Jeudi Journal - Christmas Spirit

The quote for today is "I'm trying to get into the Christmas spirit but I can't get the flaming top off the bottle".  It was one of my choices that we put to one side until nearer the Christmas period - can't get much closer than this!

I had forgotten all about it until Wendy reminded me and so I then had to get my thinking cap on in good time to do it, so it is the day before Christmas Eve, and I have finished it.  A scheduled post which will be going out shortly on what we Brits know as  *"Boxing Day".

I chose a page I had already stamped some things on that I was not happy with and so I painted it all over black.  Decided to put a load of bottles on the floor and put a figure kneeling on them with one between her knees.  That's the one she is struggling with but there is one on the floor she has abandoned.  

As it is Christmas and to make it appear a bit more festive I put a Dylusion Christmas tree to one side, its small so hopefully gives the appearance of being in the distance.  The best head for this figure didn't have a top on so I used some bits from other figures to give her a Christmas hat.  A garland of silver and gold metallic stars finished it off and made the page all sparkly but it doesn't show in the scan.  

So here it is - my page for Christmas:

Bet those bottles are uncomfortable beneath her knees but once she gets into the Christmas spirit she will soon not care.  

I am entering this into Art Journal Journey, did hope to get more done this month but life got busy and took over.  Hope you all had a lovely Christmas! 

*Boxing Day is celebrated on the day after Christmas, December 26th each year in various countries around the world, generally those that were settled by the British Commonwealth. It is believed that Boxing Day originated because the servants of wealthy families typically had to work on Christmas Day. For their services they were usually presented with gift boxes at the end of Christmas Day, and they were allowed to take the next day off work to spend with their own families. Another theory of the origin of Boxing Day is that churches opened donation boxes in December 26th and distributed the contents to the poor. In the church, December 26th is also the Feast of St. Stephen.

WOYWW 551 - The Christmas Day Edition

Well, as no doubt some of you will do if you are posting today, this is a scheduled post.  My second to be precise.  Yep, I had just finished the whole post when it suddenly went off, the wrong time for it to happen too as I have this darned back pain right now.  Pass me a gin as I need a bit of Christmas cheer!  Rhubarb if you have it please.

I did promise you I would show you my hand made cards this week so I got Chas to scan them for me (scan too low for me) and here they all are:

Annie & Jo (the WOYWW sisters)

Shaz (silverwolf) & Darnell (in her American Playhouse)

Sylvia (a friend from KC) & Janice (cousin in Oz)

Thommo (a friend from RSS) & Jacqui (a friend from Vicky Stampers)

Margaret (WOYWW) & Hazel (a friend from KC)

Another Margaret (friend) & Julia (Head lady/friend WOYWW)

Janet (friend from KC & RSS)

Hazel (friend from KC)

Shirley (a print from one of her fabric pieces)

(ex colleague from teaching days)

Wendy (friend)

Lorraine (friend)

Cindee (my lovely friend in America)

Me trying to show you the fold in Cindee's card.  The King at the front of the procession stands proud of the card giving it the appearance of 3D.  Look at how she has cut out around the word "Believe".

Liz (friend from RSS)

I wanted you to see how this is constructed.  The words are free standing, swinging from the top of the card. The buildings are in two rows giving them the appearance of a 3D card.

I do hope you have enjoyed them as much as I have.  When you open cards it is a delight to see the different choices people have made when buying them and it goes without saying that you appreciate the hours someone has put into making a handmade one for you.  

All that remains now is for me to wish you a Very Happy Christmas whether you are spending it with friends and/or family or simply on your own like we two, and to wish you a Joyous, Healthy and Happy Year Ahead.

Now tuck into that turkey!

(RSS - Ready Steady Stamp - Internet Group)
(KC - Katy's Corner - Internet Group_
(VS - Victoria Stampers [Vicky Stampers) - Internet Group)

Jeudi Journal - Naughty? Or Nice?

Once again this was a last minute page but due to me having gone out for the day (forgotten all about this needing doing) and then having a bad back.    I had painted the page blue though!

The words, chosen by me way way back were "I'm the reason Santa has a naughty list" - not that you would know it by the look of my page, it is not at all Christmassy.  Just blue all over.  Hopefully when I get some time I will put some colour on it.

Anyhow, I decided to stamp 25 all over the page, as it was Christmas themed, for part of the background and then I needed some words - but guess what?  I had an old stamp that said "Naughty or nice" - an old one of Dyans.  That went all around the page - what next?  The figure.

Oh dash!  I had stamped the numbers the wrong way around for the figure I was planning on using.  My page was landscape and not portrait!  Oh heck, my plans would not work so in the end I just stamped some numbers the right way around and so it became a hotch potch of numbers.  A couple of holly leaves and it had to be it!

