Hospital and journal pages

I had my treatment last Thursday and saw my nurse.  My treatment wasn’t as smooth as it usually is due to no veins being suitable in my arms and the stupid doc who came down to put the cannula in my foot, wanted me to have a permanent central line put in.  For a once a month treatment.  I ask you!! 


My nurse (Carmel) thinks that the pain in my legs and the tiredness is all down to my new pills, so I’m off tweaking the dosage.  I seem to spend my entire life doing this kind of thing LOL!!! 


My friend Lou, who I met through Graphicus, is a teacher and has asked us on to help her show the kids what a talented bunch we are on the Guild.  She's asked us each to do at least one 8" x 8" journal page with the theme TIME.  Here are my first two:

This 'page' is made from the back of a breakfast cereal packet from Aldi.  The girl was already on the pack, so I sanded the whole surface and gessoed it and used 3 colours of Lumiere paint for the background.  She looked quiet dreamy so I pasted a picture of a pool and an advert for orange juice into the top corner and stamped 'O's' to make it look like she was thinking about the pool.  I sponged through sequin waste and used a baby wipe with white acrylic to bring the page together.

I wanted to make the girl stand out a little more, so I drew round her with a black PITT pen, but made a mess of her mouth, so I stuck a pair of lips from a different picture on to her face and coloured the lips with a Promarker in poppy.  A happy accident but it works!!

The second 'page' is made from corrugated packing cardboard.  I gessoed the surface and while it was damp I tore some of the top off it reveal the ribs.  I used Claudine Hellmuth paint in a Dash of Red and a Dab of Yellow, and a tongue depressor to spread it.  It really accentuated the texture of the cardboard.  I've had the image from a magazine for ages. 

Jo bought me a quote book a couple of Christmas's ago and she found this one which fit the picture perfectly.  I hand wrote it onto a piece of backing paper I got free ages ago, but I can't remember where from so I can't credit them, but thanks anyway. 

I was amazed that my writing was so good yesterday.  Couldn't do it today as I'm absolutely exhausted after mine and Jo's crafting session yesterday.

Legs and cool boots!!

My spasms have stopped (YAAY!!!) but I have really painful legs at the moment (UGH!!!).  They feel like lead and walking is really hard work for me.  I can get relief from pain killers but they knock me out so I'm trying to get by without them.  Its a different pain from the neuropathic pain that I'm using my TENS machine for.  This is like toothache from my hips to my toes on both legs!

I decided last night I had to journal about it after cutting some more bits from magazines.  So I cut out loads of pairs of legs and used Golden matte gel medium to stick them down.  Then I used a stencil and sharpies to write the word 'LEGS' and just spilled the rest of it.  It really helped to take my mind off the pain!!

Jo was here for a cuppa one day last week and we had a look at the Clarks shoe shop website sale.  She was looking for boots with higher heels than I can manage but I spotted these little beauties and, of course, I had to buy them!  Would have been rude not too!!  They're the original desert boot design with retro animal print suede.  The suede has a texture like real animal skin and is just FAB-U-LOUS!!!

I can't wear my Dr Martens boots anymore as they are too heavy for my poor legs to cope with, but these little babies will do just fine instead of the Docs!!!

Yumminess and journaling

I ordered some yarn from Flamboyance Yarns last week as Carrie has offered to knit me a scarf.  I needed to get some 4ply or sock yarn for the scarf.  When Carrie tweeted that Flamboyance had 20% off all yarn for one day only I rang her and we chose the yarn.

The one in the right of the picture is for my scarf and the one on the left is fibre for spinning.  Carrie has a spinning wheel and I'm gonna try and do it myself and is I can't manage, Carrie will do it for me.  This is gonna be fun!!!

Aren't the colours just yummy!!

As I've not been feeling too well I've ordered loads of crafty books and have a little bit of mojo reappear!!  My spasms have all but stopped now, but I'm still so tired so I've done a little bit of journaling to cheer myself up.  I still can't sit at my craft table for too long so I've pretty much done these pages in fits and starts.  But that's the beauty of journaling - you don't need to do it all in one go!

This first page is my first attempt at layers.  I originally wrote a letter to Martha (my gorgeous cat who died in May last year) and it made me so sad each time I saw it that I wanted to cover it up.  So I started with a couple of layers of gesso, followed by some watered down yellow and ultramarine Golden paint.  Once that way dry, I used torn book pages and used gel medium to stick them down.  Then I used white acrylic paint to make marks over the pages with bottle caps, credit card edges, the lid from a large Malteser tube and a texture stamps that I found in the kiddies section of an craft store.  I'm really pleased with the result.

The next page is something that just popped into my head one day when I was walking (carefully) downstairs.  I'm really pleased at the way it turned out.  I used music paper behind Darth Vader as I can't look at that picture and not here his music from Star Wars!!!

Free digital downloads!!!

My very talented friend Carrie has some wonderful FREE digital downloads on her blog.  She's played about in photoshop with photos her and her hubby took and they are stunning!

Please go and have a look at her blog!

Pay it forward

A couple of my crafty / blog buddies (Judith and Lesley) have this on their blogs.  I've signed up on both of them so I'm hoping I'll be one of the lucky ones.

The rules are simple - to send something handmade by you to five people before the end of 2011.  So we all have plenty of time LOL!!!  If you decide to enter you must 'pay it forward' and post this offer and promise to give something handmade by you to the first five people to comment on your own blog post. 

I solemnly promise to send something handmade by my fair hand (not sure what yet!) to the first five people who leave a comment on this post.  I really hope I get 5 comments.  I'll look a right billy-no-mates if I don't!!!

The dress

I've been to Hexham today for a little look out as I'm not too well.  I'm coming off some pills that take away neuropathic pain (which has been all but obliterated by my wonderful TENS machine), but the pills also help to stop spasms.  As I've come off them I've started to have violent and painful spasms which seem to make my entire body seize up.  They're completely draining me of energy so not feeling too good at the moment.  The doc has given me some new pills which will help but I am in the process of building up the dosage so I have to just wait until the spasms subside.

Yesterday Jo popped round for a cuppa and I had a spasm as I tried to get up off the couch.  I found the only thing that helps is if someone can push me back onto the chair and it'll break the spasm.  We had a really good laugh when Jo poked me in the shoulder and I landed back on the couch.  Its certainly a different way to spend the morning!!!

Anyway back to Hexham.  I was waiting for the lift in one of the shops when I spotted this dress.  Now its definitely NOT the kind of dress I would wear, but the trim on it is gorgeous.

There is this gorgeous beading around the neck which seems to be all one piece.

The shoulder pieces had 3 layers of lace, one vintage, one broderie anglaise and the third is made from the same lace as the main body of the dress.

The main body of the dress is made from a black lace fabric with a cream panel down the front and some broderie anglaise trim around the sides.

Once I take this to bits I'll be able to use it on so many projects (I hope!!), and all this for a fiver!!!

A New Years Resolution

Heres to a  Happy, Healthy New Year for all of us!!

I don't have much confidence in my art work.  Whenever I used to go to workshops at Graphicus (which has sadly had to close) I used to look at everyones elses work and compare mine to theirs.  Not in a jealous way.  Just in the way that when you're in a restaurant and someone gets a meal you'd look at it and think 'I wish I'd ordered that!'.

My good friend Lou keps telling me that I'm talented, so I decided this year to start as I mean to go on.  I don't usually make resolutions as I never keep them but this year I have and I've put it in my journal to remind me.

I'm sure that this is one resolution I will keep!!