Getting Inspired

I went to Michelle's open craft night and I did find inspiration. I made a few cards and I was able to get lots of ideas. At first, I didn't KNOW where to begin, but it didn't take long for my creative juices to start flowing.

Thank You Cards

These thank cards are my favourite ones I've made so far. I used a stamp from the 'Pocket Silhouettes' set.

Here's some variations...

This is another stamp from the 'Pocket Silhouettes' set.

And another stamp.

Birthday Cards

Here are some more designs from the 'Pocket Silhouettes' set.

Here are some designs using the 'Happy Moments' set.

New Hobby

I was invited by friend Christie to a craft night, which was being run by her sister-in-law, Michelle. Michelle is a 'Stampin' Up!' demonstrator. Stampin' Up! make all sorts of paper craft goodies - stamps, ink pads, paper, etc. I had a great night making cards and chatting to friends. I was able to learn how to use stamps and create interesting designs. I made three things - two cards and a calendar display.

Calendar display (left), 'Happy Birthday' card (middle; I got the birdcage stamp - I thought it was just charming) and 'Hello' card (right).

I have been really inspired to get back into making cards and other paper craft. I bought some stamps and ink, so I'm hoping to put them to good use.

Here's my first attempt. I made a Birthday card for my niece, Vivienne. You can't see it very well, but the text under the cake says 'Happy Birthday' in pink ink. These two stamps came in a set (along with the birdcage). I stamped the cake in blue ink, then, with a cotton tip, I wiped the blue ink off the flowers. I used a pink and a green marker pen (which I also bought to go with the ink pads) to colour in the flowers. I then used the pink marker to fill in the flames of the candles. I really like the effect of colouring the stamp. I also like the simplicity.

I'm going out tonight to another craft night. I'm hoping to get some more ideas and inspiration.

Reflections of Week 30

This week has been hard. We've all been sick and that has made life pretty exhausting. Jack has seemed like more work this week. He has been crying a lot more and I have felt very drained.

Sleeping
Jack's sleeping has generally been good. He has woken up a few times in the night, but he usually goes back to sleep. The other night he woke up crying (unusual). I suspected he was hungry and that he wouldn't go back to sleep (well, not for long, anyway), so I decided to feed him. His last feed the previous night was 5pm. I'm not sure if that feed was too early (I've fed him before at that time and he has slept fine) and that was why he woke up.

Other the last few days, I has been crying before going to sleep for both his naps and bed time. I'm not really sure why he has started to cry (the possibilities are endless). He has been crying for about 30 - 45 minutes and I have been finding this very draining. I was starting to not wrap his arms when I put him down. This was working well for a couple of days, but then he started crying so I started to wrap him again. I don't think not wrapping him has anything to do with his crying as he still cried this morning, and he was wrapped, but I'm trying to eliminate possibilities. I suspect that his nose is blocked and congested, which may be upsetting him as he tries to go to sleep. Who knows?

Illness
As you can see, Jack is still sick. He sneezed and then there was this huge snot bubble. I couldn't resist taking a photo :-)

He's been sick for a few weeks now. I thought he was getting over it, but then he got a runny nose, which runs and runs and runs...Every time I wipe his nose, he cries. He hates me doing it, but if I don't wipe it, he rubs his hands in it and then the snot gets EVERYWHERE! I think he may be getting better now. Today, his nose doesn't seem so bad.

Wake Time
Jack is still up for 2 hours. This has been going well. He is quite content when he's sitting up. He plays for ages on his mat, sitting up, with his toys surrounding him. He rarely falls over now. Maybe once per play time.

I put him on his tummy to encourage him to crawl, but he gets pretty sick of it after a short time. Sometimes, I put him on his hands and knees, but he doesn't really know what to do and eventually slides back down onto his tummy. He really has no interest in crawling at the moment - something that I'm sure I should be happy about, as most seasoned mothers tell me :-).

Solids
Well, things have pretty OK for solids. He doesn't really eat all that much and I have to accept when he's had enough and stop pestering him to eat more. He's been more fussy and whingy these last few days. Today he's been crying a lot when we sit down to eat. I'm assuming it's because he's sick, but I really don't know. I'm at the point of giving up as I'm getting sick of listening to him crying.

On a positive note, he has been eating a good range of food, though. He's tried Korma and he enjoys eating rice. Pumpkin is still very much one of his top foods. We were at a cafe when Jack saw some mixed lettuce on my plate and made a lunge for it. He seemed quite determined to try some, so I let him. He was quite happy sucking away on it, until he couldn't get it out of his mouth, then he wasn't too happy.

The draw back with this solid eating stuff is how it all comes out at the other end - or, doesn't come out. Poor Jacky Boy has been constipated :-( He's been straining quite a bit and been very unsettled. Finally, it all came out Yesterday. Unfortunately, most of it came out in the bath. I won't go into details. Let's just say a lot of bleach was used and I'm still trying to get the image out of my head. The joys of being a parent....

Routine
Generally, I'm feeding Jack 4 times a day. There has been some days where I've given him an extra feed before bed if his late afternoon feed was too early. I'm still trying to work out when I should give him his last feed...He has been pretty consistent with his morning wake up. Over the last few days, he has been waking up pretty close to 7am, which is great.

I Love Where We Live

When I got up this morning, this is what I saw through our kitchen window. The sun was piercing through a slight mist. It was such a beautiful and peaceful image.

