I planned on blogging

something Christmassy every day this month.... But today I share the sad news that last night at 19.45 my father passed and is now with my mother again.... my sister A said that his need to be with my mum was greater than his need to be alive.... Mum passed away so suddenly on the 7th March 2007 and Dad just sat waiting to be with her again....
45 years is a long time to be together and we believe he couldn't stand it anymore....

Goodnight and God bless you both Mum and Dad now you are together again.

December 1st....

Happy December everyone, I love Christmas and the run up to it too, getting the tree up and putting presents under the tree too, the kids are old enough now for us to put them there and not pick them up and rattle them!

Anyway, Christmas is coming and so is Mr Wonderful's birthday on the 17th!

ta-ra for now

Lisa

Its nearly the end of the month and I've yet to post anything!!

The last few months have been a bit rough on me healthwise as some of you may know.... but tonight I posted some work on my other blog that I normally use for cards but I have done some work on a little wooden icon that I bought absolutely ages ago..... So on Tuesday (27th) I used some of the great stamps from visible image.

A bit of sad news now tho.... I have had a phone call from my sister tonight saying that my dad is now in hospital and that the doctors expect him to last about a week.... I know it's what he wants tho as he has missed my mum so much over the last 6 years (nearly) and soon they will be together again.

Sending love and kind thoughts to all of you who are going thru similar situations

Lisa
xx

a couple of things I've made lately...

I made this card for the daughter of a friend on Facebook... she was hoping to make her daughters birthday extra special... as it may be her last! I think she got over 400 cards by the time her birthday arrived!

Then I picked up my crochet hook again and some wool, I use Sirdar Calico, mostly because it crochets up nicely but its looks good too. Anyway, there I was crocheting away when Mr Wonderful asks what I was making... "Dunno yet!" says me... Tj said she wanted a beanie!! I was planning on a beret.. so anyway it's a beanieberet! and here it is being modelled by the owner...

This is how I think it should be worn but wearers wear the hat the way the want don't they!!

Thanks for dropping by and ooh today some goodies arrived that I'd ordered to make beads with, now I just have to find a pasta machine to roll out the clay! Bye for now Lisa x

Is it this or is it that?

Dear Human Being,

Hi, my name is Fibromyalgia, and I’m an invisible chronic illness. I am now ‘velcroed’ to you for life. Others around you can’t see me or hear me, but YOUR body feels me. I can attack you anywhere and anyway I please. I can cause severe pain, or if I am in a good mood, I can just cause you to ache all over.

Remember when you and Energy ran around together and had fun? I took Energy from you and gave you Exhaustion. Just try to have fun now! I also took Good Sleep from you and in its place gave you Fibro Fog (a.k.a.) Brain Fog. I can make you tremble internally or make you feel cold or hot when everyone else feels normal. Oh yeah, I can make you feel anxious or depressed, too. If you have something planned, or are looking forward to a great day, I can take that away too. You didn’t ask for me. I chose you for various reasons: that virus you had that you never quite recovered from, or that car accident, or childbirth, ...
the death of a loved one, or maybe it was those years of abuse and trauma. Well, anyway, I’m here to stay! I hear you’re going to see a doctor who can get rid of me. I’m ‘ROFL’ (rolling on the floor laughing)! Just try! You will have to go to many, many doctors until you find one who can help you effectively. In fact, you’ll see many doctors who tell you ‘it’s all in your head’ (or some version of that). If you do find a doctor willing to treat this ‘non-disease’, you will be put on pain pills, sleeping pills, and energy pills. You will be told you are suffering from anxiety or depression, given a TENS unit, told if you just sleep and exercise properly, I will go away. You’ll be told to think positively, poked, prodded, and most of all, you will not be taken seriously when you cry to the doctor how debilitating life is for you every single day!

Your family, friends, and coworkers will all listen to you until they just get tired of hearing about how I make you feel, and that I’m a debilitating disease. Some of them will say things like “Oh, you’re just having a bad day”, or “Well, remember, you can’t expect to do the things you used to do 20 years ago,” not hearing that you said “20 DAYS ago”! Some will just start talking behind your back, while you slowly feel that you are losing your dignity, trying to make them understand, especially when you are in the middle of a conversation with a ‘normal’ person, and can’t remember what you were going to say next!

In closing, you’ve probably figured out that the ONLY place you will get any real support and understanding in dealing with me is with Other People with Fibromyalgia! They are the only ones that will understand your complaints of unrelenting pain, insomnia, fibro fog, the inability to perform the everyday tasks that ‘normal people’ take for granted.

