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Some more swaps I’ve done, stitching related.

Postcard cozy for March is craft month

I made these bird pins from an embroidery pattern. I made the top one first (for a Spring lucky parcel) and liked how it turned out so much that I made another one for a bird lover (technically not a swap but there was a call out to cheer up a fellow swapper that found out she has cancer.)

an owl bookmark, also for the spring lucky parcel. Pattern here.

a drawstring bag for the spring lucky parcel (I discovered how to do french seams and it’s now my go to for making bags as you don’t need a lining)

Zombie Embroidery for a rainbow lucky parcel

Cupcake pin for the rainbow lucky parcel

There’s that french seam drawstring bag again! For the rainbow lucky parcel. Flat and filled.

Matryoshka dolls for the swap of the same name. Pattern here.

Blue bunny for the Woodland stuffie swap. Pattern for this here.

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Today was dreary and rainy but not last week! Picnic!

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Here are some recent carvings I’ve done in swaps. I’m attempting to group all like type crafts together regardless of the swaps but I don’t know how long I can keep that up. All my photos are kept chronologically and I take too many to tag them all although it might benefit me to start doing that right after I download them into the computer…Anyway, I digress!

Part of March is Craft month swap.

Hedgehog carving for the Secret Sisters Spring parcel.

Fleur de Lys carving, part of a pinata swap (make a pinata and fill with goodies)

The ‘orange’ for the Rainbow Lucky Parcel’s swap. SC is my partner’s initials.

These 2 were for a mystery pouch swap. The recipient’s nickname is Roro and gummybear.

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What a wonderful weekend! The weather was fabulous (ok, maybe it was a little too hot this weekend!) Potty training is proceeding and Sienna is doing so great! We are so proud of her. All of our outings this weekend were underwear only. Actually, she’s been wearing just underwear after only about a week! She still hasn’t done number 2 in the potty but I know that takes time. After a week of staying home or close to home, I was anxious to get back out into civilization…

Friday we had another picnic at Owl’s Head park with a bunch of mom’s and kids. Sienna got obsessed with these toy binoculars of Phoenix’s.

Saturday we went up to Norwalk, CT for a Cinco de Mayo lunch hosted by an old friend of Yves’ from Chicago.  They moved from Chicago last summer and have been trying to make plans to get together since but something always happened. It was nice to finally meet Selena, her husband Danny and 2 adorable kids, Gael and Sofia. There were several moms and dads with their kids there as well. They have a beautiful spacious house with a nice big backyard. Sienna had a ball. She especially loved riding the “four wheeler.” They also had a Dora pinata for the kids. Sienna got hold of the string that probably would have opened it all up but she didn’t have the strength to pull it off. After a fun time, Sienna announced that she wanted to stay there forever. HA!

Pull Sienna! Pull!

This older boy got the magic string

Got some goodies!

Gael

Sofia

Sienna kept saying she wanted to go into the ‘pool’ so Sunday was the day for it.

Yes, it was hot!

Sienna took the opportunity to wash her car. LOL

Hot dog number 1

and hot dogs numbers 2 thru 4. LOL

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I just wanted to show how my second go around went using the ColorArtz. My first go around can be found here. Before I start, I want to follow up on the ones I made. I haven’t worn them yet but decided to throw 2 of the 3 shirts into the wash. Please note that I purposely washed them right side out. If you know anything about doing laundry, you know that if you want to keep the coloring or a decal on a front of the shirt intact, it’s to turn it inside out. Anyway, they did quite a bit of fading! I don’t think I have to tell you which one was the pre-washed shirt!

So for this turn, I found this blog post of a woman that made her daughter a Peep’s appliqued shirt/dress for Easter. She included the template for it and I promptly downloaded it. For the life of me, I can’t find that blog post!! Big apology for the woman that made this available! If you happen to be reading this, please let me know who you are!

So I decided to do the airbrushing instead of applique. I set up the template and printed it out on freezer paper and cut them out. In my supplies, I found this giant clipboard that I’m not sure where I got it and for what reason but I thought it was perfect for this project. This way I can be looking straight at the shirt instead of down on the shirt.

I was really good this time at masking the surrounding area!

As you can see, I had some trouble printing on the freezer paper because it was too curly but then used the scrap anyway. After taking this shot, I decided to tape a little bit more in between the peeps on the top. You can see exactly where in the final shot!

I did several coats because I wasn’t sure how well the yellow would show up on the pink. I also attempted to do some shading on the bottom. I think it came out cute! I used dimensional fabric paint for the eyes. I was debating writing “My Peeps” on the front but ended up not doing it. You can really see the areas that were open from not being taped down or from the tape not being secure. You really have to tape around the whole area to get it perfect!

