Preparations

Our home these last few months has been nothing short of a flurry of activity and self care. Of slowing down and knowing when to say “I can’t”. And I’ve been preparing and getting everything in order and ready for the birth of our little one. Spring may not be here yet because the cold of winter wants to keep its icy grip tight a little while longer, but this mama is dreaming of warmer weather and is ready to welcome her little Spring baby into the world.

It’s hard to believe that we’re into a single digit countdown these days. 9 days today to be exact. I’ll be honest, I am anxious and really nervous. It’s been 9 years since we’ve had an infant in this house and 9 years since I’ve had to heal from a c-section. At the same time, it’s not just the fact we’re having a baby that’s driving the nerves a bit. I think I’m more nervous about the decisions I will be making (like breastfeeding or pumping this time around) and having to go back to work in 8 weeks after my maternity leave runs out (I miss being a stay at home mom). But at the same time, we’re in a different place in our lives than we were 9 years ago. And though I worry constantly about our guy being a big brother and how their relationship will be, every now and then he surprises me with how much he’s really looking forward to having a little sister.

The other day I showed him the latest sonogram of his little sister and when I told him how long we have left to wait until we get to meet her, he was just over come with emotion and started to shed tears. I asked him what was wrong, and he just looked at me and said “I’m just so happy to be finally having a little sister. I can’t wait until she’s finally here.” (Yeah that triggered my own tears, thank you hormones)

In the midst of all the chaos, things are slowly coming together. We’re still making her nursery perfect and getting the finishing touches in it (it only took me 9 months to finally find a crib set we liked), like storage bins for the shelf and such. But I’m pleased with how it’s coming along. Her room is the smallest in the house, but with a little bit of mama cleverness, I’m hoping that it’ll be one very cozy little nursery.

The nursery from the hallway

You remember the lace lampshade? Yup that’s finally hanging now and I just love how it looks in her bedroom.


There are also little treasures that were taken from other parts of the house and brought into her little bedroom like the little hummingbird light that will be perfect for night time feedings. And the wing back chair that was given to us by my Oma and Opa.  The curtain? That was a twin bed sheet that I sewn in half and added some purple ribbon ties.
 


Mama handmade goodness is scattered throughout her nursery with much more to come I’m sure as she gets bigger. I still have a number of things I’m working on, including a crochet blanket I’m still working on for her. 


                                                                                   The mobile after needing to adjust the length

When we found out we were having a little girl, I knew she needed some little faeries to dance about her room. So what does any crafty mama do? Make a faery mobile!
 

 
                       Each of the faeries made from muslin and felt


                              




                         The mobile after finished

 There are other handmade touches, like the hand painted P above the crib and soon to be artwork that aren’t finished yet.


Her room may not be completely finished like I had wished it would be, but by the time she is ready to sleep in her room, it will be perfect! So here’s to the last 9 days as a family of 3 before we become a family of 4!!

DIY Doily Lamp Shade

 

In our house, we don’t have over head lights in the bedrooms unless we’ve put them there. In the bedrooms, the light switches are connected to one of the outlets.  But with the baby’s room, I want a hanging light to save on space. Because frankly, her room is the smallest room in the house and it could use all the space saving it could get. My original idea was for a pretty little cream and crystal chandelier like the one below. But these days, I don’t have the money to spend on something like this. So the next option.. DIY!

Image from Luxoz.com

I’ve seen them all over Pinterest and Google. My original idea was to just to get a large paper lantern and glue some pretty paper flowers to it or to make a twine lampshade. But thanks to chatting with one of my friend’s at work, the idea to use doilies popped back into my head. And what do you know, we just happen to have some for $1.00. Lucky for me I found some white ones!

So armed with 10 doilies, Elmer’s all purpose glue, a paper bowl, some waxed paper, a punching balloon, and a roll of packing tape, a sponge brush, I went to town!

I loved using the punching balloon. I was able to get the size I wanted for the lampshade that would fit perfectly in the baby’s room without it loosing the round shape unlike normal balloons. And being that it’s made for punching, it was thicker than your normal balloon and wouldn’t pop. Lucky for me, it came as a twin pack, so if for whatever reason it did pop, I had a back up. And to make sure that it was completely round, I put a couple pieces of masking tape over the spout to keep it from popping out.

I used a watered down glue mixture because that’s what I had on hand and the idea for this whole thing was to keep it cheap without having to get expensive glues and such. I mixed the glue and water in batches, being that my doilies were on a thicker side, they soaked up quite a bit of glue. Dropped a doily in the bowl full of my glue mixture and worked it until it was covered in glue and placed it on the balloon, with each new doily added over lapping the last.

