First, I LOVE the way these colors came out. It was a gorgeous image and seemed to be just right for this project.
But, there are definitely flaws and mistakes while I figure stuff like this out lol
But, see the first 😉
❤️❤️❤️
I think these are great spring/summer/fall/garden fun. They’re mesmerizing and hypnotic. A great way to relax. I can’t wait to hang mine and see how my little guys react. Hoping this a great way for them to calm outside when they need to ❤️
I’m doing wind spinners for a $20 donation to Paws 4 Autism. Again, it’s things like this that help us raise money for our service dog and the other pups in the program to help keep it going. This is a 10 inch spinner, but I might be switching to 8 in spinners so I don’t have to piece papers together lol
If you’re interested in a wind spinner, please message me and we’ll make it happen 😀
One of the things I’ve been trying to learn the past couple of years is 3D printing.
I understand the basics.
I struggle to understand the mechanics.
Every now and then, something works like it’s supposed to.
I originally wanted to use 3D printing as a fundraising avenue by printing lithophanes. It’s a really neat way of displaying a photo. One of these days, I may upload some that have been mostly successful. I just can’t seem to get them to work well and work consistently, and to get them to do both at the same time, lol.
But today, I managed to print a Mother’s Day statue that came out nice enough.
If anyone is interested in this as a Mother’s Day gift, it’s a $10 donation to Paws 4 Autism. Message me and I’ll let you know how to make the donation. Right now, I only have one, because my printer decided to stop working….again lol
In my catch up blog, I said I would post some of the projects I’ve been working on when I have a few spare minutes.
So, today, I’m posting the mugs I’ve been working on. These are the types of things I do as fundraisers for Paws 4 Autism and Bandit
To do these, I started learning how to sublimate. I looked easy, and theoretically it is. But it’s the small stuff that trips me up lol
This is a fun idea. I took a child’s artwork and put it on a shirt for him and a mug for his mom. It’s like fridge art – but better!
I’m also able to put pictures of cuties like this onto mugs. This particular grandma needed a mug with her granddaughter on it. It was so much fun to do ❤️ Can you imagine waking up to this smile in the mornings?
For Halloween, I had a BLAST making color changing mugs. We call them magic mugs. I need to figure out how to post a video here, but for now, trust me, they’re cool. They start out black. When you add hot water, the black disappears revealing and image under it.
And before we knew it, it was Christmas time. I did a Naughty/Nice Magic mug (because I LOVE them lol) and also did a set of matching mugs and kitchen towel set.
And then, I saw a pattern that I really liked, but couldn’t find, so I got to design some things using just a few images and tricks to recreate and refine the look I’d seen. I also did a matching tumbler 😊 I think this would be fun for Mother’s Day ❤️
This last set of mugs I did because I found images I fell in love with. A friend suggested they might work well as Magic Mugs. And I agree!
I did the Sagittarius mug for me (and I just noticed I misspelled it, so I will be fixing that right away!)
The Aries mug is for a friend of mine and I LOVE how the colors came out on this 💕
So those are some of the mugs I’ve been working on. There are some missing so there will be a Mug post part 2 coming soon.
As I mentioned at the beginning, these are the types of things I’ve been doing for fundraisers for Bandit and Paws 4 Autism.
For more information about Paws 4 Autism, click here: AWESOME DOGS
I haven’t been posting on much social media lately, so let me see if I can try and catch you up a little 😊 We’ve had A LOT packed into the last few years. I’m sure many of you can relate to that.
Summer of 2021 we had five cross country trips. Only one of them was planned ahead by any length of time lol. Then some other exciting things happened as well.
First, a trip to West VA, then VA to take care of some motor cycle issues.
This was when we still had the big giant van and Bandit had a big comfy seat to lay down in. We saw the sunrise in West Virginia, and had a little bit of downtime in VA before we turned around and made the 18 hour trip home. In the last picture, you can see JJ and Bandit, and looking closely, you can see that they’re tethered together with a leash.
