On the Creative To-Do List...

I try very, very hard to have creative time each day. It's a priority for me and a big part of staying sane. On a typical weekday, I answer emails and read blogs for an hour or so before Trevor wakes up, work at either or both of my two jobs after dropping him off at school, do errands or chores, work on my own blog, and hopefully squeeze in 15 minutes of creative time before it's time for school pickup. Sometimes Trevor and I get some creative time in together after his homework if he doesn't have an after-school activity or playdate; occasionally, he plays by himself and I can spend some time in the craft room then before dinner.

Despite prioritizing creative time, I don't always have finished projects to show for it. I rarely start and finish a project on the same day unless it's something Trevor and I are doing together. This is all a very long-winded way of saying that I don't have a project done to share today. Instead, here's a look at what's in progress (on the creative to-do list, as it were), starting in the craft room:

Here's my desk. As you can see, it is a disaster. There are two visible layouts in progress, both two-pagers. I tend to put off two-pagers. There are actually several more layouts in progress (all single pagers) stacked underneath, all in different stages of completion. It's likely some or all of those will get finished before the ones on top. 

The desk is a disaster because I am doing a major purge. It's time to get rid of all the papers, tools, and other supplies that I don't use and make room for all the goodies I brought home from CHA. This is the floor of the craft room. Believe it or not, those piles have meaning to me. Now that I've gone through them, I just need to put them away in the proper place.

I'm hosting a crop tomorrow (yea!) so I got some photos printed. I'm hopeful that I'll have some layouts done and ready to share next week. I suppose it all depends on how much chatting I do and what interesting tools or toys my friends bring for me to play with.

Here's yet another pile of stuff on the floor. These are all the business cards and handouts I got at CHA.

I'm going through them and putting them into the journal I made at the Mega Block Party. 

Here is the swag from the Fave Crafts Blogger Event at CHA. I have some ideas sketched out for what I want to submit for the Best Blogger Craft contest; I just need to get started. Hopefully with the old stuff cleared out of the craft room, I'll be able to get going soon.

Before I do that though, I'm going to help Trevor finish his valentines. I'm a huge fan of homemade valentines, but I have to admit a small part of me was kind of hoping Trevor would go the purchased route this year. But no. He had a vision of Yoda standing up, holding a green pixie stick lightsaber. I offered to help, because I know from years of experience that making 30 of the same item is very tedious, especially when it's as involved as these valentines. When they're finish, I'll post a tutorial. 

So there you have it - just some of the items on my creative to-do list!

Camp Lassen

Another layout completed and into the album! 

This two-pager is about Trevor's first overnight Cub Scout camp. It was harder for me to scrap than usual because I wasn't there. Steve and Trevor came home with tons of pictures and stories, so I knew what the highlights were for them and used those to make the layout.

A few things to note about this page:

• The background started as plain khaki cardstock. I stamped all over both pages with a pine tree stamp and Versamark ink. Before it dried, I swiped brown and green chalks across it to bring out the images. It make a fun, grungy background that was perfect for a camping layout.

• The strip of green that goes the length of the layout is from BasicGrey's Oh Baby! Boy line, circa 2006. I wouldn't ordinarily think to look in a baby collection for a camping layout, but the scrap was sitting out on my desk, so I decided to use it. 

• The chipboard oars on the top left and the leaves on the bottom right started out black (they're from the Mr. Campy line by Cosmo Cricket). I "painted" them by dipping a finger directly into a bottle of yellowy cream paint, a second finger into green and a third finger in brown. I smeared all the colors onto the black chipboard and let them dry. Then I went back with a brown marker and added grain and shadowing to the oars and veins to the leaves. 

I really like how it all turned out.

A Make-a-Wish Money Gift

For the past few birthdays and Christmases, I've come up with a creative way to give money as a gift to my now-14 year old nephew, Timothy. He's come to expect it, so I have to up my game each time. I think I succeeded with his Christmas gift. 

If you did not read yesterday's post about cystic fibrosis, please start there. 

As soon as I learned that Timothy would be traveling to Australia for his Make-a-Wish trip, I knew that I wanted to give him Australian currency for Christmas. I called my bank and ordered Australian currency in small bills. Turns out that the five is the smallest, so I got a big stack of those.

My plan was complicated. I bought a huge bag of Wonka candies (which Timothy loves) and immediately ate a bunch of the Nerds (because eating candy is the kind of sacrifice I'm willing to do for him.) I opened up the empty boxes and used them to disguise a cardboard tube.

Then I rolled up the money and slid it inside.

I put the tube in an empty mason jar....

... and stuffed the jar with candies. I added the lid, put a bow on top and set it aside. 

Of course, Timothy was not traveling alone. My sister, brother-in-law and niece were part of the Make-a-Wish trip. My parents paid their own way to tag along. I got Australian currency for Kari, Brian and my parents, put money in ziplock bags for each of them, and prepared containers of Skittles.

