Geometric board.

One of the things we need to work on with my son is his fine motor skills.  Part of his condition means he has fingers that are quite rubbery. I have been working on a few things we can do from home in between Occupational Therapy appointments which I will post about in due time (read: when I get a chance).  One of the things I really wanted to do was make a geometric board for him to work with.

This is essentially a piece of wood covered in nails that you wrap elastic bands around.

What you need

A piece of wood cut to the size you want. I originally wanted it to be 12x12 inches however I was working with what I had so 14 inches x 6 inches is what I used.

A packet of nails. I used 1 inch nails with flat heads

A hammer

A packet of multi coloured elastic bands

A ruler

A greylead pencil

I started by cutting my wood to size and sanding the edges. I then measured out a grid witg 1.5in intervals between the markings.

I then hammered nails into the marks. I only hammered the nails in until the wood 'grabbed' the nails

I decided to spray paint the board however I went over the red paint with bursts of silver just so I could highlight where the nails were.

I went to my grandpas house to get the materials (wood offcuts and nails) so essentially it cost me 87 cents for the elastic bands and so far we have had hours of fun.

It was lovely to sit in his shed and have him work on his model planes and I creating a 'masterpiece'

Camp.Paper.Scissors Feb/March 2014

Oh WOW!  I Just realised I forgot to post about my retreat I went to!

So a group of us on the Project Life Australia Group on Facebook get together twice a year to catch up and get some crafty goodness happening.  Michelle and Carol lovingly organise this camp (Camp.Paper.Scissors) and we get treated to a lovely relaxing weekend that is affordable and a great group of women.

Our abode for the weekend

This camp was at the YMCA Lady Northcote camp in Rowsley (about 20 minutes from Bacchus Marsh in Victoria, Australia).  It was a lovely setting to just relax, Big windows with fantastic natural lighting  and a large hall.  There were 33 of us staying there over the weekend, Some having flown in from the sunshine Coast in Queensland. We were able to start arriving from 4pm on Friday, as some of us were running early we met in Bacchus Marsh for coffee before heading out to camp.

This Scrapbooking is messy stuff

Upon arriving at camp it didnt take long to make a mess and get creative. We were greeted at our tables with goodie bags which are always exciting.  This year we received some brush script cards from Jodie at Polka Dot Creative, Some flair and wood veneer from Raquel at A Piece of cake Designs, An overlay and lined cards from Mary and David at Craft House, a 1/4 kit of the Strawberry kit, a 1/4 kit of the Azure kit (I fell in love with this kit) and a packet of Thickers from Spotlight, a camp.paper.scissors pencil, a tumbler with a straw, and some ribbon and twine. There were also some stamped elements that worked well as embellishments.  Quite a good haul.  The girls out did themselves this time around, THANK YOU LADIES!!!

The planning stages of my monochromatic challenge

On Saturday some of the girls attended archery, while the rest of us woke up. We were  then greeted with videos from Elise Blaha-Cripe, Wilna Furstenburg and Maggie Holmes and CHALLENGES.  There were 4 Challenges.  Scrap your Sentence (my sentence was create a layout about someone you love, and journal about why you are proud of them.), Monochromatic, Layers and Kill your Kit.  I entered a layout into 3 of the 4 Challenges running out of time for the kill your kit Challenge.  I was Pleasantly surprised when I won the Scrap your sentence Challenge as that was my least liked layout out of them all. 

Taking photos of my layouts is not my forte.  However here is my scrap your sentence Layout

My prize

 I also took a canvas class using photos from the summer with Kellie from Kellies Stamps. I love love love how this canvas turned out and I has taken pride of place in my loungeroom.  If you want to have a go at making your own visit Kellie here for her tutorial

The canvas I created in Kellies canvas Class

 It was such a fantastic weekend.  So many laughs, shenanigans and Project lifing. I achieved so much, all I need to do is add journalling to my holiday layouts.  Which one month on.... Yep you guessed it still waiting to be journalled!!! It will happen.

I really feel I have made friends that will be around for a long long time...

Viva paper pens and Enamel Dots

I am OBSESSED with enamel dots at the moment. I mean who isn't.  The problem being they can get expensive. so I started exploring ways I could make my own. the first attempt I melted pony beads in the oven. the results were quite good however, the fumes weren't great and after a bit of research I found out the fumes are toxic. So dont do that!! From an enamel dot point of view I wasn't happy with the fact you could only make one size. I like variations.

