Poorly Boy Still Not Better...

Spike Sleeping Off His Operation

Well it may be very hard to believe but Spike is still not fit and well! Up until four weeks ago we were still battling to find out what was wrong with him, constant infections, on antibiotics for nearly four months, then our vet decided to send away a swab, to a specialist lab and voila we found out what was wrong! Spike has been suffering from E-coli, yes we were what you might call gob-smacked. He was taken into the vets for a second time and put under anesthesia (although they did try twice to do the procedure under sedative but he kept fighting it) the Ecoli had found its way into the anal glands but would not clear up and kept making him very poorly (his back legs kept going and he was crying with pain), Spike was not happy when we went to pick him up, in fact he wouldn't even look at me and took two days to forgive me!!! He'd had so much anesthetic with the two sedatives and anesthetic that it took him over twenty four hours to come round from it properly, Mark and I were up every hour giving him water via a syringe because he wouldn't drink or eat. He was very very sore for about a week, then Mark took him back to the vets a week later... Claire our vet was still not sure we had got it all so he has to go back again tomorrow (a month after the procedure), although he is showing signs of still having the infection.

We have already been warned that Spike may have to have the procedure again and if it doesn't work he may need his glands taking out, but there are huge risks with that, it could make him incontinent, which for a dog like spike would be horrific... (he doesn't even like his paws getting dirty, so we are more than a little worried about that)  Anyway we have to wait again now to see what happens, luckily most of the cost has been picked up by the insurance company, which is lucky because it has cost £2500.00 already. Unfortunately my joints became quite painful three weeks ago, so i have been off work (unpaid) which couldn't come at a worst time... 

Well I just thought I'd keep you all up to date, and thank you very much for your kind comments.... they really are so very much appreciated....I'm dying to be back crafting... I've got some stash to give away and I'm getting a new craft room soon three times the size of the one i have now.... Ashley is leaving home soon...boohoo.... which is tugging at my heart strings...an empty nest, but, a little positive a new workroom (Ash will have my old work room as a stop over room from now on, hopefully he'll want to use it once a week then i won't feel so bad) he is moving about fourty miles away to Leicestershire to live with his girlfriend, however we don't drive, but, his friends are here so i'm sure he'll be back often and you know boys, when they get together!!!

Well bye for now and i will let you all know how Spike gets on and hopefully i'll be back soon...fingers crossed....

Poorly Boy....

I promise I'm not just being lazy.... We have a very poorly pudding (Spike for those who don't know our nick name for him) The vet thinks he was poisoned and sadly he has been having fits, but we don't know if the toxins have caused them. Just so that you know I've not fallen off the face of the earth, I'm just looking after a poorly boy.... He looks like a butcher has been at his fur, his leg was shaved then the vet shaved his neck twice so it looks like he has a shaving rash.... He's up one minuet then down and feeling sorry for himself the next.... awwww poor baby...I'll hopefully be back this week he hasn't had a fit since Thursday, keep your fingers/paws crossed for him....

Thank you so much for all of your sweet comments, they really do mean so much...

Boy Oh Boy...

  

Well I just do not seem to be able to get started these past two weeks, now the weather has got really damp

and is playing havoc with my joints... Anyone with RA will know what I’m talking about.... When it is damp and grey and the air feels damp it seems to have an effect on how painful my joints are and how long it takes me to get going....a bit rubbish really, hayho there is always somebody worse off than me, that is for sure.... Enough about my woes.... I have also been a very bad bad blogger of late, I feel rotten Gemma over at Gem’s Little Creations gave me a lovely award two nearly two weeks ago and I have been so busy with life in general I Missed it, Gemma please do not think I don’t appreciate the award, I’m actually just rubbish at managing my time and body at the
moment...LOL Which brings me swiftly onto Netty, I got a gorgeous card from her to say thank you and forgot to show you all so I’ll post that on my next post but for now... Netty you are a treasure and I’m really very happy you loved the candy I sent to you....Note to self ( must be a better blogger....and post things on time..!!!) onto a much nicer things... Friday Sketchers Challenge.... Another brilliant sketch this one by the mega talented Beatrix and they do have some really good ones... I got the stamps I used for this one from my hubby sometime at the end of last year; they are the amazing Hanglar Stanglar... I’ve just been lucky enough to have kit twenty six and twenty seven purchased for me...yippee I cannot wait to get my hands on them... kit twenty six has been out for a while but twenty seven is new and looks absolutely fantastic...any way onto the little Hanglar boy in my card... I used prisma pencils for a change, I’ve been watching how other crafters who are brilliant at using prisma’s (Ila and Moni) show light and shade,to try and get a better grasp at showing it in my own creations... I think I have a way to go...LOL, still I do love how absolutely cute these stamps are... it is hard not to create a cute card with them... I used Oliver Basic Grey DP with the obligatory stitching... (I cannot remember the last time I created a card without any stitching at all...) The ribbon is binding tape, a must fashion accessory for all cards at the moment... I’ve taken delivery

of two hundred yards of an off white rayon binding tape recently, so I’ll be giving some away shortly...

