Lupus as many of you know is a debilitating invisible illness that comes from nowhere and can have an extreme negative effect on a persons life. For me it has brought chaos, mayhem and a lot of sadness into my life. I have to make adjustments everyday just to get through the day. There are times when I think, is it bloody worth it? All this carry on i have to do to get through a day of work (yes I know how lucky I am to have a job and a job that i adore, yes I said adore). Through the wonderful medium of social media I have many friends all over the globe with the same condition, people who have similar struggles to me and take the time to share their journey with us. what I have learnt from these courageous people is that while fighting these invisible illnesses is you must try and stay positive as it is all to easy to let the negative thoughts in and depression is ever present, waiting, lurking at every corner, waiting to leap in and darken your thoughts.
Chronic illnesses with their long list of symptoms are challenging on many levels and every day brings new challenges, is it pain, swellings, rashes and/or sores, fatigue, digestive issues, ulcers, hair loss, cognitive issues and of course depression, the list goes on. For me the hardest things are the pains in my joints and the fatigue. Sometimes getting up out of bed for a shower feels like the hardest thing to do but I know just having a shower will give me such a sense of achievement that I feel like celebrating and telling the world. Who will understand such a ridiculous thing though? Only others in the same situation and that is the power of social media it is so essential to,our healing, we are no longer alone. During this latest flare which took me by surprise as I was doing so well, my IPad has been my best friend as it is the key to the world, the world I was forced not to be part of. No work, no social life reduced family life but Facebook, twitter, pininterst and the blogs I follow have kept my sprits up, educated me on what I could do to help myself. Posts from people with uplifting words, funny pictures and quotes to make me smile and stories, plenty of stories, stories that I could relate to, some with hope and some sad but they all had the same effect, they made me feel alive and being part of something and I am very thankful for this, very thankful indeed.
It can be easy to lock yourself away from the world that can be cruel or who misunderstands what you are going through and asks silly and sometimes offensive questions. But this is the thing you must fight, do not let it become your jailer. Find ways of becoming part of the world and staying active as much as you can. Find the things that bring you joy and make every effort to take part in these activities as much as you can. Whether it is reading, music, art, cooking whatever it is, immerse yourself, it helps pass the time, focus your mind on positive things, keep your mind diverted from what is causing you pain and discomfort. For me I love to read, cook, watch football, craft and all of these things I can do even during a flare. I can access them through my IPad (not all the time though) and I surprised how I am able to redirect my thoughts and the painful time seems to flow by. It is a challenge and sometimes the dark thoughts have prevailed but I fight on and I take great heart from the people that I have met through the different groups that I have joined and the people that I follow as they have these struggles to, sometimes they win the fight and sometimes the illness gets the better of them for that day, but nonetheless they fight on. I can honestly say that social media and the Internet in general has been part of my journey this time in getting well and using them this time has changed the way that I look at this illness and my life. Even though my life has changed forever, my future different, there is still a lot of goodness, joy and fun to be had and I am determined to make sure that I get all three and lots of it and so can you, just don't give up and even though you may be locked inside there are many ways of getting out into the world.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Lupus My Companion

What a month I have had. The colder months are always a strain as my muscles and joints seize up and inflame among general day to day life quite difficult. I had a cold which seemed to set my Lupus symptoms into override and culminated in my back muscles complaining in a very loud voice. This flare up however found me in a different state of mind. I have finally accepted I have Lupus, fibromylagia and a degenerative spinal disorder, you may think that should have been a given, but it wasn't. I struggled with the idea that my body was no longer going to be able to do the things that I had done in the past with ease and a lot of gusto. I struggled and I fought it for 3 years and this did me no favours. As each flare up arrived and ravaged my body I would fall into despair. I hated being reliant on others, hated the fact that I had a condition where there is no cure and a drug regime that was hit or miss and no good news for the future. This last summer I began to accept my condition and even find the positives of having my condition. My life is very different to what it was 5 years ago and a lot of those differences do make my life more enjoyable so when I had a flare up 2 weeks ago it found me relaxed and ready top deal with it in a more chilled out way.
There are so many beautiful, interesting and inspiring things in life that if you blink you may miss the things that make life worth living. Lupus has forced me to stop and stare, take a moment to take a deep breath and enjoy the moment. I notice things like a collection of birds in my front garden, the stars in the sky very beautiful here in Sussex. The many wonderful shapes that the clouds make, the squirrels as they leap from tree to tree and thew best of all, the stunning scenery that is all around me here in West Sussex.
To all my Lupie friends out there I know how hard it is to stay positive when you are dealing with constant pain, extreme fatigue, hair loss and unsightly rashes, but just try and look for the positives as it really helps in the long run. I am sitting here propped by 3 cushions trying not to move to quickly so I don't provoke my back but I am thinking about the beautiful papers I got in the post and what projects I am going to make later, the book I am going to start reading later about the last slave market in West Africa and the lovely dinner that my partner is cooking for us. OK I can't run a marathon anymore, play rugby or football, climb a mountain or trek across the Himalayas but I have got many other things in my life that bring me joy I just needed to open my eyes and notice what was already around me.