I could use my original figure - the naughtiest one I could find.  So it was the one scantily clad, almost indecent!  She looked a bit lonely on the page - I needed a Father Christmas (or Santa as the words call him).  Apart from some 'heads only' and a few smallish ones I was stuck - then I had the brainwave to look at the cards we had received for Christmas and there he was - Father Christmas and some presents.  Thank goodness my lovely cousin Ken had saved the day - well, evening.  Perhaps very unethical but in an emergency and only for my own use I did a hasty copy, cut him out and put him on the page.  Shame he didn't have a list in his hand (I have seen either a card or a rubber stamp where he has, but obviously not today).  So here she is - the reason Santa has a naughty list!

Now to start on next week's page, I cannot get in such a pickle again.  I am entering this into Art Journal Journey's challenge which is 'words and numbers', chosen by Yvonne this month, because it contains both in abundance.

Oh, and a Merry Christmas to you all.

WOYWW 550

Well, now all the cards are sent, presents wrapped and most delivered and I have even put marzipan on the Christmas cake. I did suffer afterwards but at least it is done.  

I have received some beautiful hand made cards as well as lots of lovely commercial ones but am saving showing them to you until next week which will be Christmas Day itself.  So a BIG THANK YOU to all those who have sent me a Christmas card this year.

As my desk is boring here are some characters I share my craft room with

My Monkey from the tea bags, two koala bears from Shaz in Oz, a Green Cricut from CHA one year and a rabbit made (felted) by my dear friend Cindee in America.

There is another character over the other side of the room, he has lived here for almost two years now, since my last visit to LA

From the Chinese New Year in LA

and finally my desk

My tin full of next year's stamps for the Christmas Cards, my pencil case and some pieces of cardstock all waiting to be put away or to good use.  I had this kit ready to take with me to the Club Christmas party/workshop on Saturday but was too ill to go.  Ah well, not to worry.

Well, for a change, short and sweet.  Pop over to see Julia and the rest of the gang here to see what else is going on and what it is all about.

Health Update:

Just the same as last week.  My chiropractor seems to think that my back is trying to get back into its usual position after she has moved something which is why I am getting so much pain the first week after treatment.  Fingers crossed that next week it settles down for the Christmas period.

Chas is testing his BP regularly and it is a lot less than it was when they cancelled his little op.  Mind you, living with me would send anyone's BP up, be honest!

Jeudi Journal - No Dramatic Gestures

This week must be Wendy's choice as I don't have the words for this one and the ones I chose were the ones I had words for.

"You made no dramatic gestures, gave no solemn lectures, you simply made the tea and fetched the biscuit tin" - phew!  That was my original thought!! "Phew, what the heck can I do for this one?"  Then this morning (yes, it was a VERY last minute journal page) I set to.

Last night I had been out for a meal which went on a bit longer than normal so all I had time to do was paint the page blue.  This morning I got to thinking about it and:

• decorated the background with a stencil and Scattered Straw Distress Ink to represent the wallpaper (plus put some numbers down the side for AJJ)
• found two figures, not the ones I had originally thought about, but then the one I had wanted was one I only used last week, and hastily coloured the bits in that had not already been done
• researched some plaster flying ducks (thought it would create a bit of humour to have those ducks flying on the wall - visions of Coronation Street and Hilda Ogden)
• Found a picture of some biscuits (don't you just love those ginger biscuits with the dark chocolate on?), a teapot and a table.

It was finished and I did enjoy creating this one.  Hope Wendy did too.

I have been very lax because of one thing after another and not been entering into Art Journal Journey but as it is words or numbers I am entering this one.  Blame Christmas prep and health issues.

WOYWW 549

Well, I thought I had taken a picture of all my Christmas cards made this year but the one I made for my crafting friends is the one I forgot to take a picture of.  Silly me.  This year, for the first time, I got my 'foreign' cards off well before the final date and quickly followed with a lot of my inland cards.

Then things slowed down such a lot and I was making cards right up until last night and I still have a couple to make - one for Ireland which is going to get in just on the final posting date!

This was my desk yesterday with what I had thought of as my final three cards (some hope)

This is one of my Nativity Cards

and the cards sent to family

Here we are again, two weeks to Christmas and sharing our Christmas goodies with all our WOYWW friends.  Pop along here to see what others are up to.

Such a silly old thing for forgetting to take a photo of my Robin cards which were made using the Crazy Birds from Tim Holtz.  These are the ones I thought I had probably sent to one or two people last year and I made 18 this year thinking it would be quick and easy to do.  No....... t'wasn't!

The white card with the poinsettias was for family and people like my doctor, podiatrist and hairdresser.  Yesterday when I went to podiatry I also took one for the guy who used to be my podiatrist (it's his premises that my current one works from since he retired) and she informed me that he loves my cards and brings them out each year and puts them up with all the new cards he gets.  I took that as a lovely compliment - just hope he is not disappointed this year as it wasn't as labour intensive as the others have been in the past.  Mind you it took me a long time to do all seven of them.