So when I washed this shirt, I did turn it inside out and I did not notice any fading. This could also be because I sprayed several coats. That’s good to know! Sienna wore this on Good Friday for the Easter Egg Hunt. Here is another outtake, she has started to give me the sad face whenever I take a photo of her (she’d be all smiley seconds before!)

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What an exhausting week it has been! Aside from discovering I have Hashimoto’s and deciding to go gluten free, we also started some serious potty training for Sienna. Mind you, we got her a portable potty last year or maybe even earlier than that and some underwear soon after. She showed some interest last year for a bit but nothing ever really became of it. Potty training has been something I’ve been dreading since she was born so I didn’t really push it. Truth is, I was just being lazy about it. But I gave myself a deadline that she was definitely going to be trained by the end of the summer. That would make her almost 3.5 years old and there was no way I wanted her still in diapers at that age.

Anyway, last Sunday evening she said she wanted to wear underwear. Ok! I figured it was time to go for it and to go for it full strength. Enough of this already! She had an accident soon after I put them on her. That’s ok, it was the beginning. Monday, we decided to stay home and played in the back area. She had several accidents that morning. By the 3rd underwear change, I decided not to change her out of it so quickly and let her be a little uncomfortable in the wetness. I wasn’t sure how well that was working because after a few minutes, she just went about her business playing. That afternoon, I had my doctor’s appt and Yves said she didn’t have any accidents at all! Woohoo! Ok, maybe this wasn’t going to be so bad after all! Tuesday morning, accident. Right after she said uh-oh, a big stream came down her leg. Oh, bummer. But Tuesday was more successful than Monday. By Wednesday I was pulling my hair out. I wanted to get out (mind you, it was beautiful sunny weather we were having!) and also go shopping to fill up the kitchen with some gluten free options. I decided to go for the gold and venture out with Sienna. I put on her underwear and then also a pull up. I wanted her to wear the underwear so that if it gets wet, she will feel it better than if it was just the pull-up. I also bought a bunch of extra underwear, pants and pull-ups with me. We headed out to Trader Joe’s. Once we got there, we went into Michael’s first to use the rest room. She went on the potty! Went shopping at TJ’s, drove home and no accidents! Woot!

I also have to add that I ended up going the M&M route and only started it on Wednesday. It worked for 2 other moms I know and somehow I ended up doing it. Yves was really resisting doing it and I agreed. We both felt that you shouldn’t have to get a reward for doing something that you’re supposed to be doing but I’m just going to look at it as an incentive. Everyone needs incentives, right? Well, it was working!! So far it has only been pee in the potty although quite a few times she claimed number 2 was coming but nothing ever came. Never came into the potty that is! She had a poop accident at the playground on Thursday. I wasn’t surprised. She was threatening poop all morning. But after that, everything has been really uphill! She did not have any accidents from Friday thru today (except for one minor one and we’re talking really minor!) Her diaper was even dry this morning! We are so proud of her! She didn’t even want to put on a night diaper either. By no means do we know this training is over. And I have to be prepared for some regression. We’ll see!

And to add to the exhaustion of the week, Sienna has been getting up at 5 in the morning! She has done that occasionally every now and again but now it’s been close to 2 weeks! So we thought taking away her afternoon naps would help her sleep in longer. We started that on Wednesday and she is still getting up at 5!! ARGH! I have no choice but to ride it out and hope this phase will end. And to top all that off, I received a consuming freelance job. This week has flown by. I wish I could just sleep…

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An audible gasp can be heard from chefs, bakers and restaurant workers around the world!

Ok, I’m being overly dramatic but yes, I am going to try going gluten free. That means omitting wheat (durum, semolina, farina, bulgur, cake flour, matzo, couscous, etc.), rye and barley from my diet. A big no to bread, cake, cookies, pizza, spaghetti, beer, etc. But I can still have rice, potatoes, corn for all my carb cravings.

I decided to go this route after being diagnosed with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis., an autoimmune disease that mistakingly attacks my thyroid gland. While it is not life threatening, it does affect by general being. I got diagnosed by the rheumatologist who basically told me I just have this and that there is nothing I can do about it (since I already take medication for my hypothyroidism-connected to Hashimoto’s but not interchangeable, I’m still a little confused about it but a good article is here). That pissed me off. I waited 2 hours in his waiting room (better than the 3 hours at my first visit) and then another 15 in the exam room for him to tell me this and not have a treatment or any advice for it? Something he could have told me over the phone (which is what he said he was going to do after my first visit and told me he wasn’t going to put me through the wait again. HA! I can’t help but hear ka-ching as insurance money dives into his deep pockets). Anyway, I did some online research and many people who have this disease has said that when they went gluten free (with Vitamin D and fish oil supplements) they felt so much better and ‘reversed’ the disease. I put reverse in quotes because doctors say this disease has no cure.

