Exciting things are in the future for Get Kids Crafty! and you won't want to miss the action! Check out our Facebook group and Instagram account: Get Kids Crafty! Also, we have a web page: Get Kids Crafty! This is new and we will be changing it up as we go through our growing process, so do make sure to check it out occasionally!
This month's blog hop theme is Ocean and the theme goes hand in hand with the new Get Kid's Crafty! exclusive stamp set from Beth Duff Designs: Manatee Love! It's the cutest stamp set and I wasn't the only one excited to use it...Jax (my 2 year old son) was so excited as well! He kept saying "Mom! Fish! Fish! Mom look! Fish!"!
We decided to make a set of Mother's Day cards using the fabulously cute manatees! I took some photos along the way and my heart is warmed by how excited Jax was to share in the cardmaking process.
Many of my readers know the journey we've been on to become a family, but I want to share our story with those of you who may be new to my blog! My husband and I tried to start a family and after multiple miscarriages we found out it was unlikely we would have our own. We started the process to become foster parents in early 2015 and in November of 2015 we were approved. We were a pre-adoptive home meaning that any child we took into our home we hoped to adopt. It didn't take long before we were blessed with a baby boy. We met him when he was just 2 weeks old. He was perfect in my eyes, but his little body was fighting off an addiction to heroin passed to him due by his birth mother. The hospital waited 2 weeks to call us because they didn't know if he would pull through. He had seizures and difficulty eating and gaining weight, but holding him and bonding with him was amazing. We lived with him in the NICU for a month trying to bring him out of his addiction and eventually the doctors let us bring him home! He was still struggling with addiction, but at least we were home. He had seizures for a few more months, but finally the drugs were out of his little body and he was growing and he was perfect. So so perfect. But we weren't out of the woods yet...we had court dates what seemed like every other day fighting to keep him with us in our home. To keep him safe. It took until January 31, 2017 but he is OURS! And I'm so happy to say that he has no complications from the circumstances around his birth. He is beautiful and he is such an amazing inspiration to me. Every day I look at my baby and think of how much he's been through. His story brings me to tears and I love him so much. Everyone says that we saved him, but he truly saved us. He is everything to us. I spent almost 2 years being afraid and wondering if he would be ours...wondering if someone would take him...wondering if this would be the last time I would see him. Crafting together is something that we've done since he was an infant. He has always loved being creative. I used to hoard his crafts because I thought they would be all I had left of him. I'm so happy we have years of crafting in our future!
Okay...now that I am thoroughly crying like a baby...let's get on to the cards we made!
Jax loves watercoloring...and when I got my hands on the new Nuvo Shimmer Powders I thought that it was something he would love as much as I did! And he does! These powders are so kid friendly! He sprinkled some onto his paper and started spraying with water...adding more powder...and more water!
He had so much fun! He made three backgrounds and they were all gorgeous!
I wanted these cards to be something that he created mainly by himself. He's only 2, and so instead of having him fuss with the paper trimmer...we decided to cut them out with scalloped rectangle dies. He is a master of the Sizzix Big Shot. He loves it and uses it almost every day!
Look at those backgrounds! The one on the right is my favorite, but they are all wonderful!
We stamped out some images from the Manatee Love stamp set and he colored them with markers. I let him pick how he wants to color things...but he seems to like his markers the best!
I love these cards! I think he did a fabulous job!
I'm happy there were enough backgrounds to make multiple cards...because I'm keeping one for myself! Haha!
I want to encourage all of you to create with your kids. It's such an amazing way to bond with them. I feel like Jax and I are never closer than when we are crafting together. There is such joy on his face when he sees everything come together and see something he made.
Okay!! Now go visit my fellow bloggers and find more inspiration to get crafty with your kids!! And don't forget to use the hashtag #getkidscrafty on your social media pages! We'd love to see how you craft with your kids!
Here's the list of all the blogs in the hop!
Your story is painfully beautiful. Enjoy your little guy, time flies. His cards are precious!
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you found each other.. What an incredible journey you have been on. These cards are so very precious and I know Mother's Day is a very special day for you. xo
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