This will make you laugh... typical crafter... the little train going up the side of the card is an old Quickutz set, I got it new when it first came out, years ago and this I am ashamed to say is the first time it has been out of its packet... I wonder how many crafters there are like me that have been crafting for years and have stash that has remained in its packaging for years and years...

well at least I have used it now... only another few hundred packets of unopened stash to go...☺ (only joking...) god I am rambling yet again.... one of these days I’ll get a post done without rambling at all...!NOT... Finally I finished the front of the card using a sentiment from an old Technique Tuesday stamp set I’ve had for yonks... (Yes I have used it before...hehehe) It’s not so much a sentiment as a decorative accent, I didn’t want to make this card for any one occasion... I’ve decorated the inside of my card and the front of the box using the same Oliver papers... I love the fact that these papers are both bold and muted in colour... so cool... see you again this week hopefully....My new Magnolia kit arrived today so I’m hopefully going to play with it tomorrow morning...yayyyy...It is just yummy.....
Before I do finally leave you in peace, thank you so much to all of the very special people who leave such amazing comments on my blog, you have no idea how much it means to have such mega talented crafters say that they like my creations..

Ingredients: Black CS (Stash) Basic Grey Oliver DP – Hanglar Stanglar & Technique Tuesday Stamps – Binding Tape (Wild Orchid) – Quickutz Train Dies

Beary Happy Birthday....

I just do not know what happened with me this last ten days, every time I tried to get into my work room something cropped up.... Life I am afraid took over and I have been AWOL for a few days... tut tut tut...

I have to try and make time for myself which is sometimes hard with the way things are here...

Anyway on to my card, I saw the Friday Sketchers Challenge and thought I'd give it a go, Bev has created a beautiful sketch... and here is the card that I created using the sketch.. The image is Teddy bo I have had some brilliant advice from the mega talented Rach, Thank you so much Rach, it really came in handy... and I do appreciate it..Bea is coloured using Tim Holtz distressing inks...

I used some old Bo Bunny papers called A Gift Of Love... along with the obligatory stitching LOL. Now I got the pink slightly the wrong shade when colouring Bea so i used some Suze Weinberg glue and added some Glamour Dust, which is mega sparkly, I'm not sure it shows that well in the photographs but it does help slightly with the colour match or miss match should I say....As most people who read my blog know, I have a little thing for dying and creating stuff from scratch or nothing in some cases...Generally I like to make a mess and get dirty...LOL  I ordered some Hug Snug Seam Binding a while back and decided to use it on this card. First I had to dye the binding using Ranger alcohol inks. I love the crinkled effect and

 I'm not sure if I am right in saying this, but, I have checked out other seam binding and none seems to crinkle like this one which could be because it is Rayon, If any body else has any thoughts on this I'd love to know......I kept this one really simple, the inside of the card is decorated as is the box, I'll be listing it in my etsy shop later so you can see more of it there.

Well I will have to dash or I won't get this added to the list in time.... ooooopppps....

Ingredients:

Black CS - Bo Bunny DP - Nesties - Teddy Bo Image - Hug Snug Seam Binding - Sentiment Home Printed - Glamour Dust - Tim Holtz Distressing Inks - Pins From Stash..

Sugar Love....

Just a quickie from me tonight, this weekend flew by and I just did not seem to get anything done. Besides the fact that I am still nursing this damn (sorry for cursing) infection from the extraction I had over a week ago, it is time for me to go back to work today after twelve days off... Awwww poor me... LOL Enough of that or I will start rambling again... Anyway I have been back for a week or two now and thought it was about time I at least had a go at a challenge... here is my first.  Over at the Sugar Bowl there is a sketch from Marie Therese you can see it to your left, how pretty is that sketch.. I love those wings... they remind me of angel wings so I thought I would use an old Angel Stamp from Sugar Nellie..I have basically just layered and stitched then on each side of the image there are tulle knots that have had stickles glitter glue applied to them... Handy Hint Star Dust Stickles is a really fine glitter and beautiful applied this way, just dabs here and there...I'm not sure if you can see it in the photograph but it is all sparkly...I have also added some lovely small roses that are from Wild Orchid Crafts along with some pearl strips again from there.. I have topped them off with a pearl pin. The image has just been lightly painted using Distressing Inks. I've added Glossy Accents to the hearts and the word LOVE. Well that is all from me today, I told you it was a quickie... I am going  to go do some blog hopping after work this evening, I've not managed to do any all weekend...boohoo...Thank you so much for all of your wonderful comments since my return to the world of crafty blogging, they really do mean soooo much... and I will be working my way around all of your beautiful blogs tonight.

