JennyLouise

HS:MS...Leaves

2008-08-11T01:14:00.000-07:00

Today's prompt is...

"Expanded, usually green organs borne by the stem of a plant. Show us leaves."

Here are my leaves...not green!

HS:MS..show off Sunday

2008-08-10T02:43:00.000-07:00

On HS:MS today, the prompt is "SOS", which I'm fairly sure means "show off Sunday" . A chance to show off our most prized shots, either because of the photo, or the object in the photo, or because of a special occasion when you took the pic, or anything like that I think. I chose my photo because I was simply playing with my new camera in the sun, and really enjoying the different effects that I was getting.

I had great fun playing...doing these when the sun was if fact shining; horray! would rather like a bit more of this stuff. Anyway, I've seen much better of these types of shots, but as I said, I had fun! Thought I'd post two, as they go together, and I couldn't decide which one I prefer...

It's been a long time...again

2008-08-09T03:33:00.000-07:00

Well, again, it has been such a long time since I blogged. I have a few ideas up my sleeve (thanks ruth!) so thought I'd try and get back into things here.

I'll post a longer update soon, but for now, I wanted to post something for Her Space; My space which is a really cool blog for daily photo "challenges". I'm really enjoying photography, especially since I bought a "delicious" new camera a few weeks back. I've been itching for one of these for years, and am delighted with it.

Today's challenge is Saturday Portrait Shots (I think it is anyway...I'm not too sure what SPS stands for, but in the past they don't seem to be Self portraits particularly). So, here is a pic that I took of my friends little boy...so cute...

I'm really excited about posting more photos for Her Space; My space. I've been browsing the site for a long while now, and hadn't really had enough bravery to post! So, here we go!!!

I'll post with a better update and possible plans soon...I promise :)

"Daring card makers" dare of the week...

2008-02-28T12:08:00.000-08:00

So, a friend of mine suggested I get involved in some of the card making blogs, and that this weeks dare on the "Daring card makers" blog, was a nice place to start. These weeks dare, is;

"This weeks little extra doesn't have to be for any specific occasion but you do have to follow a reciepe. Two buttons, one ribbon and a 'spoonful' of flowers.....! Put all the ingredients together and bake in a craft room until complete !"

So here is my effort...

Sideways again I'm afraid. So frustrating!!!

time to catch up...

2008-02-28T11:13:00.000-08:00

I sort of feel it's now or never. The longer I leave it to update my blog, the less I feel like doing it! So, having had a few life changing experiences, made some big decisions, and made a few cards, I thought I really must get back into using my blog.

Looking at my last post, it was the 12th of September last time I posted. A lot had happened since then. I had a fairly big operation at the end of September, to treat my endometriosis, which all in all was fairly successful. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like they were able to take all of it out, either that or it has come back very quickly indeed. I did have a period of time where my pain was dramatically reduced, and even now it is not any where near as bad as before, but I am experiencing a noticeable increase in the pain. Also, after my op, I unfortunately left the hospital with a malfunctioning bladder. It meant that I had to have some "artificial drainage" inserted, a silicone tube that goes from the inside of my bladder, and comes out of my tummy, below my tummy button. It's got a little valve at the end, which makes loo visits "different"!! Things are going ok on that front, but I'm learning a lot about patience.

Anyway, the other main thing that has happened, is that I made the big decision to leave university. With the complications after my surgery, I was 9 weeks late going back to uni in the Autumn, and then before Christmas came down with a stomach bug, and after Christmas got pneumonia. My course will cease to exist in 2009, and it was not going to be possible for me to get things done in time at the current rate that I'm going. It also looks like I'm going to be having more surgery sometime soon-ish, so it seems that the time had come to admit defeat. It was just too much, and I needed to make the decision to concentrate on my health. I'm sure it's been the right decision, but it has been hard never-the-less.

Anyway, here are a few cards that I have made over the last few months. I haven't done much at all, and I know that I've still got a lot to learn in the card making world, but here goes :) ....

(don't know why they are on their sides, I changed them on my hard drive, and they still come out like this...any ideas?)

A really good friend of mine had a baby last week, which really lifted my spirits. I went to visit on Tuesday, which I was really pleased about, and was able to see how well mum and baby are both doing with my own eyes. The little boy is ever so cute, and seems to be adjusting to life on the outside very well indeed, which in turns helps his mum and dad adjust to having a new member of the family! All very exciting, and I'm so delighted for them all :) Going to do another short separate post above, because I made a card for mothering Sunday, for my mum, and decided to do an online "dare"...

Long time no post...

2007-09-12T11:14:00.001-07:00

Hello,

Very sorry for my long absence, life has been full of ups and downs.

Not long until I go for my operation now; I'm getting pretty nervous. I went to a pre-op appointment today, and came away feeling a bit despondent, and that bit more nervous :( Ah well, I'm really really looking forward to it all being over and done with.