Then I came across viva paper pens. Omg my life has been changed I purchased 3 colours from Scrap Dragon to trial them and see what the results were like. I was thrilled!!! I simply made dots on my craft sheet and let then dry. The trick is to not do them too close together as you will end up with a big gloop. The paint takes a while to dry so I recommend making them at night  before bed so  they're dry in the morning.

I was so impressed, i have ordered 3 more colours. At $5.99 a pen and $6.95 postage for 3 pens you cant go wrong. It makes it much more economical than enamel dots. I also saw you can get pearl pens by the same company which is now on my wish list.

I am so so so Happy with how these turned out. do yourself a favour. Go and get some and try them for yourself, you wont be sorry. Im simply a little crafter who is absolutely thrilled with a product!!! 

The card on the left has been embellished using enamel dots where the card
on the right I embellished using dots I made with the viva paint pens

However... i emailed scrap dragon to ask if they minded me linking their store and they gave me a 5% discount code for you to use. The discount code is SCRAPDRAGON

Happy Crafting!!!

Play dough time

I have a pet hate.

This pet hate is playdough.  I hate it getting smooshed into my carpet.  So up until recently it has been banned in my house.  When we were living in a house full of floorboards I was happy to have it around as soon as we moved into a house with cream carpet, goodbye playdough.

At our last paediatrician appointment for Master 4. She told us that due to the EDS and hypemobility in his fingers (essentially they are like rubber) that he may have trouble writing and with other fine motor skills, and an occupational therapist will have to be consulted later this year.  Before the change to Primary School.  While speaking to a girlfriend who is a primary school teacher about this she said "I know you wont like this but as far as fine motor goes, playdough is the way to go". OH MAN REALLY.

It had to be orange... Master 4's favorite colour

I procrastinated over this for a couple of days.  How do I get my head around the play dough in the carpet.... Then a couple of Saturdays ago I woke up and a friend on Facebook had a playdough activity table she was throwing out and wanted to know if anyone was interested.  OK I looked at that as a sign.  So we sadi yes please and proceeded to make some playdough.  I really like the thought of play dough from scratch,  but the recipe I have always used uses 4 TBS of cream of tartar.  Thats alot of cream of tartare, almost the whole tub.  So It comes down to remembering to buy some everytime I need to make a new batch.

At first I though Oh god what did I do wrong.  But keep stirring it will work

While perusing Pinterest (I mean who doesnt these days), I came across this recipe. and it only uses 1tsp  of cream of tartar. BRILLIANT.  I did add the essential oils, however I question as to whether adding them to hot dough will alter their therapeutic qualities. But hey I have pretty smelling playdough.

Getting Master 4's tick of approval. Actually he was
convinced I was fibbing when I said it was too hot to
 play with yet, and had to see for himself

Unfinished Projects

I am the queen on unfinished projects. Some are because I got bored halfway through, some went into the too hard basket and some were simply forgotten.

So this year I am planning on completing some ALL of my unfinished projects and making a start on my crafty wish list a couple of things I really want to do.

☆ Keep up to date with my project life. Now that I have a picturemate this task doesn't seem quite as daunting.
☆ Finish my about me album using the Heidi Swapp memory file album I was gifted last year.
☆ My children's baby albums. They are on their way but still works in progress
☆ Wedding album - this one I almost completed last weekend I just need to do a little journalling
☆My photo a day album using fat mum slims photo prompts
☆ Complete my 2013 project life 

Tasks I wish to start and finish this year

☆ I really want to try my hand at quilting. This is something I have wanted to do for a long time. Today I actually bought some material to try my hand a paper piecing some cushions for my loungeroom.  The scrapbook desk is going to be temporarily packed away to accommodate my sewing machine.
☆ A before we were us album. Contrary to popular belief before we were parents we had a life. I really want to document this.  Their is more to our story than the now

Do you have plans for your unfinished projects?  or are they going to stay sitting in a cupboard?

My goodies I bought today all ready to go.  I hope the you tube tute is as easy as it looks

Getting Messy

I lost my crafty mojo....

I'm not sure where it went but I was having alot of trouble getting back into it.  I needed it, For my own sanity I needed it.  But my get up and go had gotten up and went.  I hadn't even started project life for this year.  It was all too hard.