I got some new stamps and they are only tiny and too late to use on cards so as we had no tags and the weather was awful I decided to make them this year - here they are - last night's efforts (more to do today)

My alternative desk - the one for when my pain is bad - a tray with one of those polystyrene ball bags underneath and some crafting fabric on top.  It works well when the pain has reduced and I can sit upright with my hot water bottle and just colour in.

Health Update:

A mixed bag - two wonderful days with no pain until evening time but the rest of the time a bit 'come and go', some worse than others.  Sunday was horrendous and I was in tears.  Chas could not believe it as he hasn't seen me so bad in ages (his words) which has rather upset me (read on).  

Chas was to go to hospital on Monday to have a cyst removed from his lower lid.  It was to be a day job and we expected him to be in and out quite quickly - but not as quick as it was.  His blood pressure was sky high and they could not do the minor operation.  (200 over 108)  It was something to do with the local anaesthetic which has adrenaline in which would have increased his BP even more so it was dangerous to continue.

Now I am worried about him and thinking that maybe seeing me in the state I was in on Sunday had caused stress to make his BP so high.  Especially as he had it taken again last night at the hospital and it has gone down to 144 over 89.  Now he has to have a blood test and see his own GP.  Fingers crossed for a stress free Christmas (Chas is so laid back, he never gets stressed but I know seeing me in so much pain upsets him an awful lot).

Jeudi Journal - Squirrels?

Well, today the quote chosen by Wendy is "I do not have ducks in a row.  I have squirrels and they're at a rave."  Oh Wendy, you excelled yourself choosing this one!  What on earth do I do for this?  I was in a real quandary.  Must admit I was tempted to put some little yellow ducks in a row but then life got in the way and I found myself at the very last minute doing this page - thanks to a bit of help from cyber space.

(Apologies for the picture being a bit skewwy)

So, as you can see, the ducks stayed at home but the squirrels came out for a rave.  I had the page painted ready and had done a stencilled border around it so it was easy to put the squirrels across the top and one of my ready coloured figures lounging at the bottom.  Don't look too closely at my squirrels, some of them look a bit more like foxes.

I chose that head for my figure as I felt she really looked to be saying that she did not have ducks in a row but had squirrels who had gone to a rave.  Hope you agree.

(The stamped words actually said "ducks ON a row" so I used my pen and a bit of white paint - think I got it right)

WOYWW 548

Another week closer to Christmas and some cards finished - well quite a few actually.  

So it is also another week gone by since the last WOYWW posting - here goes with the next one.  If you don't know what I am on about you must be new to this blogging lark so you had better call over here and read all about it - and please join in.  I can't wait to see what my friends have been buying and making so I am off there right away.

Here's one of my Christmas Cards - already sent and received so it's ok to show it now

It was for a Mingle on one of my card groups.  And many thanks to Margaret in Wales for her lovely Christmas card - it was our first one!

And here is my desk shot - it's a different part of my desk as the one I normally show has some gifts on that I don't want to show on my blog as yet - someone might see what I got him for Christmas.

Just a tin full of my current stamps (ones I intend to use in readiness for next year - yes, you heard right), a Moleskin journal (new), a half finished card (the other six are complete but I was one holly short so this one is bare), my old towel for dirty hands and my Laurel Burch images left over from goodness knows when.

Well, that is it from me, a bit shorter than normal and no health update as it is more or less the same although the last two days have seen a lot of back pain.  Ugh!  See you next week I hope.

Jeudi Journal - In My Experience

Today's words from Dyan via Dylusions are "In My Experience I Am Right" and I actually had a page that was almost perfect for it.  Well, almost right for it.

A while ago I had made this Dylusion bird, originally from bits from magazines and with the words 'judgement upon ur fellows' on him, and I felt that this worked in quite nicely with this particular page I was about to make.  He has an angry look about his face don't you think?

The background was made  with a brayer using Dylusion paints with a numerical stencil on in places which I went over with white pen.  There were some cherry bits of paint on and I almost added more but then decided to do a bit of stamping using chocolate ink.  Once the background was finished I had to decide on the figure so what else could I use but one standing with her hands on her hips?

The fact that the figures are pushed over to the left hand side is to emphasise that there is a little bit of intimidation going on - hope that shows.

If I was making the point that I was correct about something, anything, especially to a big bird like that with ginormous feet and a mean look in his eye I think I would have my hands on my hips just like her.

So here it is - my page for today:

WOWW 547

Another week has gone by and we are getting ever closer to Christmas as we share our desks on WOYWW with Julia and the gang.  Want to join us - click here and show us your desk and look at ours?  Mine is below.

This is my desk, the hive of activity in our house.