One of the ways Bandit helps us, is by making it harder for JJ to bolt when something scares or upsets him, and making it harder for him to just wander off when something has his attention. On this particular trip, JJ and Bandit were in the yard playing, and JJ thought he saw a spider on Bandit. Panicked, he took off running. Bandit acted as an anchor to slow JJ down so we could get to them. The spider turned out to be dried cut grass. People are afraid of bugs, but JJ’s fear means he doesn’t pay attention to where he’s going. The road and any cars or obstacles on the road aren’t on his radar. Bandit buys us enough time to get to JJ before he can get to the road. That day he did what we needed him to do ❤️
Next up, about a month later, we picked up one of our daughters from an 18 month mission she’d just completed. This was our planned trip lol
He did a great job. Part of what makes autism hard for my two little boys is being out of routine. Doing something different – and that’s all a trip is. Lots of different experiences. Like Bandit acted as a physical anchor on that first road trip, he acts like an emotional anchor for my kiddos when their world is kind of off.
Following that, my husband switched jobs, so we snuck off to visit his dad who was in his 90’s at the time.
We had a nice time and it was so good to see him. We snuck in a visit to see my grandma on this trip, too ❤️
Shortly after that, we got word that my 25yo cousin passed away. We weren’t able to make it to the funeral, and I don’t have any pictures of that time. But this time, Bandit helped me. He’s good at knowing who needs his love and I’m so grateful for that.
Next on the list of fun things we did in the last couple of years, we had a wedding. This was a new experience for us, we’d never had a child get married before. That made it Bandit’s first time, too 😊
Then we were back in the car traveling cross country again. This time for my grandma’s funeral. I’m so thankful we took the time to see her when we were there visiting my father-in-law.
One of Bandit’s jobs is to just relax. He can then share that calm with those around him. Traveling. Funerals. Overwhelming sounds at the luncheon after the funeral are all things Bandit can help us with. As you can see, he did his job perfectly.
While we were here, we took the spend more time with father in law again. We brought pie over and we all enjoyed it together, then it was back on the road to head home.
After that trip we were able to go to UCM in Warrensburg to work with the Alpha Sigma Alpha sorority to raise money for Paws4Autism, the organization Bandit’s with. JJ had fun hanging out with the girls and loved the attention. It also just happened to be right around his birthday so they spoiled him a little. It was a great time and we were able to help raise funds that go back into the program to keep training and adding new pups to the program.
And then we were back on the road. We got word one morning that my father in law passed away. He’d been admitted to the hospital shortly after we’d visited with him at the end of October, but had started doing better. This wasn’t news I was expecting, especially after losing my cousin and grandmother. But we loaded everyone back into the cars and took the 20 hour drive west once again.
With funerals, there’s a lot of high emotion. Grief and feeling overwhelmed are just a few. And for us, add in exhaustion. JJ is like an amplifying sponge. He soaks in all of the emotion and feeling around him because his brain doesn’t filter them out. Then he sends them back out 10-fold. So being able to help him regulate those feelings and calm down is really important. That’s one of the places that Bandit can really help.
For JJ, we know that just touching Bandit regulates his heart rate and that’s a huge help. Another thing that JJ finds helpful sometimes is some deep, but gentle pressure. Here he is with Bandit resting with his legs on JJ’s lap to help with both. Poor JJ hadn’t been smiling a few minutes before because he was getting overwhelmed. Bandit is the fastest, easiest way to accomplish this.
My father in law was a veteran. He received his gun salute and this is the flag they presented his wife. I had a great father in law. I’m grateful for the sacrifice of him and countless other Veterans.
PS: Bandit didn’t like the gun salute…
After the summer and fall we had, it was nice to be able to do some normal, mundane things, like go to the dentist, lol
Dentist visits can make people nervous. JJ is no exception. We take Bandit with us to help keep JJ calm. You can see them working together here with touch and pressure to make the experience better for everyone involved.
