Archives for 2012

Leading by Example

April 5, 2012 by Ashley Hackshaw

Lil Blue Boo has been buzzing with excitement lately! New things are happening every day. The kids are on spring break. Getting things done here at LBB when the girls are around can be a little bit of a challenge. Is there any sound more annoying than two little girls in plastic princess shoes walking around on the tile?

Shipping has gotten out of control, lol! We have started using a new system which has been an incredible time saver and Gicela has started packing orders for me which has been a tremendous help! Thank you G!! What would I do without you!?

I can’t believe it’s been almost a month since Ashley received “The Best News.” The news that we all had been praying for! I took a photo of a note Ashley had scribbled. I think this wonderful news is still sinking in for everyone. We have all become so used to bad news, it’s hard to know how to react to good news!

I had really grown to hate the days that Ashley would come home from an appointment where she received results from a test or scan, or an update on her chemo progress. You get so pumped that maybe this week is going to be the week that things finally take a turn for the better, and then wack! You get totally shut down. Now, this is just from a friend’s perspective. I can’t imagine what it felt like for Ashley. So, when she came home that beautiful 8th day in March and gave me the big news on the tumor shrinkage, spots on the lungs being gone, and the liver improvement, I was a little overwhelmed. First I gave her husband a huge hug, then walked over to Ashley, and started weeping like a baby. I drove home that night and felt at peace. Relieved to know that there was an end in sight, and thankful for the nasty Cisplatin that was healing my friend.

Watching Ashley live a more healthy lifestyle and incorporating these items into her daily regimen has been pretty fun to watch, and encouraging! The whole enema thing is hilarious. I don’t think a day goes by where we don’t talk about poop. She now hands out enema bags like party favors. I get asked a lot if Ashley has convinced me to start using them. I will save that for another post 😉 What I can tell you is that I have taken away a lot from Ashley’s experiences. I know many of you have as well. I started hiking on the weekends. It has been a great way to burn some calories, spend time with my family and get out in nature. Feels great up there! If Ashley can do, while on Chemo, then I can do it!

I haven’t quite gotten the hang of the farmer’s market. I left with bread, organic coffee and pasta. I somehow managed to skip the veggies. Oh, and the coffee was for me to drink and not for…well, you know!

I HAVE grown to love the Green Juice. I kinda feel like I have super powers after I drink it. This juice from the market was so much better than that stuff Ashley served me when she first got her juicer, sorry Ash. I couldn’t even get that stuff down. Her recipes have improved since then.

I haven’t been able to give up my biggest vice, M&M’s. I ate every last Choose Joy M&M. I think they might have been for decoration, oops. I have zero self control around them. I will give up M&M’s when Ashley gives up donuts 😉

Hugs,

Lisa

Spider Woman

April 4, 2012 by Ashley Hackshaw

Since I’ve started Cisplatin my hair has been growing in a little! Most of my hair loss was from the other chemo drugs I took. It’s growing in kind of spotty still…..but I asked Lisa to take some photos today to mark the progress since I had some energy back.

Boo asked to be included in the photo…..that’s a first. Be still my heart.

Cutie.

Yep….still pretty bald though:

After Lisa took some photos the next thing I knew…..my arm was swelling up. There were little menacing fang marks. My arm didn’t hurt at all but it looked crooked due to all the swelling. No biggie. Lisa called my primary doctor…..who just happened to be out of town for spring break. She told me to go to Urgent Care. Ugh. I had to cancel my first colonic appointment. I was looking so forward to that today. I thought I was done with doctors for at least a week! Guess not. I got a nice little nap in at least as I waited for the doctor. Look at that nice spider bite on my arm:

I love filling out the forms:

The doctor gave me some antibiotics to take to keep the venom from spreading up my arm. I still have to get a tetanus shot. What are the odds that I get bitten by a poisonous spider? High I guess. I’m glad I went…..I don’t want to wake up with gangrene in a week. I got in and out of the Urgent Care in about 45 minutes…..that’s enough to make me shout for joy. The only thing I worried about the whole time was catching some disease there….so I slathered my hands, arms, iPhone and handbag constantly hand sanitizer…..and I opened the door handle with my butt cheek (a perk of being 5’11”).

As I was picking up my prescription I picked up some of these:

Love these popsicles. They remind me of the pool snack bar when I was a kid. I think I’ll have another.

Easy Heat Transfer Applique (A Tutorial)

April 4, 2012 by Ashley Hackshaw

Have you tried out Silhouette’s heat transfer material yet? It’s a super easy way to add some decoration to a piece of clothing! I started out with the heat transfer starter kit which has heat transfer paper samples, a pick tool and a package of template downloads:

I decided to spruce up this cute little skirt that I bought for Boo. Boo chose the free bicycle graphic that comes with the starter kit.

If you are doing an image with text make sure to mirror it on the screen so that the text looks backwards. Insert the the heat transfer material into the Silhouette with the clear plastic side on the bottom. You don’t need to use the cutting mat….although it doesn’t hurt either. Make sure to select “flocked” or “smooth” transfer material in the menu before cutting. The clear side of the transfer should be face down.

Once the image has been cut, peel off all the negative space from the clear backing:

Use the pick tool to pull off small pieces.

The finished cut out:

Place the design face down on the surface you want to iron it onto. I placed it on the side of the skirt so it would wrap around:

Place a cloth over the design and place a heated iron on top of it (cotton setting). Press firmly for 45 to 60 seconds.

Gently peel up the clear transfer sheet. The transfer should be adhered to your surface now. If the transfer still sticks to the clear sheet, replace the cloth and iron again making sure to apply more pressure:

An easy heat transfer applique!

Click here to see other projects I’ve done with the Silhouette Machine!