It's been a while

The title says it all......and I'm not going into why......well not right now anyhow but here I am back and this is a bit of crafting I managed today....... it's all for a challenge in the craft cupboard...... which seems to be where I reside now :) x

photos in the wrong order as I am technically challenged....... the one above is a close up of the scrap page for the colout challenge and the one below is my wall hanging for the black and white challenge ......the backing for this is woven and as well as Sarah's stamp I have used Stampotique's Key Keeper and lots of glossy accents.

The photo above is a close up of the scrap page showing a chain I beaded with ...... well beads and a lovely embossed heart charm. The brads I have had forever but I have added some seed beads with glossy accents and Sarah's heart stamp is stamped and embossed in different shades of pink and layered slightly raised each time.

The picture below is the layout on it's side because it decided that was how it would be and who am I to argue (I know not how to change it)
This is the actual whole layout and it's not a great pic...... the wording is Life's Most Precious Gift and it is my wonderful husband and gorgeous girls.

I shall go try and add this to the cupboard's blog now.......wish me luck. Following that I shall be off to search down a copy of Blogger for Dummies.......I am sure this exists and was written with me in mind. Jayne xx

I wonder if I can remember how!

Well when you have picked yourself up off the floor at the shock of an update, I'm sure you will be asking yourself what I'm wondering if I can remember how to do.

The answer comes in several forms........firstly can I even remember how to blog, its been so very very long since I did.

The reason..... well again several really, Jays dad who we all loved totally died and left a huge gap that can't be filled and his mum has been quite poorly for a long time now but hopefully will soon be living independantly again albeit in a new bungalow and not the family home. Sadie their dog also died and Jays mum now has a new jack russell puppy called Hattie (so its not all doom and gloom).

Next reason ..... my beautiful Ffi, it has been a long long haul but we finally have diagnosis for her problems.... We had the dyspraxia diagnosis and then unhappy at the way things were going we took her out of area and she was given the diagnosis of Aspergers Syndrome......this led to a total turmoil of mixed feelings mainly anger that she had gone through almost seven years of being pushed from pillow to post here and the new specialist out of county knew within an hour of meeting Ffi, how the hell can that be. Anyhow the diagnosis wasn't the end but the beginning of new battles trying to get help for Ffi. That said I wouldn't change Ffi for the world but I often wish I could change the world for her :) We are currently awaiting results from tests to see if Ffi also has ADD this is the one thing I always thought Ffi had so it will be interesting to see the result although the forms we filled seemed to be very ADHD oriented questions and she isn't hyperactive so we will just have to wait and see how things turn out. Ffi will move to secondary school in September so this could make a real difference for her.

How to craft, yes I certainly seem to have forgotten how to do that......its so long since I did anything that I'm sure my mojo has gone on a round the world and then back the opposite way cruise. But I have made the decision to use it or lose it and I really don't want to lose it (I love my stamps far too much) so it looks like I'm back :)

My photography also has suffered so I have decided to do a picture a day kind of thing....just sheer randomness and I am not sure how I will upload yet.... probably not everyday and maybe even a new blog just for that.. I hope to start this very soon :)

And finally.....(if you got this far and are still awake then well done :) ) I am hoping there will be a little less of me as the posts go on..... I decided I needed to lose some weight.... EEK. I have a headstart on this one as I actually decided that 3 weeks ago and so far I have lost 6 and a half pounds...... still a way to go with this ongoing project then. lol

I feel the need for a picture and obviously I'm not blogging well as it has stuck it at the top and I can't remember how to move it. The picture is my beautiful Ffi with Dolly our friends dog. Ffi loves Dolly (I can't for the life of me remember what breed Dolly is but she is Italian and she is huge and lives in a paddock with Bentley the horse during the daytimes). The picture was taken about eight months ago so Ffi has grown a little since then. Well thats it then and for those of you not totally bored of my ramblings..... I'll be back!