Today is the 2nd Birthday of my house mate :) Yes, you heard me right! He is the little boy of the family that I lodge with, my very good friends. I was ridiculously excited, and very happy to be able to share the day with him. Yesterday, I spent what felt like all day making his cake. It went from bad to worse, and these days I have very little energy as I am constantly in a lot of pain. There came a point when I was ready to throw the whole lot in the bin, the point where I had three bowls of bright pink icing (not what I was intending!), two huge cakes cut in to lots of different sized and shaped pieces, melted marshmallow all over the table top, and a postman Pat van splattered with raw cake mix, and red food colouring.

Well, after a fair bit of encouragement, two extra trips to the shops for red colouring (one by me and one by cath), the well known hairdryer technique to dry the painted on red colouring, and an early morning (normally find it very difficult to get out of bed before 10 due to so many drowsy-making meds!) to get the rest of it decorated, this is what we ended up with.....

Ok, its not perfect...I came to realise at one point that I am not actually a professional cake maker/decorator, and it didn't need to be perfect. Dan loved it, so I was really happy. His mummy and daddy liked it too, and so did all the other children and parents at toddler group at Church.

This is what it looks like now;

Success!

Photos of Sheffield...

2007-08-25T14:21:00.000-07:00

I decided that I really need to push myself to get out. Having spent a number of days without leaving the flat, I needed some motivation to get past that pain barrier! (Also, having gained 2 1/2 stone, some exercise would be good).

So, with the adrenaline from a good friend of mine winning £1000 on an on-line Pepsi competition, I looked for one for me to join! I found a competition run by The Times asking for photos that best represent Summer in our UK cities. Admittedly, in Sheffield, I thought that the only acceptable entry would be of overflowing rivers, ruined houses, and sewage on the roads from the awful floods. I'm very thankful that I wasn't directly affected, although I know of plenty that were. Instead, today, the sun was shining, and I got myself out and about, and took these. Please bear in mind that this competition is for amateur photographers, and as I haven't yet got my head round my "new" ancient (and I now discover "faulty") SLR camera, these are taken with my trusty "handbag digital"!!

Summer flowers surrounding The Peace Gardens, with the Sheffield Town Hall, Macdonald Hotel, Winter Gardens and the Millennium galleries behind.

City folk eating their lunch in The Peace Gardens with children playing in the fountain. Sheffield Town Hall and The Winter Gardens in the background.

Sheffield's children having fun playing in the water fountain in front of The Town Hall.

A Wedding takes place in front of the Winter Gardens in Sheffield, while city-goers picnic on the grass in The Peace Gardens.

Sheffield's children having fun playing in the water fountain in front of The Town Hall.

Ok, I know they aren't great, and they are all very much the same, but you are asked to enter 5 photos, and I didn't have the energy to go looking for other places to take photos, so just changed what I saw, to take different picks, if that makes sense?! Anyway, the prize is a two day photography course in London, suitable for beginners, so I'd be delighted (if not flabbergasted!!) if I won...although the dates for the course would have be long enough after my op that I'd actually be able to go!...hmmmm....!!!! All very unlikely, but I've enjoyed it :)

Floods and photos...

2007-08-22T08:29:00.000-07:00

Well, small disaster in the world of Jenny (ok, very small in the big scale of things, but still very frustrating).

My lovely friend was over to stay last night, and we were a bit puzzled as to why the kitchen tiles were so wet. We teased each other about being messy washer-upers, and cleaned it up. 10 or 15 mins later, I went to put the kettle on, and there was even more water, and it had reached the carpet this time...argh, panic! Worked out how to isolate the water supply to the kitchen/living room, and turned it off. We searched to find the source of the water, and could only figure that it was coming up through the tiles...very odd. In only that short while, it had cracked all the grouting in the tiles and made quite a mess.

You can see on the grouting between the tiles where it is all wet, the water went from the backpipe of the washing machine, all under the unit, under the tiles, towards the carpet. There has been a slow leak for a while, as there is loads of mould under the kitchen unit, but it looks like it turned into a much faster leak last night.

My friend and I went to the cinema yesterday eve, and saw "Hairspray". It was a completely ridiculous film, with not enough story line, so felt quite long, but I really enjoyed it. Also, I really rather fancied Elijah Kelley...he has a stunning smile, and his character in the film was sweet.

Other news is that I was given something last week, that I'm really chuffed with, and very excited about. In my description on my blog, i mentioned something that i would really like to get; do you know what it is?....

Ok, so its really old (at least 18 years I think), and even in its time, apparently was not that great, but I'm chuffed to bits. Got to be a good starting point?! It obviously takes film, and doesn't come with any instruction book or anything, and I've never used an SLR camera in my life, so I think I have lots of learning to do. Thought about buying a book, but they all seem to be for digital SLR's. I think the best place to find one will be in a good ol' charity shop. I think I might be embarking on a new hobby!!