The roll of packing tape helped hold the balloon up until I added more doilies. Then the balloon would be heavy on one side and I’d have to constantly readjust it. So I’d layer more doilies on and readjust the balloon.

 

This is about the point I realized I had a slight problem. I didn’t have enough doilies (I originally picked up 8 thinking it was going to be enough) and I ran out of glue. Sigh.. don’t we all just love miscalculations? So what’s a girl to do when you can’t continue until you get more doilies? String it up so it keeps it’s form! I grabbed my curved sewing needle and some super strong thread and threaded the edges of the doilies to keep them close to the balloon until I got more doilies and glue.

 

Fast forward 24 hours (give or take a few), an additional 2 doilies and a huge bottle of glue later, the lampshade is now drying! I’m going to give the lampshade another good 24 hours of dry time before letting the air out of the balloon and attaching it to the cord kit.

So what did I learn from all this?

~ Thicker doilies require less water added to the glue. The first few doilies kept sliding off the balloon or the edges wouldn’t stay overlapped because there was too much water in the mix. Again with my curved sewing needle and thread, I’d carefully sew the edges that overlapped down with a knot.

~ A foam sponge brush makes applying the doilies a bit cleaner than using your hands. But I enjoyed getting messy anyway!

~ Patience, patience, patience is key!

Over all I’m thrilled with how it’s turned out so far. To make sure it’s doubly secure after it’s dried, I might take my needle and thread and just knot a few of the edges on the newer doilies to the original set so it’s all secure and won’t fall apart on me. I can’t wait until it’s completely dried and installed in the baby’s room.

All lit and ready to hang. I’ll post a picture once it’s hanging and hopefully with a finished bedroom!

 

 

 

 

 

Technorati Tags: DIY,Tutorial,Baby,Doily Lampshade

Goodbye 2013, Hello 2014!

 

It’s been a long time since I posted last. I’m not ashamed of it either. In fact, I think I needed the disconnect for a little while to get things figured out and focus on me for a little while.

2013 has been a whirlwind of the mundane. And for once it wasn’t too bad of a year (and trust me, 2011 and 2012 were both doozies in their own way). So it was a welcomed change from the craziness of the years past. As much as most of our lives stayed the same during 2013, it also brought some new changes with it, like a new part time job for me (been at least 9 years since I worked outside the home). It also brought us on new adventures, including 2 trips to Boston and Salem, MA. As well as our much loved camping trip to the St. Lawrence River. It was also a year of personal growth.

I learned to finally let go of that which was holding me back and slowing me down. In fact, it was that healing and letting go that finally let positive things happen.

At Revere Beach, Boston Mass.

25 weeks

Yup that’s right, we’re expecting. 25 weeks today and our family couldn’t be more excited, the little man more so! He can’t wait to be a big brother. And such a good big brother he will be.

So with the slow return of my creative mojo (thanks to the holiday craziness that comes with retail) and the birth of a baby girl just in time for Ostara, here’s to 2014 and the start of many new things!

 

It’s that time of year again. Time to head North and enjoy time with our family away from distractions of the mundane. Time to release and recharge. See you in little over a week!!

