Patricia is so chatty. She says lots of rambling baby words, none of them quite English. I do get the feeling that she understand me though. I’ll sometimes ask her “do you understand”? And she will nod her head emphatically if she does. She has unfortunately started getting into tantrums. She will full on lay down on the floor and whine sometimes if she doesn’t get what she is asking for. I don’t remember Julius doing that at 14 months… but then again I barely remember anything from Julius! The one good thing about having a second is I get to relive some of the cuteness of Julius by watching Patricia. It is also easier having gone through it before. Babies are strange little creatures that are all unique, but (at least mine) seem to have a lot of things in common too.
Speaking of strange little creatures, it is time for this strange little creature to tell you about her new year’s resolution! I usually like to have a resolution with achievable goals so there is some accountability, but in this year’s case I think the accountability is obvious. My resolution is to be less panicked and anxious about covid. This includes spending time with friends, leaving my house a bit more often and not obsessing about who I came in contact with every time I leave my house. Don’t get me wrong, I am going to continue to wear an N95 everytime I leave my house. I will continue to limit my interactions to vaccinated and boosted individuals only (to the extent that is possible). I won’t go to large gatherings. I don’t think I need to remind any of the readers of this blog that there is still no vaccine for my kids, so I am certainly not going to do anything reckless. It’s just that the last two years have taken a toll on my sanity, patience and empathy and I have to do something different.
For the first attempt at getting outside my bubble, Will, Julius and I went skiing a couple weeks ago. I am not going to lie I was freaked out most of the time, and I wore an n95 under my ski mask. It was not a total failure, but most people had no masks on at all, and, even though (or perhaps because) we were outside, people didn’t give 6 feet of space in lines. Next step is a plane flight to Colorado to see Mandy & Bailey’s new house! I haven’t been out to visit since Julius was born so I am LONG over due.
Speaking of long overdue, let me tell you about sublimation printing!!! Six months ago I went crazy and decided to buy a new toy – a sublimation printer! Sublimation is the conversion from a solid to a gas – in this case we use heat and pressure to go from a solid dye to a gaseous dye that infuses with polyester. For this reason you can only sublimate on polyester material – but the sublimation dyed material is permanent! It is AWESOME.
I made last year’s Danycon shirts with my sublimation printer as well as the bags for “Rolling Danycon”. I also printed the scales on Patricia’s wild thing costume using sublimation. At some point I’ll be making family shirts as well… Here’s a quick intro for how to sublimate! Remember you will have to have a printer that is able to use sublimation dyes. Regular printer ink will not work for sublimation!
Rolling Danycon bags with dye sublimation image.
How to Sublimate
What you’ll need:
- Sublimation printer w/ dye cartridges (I bought a Sawgrass printer)
- Dye-sub paper (sublimation transfer paper)
- scrap paper
- a heat press or iron or capable of reaching 400F
- Pressing pad – or a slightly soft surface to press onto that will not melt at 400F
- a polyester or polyester blend shirt or fabric (the more polyester the more vivid your transfer will be, blends will produce a more vintage/aged look)
- Print your design on sublimation transfer paper – make sure to mirror the image if you have any text in your design.
- Heat your heat press to 400F.
- Place shirt on your pressing pad and press gently for a few seconds to iron out any wrinkles and moisture in the shirt.
- Place a piece of scrap paper on the inside of the shirt to protect the back of the shirt from any dye that may leak through.
- Place design ink face down on top of shirt in desired location. (You can heat transfer tape it in place if desired).
- Place a piece of parchment paper on top.
- Place heat press on top of design, and apply medium pressure to the shirt for 45-60 seconds.
- Design will show through the spent paper now.
- Remove the parchment, transfer paper and inner paper on your shirt.
- Your shirt is ready to wear!
You made it to here?! Kudos to you! I want to thank those of you who responded with your new years’ resolutions! I think this is going to be a great year! And thank you to ANDREW who will be getting this month’s prize! As a reminder – it is a DIY rocket ship kit! I’ll be sending it to you shortly Andrew! Thanks again for entering! I’ve got some more prizes coming in the next few months so stay turned for the next contest!