You can see the production line in process for one of my cards.  Had I realised it was going to take this long to make I would not have done it.  For seven cards I have cut out 14 large, 14 medium and 21 small poinsettias.  I have only stamped the pattern on the large ones at the moment.  Then there are 7 sprigs of holly, 7 scenes which were first stamped, then had Liquid Applique put on then Stickles, which has now run out.  I still have to cut out the card and fold it, Emboss 14 panels and mount the panels and the scenes on metallic card.  Why did I choose to do this?

There are also two nativity scene cards that I made as a trial and now I am making another two for sending abroad.  I want to make some other cards similar to these but as I have almost finished the Christmas cards that I am making I think I might (just might) make some ready for next year.  I bought some stamps from Cardio to make them with after getting the free ones on the magazine that they talked about at our club.  Here they all are:

The top one and the last three are all from the magazine and you can see I used the nativity one on the cards.  Now I want to make some with the other stamps as well.

Guess I had better get on and stop wittering on here.  I need to leave time to visit some desks and see what others are up to so I'll say cheerio for this week and see you next week if I don't see you at your desk.

Health Update:

Not had a good week with the back but at least it is better than it used to be with the periods of getting rid of the pain being quicker than they used to be - and I have gone two weeks since I saw the chiropractor - roll on Friday when I see her again!  Most times it does not take as much massaging as it used to and I am following the advice of a friend who has read that you should take your medication before you get to the stage where you really need it.  

Finished with the Pain Management Classes so now got my Wednesdays free - and I got a certificate to say I had attended.  The last session was taken up a great deal with filling in a questionnaire.  This was not anonymous and I feel that people do not give honest opinions when their name is on the front.  I did try to be honest in some areas but must admit I was a good bit lenient in some.  I know for a fact that others just filled in with what they thought the staff wanted to hear.  It's human nature I guess.

Not heard from the hospital re the Meckle's test, just hope it does not come at Christmas for the operation but I really don't think it will.

Jeudi Journal - Every Now and Then

Gosh - what a long quote this week - "Every now and then life needs to be turned upside down to get back to the right way up".  Long, and for me, difficult!  What on earth do I do to portray this one?  I think this must have been Wendy's choice because I do not have the quote and so I have had to type it out on a piece of paper.  Hope she is having a better time than I am with it.

In a complete muddle I first of all painted the page a light green - then, days later, I used a stencil that I rarely use (one of Finnabair's that I have had for ages) but I do like it now so it will probably come out again and again.  I feel as if I am coming down with that flu that is going the rounds so was not in the mood for spending a lot of time on the journal, hence the stencil only being in the centre of the page.  I am burning hot and aching all over.

I decided to use one of the lounging figures that I have used often so that she looks as if she is doing bicycle exercises and balance the word "LIFE" on her feet upside down.  That was all I could think of to go with this saying.  But this time I chose one of the large figures.  After I had stuck her down I wished I had put her first and the sitting figure after her but hey ho, couldn't do a thing about it. Did you notice the word "Life" is upside down balanced on her feet.

So there is is - my interpretation of the quote which I found so difficult - wonder how Wendy has interpreted it?

WOYWW 546

Oops, what can you see on my desk this week?  Christmas card prep?  And a few tags.  The tags were done in previous years but I think they might well come out of hiding this year.  Well, I have now done 16 "C"cards - the only trouble is I did this same card last year and cannot think who I sent them to so watch out, you might get the same card this time as last.  

I can remember making all those poinsettias a good few years ago with a friend of mine and not using them so this year I am hoping to incorporate them into a card, at least until the copper metallic card I need to use runs out.  They will be done similarly to the white one you can just see at the top left corner (back view of course because I don't know how many I will make as yet),

Last week I forgot to do my page for my Jeudi Journal with Wendy and so it had to be done in a rush that morning.  This week I am hoping not to be in the same position so the card making will have to go on hold for a day or so.  I have not been in the mood for card making at all, is it because I have not been to any shows for a full year - has all inspiration gone?  I do hope my mojo comes back for making cards.  I bet there are a lot of WOYWW'ers out there who have some lovely cards to show.  Why not join in with us here and show us what you have been doing,

I did make our Christmas cake on Monday, well Chas did the most of the stirring for me as that kind of action seems to put my back in agony.  Now it is busy being soaked in booze through all the little holes that I poked in.  Not sure about the decoration this year, it is a long time since I did my fancy cakes so it might just be a layer of marzipan and then a layer of rolled out icing - although  should really do some Royal icing as most people prefer it.  What is your preference - Fondant or Royal?

Health Update:

The chiropractor is pleased with my progress (as am I) and so we are skipping a week and I will not be going for treatment this Friday.  Time will tell - I do hope I manage the two weeks without any really bad bouts.  I still have the pain a few times a day but it seems to go much quicker with some massage on the area affected and I think I have longer periods during the day without pain if I am careful.  Funny how just simple things like cleaning my teeth kicks it off.  No rhyme nor reason for it.

I have not heard from the hospital about my Meckles.  Each day when the postie comes I think it might be a letter telling me to go in but nothing as yet.  Knowing my luck it will be closer to Christmas.