It's Christmas!!!!!

I know it's not quite Christmas yet but I have been busy beavering away for a few weeks now trying to make the hoards of cards that I will need for the festive season. At first it was a little weird making Christmas cards in the middle of the summer; well not really, we didn't have much of summer did we? After the first batch though I was really getting into the Christmas Sprit, glitter, gems, silver and gold mirror card, ribbon cute characters, I was in my element. I have loved looking over all the new  products that come out in the summer for for us crafters to play with. There are so many new styles and new techniques it has been like Christmas, Christmas come early.

This card is just so cute I don't think I could send or sell it, you're not supposed to have a favourite when you make cards to sell but I just love the image on this card. The image is watercoloured which gives it a softness, but still striking. As the main topper is foiled in gold I thought that gold embellishments would look fantastic. I used a Snowflake die to cut out some snowflakes from gold mirror card and some Christmas themed card stock from Hunkydory. After Matting and layering gold mirror card and red snowflake patterned paper. I wrapped some red Christams ribbon round the card and paper. I also cut some Christmas trees from the same card stock that I had cut the snowflake. I placed 1 of the tress in the top corner and the attached the topper on top,( which had been matted on black card)  so that part of the tree is showing. I then placed 3 of the die cut trees overlapping each other in the bottom corner. I added a sentiment matted on black card palced it one of the corners with a gold snowflake in it's corner. I finished off the card with a cluster of gold snowflakes in a top corner of the card.

I have made similar cards which will be availble on my www.folksy.com page so please come over and have a look. I may be persuded to add this card t the range, if you ask me nicley.
See you soon
B'xxx

I would like to enter this card in the Crafter's Companion Monthly challenge 28 Gold

Best Friends

As an 43 year old woman I have had many friends come and go over the years. Friends that I may have called "best" now I use the phrase "close" as best sounds a bit primary schoolish,  but all those friends have been by my side and me by theirs in times of need. The moments I love and cherish are those moments where you just want to have a good old fashioned gossip and catch up. When I first saw the S.W.A.L.K range I loved the images that they depict, as they are very close to real life scenes that we all can relate to.

The imaged is decoupaged and I like to use glue gel instead of foam pads so that I can move the pieces round and mould the layers so that the image has a more realistic 3D look. I matted the image on to matching cardstock. I used a 8x8 card and matted silver card onto the base card and then layered coloured patterned paper on top. When layering the paper I placed the paper portrait and then landscape with a slight overlap to bring the colours out of the main image and give the card different points of interest. I wrapped the card with ivory lace ribbon and attached the the main image to the card.
I finished off the card with a cluster of ribbon flowers and paper flowers  in one corner. I placed faux coloured pearls in the top left hand corner and cute heart shaped gingham buttons and a small pink spotted button in the bottom right hand corner. To frame the card I used silver peel offs in two of the corners. I finished off the card with a pink glittered "Happy Birthday" sentiment which is cut into a tag shape with a black ribbon.

No card  is complete without an insert, so I added an insert with the verse "Have the best of Birthdays, And happy times all year! You're so caring and thoughtful in every way, It's true. That's why this card comes filled with love especially for you! Happy Birthday". The verse is surrounded by lilac coloured hearts.

I love the image in this scene as I am sure that everyone can relate to. Catching up with a real friend over a glass of wine and I have shared some wonderful times with friends putting the world to rights over a glass of wine or two and I am sure that you can relate to this image to.

You can find this card and many others on my Folksy page.
8x8 S.W.A.L.K Birthday Card

Pretty cards to cheer you up

I have been a very busy bee ths morning. I have uploaded 4 new cards and to be honest these cards are very pretty and I have had a blast making them. I do all sorts of cards as well as the private commisions that I get but I do love pretty girlie cards as I am a closet girlie and I am outting myself today!

