Picture cushion

 I'm so thrilled with the result of this cushion that I made a friend for her birthday that I had to share it with you. I was a bit stuck with what to get her. She has been so supportive during our mum ordeal and I wanted to give her something nice. Clothes wasn't the thing and then I thought cushion.

I went to her blog and stole one of her photos. Luckily they were in high resolution and I printed it onto canvas paper that I had. (If only it was really this easy. I also had to buy ink, realign my printer heads, waste a few sheets and stop trying to print it from powerpoint and then I finally got this image but it should just be print)

 The picture is a4 size and my thought was a long cushion rather than a classic square. In my stash I found some grey linen which went well. I also cut some calico the same size as the linen had a bit of give to it and I didn't want it to stretch when I stuffed it.

 I zig zaged the edges and essentially appliqued the canvas to the linen and calico. Then I sewed up one long edge and pressed it.

 I also found some quilt batting and decided that that would give it a richer finish. I trimmed it to size and then sewed a black velvet ribbon over the edge of the photo and along what will be the back of the cushion.

 Then turned it all inside out and sewed the side seams leaving the top end open. I trimmed the corners before turning it in the right way.

 Once the corners were pushed out, I stuffed it with some wadding - quite stiffly. Then I hand stitched the end closed.

 And all finished - here is the front

And the back if you didn't want the picture on display.

What thrilled me the most was that she loved it. Apparently it was one of her favourite photos (luck on my part) and she was missing her older sone who was off on camp with Xandy. Nailed it!

Home

Its like we have been on some crazy roller coaster ride - in total darkness. You just don't know what is coming up ahead, you feel sick in your stomach the whole time, the anticipation almost kills you and even if its good, you just know you can't relax. This is my life at the moment.

I was planning the day to go and visit mum is hospital, and get a call from Dad to say she's going home. I can't believe it. She is really good. Well at the moment. It is hard to know whether to celebrate or wait for the massive BUT. I don't think I will be throwing any celebratory parties, nor settle into thinking she is recovered and its all smooth sailing from here, but we do have every reason for a smile to cross our lips. To breathe a little and relax - not too much, just a little. We know how quickly things can change and for now, as it should always be, we are taking each day as it comes and trying to enjoy the little things.

Worth the wait

The waiting is the worst bit. For anything - good or bad. For an operation - the pits.

Not knowing.

The only thing that makes is better is knowing and the BEST feeling in the world is seeing.

We huddled in a corner finally with news that she was coming up. She had lived through the operation. We had no idea what we were going to get. In the neurology ward you get all types, the person unable to control bizarre yells and groans to the person sitting in a vegetative state. At this point all we knew was that she was still alive and was coming up.

Its that moment when you want to both look and not look, but gee I am so glad I looked. Mums bed swung around the corner and she smiled at us. Her tiny head slightly propped but she could not only see, but she could see and recognise us. Then she spoke - " Hello my darlings. What a wonderful welcoming party" The relief washed over me in waves. She can see, she knows us and she can speak. She sounds like mum. She is cracking jokes like Robin Williams on a roll. She is back to the woman we know and love.

She still has a massive bandage around her head and a bit of a fat lip, but the immediate change in her is absolutely amazing. She answers all the mandatory questions correctly and we eventually leave, go home and eat together where we can finally stomach food. Lets hope this progress continues.

Goodbye

i couldn't work today. Mum had to go into hospital for scans prior to her operation today and I just didn't think I was up to it. As it turned out she ended up staying there in preparation for the operation and I was really glad I had made that decision.

Mum called just after three. They were on their way to our place, having been told they were home for the night, only to be called back in to the hospital, where they had been all day, to have more tests etc. As you can imagine, this only served to scare mum further and she decided she wanted to see us first.

I picked the boys up from school and Mum and Dad were already at our house. They were having a cup of tea and the boys were chatting about their day until we felt the mood change. Mum was saying goodbye.

Of course she is scared. We all are. Brain surgery is nothing to be sneezed at. On top of this she has been so sick and frail of late that there is a real possibility that she wont make it. Or if she does make it, there are some serious risks. Memory, speech and vision are the top three at risk. Oh and ability to walk. All pretty serious stuff.

We have had this chat once before, however that time we didn't know it was cancer. We hadn't talked about terminal. We only had a mild risk, of an operation. The normal risk. This time was much different. The risk was bigger and we all knew it. We were saying goodbye - just in case.

She knows we love her and we know she loves us. Each day since her initial seizure we have been so much more vocal about our love. We are much more in the moment, and that life is so much more fragile. But there is something so final about saying it to someone, to whom you may never see again that is just so much harder. We simply focus on the fact that we are truly blessed to have the opportunity to say it, when so often there is not the option.

