crafty

Sep052014

Live on Kickstarter #sheep2skein

No, this isn’t adoption related, but it’s still super exciting! I posted my very first Kickstarter campaign to raise the money to start my knitting business.

And I am beyond excited about it.

I’ve limited all the handknit rewards as I would love love love to get them posted to all the backers by the first week in December for gifts (even gifts to yourself!)

Even if you can’t or don’t want to support it, can you please spread the word?

Sheep2Skein Yarn Shop is Finally Opening. For Real!

Our shorturl for sharing is tiny.cc/sheep2skein

May242014

Play Date with Ballerina – the First of Many to Come!

Hi! I didn’t post after the CW and CM visit, but Thursday afternoon, Husband and I decided to meet Ballerina this morning. OMFG. I have been a ball of knots and nerves since we made the plans. We decided to go paint pottery figuring we could talk or not talk while painting.

We had a fantastic time!!

We started off the day at 7am even though my alarm was set for 9. Nerves. Nerves all around. While waffling on what to wear, Husband started playing fun music so we were dancing around the house in a wild frenzy. It was the perfect thing to help relax our nerves. I opted for a non-fangirl shirt which was, quite frankly, difficult. I have so many that they outnumber every other shirt in my closet. Anyhow, we planned on breakfast out our favorite diner, but the wait was just too long so we went to McDonald’s.

The pottery place opened at 11 and we were set to meet there at 11:15. We were there for about 20 minutes before they arrived. I was actually scared to pick up the pieces bc my hands were shaking so much! Husband was sitting up front and had started painting when he yelled back to me that they were there.

Poor Ballerina was so scared that she just stood in the doorway for several long minutes paralyzed with fear. We talked, tried to calm her then finally I said I was going back to pick my piece and he went back to painting. I did not want to rush this! We were all nervous as it was. I went back and talked to TH – this was a “therapeutic visit” – and he said she was really excited but so nervous. Yep, I get that. We were still talking when she came back and said she was ready now so we picked out a piece for her. She was deciding between a Hello Kitty figurine and a penguin piggy bank. I helped her debate the merits of both and she picked the penguin so she could save her money in it. <3

We picked paints, I grabbed a yarn bowl then we settled in at the table with Husband. The 3 of us proceeded to chat, paint, and learn about each other for the better part of 3 hours. The chaperones went “on a walk” but I could see them peeking around the corner to see how we were doing. When they came back, Ballerina said “oh do I know you? Who are you?” which I took to be a good sign that she was comfortable with us. While this was a supervised visit, they wanted to make sure we were able to get to know each other. For most of the time, they were in the back room.

Her penguin (Ms. Penguina), his drawing (Mr. Penguino), my yarn bowl and his chili bowl.After we finished, we decided to across the highway to grab some lunch. She was really quiet, but sat next to me again. We were mostly talking to the chaperones, but still involving her. It seemed like she liked us, but was still super shy about everything that was happening. We talked about all the cool things to do in Miami – the zoo, Jungle Island, museums, the beach, etc – and for future visits.

As we were leaving, she looked sad and told me that it was her disappointed face. I wrapped my arm around her back and said this wasn’t the last time she was seeing us then steered her through the door. At the cars we gave her hugs then went our separate ways. TH told us that the ball is in our court, but we want it in hers too. We have tentative plans for next weekend but only if she wants to hang out with us again. This is her life and future too.

As much as we want this, it would not be fair to force anything upon her – or any child – if they were unsure or didn’t want it. I know that we made the decision to grow our family through adoption, but it didn’t fully click until we were matched what a huge and amazing decision this is for her as well. She is old enough to know and comprehend everything that is happening and decide “do I want these total strangers to be my new parents?” and in a relatively short time too. Yes, of course she has therapists, case workers and other adults helping her with the process as we have the same people plus our huge support system.

Honestly, I cannot imagine what thoughts must be going through her mind right now. I hope with all my heart and soul that she wants to see us again and move forward, but it is a huge and major decision to make in her young life.