As you can see I have used muted and pastel colours and lots and lots of flowers! I love flowers and even more I love having them round the house. In my last job in Eastbourne I worked out of one of those porta cabin classrooms and I had fresh flowers every monday in several vases and recepticles round the room, it certaintly brightened up the place and made it feel a lot friendlyier.

This card on the right is just pretty pretty, pretty and I am not ashamed to say it.

I love this card. It has that pretty feel but with more glam and well if  am honest a little bit like me ;-) No seriously the images are so verstile that I could have styled this in a number of ways but I was making these cards when the weather was not behaving itself, much like today, and I wanted summmer, floral  and bling to be my guide.
I hope you like these cards I certaintly have had fun making them. They are all available on my folksy page (click the button at the top of this page to get to it), as well as many more cards in different styles and occasions.

See ya soon
B'xxx

New cards on my Folksy page

I have been so busy over the last few weeks as well as a bad bout of Lupus and spinal flair ups that I have been missing from here so I thought that I would give you a little look at what I have been making for the page and a sneak peak of what I am going to be uploading over the next few days.

I made these cards when my back was better but the Lupus made an unwelcome appearance. When I get like this the best thing to do is to keep calm and find something gentle to do, so here we go.....

I have fallen in love with 8 x 8 size cards and have made load of cards both everyday and Christmas (yes Christmas, I have to start early). You can do so much with them, a very versatile size. Using them as just straight tent fold of course is great as you can make interesting features on the front without overcrowding it. What is wonderful is as it is a decent size you can make other interesting folded cards. easel, gatefold, peekaboo and aperture. In this first batch I made a few easel cards. This one on the right is a standard size and as you can see even with a large topper you can still have other areas of interest on the card.

I also made loads of cards with images of British summer, seaside, picnic, cricket. What was funny was while I was making all these cards it was raining all the time and the temperature was closer to November temperates than June and July. I had loads of fun making these cards as the weather was awful so I would have been stuck in anyway. What was lovely was the range of cards  could make because of the quality of the card stock in the card kits that I was using (Hunkydory). I do not usually use card kits as I always thought that it didn't allow you to be really creative as you are tied to what they give you but I had loads of fun cutting this way and that, using mirror card and acetate to create different effects.

I have made a start on my Christmas cards. I have a large family as well as cards needed for the website and order and again this year there will be a real mix of styles. Some card kits, as I loved working with the ones I got this year. I have bought a couple of new CD Roms for the card packs for the website and orders of course. I will also be digging out the old favourites, The Snowman and this year Father Christmas collections. I haven't yet taken photos of these but will get round to it before I go back to my normal job in September and I will give the blog first look of what will be on sale from mid October onwards.

Funny how I haven't written a post for a few weeks and here you get 2 in one day, funny that.

B'xxx

I love my crafting mags. I put the date that they are due out as a reminder on my phone so I can get them on the first day!! I do from time to time enter into the competions as the prizes can be fantastic, and buying crafting goodies can be expensive so you have to find canny ways of getting your hands on some crafty goodies. A couple of days ago a very large package came through my door. It was one of the competions, one had come through and the one that I had my fingers crossed for.Yippee!!

It was the new range from American crafts. 4 packs of 12 x 12 papers double sided!! 4 packs of 6 x 6 papers, 12 sheets of alphas, silver and gold glitter ribbon, 4 sheets of tags and borders, 2 stamps, card stock stickers, rub ons, tags and embellishments and an ideas book, WOW!! I was so happy I just kept stroking all the goodies. The papers were gorgeous and different to anything that I had in my stash, in fact the whole range was completly different to anything that I had and I absoultly loved it.

 I made card to send off to the magazine to say thank you staright away and it is very different to what I usally make which is good because we can all get in to a rut, even us creative crafty types. I made the card by matting and laering some of the papers onto a 8 x 8 card. What was wonderful is that the papers have been distressed already in all different ways, so a quick card with no mess, a winner really. I took a luggae label from my own stash and added the alphas to say thank you. These letters are fantastic and have good depth to. There are loads of die cut embellishments so I took one of a girl in a pretty dress and added a bunch of flowers with some glue gel. added a couple of butterflies ( they are made from dress makers pattern, how clever) and some gold peel offs and Bob's your uncle, all done. I really like it as it is different from what I normally make and it has got my creative juices flowing so watch this space.

I hope you like it, tell what you think and keep a look out for American Crafts products, they are fab!!





B'xxx