The Gatherer

Playing pinterest, as my hubby calls it, I spotted the lovely pom pom flowers.

I thought, I can do that while sit here on the couch.
All I need are sticks.

My husband, the gatherer, went to seek out sticks for me and cut them all down to make my flowers.

I found my old, old pom pom maker.  I forgot how to use said pom pom maker.
Looking up how to use one, I found there is now a new fangled one by Clover.
Well ain't that fancy...but no help to my old one.
I scoured for hours trying to find instructions on how to use this darn thing and yay, finally a youtube video popped up.
So off I went.

I made 8 flowers last night.
But I need to perfect it.  My flowers aren't as dense as the ones I saw on pinterest.
Tonight I will try again.

What you need.
Sticks
yarn, heavy wool is prefered
pom pom maker, with instructions ;)
sharp scissors
and tacky glue

Once pom pom puff is made and trimmed simply put glue on sticks end and place puff

Super super cute flower puffs.

That will never die.

Have a Heart

I am focusing on hearts today.

Finally getting a bit of energy to arrange some my sons hearts he cut out and doing a little Valentines box for my dining table.

It is simple and a little more blah than I would normally do a Valentines Centerpiece but it is full of red and white and love.

A little mailbox holds vintage book page heats stitched with red threads.

Arrows are being hauled by my little vintage horse trailer

and my crocheted jars are holding book bindings and the bouquet of hearts my son made.

I have a few more projects in the works and I am starting on them today.

I am doing Love Bug Jars for my son to take to school for Valentines Day.
These are just too adorable not to do and I have a template on my old sizzix machine of a jar just like this one.  Perfect!

 **********************************************************************************
I really appreciate all of those who gave me support on my last post...I deleted it.
It was a moment of depression in my life that some did not support my crying out loud.
For those that did I sincerely loved the words left for me and support given in personal chats and emails.
Why we can't all have a heart for others who are down is a thing I will never understand.
We preach no bullying in our children but adults seem to be worse as mean girls that never left high school, S**TING on others that are reaching out is incomprehensible to me.  If you can't say something nice don't offer your 2 cents to others to make yourself feel better or more powerful.
Seeing that this is the way the world is now makes me shiver for my son as he grows older.
I will stop COMPLAINING as some have of put it and leave my sickness to those who care around me.
Sorry life isn't all sunshine and roses or great photos and crafting diys  stuff happens in real life and sometimes it just makes us feel better to get it out on paper, its part of healing. 

Cupid Draw back your Bow

Time for a little fun around here.

I am awake and feeling pretty darn good today. I got very sick last night and I think it must have been what I needed to get back to feeling  a bit normal.  Note to self, GO SLLLLOOOOOOOW with food.
I have learned my lesson and i am ready to tackle this new day.

My lair of a couch is becoming disgusting and full of stuff to keep me occupied.
I think a little tidying up today is called for.
But until then we are having fun making arrows.

When my son saw what we were up to, he couldn't help fast enough.
Dawning his Peter Pan / Robin hood costume he was all about making some love arrows.

I started in on my more decorative ones and then he brought me his own red straw and did his.
I think this face says it all.

A super cheap and sew free project for when you are looking to keep hands and mind going on day 10 post surgery.

My hubby has brought me a bag from target's $1.00 section full of valentines day fun.  Some glitter will be added to my arrows and they will all be tied up in a bouquet to display.

 Yesterday we did the toilet paper tube heart project....so stinkin' cute and easy.  He loved stamping the hearts over and over again.  Just squeeze and toilet paper tube into a heart shape and stamp away

I hope to get up and do a little kitchen table display sometime today.  I mean goodness, this is the last week of January already...sigh.  Before ya know it Valentines Day will be here.  Lets take it slow, okay. I just adore this time of year.

Etsy Shopping

Well what is a girl to do that is bored and laid up?

Shop online of course.

Inspired by Valentines Day coming up my purchases have been girly and sweet.

1. Antique heart pincushion 2. 19 vintage hankies 3. Random vintage buttons 4. Vintage sequin pouch

I can't wait to get these items and create with them. My absolute fave in the pouch.

You can see more of my favorites and shop picks at Vintagemarketplace.etsy.com

diy day

Since I am not feeling up to a lot these days, I am finding little things to keep me occupied.
Pinterest is of course helping me with new project ideas.

Trying to find something other than shopping on etsy but I will share a few buys in my next post.

For now, it is all about yarn and some quick sewing projects.

