i have moved yet again

hi my main blog is http://www.peardelirium.blogspot.com/ see you there

I have moved

Just a bit of copy catting really, but basically i have heard good things about word press so decided to give it a go. I am not a natural at anything technical so it doesnt look how i want it to look yet, but i will keep playing around and hope that you can follow me over to my new site at www.joannabags.wordpress.com

First on line sale

So i have had to remove an item from my etsy shop as it is sold!!!!!!!!! Hoorah but not through etsy through facebook can you believe it, so this lovely ring is off to it's new owner.

I have finished the bag for my friend Liz, photos later. Right now i have to send my little boy off dressed as a King to a fifth birthday party.

In between doctors appointments i have been.....

Lots more to follow

Another day another diagnosis

So, yesterday evening was spent holding martha whilst she screamed and screamed in pain for about 45 mins - hour. she wouldnt eat even though she was asking for food, and i could not calm her down at all. I gave her some pain relief and she seemed to get better. Sleep was a problem but then when isnt it with martha. But for her she didnt do too badly, only to be sick again this morning. After she had been sick mood much better and went on to eat a yoghurt and a slice of toast

So back to the docs i go. Coeliacs is ruled out as she hasnt had much diarrhoea and it definitely isnt a bug. It looks likely to be gastritis. When she was little, she had very bad silent reflux which made her scream in agony for hours until they took her off dairy and gave a special formula. So it could be another food intolerance that is making her like this or it could be that her level of yoghurts have increased and that is making her stomach react becuase she is not fully over the milk intolerance as i thought. Whatever i hate vomit and seem to be dealing with it a lot. She is now on strong anti acids until the referral date comes through.

I feel really sorry for oliver who is having to cope on his own a bit with martha being so ill all the time especially this morning when i had to farm him off on somebody else to take him to school. He didnt know whether he was coming or going and i feel incredibly guilty at how much he is having to put up with. I will take them both to the dreaded Macdonalds for tea. nothing like junk, inedible, as unhealthy as it comes, food to make a child feel better.

Does anybody else occasionally take their child to macdonalds and suffer guilt for it afterwards???? I find myself making loads of pasta sauces and butternut squash soup for days afterwards to counter balance the badness.

Anway not a lot of crafting going on but thought i would give an update on martha.

Just before we got the train to london last week

Another day another doctors appointment

So last night we spent up with martha again, who was vomiting constantly all night. this is the 4th time this has happened in about 6 weeks. went to my GP today and said i really REALLY dont think that this is a tummy bug. She hasnt seen any of her friends, Oliver has been off school on easter holidays and you dont get repeated tummy bugs unless there is something else going on. He agrees with me whole heartedly. So on the plus side i do not have to keep her away from everybody as she is not contagious and her ears and chest are finally ok. On the down side we are being referred to a gastro specialist as she may have either a stomach ulcer or coeliacs disease. the latter apparently is the most likely as she has asthma, eczema and other food allergies. I am slightly shell shocked at the minute and wondering what the hell i am going to give her to eat when we already have to steer clear of eggs, pulses nuts and not give too much milk.

However as she has had a lot of antibiotics in the last two months it could be that she has become intolerant to penicillin. We are hoping it is this one.

Sorry rant over, I know some mothers have a lot more to deal with than i do. If it is coeliacs it is a bloody good job i can cook. I think caffeine and a bar of chocolate are in order. thankfully Oliver got to go to Eco World today as my mum took him. Last weeks visit was cancelled due to martha being ill with something else. It is difficult not to feel like i am doing something wrong

My first canvas

Woo hoo i found the missing bit to the camera when i was sorting out my sewing room. well actually it is the spare room come library come sewing room come office. As my brother in law and his new girlfriend are coming to stay this afternoon, I have been frantically tidying and trying to find the bed hidden beneath purchases. Do you find having a clear out makes you want to make more things? I feel so eager to get sewing now i can sit in space rather than fight may way through clutter with pins sticking in my feet

Anyway, after an argument with a cheap staple gun from eBay here is my first attempt at wall art. It actually looks better than this but where it is positioned above my fire place, it isn't easy to get a good enough picture. Anyway i have had lots of compliments

I am now off to make chocolate and chili ice cream. Did i ever give you the recipe for that i cant remember, I will if you like as it is lovely and although quite lengthy to make does not require an ice cream machine

Enjoy the weekend everyone

camera broken

So a bit seems to have fallen out of the camera and it now wont work. Where it fell out and how it fell out, who knows. But anyway i have made some lovely lovely stuff and cannot take photos of it. Boo hoo

We are surviving the Easter holidays - just and are hopefully off to Eco World tomorrow and then Andrew and i are taking the children to London on Friday to see the Doctor Who exhibition. I am also hoping to get a glass of champers at the new bar in St Pancreas but we will have to see how tired the children are.