Remember, I’m stuck to you like Velcro – and I expect we’ll be together for the rest of your life.

as written by Lacey 777 

The long and winding road

A few months ago I finally got the courage to go to my GP with my list of ills................ she was great and arranged blood tests and x-rays for my appointment at an out of town hospital... Myself & Husband duly went along to see a really good Doc... after an hour long appointment where we discussed the 2 surveys that we filled out prior to the appointment then Doc says that she cannot confirm that I have CFS/ME due to the many other issues I have that can cause fatigue and pain... ( IBS, Under Active Thyroid, Osteoarthritis in both hips, a couple of prolapsed discs in the lumbar region which of course in turn triggered the Chronic Sciatica... there are quite a few other things too that you all probably have or know of....) So less than two weeks later this letter arrives saying I'm being referred to the sleep clinic because she thinks the reason for the fatigue is sleep apnoea!!! Then this morning I get a call from a lady ringing to arrange an appt for me at a hospital in the Gloucestershire area then.... she realises she has all my details but the name on her screen isn't mine!! but all the other details are ?? She then apologises profusely and laughingly tells me to forget the phone call! on top of that I get a letter in the post from the physio dept telling me to go for physio later this month!! Physio?? It takes me all the time to get up and go downstairs which is why I spend a lot of the day upstairs in our home....Thank goodness for my wonderful wonderful darling husband and great kids and my sister and brother-in-law and my parents-in-law... Oh and my husbands fantastic boss who understands our situation which started off with me going to our the GP and he diagnoses me with a suspected cauda equina lesion/syndrome (he does tell me that he really hopes he's wrong but better be safe than sorry) this is way back in June 2010 and being sent to a local hospital who then refused to do an MRI because they felt it wasn't necessary then me returning back to the then GP still in a heck of a lot of pain, who insisted I have an MRI so arranged one for me on a Sunday morning at another hospital!.... nice understanding staff? Not!! pushed me down and pulled my arms up because and I quote "you're too fat to go thru the MRI so your arms have to go straight above your head..." at this point I realised I was a sufferer of claustrophobia!!! and get all panicky but then succeeded to calm myself down and go thru the MRI which I was told would take 10-15 minutes but it turns out is it more like 35 to 40 minutes..Arms/shoulders very sore and back is feeling so bad I feel faint... anyway this GP then moved on to another surgery and I started to see a lady GP which is the one I have now but she is only available on Thurs & Fridays... the rest of the week its take pot luck if you get one of the other docs who are 4 ladies and 1 gent, Two of the ladies are great, One is absolutely pathetic and puts every illness I have down to my weight... and the Gent doc I've yet to see but my husband took my daughter in for an appt and he was very off with an emotional teenage girl.... so he his on my list of GPs to avoid along with the lady doc previously mentioned.... So, now I guess I am on the long journey of seeing all the different available consultants until someone comes up with the suggestion that was given to me by a friend who is a GP!! Will I finally be diagnosed with CFS/ME or Fibromyalgia? and how many hospitals/clinics can I visit... ha ha ha ha ha ha, gotta keep smiling

:D


L x

Sometimes you see something and you love it straightaway ;-D

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/theweekinpictures/9574584/The-week-in-pictures-28-September-2012.html?frame=2353645

I'm fancying some more masks of late and have spotted some new designs by the talented Ali Reeve.

From top to bottom they are Celtic Border, Choir Border, Elegance Border, Filmstrip Border, Ivy Border and lastly Music Border.... Now the decision is why to get first? after I have gotten the 5 sets of mini masks!!

bye for now

L :-D

When you can't sleep....

If you can bead em, join em :-D I couldn't sleep last night so I made 2 symmetrical seed bead necklaces and some earrings too

 Bye for now and as I can't sleep tonight I guess I'll be making some more beady things

Lisa

WOYWW...172 :-D

Crikey!!  I've not posted on WOYWW for a good few months but after finally doing a bit of crafting, a lack of crafting has been due to being poorly and we hope to find out what it is soon, anyway I felt it was time to come and post on a Wednesday :-D Now the pics below are of the earrings I've been making lately, I was enabled by Krafty Karen, anyway here they are... (The black triangles with flowers on were made for my daughter to match a bracelet that we made together for her :-D )

Now this is the point where you wonder why I have a pic of a chair... this is one of my latest ebay bargains!! not bad for a fiver eh?... make that THREE CHAIRS!!! for a FIVER!! (One each for myself and Mr Wonderful and one for the kids pc in the living room!)

I love eBay, don't you?