Feb032014

DIY Crafty Project

Sure, this is normally an adoption blog, but this sorta relates. There’s been a lot of movement on the adoption front in the last month, but that’s fodder for a whole other post!

My new job starts officially full time today. I’ve been working there a few hours a week freelance since October. Since I start tomorrow, I wanted to decorate my office and be sure my creativity is not only apparent, but organized. I will be doing marketing of all kinds and need to ensure it is kept track of properly. Instead of purchasing a corkboard or dry erase board, I came up with this idea while wandering around Staples Saturday night.
What, you don’t wander office supply stores for fun?

I purchased a large black foamcore board which initially would mean using metallic and light ink pens on. Nope, this idea is better. I bought 3 coordinating roll of mini duck tape and started searching on Pinterest for memory board tutorials for the tape placement.

My supplies:
20″x30″ black foamcore board | 3 rolls of 15mm duck tape | scissors

Since my board is 30″ wide, I marked off every 5″ and went on to taping it off. There are 5 aqua blue vertical stripes.

As it is 20″ tall, there are 3 lime green horizontal stripes at 5″ intervals.

I got creative with the diagonal stripes. There are 5 on 1 diagonal and 4 on the other.
This is totally up to you how to tape it off.

To hang this, use nails that are at least 1/2″ longer than your board.

I purchased clear push pins and will use them to secure papers to my message board. Normally ribbons are used, but that also means it’s a fabric board with some sort of batting. Maybe I’ll make one of those for the Fletchling, but for now, he or she will have one of these. Now to pick some generic colors and get to it.

Sep162013

And in my 37th Year…

I interrupt this not-so-regularly updated adoption blog to say that in my 37th year (which, BTdubs, starts today) I plan on doing the following things (in no particular order):

Becoming a mommy to a sweet little child from foster care
Getting a job worthy of my degree, my experiences, and myself
Being the best darn wife and mommy I can be
Learning as many new web and design technologies as I can
Kicking butt on the technologies I already know
Being a better person
Learning to speak up for myself appropriately
Not letting certain people rule my mind simply bc I am related to them
See also, growing a bigger pair (sorry for that graphic!)
Sheep2Skein, push it
RS Creative Solutions, push it
Bake more
Actually make the projects I pin on Pinterest

Sep092013

Adoption Search Terms

I have got to check my search terms more in the future bc this happened in the last month:

“becca blog in Miami”
“owls representing children tattoo”
“becca friends orlando fl”
“adoption of twins or triplets blogs”
“104,000 foster care children”
“do i have to take pride classes if i have non relative placement of a friends child in my home to adopt in florida”
“family paperwork infographic“
A handful of “knit wedding veil” and about a dozen variations of “becca blogs”

Some of theses are pretty amusing and I’m still baffled that they led to my little blog.

By far, my most visited post is the one about Apple Butter. Even before I posted the link to Pinterest, it got several hits a day. And now, I’m breaking 100 hits a day. Oh Pinterest, I do love thee.

Aug162013

Blankie Progress Post

I previously mentioned my wanting to make a blanket for our child. Well, I totally am! After much discussion with friends, I selected pale grey, deep brown and teal yarn. My pattern was either going to be blocks or a slightly nerdier Fibonacci sequence.

My nerdiness won.

There is even a spreadsheet. It calculates the number of rows and percentages.

I anxiously awaited the arrival of the yarn…

Then cast on and started knitting…

Then realized that I didn’t like the first brown striping, but didn’t feel like ripping back several rows…

And now, here we are, 13.3% completed

With this stitch (knitting every row) this blanket is going to be extremely long. My goal is for it to be at least 24″ wide, but it’s looking like it’ll be wider. The estimated 36″ long is way off. At 22 rows, it was already 6″ unstretched and about 7″ stretched.

This 256 row thing might have to be rethought out… I may cut it off after the last rounds of teal. We’ll see.