Things were relatively ordinary for a little while, but we got to celebrate again mid 2022, and it rounded out the year featured above. A second child got married ❤️
We had a great time celebrating and Bandit was in on the fun, too.
We sure did need those two weddings to help offset the hard stuff that year encompassed.
After this, we started our school year. And this year we’ve been homeschooling both little boys, both with autism, instead of just one. And it’s been an adventure lol Luckily, Bandit is good at helping the boys, which I really appreciate since it can get overwhelming for all of us at times. This is honestly where so much of my time goes and one of the things that makes updating any social media more challenging than it used to be.
And yay! We get to do more normal things, too. Like speech therapy.
Bandit stays close, always within reach in case JJ needs him if he starts getting overwhelmed with therapy. I can remind him to pet his dog, and that usually helps get us back into the flow of things.
And during all of this, I’ve added more things to my learning and fundraising, I just haven’t been able to post them (see above lol). My favorite new thing is sublimation. I must now sublimate all the things lol. I’ll try and add some of that work later. It’s fun 😊
When people ask why a service dog. Or ask how it helps, these are all the things I think about, and more. But often times, it’s hard to put into words. I’ve been fundraising for a dog for JJ, but in reality, Bandit is there for us all. He loves without condition, he’s always excited to see us. He’s there for the good stuff, the bad stuff, and everything in between.
As my kids say, “He is good boy.”
Thanks for stopping by
XOXOXO
To check out the Paws4Autism organization, go here: PAWS
To check out JJ and Bandit’s page, go here: JJ AND BANDIT
If you’d like to make a donation, just scroll to the bottom of JJ and Bandit’s page.
In the last post, I mentioned the one fundraiser I was able to put together. It’s Christmas ornaments 🙂
I have 24 designs for you to choose from. Half are pet themed, the other half are snarky ’21 themed. They can be ordered in JJ’s Magic Store on his fundraising page here:
The last half of 2021 has been HARD you guys. We’ve lost four family members since the beginning of October. Six people total, if we include friends, since July.
I’ve had these great ideas for fundraising…most of the supplies are still sitting on the rocking chair ten feet from me. But here we are at Giving Tuesday and I haven’t been able to pull much of it together.
So, if you would consider us for a donation on Giving Tuesday (or any other time) we’d appreciate it.
Paws 4 Autism is a not for profit group that trains and places special dogs with special people. We rely completely on the fundraising efforts of our member families to continue providing dogs to families that make some of the biggest differences you may NEVER see.
For instance, you may not see my son have a panic attack when he’s in new and unfamiliar situations. You may not see another of my sons melt down in the hall at church.
What you’ll probably see is a bond between these pups and their people that looks sweet, but is just so much more than that.
We were lucky. Bandit and JJ matched while we were fostering Bandit during training. This allowed JJ to find his dog much sooner than we expected, but we haven’t met our fundraising goal yet. What that means, though, is that ALL of the money we raise, goes back into the program and is directly responsible for helping more families find that missing piece that makes all the difference in their quality of life.
All funds raised this holiday season will be matched (uptown $2,000 per family) by a generous donor. It’s an amazing opportunity to make any donations we receive go twice as far.
If you want to make a straight donation, that can be done on JJ’s page, here:
BUT, I will also have a holiday ornament fundraiser featuring pet themed sayings as well as snarky sayings for 2021, so please watch for that.
Thanks for stopping by, and please, feel free to share so we can try to get this opportunity in front of as many eyes as possible this holiday season ❤
People liked it. I was encouraged to print more. So I did.
So here’s the deal. If you want one, you can go to the link in the picture by typing it in, clicking on it HERE, or scanning the QR code. That’s JJ’s fundraising page. Make a $10 donation. You’ll have the chance to leave a written message. In that message, please let me know the donation is for the TP ornament, and if you want more than one, please let me know the number you’d like.
Easy peasy lemon squeasy, but feel free to ask questions if you have any.
Thanks for stopping by!
xoxoxo
PS Stay tuned – next project, street lamp made from paper. Lamp lights up!