And can I give a shoutout to the positives of Facebook? I put in my status that I was going gluten free and asked if anyone else is and loving it. I got such wonderful and helpful positive responses. Sure I know I can easily find a lot of info online about going gluten free,  a little too much so it’s wonderful to be able to just go to some of the resources people I know use. And to find out that someone else I know also has Hashimoto’s! I would not have found this out without FB.

Anyway, I don’t know how strict I have to be gluten free but figured I at least try to be in the beginning and see how I’m feeling and then eventually add some gluten back in. Just to see. It’s going to take some extra work going GF, especially going out to eat. I’ll just take it one day at a time!

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So the last weekend in March was a bit chilly so we opted to go to the Staten Island Children’s Museum. Both Yves and Sienna really enjoy that one. We got there around 10:30 only to discover it was closed! They were having a special Easter event out on the front lawn so the museum was closed for that. The event starts at noon and we were told we should come back for that. Well, what a bummer! Sienna was really upset and even started crying. Poor thing! Since we’re not from the area we had no idea how to occupy our time in order to come back for the special event. We were a little upset about this closure, especially since we checked the website right before we left! So since the museum is on a cultural center (Snug Harbor), we walked around that area. Unfortunately Yves wasn’t really dressed for being outside but he toughed it out and we managed to pass an hour by. By the time we walked by the museum, it seems like they started the festivities even tho it was before noon so technically, we could have checked it out. But because we were kind of mad at the museum, we decided not to and just go to lento’s for lunch. Good news for me! Yves realized that their pizza is subpar to the Bay Ridge Lentos (and our own) that he declared we are not to go back there again! Yay! (I always thought it was subpar and I think Yves was still holding onto the memories of the BR Lentos.) Now we need to find another lunchtime place for our future visits to the Children’s museum. Anyone know of any??

Walking into the ‘scary jungle’


Sienna kept saying “Come here duck, I want to pet you.”

Yves kept saying “Come here duck, I want to pet you.”

This tree tunnel will look really pretty when the leaves come in.

A castle!

Hello? Anybody home?

Found a magic stick!

Found a stage!

Snug Harbor from Lisa on Vimeo.

I do want to say that I e-mailed the museum to suggest putting special events and notices on their visit us page. I had checked their calendar when we came back later that day to make sure it wasn’t something we missed. It did say there was a special event but it did not say the museum was closed! They were nice about it and even sent us 5 free passes for another visit.

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Easter Sunday I had in mind to go down to the newly opened Pier 1 of the {still renovating} Brooklyn Bridge Park for a picnic with Yves and Sienna. Sienna had a slight fever of 100.3 so we opted not to go. Her fever was gone on Monday so I felt it was ok to go to the Etsy Labs and had some time to check out the area before going to the labs. Not what I had imagined but very pretty anyway. There is still a lot to be done with the park and I’m really surprised about all the things they are planning! A beach! A tidal pool! Here’s the plan!

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I’ve joined some stuffie swaps back in March!

2 Easter Egg Ornaments I crochet. The pattern on the left is here and the pattern on the right is here.

I made 2 Lucky Ducks for 2 different swaps! A Spring Critter swap and Plushie Love. These were so cute and I think I will enlarge the pattern if I make this again. Which I might because Sienna thought they were really cute too. Here is how long the legs are (I might have went a bit crazy on that!)


This is for itty bitty critter and it’s hiding place. I crocheted a white rabbit and made a hole for him to go down a la Alice in Wonderland. My partner is also a fan of photobooth shots so this little rabbit went to the photobooth first (forgot to take a shot of that!)

These following ones were for the Softies Galore swap. You have five partners to make little stuffies for! I got a little overwhelmed with them since I wanted them to be profile based plus I procrastinated just a bit!

Birdie from the Puchi Collective

Lucky cat from nuno-runo

Hippo from The Cute book I got from the library!

2 partners liked witches/Halloween so I made 2 different versions. From one of my Japanese felt books.

This one is for a Kawaii monster swap. You had to create your own monster. I got inspiration from the Invasion of the Plush Monster book (also from the library!)

In other crafty news, I’m doing pretty well with the April Stash Bust challenge as far as not buying new craft supplies. I’ll be writing a separate post about that as well as the craft it forward I’m involved in.

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