This is my project page on Ravelry for the Fletchling’s blanket.

And yeah, want something of your very own?

I happily take on commissioned projects!

Jul292013

Gigantic Recap and Update

Dearest blog, I am not intentionally ignoring you. There is just so much going on that I feel overwhelmed. And by that, I mean I don’t know where to start writing. I’m going to just jump in and we’ll go from there and play catch up later. Deal? xoxo, Becca

+++++

We have now had 2 classes. 2! Only 7 more left before graduation. We’re learning a lot and meeting new people. Awesome people. Other people that want to open them hearts and home to foster children. Yeah, I like our classes. We have homework after every class that will all become a part of our adoption packet. The first week was easy short answer and circle the best answer type questions. For the 2nd week it was a lot more in depth. We have to create a family tree of sorts – a genogram. It is a charted representation of our immediate family through our grandparents. This is mine, not filled in. And as Steve pointed out, the 2 sides are not connected, but that was unintentional.. even though we aren’t blood related to that side.

Check out all the information we will be learning. That’s 2″ of learning to deal with/ understand the children in Foster Care that we will be adopting.

The biggest thing I am learning in our classes is how desperately there is a need for foster parents in Miami. Like class derailed for 5+ minutes talking about it. So if you’ve ever even remotely considered being a Foster Parent, please do it. I can put you in contact with our licensing specialists who will be forever grateful.

Let’s see, quick recap of the other adoption-related things in the last couple weeks..

The House – We re-upped our lease for 6 more months so the Home Study will be done on this apartment. I also bought a sturdy wood over-the-toilet hutch thingie and sturdy wood tower. We currently have wibbly-wobbly metal shelving in there. The metal shelves were moved to the laundry room for chemicals and cleaning products. #SafetyFirst

Welcome Gift – I am crafty. Duh. While we are waiting on this process, I want to make something for my child. While we are leaning towards a son, we could very easily be better matched with a daughter first. So whatever I make needs to be gender-neutral. I took an informal poll on my FB page and in Ravelry group about yarn colors – oh yeah, it’s going to be a blanket – and narrowed it down to a teal/turquoise, pale grey and brown. It will either be blocks or a Fibonacci sequence, below.

Life Story – Our overall homework assignment is writing a life story. We have to do it individually and turn it in before class ends. It too will be sent to the Adoption Case Worker assigned to us. I started mine and have been jumping around to “easy” and “not painful” subjects. I have about 6 more weeks to work on it.

Picnic – We went to our first Adoption event this weekend. SDFAPA had a picnic in Key Largo and, even though the weather sucked, we had a good time. We learned a lot as there were both Foster and Adoptive parents there, as well as the famous KB from my mystery phone call. We were invited to their next meeting in a few weeks.

Updated Timeline –

Classes end September 10
We will be assigned to an Adoption Case Worker within 2-3 weeks after that to do our Home Study
Once the Home Study is completed and officially in “the books,” we could be matched at any time.
We keep hearing different “child in home” answers so it could be anywhere from 1 month to 6 prior to the adoption being finalized.

I promise to not let it go so long between posts next time!

Jun042013

Holiday Cards… It’s only June!

I just got choked up thinking about our Christmas card this year. We haven’t sent one in a while, but this year we’ll definitely be sending them out. I was driving home from work when I started thinking about a Christmas card with me, Steve, and our kids. And all the sudden I got choked up and tears sprang into my eyes.

I was also thinking about how I would have the kids posing with their backs to the camera or in the shadows so I can actually post pictures of them on Facebook and other social media sites. And actually, on here! Thinking of posing them with their hands and arms so that they made like big shadow heart on the ground and I can post that. From what I understand, we aren’t allowed to post pictures of their faces until they are legally our children.

I told one of the parents from school today whom I absolutely adore and she has been so amazing to me this past year and a half. She was so excited that I think she almost started crying when I told her we were adopting.

Kids. Family. I’m going to be a mommy.

Classes countdown: 25 days!

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