Ingredients

CS Stampin Up - DP Papermania - Ranger/Tim Holtz Distressing Inks  & Glossy Accents - Flowers & Pearls Wild Orchid Crafts - Stickles & Tulle From Stash.

 

Claudia's Spectacular Candy...

Claudia over at Pretty Pressings has some spectacular candy on offer... Wow... All you have to do is follow the rules she has set and you'll be entered into her draw...

Well what are you waiting for!!!

Box Clever! To Glue Or Not To Glue It's Up To You!

There are lots of pictures in this tutorial, click on each photograph, I have written instructions on each of them. I hope you find this useful...

I am writing this post after having my tummy warmed by what I call a nursery dinner.... sound strange, well we usually have some kind of meat or fish with pasta, or potatoes and lots of veg... but today I had boiled potatoes, garden peas and cod fish fingers.... with ready for it, tomatoes sauce... when I was a girl I had it at my nannan's on a Friday with home grown beetroot....we had to do with some beetroot pickle that we made last summer today but never the less, it was soooooo yummy...I know it does not sound it but, I am sat back very contented.... pathetic maybe but I am happy right now...hehehe....I think for most people comfort food is chocolate, but it gives me really violent headaches so I just try to steer clear, but give me beans on toast or boiled eggs and soldiers or fish fingers and I am in seventh heaven.... not all the time just when I am feeling like I need something to

cheer me up and it did.....on to the craft which is after all what my blog is

supposed to be about...LOL

I have been making cards for a very long time, about nine years all in all, I only came to stamping about three years ago, but, with breaks for health reasons I guess you could say that it has been less than that for stamping... About two years ago I started to create mainly six by six inch cards or just under more like five and a half by five and a half. When I use boxes to give them anyway... Which brings me to my point, I used to buy my boxes, they are expensive, and about a year ago a friend asked me to make six boxed cards. Now I do not charge friends for my cards so I thought ooohhhh  errrr Mrs! that is going to be expensive six boxes were going to cost nearly a tenner... That is when i decided to use the design, alter it a little and make my own. Now I would not show

this and say it is my design, as it is not...I just altered an exsisting design... However I hope it comes in handy for those who use it.

I have taken some photographs of me making one of these boxes so that others can hopefully save money at a time when everybody is trying to watch the pennies...
Rach over at Papercrafts by Rach has blogged that she too was going to post a tutorial for a box, now please do not think I have just gone ahead and put my tutorial on here without getting in touch with her...I really do admire what Rach has done in three years, her work is amazing. The first thing I did when I realised that she too would be posting one, was get in touch and ask her if she would prefer I did not post mine... Rach very kindly told me to post my box after we both realised that ours where
pretty much the same kind of box. Rach also gave me a tip that I will pass to you, if you add tape to the flaps it gives the box more strength...
.
I have added instructions to all of
the photographs and over time perfected creating them, it can be off putting when they don’t fit together properly because the card stock is too thick, I thought I would share my way of making boxes and also the pit falls and tips I have come across by making them...
I generally use two twelve by twelve sheets, it is a good thing if you come across cheap neutral card stock, however if you do not, then check out Craft Creations, you can buy good quality A3 card stock relatively cheaply if you buy in bulk, then again why not do what I do,
and, share with a friend, we have the magazine which gives us an extra ten percent off and it works out cheaper for us that way... they also do great double sided tapes...and you get money off postage when you subscribe to the magazine which incidentally is cheap at £12 for the year.....Ideally you want a 250gsm card stock, and if you are going to buy bulk do not buy coloured it is much easier to add colour with papers and flowers than to take it away (what am I saying you cannot take it away...duh)
I hope that I have not confussed you too much, and that you like this box tutorial. If you do use it, please link back to me, so that I can come and look at your beautiful creations...
 

Tools Used: Score Pal - Two

Sheets Black Card Stock -

Scissors - Carl Hand Trimmer With Perforating Blade - Tape