Chas has succumbed to the dreaded cold that seems to be going, accompanied with a bad cough.  This is not like him at all as he rarely gets a cold but me, the one who always had colds, seem to be free for the moment except for a little runny nose.  Flu Jab?

Jeudi Journal - How About Never

"How about never is good for you" is the quote we are using this week.  Interpreting this pictorially was a bit of a nightmare.  It is so easy to just put a figure on without it really saying whatever the quote is but that is not the name of the game here.  My immediate thoughts were someone with a wagging finger but there isn't a figure in the Dylusion range like that - so what do I do?

First of all I had a page already painted blue, some streaks here and there but what about some stencilling/stamping?  In the end I chose an Andy Skinner (love the man) stencil and used the two faces in alternate corners and one of the shapes in the other two.  No idea why except that I like the faces and they did look kind of wistful.

Now what? Suddenly in a light bulb moment I thought about Christmas and children being good now in the run up to the festive time.  The adult is saying "how about never is good for you" because they have been naughty and that is the kind of response I think the adult might make to their requests for presents.

To give it the Christmas feel about it I have put Father Christmas hats on the children (already done for my "C" cards) and the adult is pointing to both of them.

Hope the picture becomes a bit more clear now that I have explained it.  It was done in a rush and I need to get thinking about next week which is even harder to think of.  Oh dear!

WOYWW 545

Gosh these weeks are going by so quickly - it will be Christmas before I know what I am doing.  The only thing I know at the moment is that I am joining in with Ms Julia and her long running blog hop - join in here, it's fun!

It's all about showing what you are up to and what is on your desk (work station) at the time.  Here is mine - two photos this week:

We went away again so that is why my black tote was on the desk - I have just unpacked it.  The little Green Cricket/Cricut on top of my other box is usually attached to the black tote as I got him at CHA once, long time ago, but he fell off on Saturday so off he will stay now.  Next to the white box are two plastic envelopes, one with a selection of clear stamps in and the other a pack I was given by the tutor at the Club on Saturday (hence the clear stamps and the scenic stamps at the front of the worktop).  Then there are some Promarkers, some small ink pads behind and my glass mat.

My glass mat again, some small ink pads and .... those brown cards are my "C" cards to date - yes, I have made some now, my Moleskin again, my black and white journal, some Promarkers and my Misti.

Everything above was taken away with me but all I did was finish off some parts for my "C" cards - I still have one thing to do on them but I must get a birthday card done today and then begin on some special cards - and YES, I have taken your advice and bought some cards.  Just handmade ones for those who really appreciate them.

Right, have to get in the shower now as I have my pain management class (they call it rehab) but I won't be doing the exercises as the doctor has said "No".  See you next week but hopefully will get around to some visits during the week.

Jeudi Journal - Not Listening

This week the quote is "No, I hear you, I'm just not listening!".  Ideally I would have loved a head where I could put the hands over the ears and a "la la la la" somewhere.  However,  I went through the heads in my ready done collection and didn't have one of the head in a hat covering most of the face which is what I immediately thought of so I settled on the head in a cage.  In fact I think it is the better choice of the two as you can actually see her but she has her ears covered.

Because of the size of the page I had to find a figure that was sitting down so I played about with four of them before ending up with the one with the jacket nonchalantly draped over her shoulders.  She doesn't have a neck but that doesn't matter because the cage affair would rest on the shoulders surely.  Do you like her patent leather shoes - a bit of Glossy Accents actually.

I used Cherry Pie Ink spray (Dylusions) to begin with and then wanted to bring an orange look into it so I let it dry and sprayed again but this time with Pure Sunshine. This has given the effect of orange with some areas more pink and some a little on the yellow shade.  Exactly what I wanted.  I didn't want a block colour and didn't want patches of two or more colours so I was happy with the end look.

I don't think I have ever used this large stencil so I used Fired Brick to rub some ink through the alphabet down the left hand side and then the same but with the numbers across the top.  At first I was going to give it a continuous border but thought it would be a bit like a prison with the figure inside it.  The same stencil had those flower like dashes in the centre so I went with them but not all over - just in one or two patches about the middle of the page - subtle and not in your face.

Wanting some grounding for my figure I went with some Washi Tape depicting Van Gogh pictures.  I have had these tapes for simply ages but they have been like that lovely paper you buy and take out now and then to stroke but always put back.  This time I plucked up my brave and used two of them.  I think they will be coming out again and I was actually thinking of using the complete set to create a striped page by using one after the other up through the page - dare I use so much though?

So there you have it - my page for the beginning of November - reddish orange to acknowledge Bonfire Night and a blazing bonfire.  Hope you like it.