Life doesn’t come up roses…

And frankly the romantic idea that it does just plain sucks. It dawned on me today that I’ve been lying to myself. That I’ve been in complete denial of how things really are. The blame falls square on my shoulders and my shoulders alone. I think the more disheartening fact is that I have no control over it.
As a kid, I dreamed of being a mom. I always thought I was going to have at least three kids. I dreamed of having a couple boys and a couple girls. I wanted to be the mom that had to juggle kid A’s soccer practice with kid B’s music rehearsal. Oh don’t forget kid C needs a couple of dozen cupcakes for a birthday party over the weekend. I wanted to be super mom. When hubby and I got married, I dreamed of giving him the chance to be the dad he always wanted and never had to as many kids as he wanted. We always talked about at least 3. It’s what we wanted.
The reality, at least 3 miscarriages (1 of which was suspected but unable to be confirmed), postpartum hypothyroidism and 9 years of secondary infertility and 1 ectopic pregnancy. I feel very very VERY grateful for my son. We wanted kids right away and started trying shortly after we were married. We had 2 miscarriages and after trying for 4 years, he was my miracle baby. Hubby and I joke quite frequently that our kiddo was our fluke. And with every challenge, I believe whole heartedly that not only was he a fluke, he was just meant to be mine.
I feel very blessed to be a mom to a very smart, funny, compassionate little guy. I know that there are parents who don’t have even this much. But I still can’t help but feel that it’s my fault that my broken body has some how failed me. Most days are good days. Bad days have their way of sneaking in and tossing me onto an emotional rollercoaster. The really hard part…I love babies. I love holding them, I love swaying with them in my arms. I love their tiny fingers and tiny toes. I love the toothless smiles and the deep belly laughs that just make you laugh just as hard.
Hearing about friends being pregnant is really hard. I unconsciously steer clear and advert my eyes of pregnant women at the stores. I am thrilled that there is a baby on the way, but it pulls at my core and tugs at the heart strings. I am tossed into a fit of tears and “What the hell did I ever do to deserve this?” rants. And it goes on all day. I cry in silence, I wipe my tears and go about my day. Then something hits the trigger and sends me back to red puffy eyes and tear streaked cheeks. Rinse and repeat all day.
Today was one of the bad days. And it all started when I asked hubby what we should do with the kid’s baby clothes that we had held on to. I’m not sure what I was expecting. I lie. I was expecting hubby to say “Let’s hang on to them for a little while longer.” Part of me was wishing for that. But deep inside I knew what he was going to say and it’s the same part of me that has been saying the same thing ~Just let it go. Sell it, donate it, give it away. But just let it go and get over it already~. When he said it was that it was probably time to let it go, I cracked. I just could not help but feel like a complete failure. I felt like my body betrayed me. My dreams of a big family were over.
Yeah I know there are other options for having a second child. And that is exactly what they are options. Hubby and I have discussed those options many times and we’re ok with those options. But it doesn’t make the pain, the hurt, the betrayal go away. It doesn’t make the guilt fade. And that’s how I feel. Guilty. Guilty because it’s my fault we don’t have 2 or 3 kids. It’s my fault because my body isn’t working the way it should be.
And part of the whole point of this is because I’ve been suffering silently. I don’t talk about this to any one other than hubby and one of my friends. I don’t even really talk about it with my family. And that is probably my fault as well, but I don’t know if I’m ready to openly discuss it on a regular basis. When family ask when we’re having another one, it’s usually “We’re trying. When it happens it happens” type response and topic of conversation changes.
I take a lot of comfort in the knowing that our decision to finally let go of all the baby clothes (5 large totes full), the swing and bouncy seat, will helping out one of my friends greatly being a single mom on a limited budget. Pay it forward. I was given a large amount of clothes for the kiddo when I really needed it, it’s now my turn to do the same.
My hope that in exposing my soul a little bit here and sharing what I’ve been going through, that it helps someone else to know that they aren’t the only one going through this. That someone else in another part of the world or even right next door is hurting just as much. And that it’s not our fault. That it’s ok to feel sad and to cry. It’s ok to be frustrated and pissed off at the situation. It’s ok to be flawed. It’s ok to be vulnerable.
It’s ok. And that’s when the healing begins.
~ K. Michele

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Here’s to 2013!

I for one, (and I’m sure I’m not the only one), am happy for a new year. I’m glad 2012 is over. It was a very crazy year and one that marked a big shift in my life on many levels.

2013 is going to be a fresh start in many different aspects and areas of my life. Like so many others, this year I’ve embraced a word. A word I feel encompasses a lot of what I want to bring into my life this year. I wasn’t looking for my word, at least not actively. But when it popped in my head, it felt right from head to toe.  It was probably a few hours later when a pretty little lady popped into my head and a little whisper that said “Paint me”. Eventually, was my response. There was the mundane things to do, I had to get a workout in and laundry to be done, among other mundane tasks.

It didn’t take long for that little whisper to become a full on scream! Ok. I can take a hint.

I never expected “Shine” to be my word. But the more I look at the word, look at my finished painting, and say the word to myself, the more Shine just feels oh so right.

Shine

Acrylic on stretched 27 1/2 inch x 30 inch canvas

My shining lady was in control from the moment I laid pencil to canvas. She needed to be infused with what I wanted to bring into my life, infused with all the positive and releasing all the negative. I took a lesson from Lifebook 2012 and used her hair to write out all that I wanted to change and invoke in my life. I admit it was empowering to do this step and just let go of the whole process.

Shine in progress

As I look upon my painting and take my word to heart, I think of all the aspects in my life that I am changing and shining in. I’ve gotten back on the wagon and started working out again and I feel amazing and have already lost 3 pounds (GO ME!). I feel as if I’ve finally embraced exercise and how it makes me feel connected with my body, something that was seriously lacking.