Then I watched a video by Heidi Swapp on My Craft Channel using stuff I already had lying around the house.  That's when I had my aha moment.  I needed to get messy.

I love getting in the zone.  Getting my hands all messy, the type of messy that leaves me with rainbow coloured hands for days.  And I love the results.  I could have done this canvas twenty times and every time the colorshine would have reacted differently with each other.  Not one of them would have looked the same.  I really find it quite therapeutic.

I tell you what once I had finished this I felt quite invigorated and ready to take on the world.  I even signed up to and nline mixed media class to expand my horizons. (thats a different blog post)

How do you find your mojo?

I adore this photo of miss 2.

Welcoming Elhers Danlos Syndrome into our Household

Hi All,

I have drafted and drafted and drafted this post.  And to be honest I am having a lot of trouble putting my thoughts onto paper.  So I'll try again and see if i can get through this post without hitting delete again.

I never intended this blog to become a personal blog.  I wanted it to be about my crafts and things I am passionate about.  Being a mother my children are the things I am most passionate about.  Recently we have been rocked by some medical relevations.  That I'm not sure I quite have my head around yet.

For a long long time I have questioned the extent of my sons bruising and injuries.  I have been questioned about how he received the bruises.  I have been made to feel like a terrible mother when we go shopping and his head is glued together.  And it has become a running joke about how he is so accident prone.  Personally I don't find it funny.  I find it nerve racking, emotionally and physically draining and heartbreaking.  If there's something he can possibly hurt himself on he will.  His poor legs are a mottled assortment of old bruises, new bruises and scar tissue from bruises.  I'll  be honest Its not pretty.

Finally I found a doctor to take me seriously with my concerns and we ended up with the paediatric haematology department in the children's cancer centre at Monash Medical centre.  After months of extensive blood testing they ruled all the normal stuff out. At one point they were even looking at leukaemia, I said to my Husband If its not leukaemia I can deal with anything!  We got referred onto a geneticist who Diagnosed master 4 with Elhers Danlos Syndrome (EDS), Classic type.


Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS), classic type is a connective tissue disorder characterized by skin hyperextensibility, abnormal wound healing, and joint hypermobility. It includes two previously designated subtypes (EDS type I and EDS type II) that are now recognized to form a continuum of clinical findings. The skin is smooth, velvety to the touch, and hyperelastic; i.e., it extends easily and snaps back after release (unlike lax, redundant skin, as in cutis laxa). The skin is fragile, as manifested by splitting of the dermis following relatively minor trauma, especially over pressure points (knees, elbows) and areas prone to trauma (shins, forehead, chin). Wound healing is delayed, and stretching of scars after apparently successful primary wound healing is characteristic. Complications of joint hypermobility, such as dislocations of the shoulder, patella, digits, hip, radius, and clavicle, usually resolve spontaneously or are easily managed by the affected individual. Other features include hypotonia with delayed motor development, fatigue and muscle cramps, and easy bruising.

Source here  

Its alot for us to get our head around.  There is no treatment or cure it is something that we have to live with and live around. In November I was rudely woken up to how large this is for us.  Master 4 fell down a step and knocked his leg while on an interstate trip.  He flayed his shin open meaning an overnight stay at hospital and a plastic surgeon to stitch it back together. not so bad i hear you say... well the stitches pulled through the skin opening up part of the wound.  Then once the stitches dissolved the wound hadn't healed enough to hold closed so it opened right up again.  We then spent 11 weeks twice a week backwards and forwards to the GP to get his leg dressed and monitored.  Luckily we escaped infection but it was quite a drain leading up to the silly season.

Where do we go from here?  Having Elhers Danlos Syndrome means my son needs to stay away from contact sports and sports that put unnecessary stress on his joints.  (Early onset Osteoarthritis is a reality for us).  We will have to see an occupational therapist, as he will tire easily with his writing and other fine motor skills. Making teachers and other caregivers aware of his EDS so they can keep a closer eye on him.  We need to teach him about this so he understand why he can not play football like the other kids and have a look at other extra curricular activities that he can do.  I am looking into some natural therapies to help him with pain management as I could not think of anything worse than being doped up to the eyeballs to get through day to day.  This is not something we need to do NOW but down the track it will happen.  

So there you go.  That's the answer as to why his legs look so sore and battered.  

Do you have Elhers Danlos Syndrome? Do you know someone with it? 

 How do you cope day to day?