Sunday 31 August 2008

Blog Candy

Whilst looking around blog from Trimcrafts I found Leannes blog here
http://fluttabyz.blogspot.com/2008/08/blog-candy-time.html
Again lovely cards and ideas

Also blog candy is on Judes lovely site
http://crafts-international.blogspot.com/2008/08/wow-blogg-candy-up-for-grabs.html

Wow all these wonderful things that people are giving away. And I dont even have to make a card to enter lol

Class projects

Yesterday I went to my first ever 'class'. I had no idea what to expect and had a really good time.

This is what I made











We were using templates from TheCraftersWorkshop.com. I found them really good as Im not 'artistic' and cant draw at all so doodling has never been something I tried. Using the templates to do a basic outline that I could then fill in was a great help




This is todays play

Monday 25 August 2008

http://fridaysketchersblog.blogspot.com/
Whilst blog hopping today I came across this site and thought oh I like that sketch.
So I had a go.

A special weekend

This is the anniversary of Mogs coming into my life.
Now I have to say she almost didn't make it as whilst I was driving home with her, in my didi mini with the windows open Mogs decided to let me know she didn't like enclosed spaces. She clawed her way out of the cardboard carry box, up my chest and over my shoulder into the back of the car. Of course this meant that I'm trying to pull in and close the windows at the same time. We eventually arrived at the flats where I live and then I had the dilemma of how do I get Mogs into the block. We ended up with Mogs in my arms with her claws stuck ( and I mean stuck!) in my neck.
Once we made it home Mogs settled in and taught me how to live with a cat which having being brought up with dogs was a rather quick learning curve as they say. Over the years Mogs has become a completely different cat to the one I adopted. I adopted a cat that I got told was old, ill, would cost me a fortune in vet bills, wouldn't live long, didn't like people especially men and children, didn't like other animals, didn't like being outside etc etc. Not you have to admit the best sales pitch but it worked on me. Now I have a cat that if she can see me is happy, doesn't like being picked up and cuddled but loves to lean against me and have the top of her head kissed. She gets on well with Amber who walked into our life some 18 months later. Mogs can even cope when my parents come to visit although I'm fairly sure she tolerates my Dad because he brings her prawns.
So this weekend we had a celebration weekend. Saturday wasn't going to be much as I was out all afternoon and then again in the evening (very rare) Anyway I got woken Saturday morning by Amber scrabbling about in the bath. She has a very odd liking for falling in the bath and then trying to scrabble her way out past the shower curtain. Anyway I got up to find that she had actually weed in the bath. So I checked the trays which were OK and cleaned the bath. Later that day when I was back home in my hour between outings I decided that I should give the trays a good scrub just in case that was the problem. They looked and smelt fine to me but hey I'm not a cat. So I take the lids of the trays and take tray 1 to the bathroom to scrub. I came back to find Mogs standing where tray 1 had been and therefore at the side of tray 2 and weeing on the floor. So I scrubbed the floor, filled tray 1 and and took tray 2 to clean. I came back then to find Mogs using tray 1. So I cleaned tray 1 again and found I had about 10 minutes left to get ready to go out. The celebration for Saturday was as far as I was concerned that Mogs and Amber weren't BOTH homeless.
Anyway after a long lie in on Sunday and snuggles from both cats things are back to normal so Mogs had her treat of cat tuna yesterday and today there's a little piece of beef waiting for her. What can I say I think that after 11 years Mogs has got me well trained don't you ?

Saturday 16 August 2008

Blog Hopping and Candy

So being new to Blogging Im finding it interesting, time consuming and occaisionally confusing. I dont know the ettiquette involved in blogging yet so hopefully I wont offend anyone..
Anyway today Ive been looking at
http://going-buggy.blogspot.com/
and I can say is WOW! Some great cards and ideas on there. Theres also a blog candy draw is you visit before 26th to celebrate a huge amount of hits. Im so impressed I found a counter to add to mine which currently says 1 visitor lol

ME and Cards



Today I have a nice 'free' day so I thought Card making!! I can get ahead for the birthday list and generally have fun. Instead my ME has decided to make its complaint against my actions yesterday known. Now yesterday I know I did too much and I know I should have stopped rather than cleaning all the windows but I didn't so now I hurt. Fair enough I thought its my own silly fault I didn't do the pacing like I should but as least card making isn't too physically challenging.
So I sit down and card number 1 isn't even fit to be shown. Card number 2 which is the bottom card above (that really doesn't sound right) started off OK but once Id got the back ground and top organised I had no idea where to go next so ended up walking around all my card stuff trying to find 'something' to finish it off. Eventually I decided on one of the vellum quotes I never know what to do with.
Card 3 which is the top card was done from a card sketch on a card making forum but still doesn't feel quite 'right' so Ive packed up until tomorrow.
So do I spend the rest of the day blog hopping or reading craft mags.......bliss :-)

Saturday 9 August 2008

Wedding card



Ive got a friend getting married this month but somehow I seem to have forgotten when??

Hopefully I havent missed it and have made the card in time

Blog Candy Black and White Challenge


Whilst browsing through some blogs I found this one



and thought what a lovely card I must try that so heres my attempt


Sunday 3 August 2008

ME the history

I was going to do a while lot about ME and how I got ill but then decided it would be easier to link to a couple of articles I wrote some time ago about my life.
http://www.mesupport.co.uk/index.php?page=m-e-the-single-person

and

http://www.mesupport.co.uk/index.php?page=cbt-my-experience

are things I wrote for a friends website some years ago. As time has gone by I have improved in my health but Im still disabled which can be hard to live with. Its especially hard as ME is an invisible illness so most of the time I dont look ill.

Im still hoping that I will be able to go back to work and have life return to 'normal' but I have to remind myself that what was normal would no longer be normal as its over 9yrs ago.
Life does tend to get me down sometimes but most of the time I try to be positive about things.
In fact I wrote this on my birthday last year


Today I am 38. This month I have now been ill for 8 years. Both statements are shocking to me. So eight years…… Eight years of lost life, Eight years of feeling ill Eight years of no money Eight years of no energy Eight years of isolation If I hadn’t been ill would I have been married with kids by now? Would I have found I job I loved, Would I have been happy??? I don’t know What I do know is this Without ME I wouldn’t have come to know and appreciate my parents as much as I do I wouldn’t have been able to see my family and get to know and enjoy my niece as I do I wouldn’t have had the time spent with my cats I wouldn’t have had chance to appreciate things in life like the countryside, beautiful scenes, day trips out. I wouldn’t have been able to enjoy making cards like I do I wouldn’t have learnt how to use a computer and found friends online who are more to me than the workmates who I went to the pub with. So if I could go back in time and change things would I? Well if I could go back and be who I am now and keep the friends and the knowledge I have now, then yes definitely! Otherwise I’m not sure. Having ME means I have lost a lot, but I have also gained a lot. I think I am a nicer person now than I was, I certainly care more about things and people than I did. When I think back to how things were 8 years ago it shows me just how far I have come. Yes there have been struggles and downright horrible times but now when it’s a lovely day, I’m feeling well and I’ve got nearly as many cards as the years I have lived. Sometimes, just sometimes I think how much I’ve gained from ME and it makes me glad that in those early days I didn’t listen to the voice that said I didn’t want to live like this.

Saturday 2 August 2008

My cards





Ive been making cards for a few years now. I started off doing embroidery but when I got ME my concentration was badly affected so I moved onto card making and enjoyed it so much Ive stayed there. These are just a few of the cards Ive made. Hopefully more will be added as I make them.