I’ve been doing a lot of soul searching as far as my art goes and where I want to go from here. I was blessed with 2 sales last year and am very thankful for that. I’ve been told by friends and family a like that I should do sell my work and crafts at art and craft fairs in the area. It’s been something that I’ve toyed with in the past off and on. So I’ve been doing a lot of soul searching with that. I’d love to be able to stay home and take care of my family and home and be able to financially contribute to our household by doing the thing I love most, creating. Because let’s face it, finances are tough for everyone. Even more so when you add in 2 hospital stays a week long each and all the expenses that goes right along with them that you are still trying to catch up on. I feel guilty that hubby is the one working and bringing home the bacon so to speak. It’s at the point where I either get a part time job, or start creating more to help contribute financially. True, it’s not going to be steady. But every little bit helps. There’s still a lot of soul searching going on in that area.

Shine at home on our family room wall as a constant reminder to shine in all that I do

2013 will be about shining for me. Shining in all that I work towards and do. Sure I’m going to drop the ball from time to time. But I am going to pick myself up, put a smile on my face and just keep on shining.

This year it’s time for me to SHINE!

 

 

 

 

Technorati Tags: Life,2013,Lifebook 2012,Shine,art,change,new year

Elf Antics ~ a week in review

Another week has flown by. But our little friend Nike has been up to all kinds of mischief.

Day 4: Doodling on the bathroom mirror

Day 5: Creating chaos in the holiday village

Day 6: “Providing” supplies for handmade ornaments

Day 7: Just a bit of hanging around

 

Hard to believe that another week is down and there’s still so, so much to do yet. But handmade projects are coming together nicely. I look forward to being able to finally share them once they are all completed.

 

 

 

 

Technorati Tags: Elf on the Shelf,life

Elf on the Shelf and Traditions

November was spent creating in one form or another, even if I didn’t post every day about my creative endeavors. Once Thanksgiving comes and goes, the rest of November and a good chunk of December is filled with holiday traditions and handmade gift making.

Thanksgiving marks the time that the holiday decorations come down out of the attic and our tree goes up. This is the first year in a very long time that our holiday decorating (including changing out our family altar for Yule) is done in a week (last year it took us just about 3 weeks to put everything up).

It is also a time that I find new traditions are introduced and welcomed with open arms. One of those traditions that’s been introduced is Elf on the Shelf. I’m sure you’ve seen them in stores, the internet, just about every where. Funny this is the first year I’ve heard of them or even of the tradition. But it’s one that our family has embraced. But I put our own little spin on it. I made our elf.

He’s posable as the store bought ones, but he looks more like how I think holiday elves do. His long cap, his pouch of magic dust, and a tiny magic key so that he can open any lock. In our house, not only does he report to Father Christmas (or Santa) , but he also gives updates to the Krumpus (a nod to my Germanic background).

                                                                                  Image from here

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t really sure how my kiddo would react to the whole idea. But he’s actually taken very well to the idea and magic behind our Elf. He loves looking for Nike (like Mike) each morning and wondering where Nike will be.

Day 1: Nike and his introduction letter

Day 2: Decorating our living space downstairs

Day 3: Color with me

Proof positive that our little guy really enjoys having Nike around? When the kiddo gives Nike our last name, writing it on Nike’s picture, because Nike is “part of the family now”.

Nike and the kiddo coloring before school

So my days now are spent making the numerous items for gifts as well as helping create the magic and tradition that our family thrives around.

 

Technorati Tags: Elf on the Shelf,life,tradition

AEDM Day 14 ~ a red headed faery

Remember the faery for my niece? Well it’s finished and I’m quite pleased with how it turned out. Just like I had hoped it would.  Book pages, water colors, ink, colored pencils, sequins, button brads, and glitter make up this red headed faery for a precious red headed little girl.

 

 

 

 

 

Technorati Tags: AEDM2012,Art Every Day Month,art,life,faery

AEDM Day 11 ~ A gift for my niece

Lately I’ve been doing more coughing and sneezing than art of any kind (I will be so glad when this cold is gone). This weekend was a flurry of activity with a soccer game and a hockey game in the same day.

But I have managed to start something for my best friend’s daughter. To her kids, I am Aunt Karebear and that’s how it’s always going to be. My “niece” and I share a middle name and a love for faeries and art. She is my little artsy mini pixie with the bright red hair and I love her to pieces. So for her birthday this year, I thought it’d be fun to make her an Aunt Karebear original, a fun funky faery with pigtails.