My wonderful, amazing Granny...

2007-08-20T13:33:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to add this pic. My granny is one of the most important people in my life, and I love her to bits. She came along to Seans b'day for about 20mins, and I thought she looked so well, so wanted to share this!

I've been away...

2007-08-20T06:40:00.000-07:00

Hello,

Very sorry for my long absence. I went away last week to see some family, and to "help" at my nephews 6th birthday party. I have been feeling really grotty, in a lot of pain, and very very tired, so found getting back to Sheffield a real challenge. Anyway, back at long last, here are a couple of pics;
This is the cake that I made for Seans' (my nephews) birthday. He turned 6 on the 16th of August. In the end, I decided to make the base of the cake before I left Sheffield, and then iced it the following morning, on the day of his party...and yes, it is the infamous "malteser cake". It's a Nigella Lawson recipe, but I took the recipe from someone else's blog as its the only place I could find it without buying the book. It's a nice blog...well worth a look.

Aww, here he is as we sang "Happy Birthday". He had a great day with about 10 of his 6 year old friends over, playing games inside as it rained, and on the bouncy castle in the garden when it was dry. The cake went down really well, and amazingly, it was all finished by the end of the day. The only accident was when he did an over ambitious jump on the bouncy castle, and fell off, and knocked his already loose front tooth. You can see on the pic above where his tooth is sticking out the front! It was really horrible, half in, half out, sticking out. poor thing, but he coped very well with it, and still is, as it still hasn't come out.

Hoping to make some cards over the next few days, so will post again. Also have a friend staying over tomorrow night, which will be fab. See ya! jx

An update on my Uni situation...

2007-08-09T08:17:00.000-07:00

Well, this afternoon I had a meeting with my lovely tutor. She is such a star. I was all ready to go in and tell her that I was leaving university, I'd had enough and couldn't manage any longer. I was really very upset about this, as I've been at uni for 4 years now, and have overcome many big hurdles in this time. In these four years, I have completed one and 3/4 actual academic years of my course (does that make sense?). To try and cut a very very long story short, I went back into uni in February, and am currently trying to do the assignments for those modules that I have been studying since then. However, I'm waiting for surgery for my endo, which is happening end of September, and in the meantime am on medication that has made me brain turn to go-slow. Studying is very very hard, and in fact, no longer possible at the moment...

So, the end of the story is that I'm not leaving...horray!! (my tutor is great, and has made everything sound so much more straight forward)

I was really worried about the financial implications, but I'm going to register as an external student this year, which means I won't go in for lectures, but I can submit work for assessment. This has the added bonus that it doesn't matter how much I might have missed post-surgery, and I can just get on with finishing bits off, and will in effect study two modules from home. phew.

...that also means that I can now relax, and get up as late as I need, not force myself to sit staring at my computer, and be crafty, by sitting back in my very comfy desk chair making some more cards; woohoo!

I have entered my first card making challenge!

2007-08-08T11:03:00.000-07:00

So, I have made a few cards today! I wasn't on top form, and so decided that it was a good idea to occupy myself for a little while when I got out of bed for the second time today.

I'm not pretending to be a pro at this, but I have enjoyed spending a little bit of time playing with some new papers and stamps. I wanted to use up some of the papers so as not to have lots of half used bits left over at the end, so made a few cards with the same papers etc.

I decided that I would like to enter this caardvarks challenge, but struggled to get to grips with what would be counted as the "one embellishment". The challenge asked to keep it simple, and to include one embellishment (the ribbon), two patterned papers, and three flowers. Anyway, this is the card that I eventually finished with;

It's for my friends little girl, who is called Elsa. I enjoyed making this, and so made three more cards;

I think at this point, I'm supposed to say which papers and stamps I have used, but I'm afraid I can't do that right now, as I don't have them with me to look at! I will aim to include all that info later.

Let me indroduce you...

2007-08-07T15:38:00.000-07:00

...to myself.

Well, my name is Jenny.

This is the first time that I have finally got round to writing a blog. I have a friend or two that have blogs, and one in particular has been badgering me to do this for ages! I'm planning to use this to post about arty things that I get up to, like making cards etc, and also, to write about things that I get up to.

I will also use it a little bit to talk about endometriosis and try to raise a bit of additional awareness for those of you who are unsure as to what this is. I have pretty bad endo, and it affects my life in a really negative way, making it very difficult to function on any sort of normal level.

At the moment, I'm studying at university in Sheffield. I've been studying for the last four years, but still have a way to go. I've struggled at uni, with my dyslexia and health problems making it very slow progress! I really do want to get to the end of my course, but I'm not sure at the moment whether it will happen due to awaiting surgery...watch this space!

Arty crafts, endo info, and other interesting (?!) bits and bobs to follow.