SMUDGE: October 2014

On Friday afternoon last week, the time finally came to find out whether Joe and I are expecting a little Boy or Girl! We had been waiting (not so) patiently for what feels like forever!

We usually have a family dinner night on Friday nights, so on Thursday we planned out how we would tell some of the immediate family the following day, and we started preparing for that on Thursday night.

We had the 19 week ultrasound up in Joondalup, and as soon as I saw the little cutie on the screen I lost it! It still doesn't feel real, and I just couldn't believe what I was seeing. The lady there checked that everything was looking healthy and on track for Baby Davis. Which it was! She seemed really happy with Baby's growth and development. Baby wouldn't stop moving, and kept bringing it's hands up to it's face! It was so beautiful! At the end of the ultrasound, the little one was sitting on it's legs and wouldn't budge. I tried laying in a few different positions, but those legs were not going to move! This wasn't ideal, as we were just SO excited to find out what we were having. On top of that, we had family arriving in a few hours for the 'Gender Reveal'! So the lady told us to go for a walk, and to come back in 45 minutes after her next appointment, and she would try again to get a peek! We had to pick up a few extra things for the reveal, so we went and did that. Not gonna lie, I was jiggling my belly a little in hopes that Baby would move around a little.

We went back to have another ultrasound, and still Baby was all snuggly and set on not moving! It didn't look like we were going to find out. However, there were 3 professionals in the room, and after a few minutes of thinking "Move for Mummy!!", Baby finally moved her legs a little, and we were given a definite gender!! We were both totally shocked, but couldn't be happier!

We raced home and finished getting everything ready! We had a fun little dart game planned for the family, and they had no idea.

We filled balloons with white paint, and the family had to 'Pop the Belly' with darts to reveal the gender! However without the family knowing, the one and only balloon filled with either blue or pink paint wasn't yet on the board! We didn't want the game to be over too quickly. After all the balloons on the board were popped, with no colour revealed and a very confused family, Joe brought out the actual colour filled balloon! And the game was on!

See the video below!

We both had thought we'd be welcoming a little boy into the world! But we are so happy to have a little gorgeous girl on the way!!

Before the dart game started we had also set up a little table with our ultrasound picture, cupcakes, and tokens for everyone coming. We wanted their guesses first, so they had to put it in either the blue or pink cup. Then the game was on! Everyone got involved, and it was so much fun!

A huge thank you to the family that were able to come and celebrate with us on the news of our little GIRL!! We were so happy to have you join in on the fun, and we love you all. To the family that weren't able to be there, we missed you heaps! And love that some of you were on the phone, and/or Skype!

We are so excited (and shocked) to be having a girl!! It's absolutely perfect. I just can't wait to meet her, hold her, kiss her, see her smile, and dress her up everyday! I already love her with everything I have in me, forever. So happy.

Have a beautiful day,

- A M Y D A V I S

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For over a year now I've been wanting to test my hand at Screen Printing! It's always scared me a little, and on top of that, it's a little pricey to get all the gear together. BUT, I decided it was time, so I just dove in and went for it!

I bought a Silk Screen, a Squeegee, a Blade and a few different colours of Fabric Ink from my local Jacksons store. I also picked up a few different types of 'Vinyl' from various stores. This allows me to cut out words or pictures, peel it off and stick it onto my screen, to make a stencil. I wasn't actually sure where I could buy this from locally, so I picked up one substitute from Jacksons, another from Bunnings, and then an actual roll of Vinyl from the online Silhouette store (which I'll talk more about later).

I was so nervous to get started! You know those things you really want to do, but are so afraid of messing it up, you keep putting it off?? Well, that was me with getting started to Screen Paint. It was my day off, so I was planning to play around with this project as soon as I woke up! But instead, I woke up, had breakfast and then put a movie on. Occasionally, I would glance over at all that delicious Screen Printing gear feeling oh-so-guilty.

Eventually I worked up the courage, and decided to go for it. It was one of my friends baby showers coming up in two days time, so I knew I had no time to waste. I wanted to make a few cute little diaper covers for a cute little miss. I'm no stranger to making and selling diaper covers as you may remember! But this time, I wanted to screen print my own fabric for at least two of them, to make them really unique and personal.