I am about to cover my first canvas with fabric and am trying to design a bag for my friends birthday party using these gorgeous handles from the lovely lisa

Hope you are all having a fun time

Ideas no time to make

hello everyone, so sorry for the delay in posting. Martha's health decided to deteriorate again and so Martha and i spent Easter Sunday night in hospital with her attached to a drip, which had an alarm that went off hourly. However she seems to be on the mend and i have just come back from taking my mum and both children out to lunch which was great fun. Although Oliver's toilet humour (he is 5) got a tad loud, and Martha emptied the contents of my mums purse on the floor and threw it at my coffee. But anyway.

Although it has been a stressful time with Martha (when isn't it??) I have managed to read some fantastic blogs so i thought i would point to them

marmadaisy - the creative queen is now making knickers and they are so much fun
Suzanne - don't just read the article i am pointing to, keep reading through them all and you will understand the new banner in my side bar which i keep meaning to write about but life takes over
Ali - just fab
There are many more but these are the ones that i have really enjoyed whilst i have been going through the past few weeks with Martha. they have kept me sane and Susanne keeps my brain active.

So what am i up to, well i have finished a basket bag and sold it. Photos in next post. I am working on the ring tutorial and am about to cut out some fab t-towels i got in Paperchase to make a glasses case for the craft fair.

I have also just purchased Complete Guide to Knitting and Crochet. It is a superbly written well illustrated book that i would highly recommend. it has beautiful patterns for headbands and hats that i feel i really must make. so off i went in search of crochet hooks and more wool only to come home and find it completely impossible to do anything apart from the initial chains. Can anybody help, it is driving me insane.

Ring mad

So i have made another beaded ring which i am really really happy with. Not sure whether to put it in my etsy shop or to wait for the craft fair. I am also working on a basket order which is in such fantastic fabric it will be a shame to see it go.

Not only that but I have just finished painting the chimney breast in the living room. We had a new fire place put in a few months ago and i have only jsut got round to decorating the wall. I was inspired to do it after buying a fantastically mad lamp and a fluffy bean bag. When the room is finished i will post pictures.

I also want to try my hand at fabric covered canvases so that i have something original for the wall. I bought two blank ones for my children the other week and they had such fun painting them to put on their walls. I thought it would be a funky idea to buy some designer fat quarters off Ebay in maybe a Martin miller fabric (s) and cover four small canvases and put them on the wall as a whole piece of art, in an Andy Warholesque fashion. I have just been reading up on it in the MArch edition of Sewing World and it looks a really exciting thing to do. Although i need a staple gun!!! Even though andrew works for a design company apparently they dont own one that i can borrow, so ebay here we come.

Anyway here are some photos of the ring.

Sorry about the last photo an experiment on photoshop that went wrong. Anyway if anybody likes my rings i was thinking of writing a tutorial on how i make them. Obviously not difficult as i wouldnt be able to do it. I will give away the finished ring to a random person who comments on that particular post. Anyway let me know

Happy Easter

Ever though you would utter the words

Sometimes being a mother means you say the strangest things. I have just uttered the words

" yes you can go in the light box but dont eat your doughnut in there"!!!!!!!!!

Family life eh!!

Four Things I'd.....

I have been tagged by Anna (congrats by the way on the Amy Butler competition Anna) with a four things Meme which sounds like fun so here we go

Four Films I would watch over and over

Last of the Mohicans
Die hard (sorry just love them to bits)
Unbearable Lightness of Being
The English Patient

Four Places I have lived

St Albans (Hertfordshire)
Leatherhead (surrey)
London
Toddington (beds)

Four Shows I watch

House
Ashes to Ashes
Master Chef
Spooks

Four Places I have been

Barcelona
Mexico City
Vienna
Pompeii

Four People who email me

My mum
Liz (friend in the village)
Book Groups (friends in the village)
danielle (cousin)

Four things i Love to eat

dark Chocolate
Organic Peanut Butter
Avocados
Crisp and dip (although i dont really due to waistline but would if i could)

Four Places I'd rather be

In the pub with friends for a lazy lunch sans enfants
Starbucks reading and drinking americano with whipped cream
On holiday with family
In the bath reading with a glass of wine

Four things i have to look forward to this year

Holiday in france with family and Liz's family
New Kitchen
Making more things
Childrens' exploits

I now have to tag four people so i choose but i am feeling lazy so can i leave it open for anybody to do please. Especially those new to blogging as it nice to find things out about people.