WOYWW 544

Ooh hecky pecky, it's getting closer and closer to Christmas and although I took things away with me to make some "C" cards I did zilch!  This is my desk as I returned and emptied my bag onto my workdesk - and as you can see I have done nothing since.  It was so cold in the house on Monday evening and Tuesday I had two clinic appointments - one in the morning and one in the afternoon so the day just went by with nothing done.  I really need to make a start but I have my 'rehab' this afternoon (the name they gave to those pain management classes suddenly) so doubt there will be much done again.

I had taken cardstock, dies, stamps, baby wipes, Promarkers and a diecut machine with me (machine is on other side of desk) and here they are - with a Christmas magazine, TV programme mag, my B&W journal and my regular journal plus a piece of paper just as I dumped them on Monday evening.  I am so sleepy!  And I don't seem to be able to get warm!  The weather has certainly changed.

Well, thought I would show you a couple of pages in my tiny fat journal (my Moleskin) from the week before last as I rarely show you anything, because I frarely do anything, and I did do a bit of sticking in with a couple of my Stampotique figures and one of my cheap TH copy stamps (naughty of me I know).

These two little boys (are they both boys?) are obviously off to a party.  Now I need to come up with some words to finish the page off and then maybe put a little pen work on.

I did a little bit of white pen work on this page but you can hardly see it.  Those white pens again! The diamonds started off with a dot inside them and then because it hardly showed I did an outline of them with black pen - much better - well you can see it.  Not sure what this figure is but I presume, by the words, he is doing some magic.

Wonder if anyone else on WOYWW has these stamps?  Maybe I should pop over and see what everyone is doing this week.

Health Update:

Nothing to report really.  I do believe the chiropractor is working her wonders on me, she got really deep last week and on Monday I had no pain until turned 1 pm when I was on my way home.  I actually managed to do one or two little jobs before then too.

This afternoon I will be going to Rehab again, didn't go last week because I had a tummy upset which I put down to the Meckle's but I have tried to keep up with some exercises although not as much as I had hoped.  Wonder what I missed?  (I did ring and tell them I wouldn't be there and asked if they could let me know what I had missed so I could maybe download the information and catch up - nadda - nothing!)

Tomorrow I get the results of my blood test - am sure it will be positive or else she would have rung me and there have been no messages.  Fingers crossed there is no transfusion on the horizon.  Perhaps this is why I am so tired?

Jeudi Journal - An Acquired Taste

This week the quote is "I am an acquired taste, if you don't like me acquire some taste" and I almost used the figure in the bathing suit.  In fact I had the figure in the bathing suit with her hand held out, the one with her legs bent and one other but I decided to use this clothed figure, below, because I liked the stance she was taking.  

Hands on hips and the arrogant look on that head seemed to fit perfectly with the words for this week.  As her head is quite large compared to her body she certainly has the look of someone who would be an acquired taste.  Her glittery eyelashes and the decorations in her hair along with the outfit she is wearing all adds to the picture in my mind.  

She has to have someone to be addressing and so I chose two of my small figures.  One normally has a telephone to stand on and the receiver for his head so I cut as much as I could off but after I had stuck it down I realised I could have cut the phone dial from the bottom and covered it up with the Indigo ink of the trousers.  Ah well, I must remember next time.

The background was, again, an inked one which I had done previously and I added my favourite 'Diamonds in the Rough' stencil with Indigo Blue to make a stark contrast.  I hardly ever use Indigo but I am becoming fond of it so watch out I think it will feature again.

Well, that is October over, it seems to have come and gone so quickly.  I think I had better get some "C" cards done before it is too late.  First of all though, what is the next quote?

WOYWW 543

Another week closer to Christmas and I am getting a bit panicky.  Wonder how many WOYWW'ers are showing what they have done in readiness for the festive season - pop along with me to Ms Julia's blog to see.

Well, I did some "C"cards last January but can I find them, can I heck!  Nor can I find the cards that were cut and the frames I was using on them.  That will teach me not to try to get ahead.  I did find ONE today so that means there is a lot of work ahead to get some bits ready to put together as cards.  You can see it - it is made of Kraft card and is on the left of my desk.  I hoped to get some done over the next few days.

The only thing I have ready for the next lot is the Kraft card underneath the card (you can only see my 'handmade by' stamp.  What else is on the desk?  The purple wallet contains all my "crazy" stamps and one or two similar but not crazy stamps.  Then we have some little white envelopes which contain cut out shapes that I am using on the "C" cards followed by the actual stamps.

Next we have my Journal with a page just inked up ready for decoration for a future challenge.  There are one or two figures on top of the page and the facing page is an old one.  Then you can just see one of Maxine's postcards which Twiglet sent to me the other day, isn't it lovely!

Health Update:

The chiropractor managed to go deeper than she had gone before on my last visit on Friday and that seemed to be paying dividends with only two periods of pain each day since then which Chas managed to massage out in next to no time (compared to the past).  Before you think I am on a winning streak yesterday went haywire!  Chas was out on his monthly dinner date with the guys, I had had a good morning and fell asleep around 11.30 sat in my chair. Woke up at just gone noon with the pain in my back and it refused to go.  I needed Chas!  