I used colored masking tape to cover the ziplock bags completely....

... then buried each in the Skittles until they weren't visible.

On Christmas morning, this is what Timothy found wrapped under the tree:

When he removed the joey, he found a tiny note tied around it. 

The note directed him where to search for an envelope. The envelope instructed him to gather his parents and grandparents before opening it.

Here's the assembled group, minus my dad and Steve who were just out of the photo on the left. Brian and Timothy's matching ugly sweaters crack me up. As does Trevor taking a photo over Timothy's shoulder with his new camera.

Inside the envelope, there was an Australia trivia quiz that Trevor and I wrote. Each answer was multiple choice and there was a letter beside each choice. The goal was to work together to answer the questions correctly and that would reveal where their presents were hidden. As it turns out, our trivia was a bit too hard, as they worked together to get a garbled mess! Eventually, they worked through it, correcting their answers and decoding the message. With the clue of which room to search, Timothy zoomed off and returned with this:

He kept the big one for himself and handed the small ones to his parents (Kari and Brian), Grandma and Grandpa. Kari was the most suspicious of the bunch, immediately digging through her Skittles and uncovering the money. Meanwhile, Timothy dumped his candy and found his wad of cash as well. He proclaimed the gift to be "very clever." Success!!

Now I have until October to figure out his birthday gift. I'm not sure if I'm going to give him money or really shake things up. It might be a good idea to keep him on his toes and learn to expect the unexpected from me. (Insert wicked cackle here....)

Cystic Fibrosis

I had a really difficult conversation with Trevor last week, one I've been dreading for years, but one that was incredibly important. A variety of factors came together that made this the time to finally address the topic head-on. The topic? Cystic fibrosis.

My nephew, Timothy, has cystic fibrosis. Timothy was only a few weeks old when he was diagnosed and our family was plunged into the confusion, pain and grief of knowing that this baby, one who was so loved, would have a shortened life with many struggles along the way. We threw ourselves into learning everything we could about CF. We went to CF benefits, fundraisers and events. We hoped and we wished and we prayed.

Timothy was three and a half when Steve and I got married in 2004. I'd done testing and knew that I carried the CF gene, so we visited a genetic counselor and tested Steve before starting our family. Fortunately, Trevor was born healthy. Timothy, then five and a half, came to meet his new cousin in the hospital and immediately developed a bond with him that has grown stronger and stronger over the years.

Trevor has grown up knowing that Timothy has cystic fibrosis and has to do a few things the rest of us don't (like take enzymes with food, hook up to a machine multiple times a day, etc), but that's been the extent of his knowledge. He's never questioned it. He just accepted the differences. In Trevor's mind, CF was inconvenient, but nothing more.

I've known for a few years that I'd need to talk with Trevor about what cystic fibrosis means for Timothy's life. It's more than a frequent cough, calculating the amount of fat in foods, and taking ocean-themed vacations (because exposure to salt air is one of the best treatments for CF). But when is the right time to tell a child what else a cystic fibrosis diagnosis means?

In our case, the time came now because Timothy is currently in Australia on his Make-a-Wish trip. Trevor knew what Make-a-Wish was, but didn't understand why Timothy would get a trip. I told him more about cystic fibrosis, that it's a serious, life-threatening condition. We went to websites together and looked back at old pictures, like the ones of Trevor visiting Timothy in the hospital. I explained everything I know, including the fact that Timothy is doing very well right now and that taking his Make-a-Wish trip does not mean that his health is worse than before. In fact, he is having the time of his life!

The other thing that happened last week that made this the perfect time to teach Trevor more about cystic fibrosis is that he began to work on his Disabilities Awareness belt loop. He made a beautiful poster with facts about cystic fibrosis, surrounded by 65 stamped roses in reds and pinks. (Click to read the story of 65 Roses.) He'll be sharing his poster with his Cub Scout den soon. 

Our family is committed to raising awareness about cystic fibrosis and doing everything we can to help researchers find a cure. Go, Team Timothy! 

For more information about cystic fibrosis, visit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation website. You can make a donation to help fight cystic fibrosis here. For more information about Make-a-Wish, visit their website at www.wish.org, where you can also make donations. Thank you in advance for all who take the time to learn more about (and/or donate to) either organization. Your support means so much.

The First Layout of 2015

We're already a month into 2015, yet I just finished my first layout of the year. As usual, I have a pile of a dozen half-finished layouts sitting in the craft room, so I'm making the time to finish them up and get them scanned and into albums. 

Here's the layout from Trevor's 8th birthday party:

I'm glad to get this one off the desk and into the album. Knowing Trevor, it won't be long before he has his 9th birthday party all planned out! He wants a How To Train Your Dragon theme this year. I'm counting on him to come up with the clever ideas, as I'm only slightly more familiar with HTTYD than I am with Star Wars...