Character Frames for Jack's Room

I made these character frames for Jack's room. I think they look great.
I found some gorgeous fabric in Ikea (I love Ikea!), which I chose for these really cute and interesting characters. I picked out three characters from the fabric (a hard decision) that would work well in the frames. I also bought these frames from Ikea. They're nice and deep, which is perfect for these designs.
There are about 3 layers to each character. Each layer of fabric has thick interfacing ironed onto it. The base was cut into a square shape (the size of the frame) with the character in the middle. The first layer, I cut around the character. The second and third layers, I cut out different parts of the characters to highlight their different parts and enhance their quirkiness.

For this one, the trailor has three layers to it, to give it a 3D effect. The character's body also has three layers. For the second layer, I cut out just his body (excluding his head, hands and left leg) and his hat. For the third layer, I just cut out his arm.

In between each layer there is thick mounting tape. This is what gives it the 3D effect.I think this one is particularly cute. His beak and feet have two layers. I did three layers of his shorts to enhance their grooviness.

For the bunch of flowers, I did two layers of the light brown paper and the flowers, but only one layer for the stems.

This character is very sweet. In only did two layers. For the second layer, I cut out the watering can, his jacket and his bucket.
Well, what do you think?

I often do this style when I make cards. Using wrapping paper is particularly effected as wrapping paper has the same pictures repeated numerous times, which is what you need for this.

Reflections of Weeks 26 - 29

Ok, I know I've been slack with my weekly (or, not so weekly) reflections.

Jack's hit the 6 month mark - yay! The last few weeks have been a bit more tricky. Jack got his first illness, a cold :-( and then has passed it on to both of us. Jack's cold has been lingering. He seemed in pretty good spirits for the first couple of weeks with his cold, but the last week, he's been really unsettled. He has been crying a lot more than usual and has just seemed upset at times, but I'm not sure why (there are so many possibilities - teething, illness, tiredness, a wonder week, etc., etc.). But, having said that, he is giggling and laughing heaps. He has been really fun to play with.

Sleeping
Jack's been sleeping pretty well on the whole. We've had a few nights where he's woken up in the wee hours, but he goes back to sleep. In the last week, we've had a few shockers where his sleep has been unsettled. He's also started crying after he's been put down for a nap or put to bed. A few times he just wouldn't settle and I've had to feed him to settle him. I'm hoping that is just a phase. Nothing else has changed. He's still having 3 naps and we're still wrapping him.

This morning he slept in til 7.30am! I was excited about that, but it didn't stop me from waking and checking the time (and wondering, "is he still alive?"). I hope this continues...

Wake Time
His wake time is still 2 hours. Sometimes he can go longer than that. This has been going well. I find it much easier to do things during the day when Jack's awake for longer periods of time.

Rolling
Jack hasn't been rolling all that much. He's stopped rolling onto his tummy in his cot. Occasionally, he'll roll onto his tummy or his back while he's on his playmat. He spends most of his time sitting, so he's not really had much opportunity to roll around. Although, I don't really think he's that interested in rolling.

Sitting Up
Jack is really good at sitting up now. We can leave him on his own to sit and he only very occasionally falls over. He really likes sitting and he can sit and play for ages - very content little boy.

Solids
Well, this has been very interesting. I been giving Jack finger foods with some success. Over the last couple of weeks his coordination has improved greatly. He has gotten really skilled at picking up the food and putting it into his mouth. He's just started to work on his pincer grasp and I think that will keep getting better over the next couple of weeks. He's been eating a wide variety of food, which has been really good. For dinner he has what we're eating (meatballs, vegies, risotto, etc.). Sometimes, he eats really well and other times he's not really that interested. I've been concerned that he's been hungry during that night (one possible reason for his unsettled sleeping), so I've been trying to make sure he eats "enough" at dinner. But, he only eats however much he wants (little or lots) and I can't do anything about it (I have to back off and not get stressed about it - I'm a slow learner!).

Dave and I both really like that he can feed himself at dinner time. This means that we can eat our dinner and not have to worry too much about feeding him. Meals do take a long time now, though. I've gone from eating a meal in 10 mins to eating a meal in 30 - 45 mins. Another of the many ways that my life is changing with a baby :-)

Routine
I unintentionally dropped a feed, so now we're down to 4 feeds a day. His last feed is between 5pm and 6pm. Occasionally, I give Jack a feed just before bed if his last feed was before 5pm. I'm still uncertain as to whether I should give him his last feed before bed or not - any ideas?

Mothers Group
Since Jack's been 3 months, I've been going to a mothers group. It's been FANTASTIC. It's the highlight of my week and I've made some great friends. There are 3 girls, in particular, with whom I've connected really well - Erin (mother of Oliver), Sam (mother of Daisy) and Christie (mother of Sophie). I'm really lucky that I can meet up with these girls throughout the week. I am truly thankful to God for providing me with such great friends.

In this photo, you can see Oliver (in the background), Sophie (on the far right), Jack (on the right) and Lucy (left, daughter of Nicole). The babies were completely mesmerised by a toy that spun around and made music like a xylophone (you can sort of see it behind Lucy). It was very cute.

Mango Madness

Jack is going really well with eating his finger food. His co-ordination is really improving. Today, he had half a mango for lunch. I couldn't resist taking some photos. You should have seen the mess afterwards!! But, it was worth it. It kept him entertained for 45 minutes and he was really happy.