Now all that we can do is wait and hope and find something to distract us.

Portsea camp

We had a fantastic long weekend arranged by a Mum at school. She had booked the Portsea camp which is a couple of doors down from the Portsea Pub. 

The actual accommodation is dorm style - really not fancy

 but the view out the doorway is the water. It was a really beautiful place and as it was all enclosed there was a real communal feel.

 The facilities were fabulous. There was a giant teepee that we were welcome to sleep in but didn't.

 She has arranged for us to use the zip lines (Mitch was our instructor and it was fabulous) I was self appointed photographer so out there for half a day

 but I got the very last turn!

 There were 17 families all from school with kids. All up there were about 70 of us, so always something to do or play with. She has provided breakfast goodies in the communal kitchen, so everyone could help themselves in the morning. Lunch was your own problem and dinner we had sausages for the kids, byo meat and then everyone brought a salad.

 Such a relaxing way to live. It was social and lovely.

 A great range of salads too

 The kids on the basketball court with their own rules. Seems everyone was on the skins team.

 The rest of the time was spent at the beach. Either directly out the front or down at Shelley Beach.

 Again everyone was involved and had a lovely time

 We took a ride to Point Nepean. Probably shouldn't have left this for the last day as I didn't get to see the stuff I wanted, but hey, its not about me.

This is probably one of the most relaxing holidays we have had in a long time. It is like a caravan park, but where you know everyone - all the kids and their parents which makes the whole experience that much more enjoyable.

Another 4 oh - not mine

A massive day today getting everything ready for a long weekend away and a bit of basketball too, I  managed to squeeze  a bit of a special dinner in with a dear friend. She just popped out baby Harper and. 5 days later, another celebration.

My job was  that of a decoy. Her husband didn't want her birthday to slip by unnoticed so he arranged  a night at a city hotel with a further surprise of a little room party of family and some friends. I can't do tonight, so my job was to get her into the city so hubby could take over. I'd love to say I thought it was a fabulous idea - but 5 days after having  a c-section for 2nd bubs and heading off to celebrate would not have been my idea of fun - just sayin.

I arranged for the Conservatory at Crown as it is big and relatively quiet. Its a bit fancy too which is nice for a special day. There was room for the pram and to feed if she needed. As it turned out, little bubs slept the whole time.

I got to enjoy the serenity for a while, a long while, at the restaurant, while they grappled with the realisation that getting 2 children anywhere takes more than double the time.  I was able to sit back and laugh, having a smug been there, done that moment.

We had a lovely, albeit rushed lunch as the buffet closed our table was covered in desserts so as not to miss out. Sadly my skirt was too tight when I got there, so I was more than a little uncomfortable on the trip home to pick up the kids from school and head off to Portsea.

Visit baby harper

Off to the hospital to visit the baby. Loved how my pressie looked all wrapped up. I also took some roses and a cheap vase - there are never any in hospital. I had grand ideas of arranging the flowers and wrapping them in raffia like a bouquet. But alas, flower arranging is NOT my forte at all. They were chucked in the vase.

The bubs is gorgeous and mum and dad loved the pressies. They poured over the envelope as it was the first time they had seen it written. 

Harper name plate

That little girl I mentioned yesterday arrived at 2am this morning. Harper Victoria. Both mum and bubs are very well. So onto her gift.

For a newborn I love a bit of a personalised gift. For a second girl there is less that you need so I like the idea of a name plate or picture.
I did this one using the silhouette. Apologies for crappy photo - my iphone is eternally blurry and you can even see my reflection in the glass.

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The while frame is 12 x 12. Inside the backing is a lustre and I cut the pink butterflies out and glued these on. I printed the name (Chalk-hand-lettering-shaded) using the silver silhouette pen attachment.

 While the silver pen was in I also made a card. I had navy card stock and matching envelope which I stuck to the mat. The card is using carolyna Words font.

The name on the envelope is a little OTT but I did it anyway. The font is hadwriting-draft. The fonts are downloaded from dafonts.com.

big sister little sister

 There is a little girl due any day now and as with all new babies they get a lot of attention. They already have a gorgeous little girl who is 4 and I didn't want her to feel left out so I made these as her present. 
 The bases as basics from Target - nothing to break the bank. Then using Fontdinerdotcom Sparkle font, cut the words out of freezer paper on the silhouette.

Due to the obvious size difference I scaled the lil sis down to an appropriate size. Heated the freezer paper with the iron to get it to stick as a stencil and painted it with silver fabric pain. 

Then to give it that little something else, added some iron on diamontes to the stars.
All wrapped up with a book for big sis to give to her new lil one.