I am a Mum - Heather Woodall

 Hi all

This is not how I would normally start a blog post, but feel that it is important. I am wanting to put here a trigger warning - I will be talking about miscarriage and infertility and some photos from my experience.

With Mother's Day approaching I was talking with Shelley at the scrapbook store about classes, and we came up with this idea for a box mostly concentrated around the 1st trimester of a pregnancy, but it has been designed for every female that has been pregnant, whether your pregnancy ended at 10 weeks or full term. Whether you have full arms or empty arms. It is somewhere to store some of those memories of your/my pregnancy experience.

I started with the Dusty Attic Cigar Box DA0981 as the base. It was assembled and painted in a soft dusty pink/mauve colour to match the beautiful soft papers from Studio 73. While I had my paints out, I also painted my other chipboard pieces (which I will list down further)

I then covered the front and side of the box with patterned paper. Then I glued on the Floral Frame DA1528 which had been painted in the same colour. Please note that Jen very nicely adapted this frame as a one off to match the box for us.

I then layered on the Christmas Berries DA3143 which had been painted in white

The "I'm A Mum" title which I have painted in a slightly darker dusty pink than the box was also a special order, but I do believe Jen will be adding this to her website soon if you wish to purchase it.

I then started adding some layers of fussy cut flowers, a shadow for the lady in the middle, and finished off the title with glossy accents.

I then moved to the inside of the box - here is where my story will become very obvious very quickly. I tell and share my story, not because I want sympathy or people to say how strong I am, but because I want to help break the taboo-ness around the word "miscarriage" and "infertility", I want to help other woman feel like they too can tell their stories and talk about their pregnancies and babies, they were just as real as a pregnancy that went full term and ended with a live birth.

I had multiple pregnancies (7 to be exact) and all ended in miscarriage. This box, although very difficult to actually do, I am a Mum even if I struggle identify as that, and this box is about being a mum, not so much about the baby itself.

Inside I created tags that are about a 1/4" smaller than the size of the box so that they fit nicely inside and joined with a clip ring. Each tag tells a little bit about my story, from ultrasounds, to baby bumps, to the words that every female doesn't want to hear "there is no heartbeat", through to the ways that I found to move on and help others. 

At the end I have some empty tags, although my motherhood story may seemed to be finished, you never know what will happen in the future, so have left some empty tags and some patterned paper so that I can keep adding.

If you are interested in doing this box in a class, it will be held at the Scrapbook Superstore on Friday 5th May and Saturday 6th May. Please give Shelley a call at the store on 4722 2152 to find out more details and to book your spot.

I know that this has been a confronting blog post, but I hope that it has reached someone that needs to be reached.

Thank you

Heather