Happy Easter

Photoshop Play

So with a few tips from my friend Cath and finding the close up button on my camera (doh) I have been having a go at taking my own photos and then playing with them in photoshop, following the directions from Lisa in Craft boom and it has to be said i am quite pleased with the results. It was supposed to have a similar coloured scarf behind it but i didnt have the ring close enough to it, so when i came to the crop crop crop cropping bit it needed to go really. I am really chuffed with the white background i have achieved and with the way the colours of the ring have come out.This is how the photo looked orginally

As you can tell i am having a ring frenzy at the moment and this one is for my mum to go with an orange jacket she has. Once again the beads are threaded on using a complimenting colour jewellery wire. I have put a couple in my etsy shop but the rest i am saving for the craft fair. This weekend though i shall be making friends with my sewing machine again and taking it out of its short hibernation.

I must be mad because this evening after school instead of just taking oliver to his swim lesson i am taking martha in as well. A large G&T at the ready please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

oo look another one

Latest Ring

So i have finished the beaded ring as i mentioned before and although i had several attempts at photographing it they were all useless so thankfully Cath has put her expertise onto it and look at the result

The beads are sewn on using jewellery wire. I did try thread but it just doesnt keep the shape and then you have the worry that it might break. cath is busily taking a photo of another ring i have made using beads whilst i am trying to get my act together to make more hairslides and oven mitts. peg bags and pin cushions for the craft fair in a few weeks.

Oliver was 5 last week and was desperate for a T-Rex cake so who was i to refuse. Not a bad effort eh??

Partners in craft

Cor how naff a title is that. So after having a nightmare of a Friday and Saturday in the hospital with Martha who has been really poorly and had her first febrile convulsion on Friday, I have been really excited today by the photos my friend Cath has taken of my handmade jewellery. As i mentioned before i have been really impressed by marmadaisy's stuff and thought i would have a go myself in readiness for the Spring Craft fair in Toddington. However, I am so so so useless at taking photos - something i am sure you have gathered by now. Cath however is extremely talented in this area, just look here She makes fantastic calenders and cards, which sell really quickly in the village. Anyway she has made my little efforts look brilliant. So i am off to make some more beaded rings which involve sewing them in. I had my first attempt last night but the wire snapped so will be trying again today with tougher stuff

This is a hairslide using three daisy pendants

Another hairslide using leopard print yo yos with matching yellow buttons

An assortment of rings using buttons as the decoration.

Since starting this post i have finished a ring which has the beads hand sewn with jewellery wire and it looks fantastic. I will have a go at taking a photo myself but may well pass it on to cath for her expertise. I would really like to know your opinion on my efforts so far.

Happy Mothers day

This is to all mums out there for attempting the toughest yet most rewarding job of all. (and this is from me who spent the weekend in hospital with a poorly daughter). Enjoy your day mums

Weight loss

So if you remember a life time ago, I was going to give up all things nice, i.e. caffeine, chocolate and alcohol. I did this for two weeks and also focused on eating high protein and low carb. Obviously the caffeine chocolate (but only dark) and alcohol have come back in becuase i am human and need to function. But on the other side, high protein low carb - i have lost 18lbs!!!! Woo hoo. So i am finally pre pregnancy weight, just an extra stone to go!!!

Anyway, i have signed up to do the three craft fairs in the village this year and will be working towards selling cheaper stuff as well as the bags. I have learnt from past experience that people only want to spend pocket money amounts when they go to these things.

So will be working on the inevitable carrier bag holders but also oven gloves and peg bags. have also asked permission from the fabulous Marmadaisy, if i can sell a few rings using my interpretation of her button and beaded affairs. Quick and easy and very effective and a couple of quid each.

This afternoon i will be making my speciality for hubby's birthday. Beef in Beer followed by Celebration chocolate brownies. The brownies each have a celebration chocolate in the middle so each one is different and every one a surprise

I hope you are enjoying the sunshine

What the......??????

My cousin Danielle has just sent me this. Cor arent you glad times have changed, although i think i can catergorically say, i wouldnt have taken this seriously even if i had been a wife back in the 50's Unfortunately as it is a picture you will need to print it out to read it. COuldnt think of any other way of doing it

Joanna who??

Cor I haven't written anything for an age, kept wanting to and then not. I feel that i should put forward some form of explanation, but the explanation seems boring and self indulgent but i will give it a go anyway. I was diagnosed with depression about a month ago. Things had come to a head and something had to be done. I believe it is a mixture of post-natal depression and post traumatic stress which i was diagnosed with after i was ill shortly after having Martha. After my gorgeous nephew was born, memories came flooding back about being away from my baby and it was difficult to get on with everyday life. Anyway, saw the lovely Dr Neil 5 weeks ago and i feel that i am on the mend.

Consequently i haven't really done any crafting to speak of but i am now getting lots of ideas in my head for my Etsy shop, which i am going to try and get round to in the next couple of weeks. One is for a gorgeous suede bag with this fabric as a lining. this fabric is from Cheap Threads

Plus i will carry on with my wire sewing and i have put my name down for three craft fairs this year. So my sewing machine will be in use soon.