It’s not finished obviously. Tomorrow I hope to get the watercolor down and start on the paper flowers I’ll be adding to it. I look forward to seeing the look on my niece’s face when she opens up her present!

Happy Crafting!

 

 

 

Technorati Tags: AEDM2012,Art Every Day Month,art,faery,life

AEDM Day 7

With coughs and sore throats floating around this house, it’s a wonder I made it this long without catching it. And of course as karma would have it, I came down with a fever Monday night and have been fighting a stuffed nose and sore throat since. But today I feel like like I had been run over by a truck and a little bit more myself. I even climbed out of my pajamas that I’ve been living in for 2 days. But in the midst of being sick, I found that I wanted to create. I just didn’t have the energy to sit down at my art table with my paints or my sewing machine. All I wanted to do was curl up on the couch and watch the chick flicks I don’t usually get to watch living in a house where the boys out number the girls (that’s before we start talking about adding the 4 legged family members to the equation). What’s a girl to do then when dragging art supplies into another room just doesn’t quite work?

Crochet. I taught myself how to crochet about 2 months ago when I needed to add hair to a poppet I was working on for a swap. But the hair style I was going for was proving a little difficult to figure out with wefts. So I learned to crochet a wig cap.

And to show the final result:

Exactly what I was going for. So I’ve been slightly hooked on crocheting since. I am by no means an expert. Heck, after my crochet cap, I made a couple of dish clothes using a single crochet stitch. But I’m getting there. I find it enjoyable and relaxing to work on something like a dish cloth or scarf while watching TV with the family, or while waiting for soccer practice to finish, or the scout meeting to wrap up. I can see why a lot of people, my mom and grandmother included, enjoy this craft. And in a small way, as I use my grandmother’s hooks, it makes me feel a bit connected to her. And I hope that as I make things for my family using her hooks, that in a small way, they feel connected to her once more, especially my son who has no memory of his grandmother, but who had brought her so much happiness and joy during her last days before she passed.

I know my stitches aren’t straight or perfect. I know that someday I’ll get up the courage to try some other stitches like the double crochet or the triple crochet, but for now, I’ll keep right on making the little things for my family and enjoying every bit of it.

 

Happy Crafting!

 

 

 

 

Technorati Tags: life,crochet,AEDM2012,Art Every Day Month

Dia de Los Muertos ~ a new tradition & freebie!

October 31st, we had a simple family Samhain ritual, we talked as a family about the meaning of Samhain and rituals and traditions behind it. As we were wrapping up our little ritual, I had an idea. One that would allow us to teach how other cultures honor their loved ones who are gone (because let’s face it, my kid is a sponge and loves learning), allows us to get creative (I love looking for excuses to get my hubby using his creativeness other than home improvement projects), and it would be something fun.

I originally had the idea to print off a coloring book style page and let the kiddo color it in. But as I was looking at images of Day of the Dead skulls, I just wasn’t finding any that spoke to me. I didn’t find any simple skulls that I liked either for us to draw on and decorate.

You ever have one of those lightening strikes your brain with an idea kind of moments? The kind of moments where you face palm yourself on the forehead and exclaim at the top of your lungs “Oh my gosh!! I’m such an idiot!!” Yeah I had one of those moments when I realized that I could just draw the kind of skull I want (I swear sometimes I forget the fact that I can draw). So that’s where my brain child started, a simple skull on a piece of paper.

But it didn’t end there. It couldn’t. Remember my inked skull that I drew yesterday? It’s colored now and all framed. Even the dollar store frame that I’ve had forever for no good reason now has the perfect reason and purpose.

So what did we do with the paper skulls the kid and I decorated? Decorated our family altar of course! I had set up photos of family and pets that have passed on. I also included a small ceramic vase that was once my Nana’s. Our altar is simple this year. This evening after soccer practice, we’ll come home have a dinner of comfort food (mac and cheese is our family’s fav) and light the candles on our altar. We’ll share stories with our son of our fondest memories of family and pets he never got to meet. We’ll tell him stories of his great grandma who passed when he was only 3 months old. We’ll offer daddy lots of hugs and kisses because he misses Sir Galahad terribly. But most importantly, we’ll have honored our loved ones and create a new family tradition.

Want to make your own Day of the Dead skull? I’m sharing the one that I created!!
All that I ask is that you don’t sell it in any form. If you use it online, please link back to this post. Thanks! Let me know if you create your own skull, I’d love to see it!!

Thanks for swinging by and happy crafting!

 

 

 

Technorati Tags: AEDM2012,Art Every Day Month,life,Dia de Los Muertos,ancestors,altar,sugar skull,paper skull template