Thanks for dropping by and thanks to our esteemed leader Julia for starting WOYWW, I love it when I get the chance to join in :-D and I can't believe its week 172! Ooh and if you are wondering where my WOYWW badge is... it's attached to the bag I crocheted, just on the right of the bottom pic

Lisa
:-D

Tomorrow is Tuesday....

Mr Wonderful is taking the day off to take me to hospital as I have to see a consultant about some long-term health issues... but in the meantime, I have sort of started a new hobby.... jewellery making!! I seem to be drawn towards earrings more than necklaces or bracelets but that's fine as my darling daughter likes to make bracelets!! she has sold a few already to school friends and has even learned how to do the knotting that is used for making shamballa bracelets! Unfortunately because of the problems I have with my hands I can't actually doing any crafting til about 4pm in the day as until then my fingers really hurt to move them so, as I get very tired now I spend most of the day napping off and on and come alive when my children come home from school...

I hope to start blogging again more often and maybe on Wednesday, I'll be back with WOYWW along with Julia and the rest of the woyww'ers.

Until then, bye for now

Lisa
:D

Today we are mostly filling forms out!

The boys have come home with the yearly school information form to be updated and I got a letter from the ME clinic with not one BUT two questionnaires in it!!... So I've been sat next to Mr Wonderful whilst he has asked the questions and done the writing... isn't he wonderful!! Wonderful by name and Wonderful by nature!!

Meanwhile the boys are suspiciously quiet downstairs... one is supposed to be researching David Livingstone and the old one is supposed to be tidying his bedroom!! this is the same room that was supposed to be tidied last weekend!! He sure can drag things out and we have taken away the dvd & cd players and next to go will be the wii and pc in the living room, in the hope that the other two will nag at him to do his room but when I asked him if he was bothered, his answer was short and not so sweet! "no!"

Where did this one come from???? the other two have relatively tidy rooms but his can be mistaken for a post nuclear fallout area!!! but saying that I love him to bits!! his blue eyes and blonde hair that is gradually going darker like his older sister's but youngest one looks very much like me with hair a very dark brown like his father...

Anyway darling daughter wants to be collected from her friends house then to go and collect another friend and bring them both back here....  Meanwhile... the boys have slipped quietly out of the front door!! little divils!

ttfn

L xx

Hels has blog candy!!!!!!!!!!!

Click here to find out how to win Hels blog candy!!! Lisa xx

A digi lo with a difference.............

I fancied doing a layout of my newest addiction, Distress Stains!! Its been a while since I've done any lo's. The odd card here and there for birthdays but I felt that it was time to get back into scrapping in one way or another and even tho my hands are not as flexible as they used to be, I managed to put this layout together using various kits from serif craft artist. I'm not au fait with the digi thing but with a bit of help from Mr Wonderful I did it.

So thanks for looking

Lisa
x

A card for a special friend

It was Krafty Karens birthday yesterday and I can now show the card I sent her.... now Karen knows I am by far not the worlds best card maker but having received a lovely new order of stamps from Fiona I had to use at least one of them:D and also some of the PaperArtsy stamps were used too:D

Then at the start of September is another friends birthday but I can't show that one just yet.... In the meantime we are waiting for the children to start back at school and for some items to arrive.... namely Spellies and a SplodgeAway mat......... 

Bye for now and I'll guess the missing items will arrive soon or maybe......

When pigs fly at this rate....

 Lisa
 xx

Distress Stains...

as I said in my last post I fancied getting some more distress stains, I got them from CraftObsessions.co.uk

I like getting things from David and Brenda as they are always good value and good service too.
I have been thinking about getting some beads and findings as the jewellery side of crafting has always interested me.... Then my dearest daughter voiced a desire to try making some too... So Mr Wonderful bought a selection of beads and findings from ebay and Tessa made some shamballa bracelets and even her brothers liked them so she made them one each too!!  I haven't had a chance to play with them til last night as Tessa squirrelled them away in her room... anyway I bagged some beads that I liked the look of and this is what I made....(The chain is a silver small belcher chain link that I have had in my jewellery box for ages).

 

It's been a fair while since I've done any paper-crafting so i'm gonna try and do my best over the next few days...:D... And the kids go back to school on Sept 4th so i'll get more time to do this uninterrupted!

Thanks for dropping by and having a look at my blog
Lisa

 

A bit late in the day but what the heck............