So off I went.

As you probably know, living next to a Strawberry Farm has made me a little strawberry obsessed of late! So strawberries were my inspiration for my first screen print.

I got the Vinyl substitute that I picked up from Bunnings, and turned it over to the paper side. I pencilled out dozens of strawberry bodies going every which way, and then carefully cut them out with my blade. I made sure that the strawberries would almost cover my silk screen, as I wanted to do one print, and be able to cut out my diaper cover pattern afterwards.

Once finished, I slowly peeled the left over Vinyl off, and stuck it down neatly on to the front side of my Silk Screen.

I then secured the edges with tape, so that no excess paint would end up on my material where I didn't want it! Very important!

I put down lots of newspaper, and then lay out my rectangle of plain white cotton fabric that I wanted print on. I put my Silk Screen face down on top of it, making sure that all the 'strawberry holes' were over the fabric, not just the newspaper!

It was then time for the scary part! I opened up my red Fabric Ink, and using a pallet knife, I spread some Ink along the top of the Squeegee. Then holding my Silk Screen firmly down and in place, I dragged the Squeegee across the back of the Screen from top to bottom, in a few even motions. I kept doing it until the paint covered all the holes. If done correctly, this creates an even layer of paint to go through the finely woven holes in the Screen, and neatly through your stencil! (And how I hoped this was true!)

I carefully and slowly lifted up my Silk Screen, holding down my fabric at the same time so it wouldn't stick to the screen or get messed up.

And it worked!! I couldn't believe it. I actually squealed out loud. The whole process, although scary, was so quick and super easy! What I also love, is that the paint didn't even seem to smell. Which really helps with being pregnant! So it was so easy to do inside, with practically no mess whatsoever.

My next step was to hand paint on the green stems, and the little black seeds with a couple of fine paint brushes. Then I hung it up with some pegs to dry.

While that was drying, I thought I'd give the second one a go. So I peeled off my strawberry print, and washed the Screen with warm soapy water. Once dry, I hand wrote out 'Little Lake' as 'Lake' is the little ones surname.

Note: If you're doing text, you don't have to write it backwards, as when you stick it to the front side of the Screen, it's facing the right way anyway. So no complication there!)

Then I did the same process as I did with the strawberry print. I cut it out with my blade, stuck it down to the front side of my Screen, and taped around the edges. But this time I just did enough tape so that my Squeegee would fit comfortably. (Maybe I'm taking short cuts too soon! But I was careful, and it worked just fine!!)

I had already cut out my diaper cover pattern, so I placed the back piece down on some newspaper, and made sure when I laid my Screen down, that the text would be in the middle. Then I got my black Fabric Ink out, and carefully painted the same way I did for the strawberries, but on a smaller scale.

And that's all there was to it! So simple.

I lifted up my Screen to see the cuteness!

Once I had let my prints dry, I needed to heat set them via the instructions on the back of the Fabric Ink bottles. Making them fine to be washed etc. This was easily done with an iron for a few minutes.

Then I proceeded to turn the cute prints into little cotton Diaper Covers. And I was SO happy with the results!

I have a feeling that this will become a new creative addiction!! I still can't get over how easy it is. What makes it even better though, is that my Silhouette CAMEO 'Electronic Cutting Tool' just arrived!! Which means I'll be able to download, or design almost anything I want, and the CAMEO actually cuts it out perfectly for me! It will make text, and pictures so easy to flawlessly Screen Paint, because there won't be any accidental slip ups with a blade. Plus, it will save me so much time now that I won't have to hand cut out all those strawberries next time! See this video.

I have so much fun making these kinds of things. I can't wait for it to be my turn! Joe and I can find out our little babes gender in another weeks time, and then it's full steam ahead!! I have so many cute ideas, for either a girl or a boy. I am so excited to get started making a few little gorgeous things for our bub! Yes.. I am gong to be that mother! Hopefully, they will grow to love it.

Have a beautiful day,

- A M Y D A V I S

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