I answered it, and was told there was a problem with Bandit.
It’s getting time for the dogs in training to rotate foster homes and Bandit won’t be able to
because HE’S STAYING WITH US!
Bandit and JJ matched.
My son now has a service dog. His best friend is staying.
BUT this was ONLY possible because other people have paid it forward. I say that like it’s not a big thing, so let me rephrase it.
My son has a service dog because OTHER PEOPLE were kind enough to PAY FOR IT ahead of time.
I don’t know who all the people were that paid for my son’s dog, but I’m SO grateful to them.
So now we’re switching gears. WE will keep raising money, because WE will be paying it forward to make it possible for someone else to find the same magic we have.
So please, continue to remember JJ and Bandit. They are the faces of the families you may never meet but you could make such a difference for them by continuing to donate through JJ’s fundraising page here.
I’m also open to suggestions for fundraising. I have some ideas, but I need help to make them a reality and make them feasible, so stay tuned for those ❤
Thank you again for being on this journey and for stopping by today.
One of the jobs an autism service dog can do is help their person sleep.
My son, like many on the spectrum, has trouble sleeping. Specifically, he has trouble calming and regulating enough to be able to fall asleep. There have been some long nights, and even some nights that didn’t end. There were times when our medications were out of whack and sleep NEVER came.
As a reminder, Bandit is leaning to work with children – that’s how we’re helping as we foster. He sees me as the person to follow, because that’s what he’s used to. But he’s tethered to JJ most of the day and he’s starting to get comfortable with me farther away, which is exactly what we want him to do ❤️
We started a nighttime routine that lets JJ fall asleep with Bandit.
That’s what’s happening right now. I’m sitting on the hardwood floor writing this as those two snooze away lol. The goal is for Bandit to stay in JJ’s room with him throughout the night, but we’re not there yet. Bandit still gets up and leaves the room with me when my back decides it can’t sit on the floor any longer. But the ease of the transition is getting faster. Both boys are settling into this routine and I feel like there are only good places to go from here ❤️
Thanks for stopping by
Xoxo
As always, if you’d like to read more about JJ’s story, you can find it here: help JJ. If you’re interested, you can also donate to our fundraising efforts there ❤️
If you’re friends with me on FB, you’ve probably already heard about these things, so I apologize. But for the rest of you, I wanted to share some things 😊
Between ADHD, Autism, Anxiety, and Dyslexia, school can be hard. But this is some of what I saw this week, that I haven’t seen before.
In the above picture, JJ was stressing over the work, I could see it. But before I could intervene, he reached out and pet Bandit, which is exactly what Bandit is there for! This was HUGE for JJ. I honestly didn’t know if JJ would respond to a dog in the beginning. But he has been. Then, I wasn’t sure if he’d reach out to Bandit in times of need. We’ve tried a lot of different fidgets and stress reducers to help him be able to calm down when he needed to, but those haven’t been that successful. But guess who’s been reaching out 🙂 And Bandit is there within easy reach.
In the picture below, I caught some good stuff, too.
I don’t think this looks like a kiddo who’s dreading school lol. We also switched online academies and that’s helped with completing school work, but now I’m worried JJ won’t WANT to go back to public school because this is just way too cool for him lol.
When not working, they’ve been able to work on Settle. Many with autism find deep, gentle pressure calming. Because Paws 4 AUTISM uses standard poodles, they weigh enough to provide that kind of pressure. Many times, you can find JJ resting on Bandit, but sometimes, he needs Bandit to rest on him.
Last but not least, LOVE. Bandit is a service dog, so by nature, he provides service. But he’s so much more than that. He’s quickly becoming JJ’s best friend. And as such, JJ works to make sure Bandit has the things he needs, including belly rubs.
JJ’s smile says everything you need to know about how it’s going.
And this is why we’re fundraising. The two fundraisers we have going right now are Ear Savers and Back to School Signs. You can find info about them below. And as always, JJ’s direct fundraising page if you just want to learn more about his story or donate.
ajdurrant 