As what I did I could not get any relief.  I tried everything I could possibly think of but it was horrible and I was almost in tears.  Four hours later I fell asleep, still hurting but somehow must have had a minute or two to go to sleep.  By the time he arrived home I was much better but took it easy for the rest of the evening, hence this being scheduled.  Roll on Thursday for my next visit - let's hope tomorrow is a good day again.

Still nothing on the Meckle's but he did say it would be November before I got an appointment.  Got a Pacemaker check on Tuesday and should get the results from my blood test on Monday by today.  Lots going on.

Jeudi Journal - At My Age

"At my age one must ration one's excitement" is the quote for this week and once again I had a prepainted page.  Well, it was a page that I had folded over another one to transfer some colour.  It still needed something else on it so I used a Dylusion border stencil to go around the edges in a lightly deeper blue and then I used the same stencil with a different shape randomly in green on the centre of the page.

I chose the lady who I think looks as if she is dressed to go to the WI or somewhere similar because of the expression on her face.  To me it says it all, she is tempted but is trying to curb her desire to have a G&T.  I think the way she is holding her hands also adds to the expression if you can understand what I mean.

Gin is a very popular spirit these days with lots of different ones for sale whenever you go in the supermarket - or have you been in an airport duty free lounge - it is like a gin paradise!  So I decided that she was saying she must ration her excitement ie ration her gin intake. I searched and searched for a picture of a bottle of Gordon's Gin and a Fevertree Tonic in the magazines we had but none were to be found so in the end I copied them from the Google images on the internet.  Just to make sure I added the lettering G & T.

So that is my interpretation of the quote for this week.  Some of these quotes are fun but difficult to portray pictorially and it certainly taxes my little grey cells to make sense of the quote at times.

WOYWW 542

It's Tuesday night and I am getting my blog ready for tomorrow's WOYWW because otherwise I will not have any photographs at all to show you.  Can't say I have been doing much again this week but today my new stamps arrived so I had to get an impression of them all.  Here's my desk:

Sorry about the light bouncing back.  I was trying to show you my new stamps.  You can see my Misti on the left, I love my Misti and would not have any of the copies as this is definitely (imho) the best.  You get good results every time with it.  Plus it is so easy to use and there are lots of videos out there to show you how adaptable it is.  Behind it you can see a crumpled up piece of tissue that I was using to wipe off any blobs of ink from the platform and to the right of it is my rather ink stained cloth that I think is marvellous for removing ink from stamps.  Especially clear ones.  Then we have the Versafine Black inkpad with the clear stamps in front - you can hardly see them for the flash - and to the right of that the index sheet kind of half on and half off my glass mat.

Not giving much away am I?  Well, I sent for these stamps against my better judgement from one of the cheap copy places.  Don't think I will be having many more as they don't have great stickability against the acrylic block/platform lid.  Or did I just get unlucky?  Here are the images stamped and embossed in black

So now it is time to cut them out.  I want to put them in my tiny journal so need to get some backgrounds done in readiness.  Guess it will be 'cut out time' first.  In the meantime I will head over to Julia's blog and see what she has been up to - then get ready for her posting in the morning.  See you there!

Health Update
Last night was a bad one when going to bed.  Didn't seem to get any relief from the back pain as how we tried BUT on the whole a much better week.  Longer periods of no pain and shorter periods when the pain was there with either rubbing it or using the hot water bottle.  Fingers crossed the chiropractor is working again.  Pain management this afternoon - we'll see what happens there!  Open mind, Open mind.

Jeudi Journal - I'm Not ...

Wendy's choice this week - "I'm not an early bird, or a night owl, I'm some form of permanently exhausted pigeon" - this had me completely stumped so I am looking forward to seeing what Wendy has done for hers.  Ideally I should have had a bird, an owl (which I do have) and a pigeon - or at least the heads of them to put on my figures.

So how do I explain what I have done?  Starting with a blue inked background I divided the page into three and put some lightening streaks to show the divisions with a black pen.  Then I put some different shapes with a blending tool through a stencil to give me different backgrounds in each section.  What next!

Next came the figures.  I chose to use my tiniest figures and thought back to the one I had done once with someone exercising - that would do for the early morning person.  Not like me, a cuppa and a sit down trying to remember what day it is but someone up and at 'em with a bit of cycling on their back.  The next figure was a bit of a challenge - how do you do a night owl - ideally I needed the figure who is strutting her stuff in her leotard, dressed to the nines and living it up - but as I had nothing suitable I decided to put her head in her hat to signify darkness - ie night time!

I knew exactly what I wanted for the last figure but sadly I did not have any stamps to portray a figure with legs splayed out at either side of them, hands on head and a dizzy look about the face so I went with a sitting figure with a skeleton head.  Why a skeleton?  Well, I cannot think of anyone more permanently exhausted than that.

