kit from the coolest website: shabbyprincess.com. You can get lots of free downloads here: http://www.shabbyprincess.com/downloads.asp

p.s. Photo is of my younger sister and my daughter at the Alaska State Fair in the petting zoo.

2 Sketches 4 You

This is my first time doing a Sketch Challenge, so tell me what you think please... but I'm afraid I missed the cutoff and won't be included in the challenge. Oh well, there's always next time.

Click on the images to see enlarged photos.

Notebooks

I taught my Activity Day Girls how to make these notebooks for our activity this week. I bought the ruled notepads at Wal-Mart. I love back-to- school season... everything is on sale! I paid $2.17 for a 5 pack of these 8x5 notebooks.

I made the covers out of that extra lightweight cardboard we have instead of throwing it out. Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. I'm all about it now.