I'm guessing most people have tried Distress Stains by now but it's taken me a while.... anyway I got the Picket Fence one as a place to start.... I tried it out on something lastnight.......... not saying what yet so don't try any arm-twisting!! ooh and I finally got some mod podge which led to a canvas finally being done but that's another story..... anyway... now I've tried the stains I want more!! I love the one I have and Have to have some more but what can I store them in.... well I thought and thought and looked around and my eye landed on this item that I bought from Rod @ creations-by-rod.co.uk but its looking a little forlorn with only one bottle in it (upside down) so that may be changed soon:D 

Anyway, wishing you all a good weekend 

Lisa x

Its been a wee while now but...

I thought I'd better post some news and ..... its good news too!! I am a big fan of Sue Wilson, the lady who demonstrates Creative Expressions products and also Spellbinders on C&C.... every time her blog has reached an extra 100 followers she pulls the name from the hat and a lucky person gets a prize..... and at the end of June.... yup!! it was me!! I was absolutely stunned as it was A who was blog reading and said... "Your name is on SW's blog!!"  So I had a look and was gob-smacked... so as instructed I emailed Sue with our addy and she sent me this box of goodies!!!

(I had to overlap the pics to get everything in as my camera battery went flat so these pics were taken with my phone...) So.... I sorted everything out and a few of the things she sent me were duplicates of  stuff I already had so we decided to put the Spellies on ebay and see what we get for them and maybe buy a set of spellies that I don't yet have.... There was 6 sets of stamps in the box too and some colourwash sprays, twinkling H2Os, which I've really wanted to try, zipper roses, stickers, stuff for making decoupage cards and some stencils too!! It was a crafters christmas come early!!!

So there you go....

Anyway, I hope by sharing what I got that you will get some luck your way too!! I donated some of the stickers to the cubs group that Ethan goes to and a set or 2 of stamps that are good for Christmas cards and Fathers days card so I hope they will find them useful.

Take care and bye for now

Lisa
xx
PS. Kids break up for school on Wed (DD) and Thursday (DSs 1&2) ooh and if you are thinking of some Summer reading.... I've just finished the 50 Shades of Grey trilogy.... I have read better and will be deleting it off my iTunes account asap!! ttfn, I'm off to see what the latest best seller is now!

Ok then..................

A few weeks ago now, I went to my docs and after a long conversation which resulted in me having blood tests, I went back for the results and another long conversation and the short of it is I finally have a diagnosis for all the crappy aches, pains and symptoms I have been getting for the past few years.... I have M.E....  now a few ladies already know of this and have been great, Giving advice and generally boosting me and I can't say enough thank yous to those lovely ladies, you all know who you are  

And now I am sat waiting for the duty doctor to ring me up and give me a script as I am having a flare up of my long term back problems at the moment. So forgive me if I don't post much for the next week or so.

Lisa

xx

Its been a while since I've done a paper/card layout

due to getting upset at some things that came my way.... but I am finished with the stuff that got to me and the people that I thought were friends...

Anyway here is a layout that I've been meaning to do for sometime using pics that were taken in April 2008. We attended a close friends 30th birthday party and yep it was a murder mystery night.... The theme was The Brie, The Bullet and The Black Cat.... I used some of the fabulous Authentique papers that I got in a kit from the wonderful Sandra at Gottacraft.

 Mr Wonderful was playing the dastardly gutter press Seamus O'Hack and I was Pia Fedora, the lover of the murder victim.... I was informed my character was to be spanish so I tried to think of someone spanish and Freda Kahlo came to mind... so out came the mascara and eyeliner on the night and I heavily embellished my eyebrows to make a monobrow, stuck a flower in my hair and bought a cigarette holder from ebay.... Mr Wonderful got his outfit from the charity shop and we vandalised it with red wine and cigarette ash!!! anyway, It was a thoroughly good night and great company too.

Thanks for dropping by

Lisa
x

WOYWW 155

 I've had an early start to WOYWW today... So I started to do some stamping and using my copics. I plan to do some more cards thru the day and keep hubby away from my desk! lol, people who have visited me previously may recall pics of him sat at my desk... anyway today he is working at the table downstairs for a bit and then tomorrow he is off into the offices, so I to get sit at my desk and craft all day long tomorrow too!!


 Thanks for dropping by
 Lisa xx

Don't You Just Love Cute Baby Pics.....

I had a brain wave the other night... few and far between here these days believe me but I suddenly remembered that we had portraits of Son 2 done as a baby but everything seemed to go wrong after that... we moved house (not a problem I know but one of those things) lots of things, being taken in to hospital then my mum passed away suddenly and I went in hospital again then I started getting things that mounted up and then my back decided to join in with the fun and I have a couple of prolapsed discs... anyway, after an email then a reply email then money being paid we are now in possession of some fantastic images of 

our baby boy who is now 8!!

 

Thanks for dropping by 

Lisa

xx