Sharing space, an over-share

B Love- a page made just so I use some buttons- at last!
MATERIALS: Crate Paper Restoration woodgrain paper, stickers and die cuts, Crate Random collection journaling card, "love" chippy from Maya Road, American Crafts Zing in mustard, Scrabble piece, rusted iron house and punchinella from Gauche Alchemy, Border stickers by Sassafras for Studio Calico, Ek Success slim edger punch, Basic Grey, My Mind's Eye and Crate Paper buttons.

My apologies for being absent as of late. Since it's been so long since I last wrote I'm compressing several days worth of news into this entry so bear with me- I promise to make you laugh at least once!

I am battling a great scrappy dilemma- the forced work space move. See my husband and I share a work space. When I say "share" I mean I own it utterly but he gets to kick me out for the 5 months he works on projects for architecture school- which I guess is only fair since that's what he bought it for.

I wish I had more of that CUTE little house!!!

That gorgeous mini script word is from Stuff 2 Scrap.
Houndstooth paper from DCWV.
I FINALLY found that EK Success slim border punch! YAY!!

I think this should be a stand alone project.

The table we "share" is a classic tilting Architect's table with a nifty swing arm lamp and a galley in the front for pencils storage. I had to load that sucker up with all my stuff because whatever weight you put in the front has to be counterbalanced in the back or else the table tilts and everything ends up on the floor. I was grooving with my new everything is visible system when BAM! school starts.
So back to the tiny Ikea dining table it is and let me tell you it's been murder on the mojo. The move took 2 entire days and much consternation for Lola who just didn't understand WHY she wasn't allowed to
A. rip everything to shreds
B. dance on the paper I gave her (now lying on the floor and causing Jack Tripper in "Three's Company" type accidents.)

I'm crazy frustrated so I am not writing or going online to see what you are doing. I'm watching movies, over eating and trying to ignore my (unfair) feelings. Not to mention that we are eating off tv trays since we no longer HAVE a "diner" table. And before you say "Michelle don't you have other rooms in that house??" The answer is NO- I live in NYC- there are 2 rooms and have been told we should feel lucky/blessed that it's not the Bronx. Whatever I lived in the Bronx- the apartments are way bigger (because you can't safely LEAVE the house! AHA!... Joke!)

On the upside- I was FORCED to clean up my act and found a whole lot of COOL stash I hadn't seen in months- namely my button bag, my WRMK Sew Easy kit and my Dusty Attic chip board box. WOO HOO! So I'm using them- many for the first time.

This is as "organized" as I get.

True Xoxo Girls (you got whiplash from that transition didn't cha?) is hosting a Blog Hop October 10th and I am SO PROUD of the page I made!!!  We each challenged another member of the team to do a page using specific instructions. Lisa Watson's challenge for me was to use Ingvild Bolme as an inspiration. Ingvild Bolme? She's a SUPER STAR. Cue freak out mode.

So I made a list of favorite things I saw in her work, made sure to incorporate LOTS of my new found stash and here is a sneaky peek:

Recently decided gears are where it's at- LOVE them!
Turquoise Tattered Angels paint- so lovely!
The large roses are from the dollar store.

Now I just have to play catch up with all the projects I've been neglecting as of late. And I need to swing by your blogs and leave some love- it's been kinda quiet around here lately- everyone must be furiously creating- that's a GREAT thing!

ALSO- my first write up is available over at Gauche Alchemy- WHAT? You say? I haven't been talking up my writing for GA? Sorry!
iI's true- I've been neglecting to drive traffic over to my second writing gig.
Here is the link- the article is about my favorite thing- using the ipod Hipstamatic app: http://gauchealchemy.wordpress.com/2011/09/26/michelles-mini-guide-to-hipstamatic/

Mine remain safe- are yours??? 

MuChOs SmOoChEs!
Michelle

Hope SPRUNG! September 2010

I created this page in September 2010 for Lola's first birthday. I found I was hugging her entirely too hard that week. I was, and still am incredibly, fantastically, overwhelmingly grateful that I got to keep her. I'm telling this story because it is truly the central story of my life. I have had a very comfortable, no problems kind of life. Then I was told that most probably my daughter would either die in utero or shortly after being born.

Hope Sprung! September 2010

This is strikingly awful news for any expectant parent. For me it seemed doubly so because I had waited to so long to have a baby. David and I are both in our mid thirties but we were together exclusively for 9 years before we got married. We love each other and both wanted a family but we kept thinking we needed to wait for the perfect moment- for financial "security", for the "grown up" feeling, to buy a house- all the excuses people use these days to extend the teenager stage for just 1 more year- or at least it seems that way to me now.

Then 1 day we decided Ok NOW. We found out I was pregnant right away (WOO HOO!!), next day I was out of a job (there went financial "security") and 3 weeks later I was given the news that a large Cystic Hygroma was growing on my daughter's neck- it was 9mm which is incredibly large for a baby 4 months in development.  I was told that it was a signal that there most likely was a "terminal" genetic or heart defect in the fetus. I was given a battery of tests and 6 weeks later I was told they were all negative but the doctor STILL recommended we "terminate" the pregnancy due to the overwhelmingly strong possibility of a mechanical heart or lung defect in the fetus. But no one could give me a definite answer- no test could be 100% negative. I had a decision to make and no expert, no doctor, no scientific fact- information always being my fall back position- was going to help me make it.

Devastating. 

Against all logic and reason I drew up inside reserves and found I believed with all my heart that this baby is going to be okay. My Mom and David agreed and we fought our own fears and those of our entire family to make sure baby Lola was born- and here she is 1 year later!!! She was 6 weeks premature and struggling through a diagnosis of fetal hydrops where fluid had accumulated around her neck and both lung cavities but after 2 months in the Columbia Presbeterian NICU she was ok- no defects or observable problems of any kind have developed. 

I wanted to post this because after I was given the first set of bad news I started doing research and it seemed the odds were very much against my pregnancy having a positive outcome. I want to give hope to other parents- yes the odds are very slim but the possibility is there. I have proof- she's walking, smiling and yelling for Dada at this very minute. And for that I am grateful and will never again doubt the power of hope, motherly intuition and a fantastic medical team.

As always- muchos smooches!
M.