A little premature but necessary

Well it might still be two months away but when you are nine every day matters.......yes its chistmas.....scary how quickly its approaching - well scary if you are me ut as I mentioned very very exciting if you are small and santa struck. So fed up with the how many days is it now question I thought I would pop by the blog and put up my decorations....aaahhh well at least I will be able to give Ffion an instant answer now and it is a very pretty tree

Shock Horror......a post

Well I'm back and I don't need to tell anyone how long it is since my last post. So much has happened I finally signed up to Stampin Up. I knew I would crack eventually as I have loved their products for so long. I was successful on getting onto my course and a month in its going great, Justine took some of her GCSE's two years early and did so well we really are proud of her, Ffion now has a kind of diagnosis although not much has changed for her and I have learnt to be careful what I wish for....... yes for ages I kept asking Rhiannon when she was going to move in with Ben so I could have her room for a craft room....well Ben asked Rhiannon to move in with him and on the 1st of June she moved out......still at least she knows I was joking because over 4 months later I still haven't touched her room.

The picture is the sky here a short time ago.....the photo doesn't do it justice and it certainly had me running for my camera.

Giving it up for Lent

Ffion gave up gummy sweets for Lent - the Haribo type ones she likes so much.

Justine gave up chocolate - we all tried not to laugh too much - those of you who don't know Justine will need to understand that Justine without chocolate is pretty unimaginable.

I was pretty impressed with both of them and decided I would try and give up something myself... Buying rubber stamps I decided.....Jay smirked a bit....I don't know why.

So it will be 4 weeks tomorrow since Ffion had any gummies. Justine has managed without chocolate of any form (she is saving up all the chocolate she is given in a box and has quite a collection) All credit to them I am most impressed.

So what about me then?? How am I doing?? Well lets just not go there.....the pictures should explain that I have failed astoundingly..... Now thats why Jay was smirking .

I really was trying.........apparently Jay says I am always very trying.

Oh and whilst I'm confessing ......they haven't all arrived yet. LOL

Did I get old or did I just get lazy???? & FREECYCLE and the Rolls Royce

In true words of the Eagles classic!!! I think the second ......I won't admit to being old.

I took radical decisions re: my blog this morning and removed myself from crafty blogs......I had decided this was why I wasn't blogging as I don't seem to get time to photograph and upload what I do everyday.... so now I'll feel less pressured, life will be sweet and I can rant to my hearts desire:)

I freecycle.....I love the idea of being able to pass something still useful onto someone who can make use of it without the hassle of selling it. I do think there are people out there who use freecycle for personal gain though and so am reasonably choosy who I freecycle too.
I get alerts from the local group of offers and wanted requests and I pick these up with my e.mails in the morning. There are lots of genuine people around and I for one like to help someone if I can, the words of my grandma still ring in my head long after she died "If you can't do anyone any good then don't do them any harm". Where is this going I hear you ask? Well this morning I picked up my e.mails whilst Ffi was having her breakfast and proceeded to go down the list deleting all the spam and rubbish and speed reading the rest. In amidst the usual old tv's and video tapes I saw this.
Freecycle.......Offered "1987 Rolls Royce, 6 months tax 6 months test, genuine requests only" I read this several times just to make me certain that mornings with Ffi hadn't finally pushed me over the edge.
It left me wondering as whilst this, if genuine is an amazing offer, a good many of the people on freecycle seem to come from 3 large local council estates - how would they possibly be able to afford the running costs of a Rolls Royce....I know that We couldn't. The insurance alone would probably cost as much as the purchase of a small family car. I would love a drive of it but that would be it for me it's hard enough trying to find a space big enough for our car in car parks let alone a car that size. It certainly woke me up anyhow and I half hope its a genuine offer as I like to restore my faith in human generosity from time to time but I can't get this image of lots of people around here this morning trying to put together e.mails of why they genuinely NEED a Rolls Royce so I guess I'm going to have a smile on my face all day:)

Who Stole January???

Well January came and January went.....I don't know where it went in fact I think I am still there in it somewhere...at least some of my thoughts are.
I haven't blogged for ages but I had my reasons and I think I have now come to terms with things enough to say.
Rhiannon's operation has not worked. No other way to put it really, what should have been the second to last op for her hasn't taken. I think it was really hard to take in because it is the first one in the 15 years since her accident that hasn't. Not sure what happens now but she sees her plastic surgeon again in March.
Having said that January was also the 15th anniversary of Rhiannons accident and I am normaly not worth knowing around that time but this year I think I did really well all things considered.

Craft wise well I haven't done much at all which is probably down to the fact that I haven't been on uks very much. I think I need to be part of a team again to give me a bit of a push. I will be very careful if I do decide to take the plunge though. I have gone back to cross stitch also which I think I will always love the most.