So that is me and my interpretation of this quote.  Not happy with it but I did the best I could think of in the circumstances.

Let's hope next week does not pose such a problem.

WOYWW 541

Well, here we are, another Wednesday and time to meet up with all of our friends who bare their desks each week.  I've not really done anything for the whole week but did do a page of my black and white journal that I started years and years ago - well ok last year.

It is something that can be done anywhere because all you need is a white pen and a book with black pages.  Must say that if I was to do it again I would use a white book and a black pen. The only problem I have with what I am doing is the white pen - I have tried loads.  In fact I am so "off them" at the moment because the one I was using "blobbed" on my jeans.  In an attempt to get it off I wet a piece of tissue and rubbed it off.  Result:  my best grey jeans now have a white streak on them - yes the colour has come out of the jeans (now about 3" x 1") - and I knew that was what happens as it did it before on my others.  M & S too, so not cheap ones!

Pens I have tried: Gel, Posca, Sharpies, Dylusions, Pen Touch, One4All and maybe others in the past.

Health Update:

Blister is well, back pain is still here but the consultation last Thursday with Mr Singh went really well.  I don't want to discuss it on here as it is something I don't like talking about but he does not think it is a polyp in fact he thinks that all the procedures in the past have been barking up the wrong tree an that I have Meckle's Diverticulum.  Not to be confused with diverticulitis it is something that 2% of the population are born with.

So in November (and that is Mr Singh rushing it through) I will swallow a capsule which is a camera and which will travel around my bowel taking data and passing it to a belt I am wearing.  That will be the decider on what happens next.  My haemoglobin levels are only 8.3 which I think is pretty low and accounts for the tiredness etc but now with iron tablets doubled up and another blood test in two weeks we can hope for an increase there.

This afternoon I attend my first Pain Management Class - still not sure what I am going to get from them but I am signed up for 6 weeks and not allowed to miss one or you start all over again.  We will just have to wait and see - maybe a brief account next week.

Jeudi Journal - Figure me Out

I am so befuddled I have not a clue who chose the quote this week but again it is a Dylusion one and is "If you figure me out I want an explanation".

I had a blue painted page with some paler blue stencilling on top so I decided to go with that.  The figure I chose has the stance of someone with attitude and I can just imagine her saying to her chicks (yes, she is a poultry farmer) "If you figure me out I want an explanation".  

Not sure her shoes are ideal to be going in a pen or wherever the chickens are as those bows look just ready to be unpicked by some little beak or two but I did rather like that hat she was wearing today.  Afterall if one wants to look a little bit glamorous on the chicken farm a hat sat at a jaunty angle is just the thing to wear.  Especially as it looks as if she still has her rollers in her hair.  Maybe she is going to the Poultry Farmers ball tonight?

To finish off I decided that she should have some little blue birds of happiness flying around her head but as the background was blue I used shades of lilac for them - they do look quite blue though.

Now what is on the cards for next week?

WOYWW 540

"Here we are again, happy as can be, all good friends and jolly good company" - well, it is Wednesday and time to join Julia again with her mammoth blog hunt showing our desks and what we are up to.

Not much to show on mine again, sorry - just a page started for my next Thursday Journal page with Wendy.  It started off with a painted background using my Amsterdam paints and then I closed the journal in the hope it would transfer some to the opposite page.  It did, but not enough.  Anyway, as you can see I used a stencil on top of one page and now I need to look up what the challenge is and get the figures on.

The keen eyed amongst you will observe that apart from the journal things have not changed.  Well, I have tidied up the pieces for the gingerbread house, not done any more not stuck that one together, have not put my scraps away (brown card in plastic bag with blue card behind it) so it points to it having been a very non creative week.  Should have given WOYWW a miss but I can't I enjoy the company even when I have nothing to share.  

Maybe next week!

Health Update:

The District Nurse was very pleased with the way the blister is starting to heal. Said the nurse at our surgery had done a good job getting that blood clot out.  Pain has been awful though as I cannot do much without it kicking in and unless I get back to the chiropractor I fear I will be back at square one before long.

Had another set back!  Never rains but it pours for me.  It looks as if I have another polyp.  Only had one removed in March when they said all was well, it wasn't pre-cancerous like the others had been and so they took me off the watch list.  I think that was an excuse as I have probably reached the cut off age.

I cannot face another colonoscopy as the last one was terrible.  They almost had to peel me off the ceiling.  It has never hurt like that before, and they gave me extra sedation.  I was sure I heard the word "trainee"mentioned and I certainly did not recognise anyone in Theatre, having had about four colonoscopies before.

Anyway, I know I cannot leave it, it won't go away so I have arranged to see a consultant privately.  Don't care what it costs, I have to do it this way.  So tomorrow I go to the local private hospital and see one of the surgeons I have had do the procedure on me before.  Maybe by next week's WOYWW it will have been done!