Again I am all about the Valentines Day decor but have no ideas.
I think I will do some hand sewn hearts today.  I am not a great hand seamstress but I have no choice.

I do have some super cute paper straws in red and white stripes that I think I will put the hand sewn hearts atop and put in a crochet vase.

Now for the project I am really in love with,  Inspiration....

I adore my new Candy Bag but I love the one Furla has on their site.  So I am starting on mine.  It won't be near as extravagant but it will be super eclectic and one of a kind when done.

I started with the super luscious yarn Leona brought for me.  Covering the handles...it is coming along nicely so far.  I have so much more planned for it so stay tuned.

They are calling for more rain here today,YAY, and I got out and slllloooowly walked up my street with my hubby.  I got chilled to the bone and came right back in to warm up.    Snowflake flannel to keep me warm and my old tattered comforter, with fat cat by my side. 

Really hoping to start feeling better by weekends end after really taking it easy.  I know it is a long road but I so wanna get back into my normal life.  It is so hard to wait :(

But I am learning to eat again and this is my lunch.
Chicken and artichokes with rice and whole wheat tortilla....fresh and yum!!!
 l

Rain Sweet Rain

It is raining!
It started about 4:30 this morning.  I woke up in some coughing spell and listened...it was raining.  Soft and light but it was a beautiful sound at 4am.

I was lulled back to sleep and surprisingly as I had to leave for a doctor's appointment it was still raining.  Grey, cold and wet.  I love it. 

It was like a movie setting to the perfect day.
We got some fabulous news today that I am not quite ready to share with the masses yet but oh boy I am so happy!
Then my follow up appointment with my surgery and it is all going well.
I was told to still go slow and be careful driving and such...will do.

But as the afternoon has set in I am curled up in comfy clothes and under my big faux down comforter that is full of holes but that I love to death.  Snuggled into my dark corner of the couch with pumpkin candles burning and project runway on in the background for noise.
The house is dark and warm. The grey from outside seeps in thru the windows.

The day is coming to a close and it has been a wonderful one.

I was browsing pinterest and stumbled upon the picture in this post, as I clicked it linked me to this site.
I am probably old on this one but oh my it was a lovely new blog filled with such wonderfully inspiring images.
Fleaing France

Back Down

Yesterday I woke up with a bang.
I felt so good!
Therefore I moved around to much and went for a car ride.
It was my downfall.

By evening I was hurting and knew that today was going to be bad.
So here I am back in my bed and feet up.
Lesson learned.

I am not superwoman and cannot rebound like I did when I was younger.

Thank goodness for great friends.
Of course as soon as I left my home for a car ride to take Grammy to the airport, my friend Leona stopped by to check on me.
She was so sweet and left for me a big gorgeous soft bundle of yarn.

Today I am using that yarn on a special project that I will take photos of to blog about.

There was also a big progression yesterday in my diet...I had COFFEE, decaf but COFFEE!!!
It was soooo good!!!!

Tomorrow rain is supposed to come for a week!  I can't wait to hear the sound of the rain hit the roof.
Something to look forward to in my little set back of a day.

Coming Along

Slowly but surely with each day a little better and a little more energy pops up.

I am itching to get the house ready for Valentines day and that is hard from the couch or bed.

So I am pinning and shopping etsy for ideas until I am up and about.

I desperately need some yarn to kill time.

Little by little I am trying food again, not much.  Boy if I could stick to this diet I would be swimsuit ready by Spring :)

My hubby made me feel good by waking me up the other day and asking if I wore makeup to bed...I replied no and he said well you look fresh and full of color.  To that I said, well yay! I only had something dying inside me for the last 4 years so no wonder I have a bit of color back after having it sucked from my body. LOL oh it hurts to laugh so much ;)

I can't wait to get out and feel fresh air and life again.  Slow goes it for now as not to over do it.
But soon someone has to get me to the yarn shop or I am gonna go nuts.

Candy

Today is day 3 of getting better.

I am finally awake and off the drugs to be able to communicate.

I can't believe what they doped me with, way beyond what my body could handle and it messed me up bad.

I have taken myself off the heavy drugs and have moved on to Motrin.  Ya know what it works just fine. And I have the use of my speech and brain again.

So what is a girl to do that has to rest and be at home not moving too much...well shop online.

I didn't prepare for this sickness as I would have if I would have had more time.  I need a book, some yarn and my hook and a stack of magazines.  But instead I have my laptop and tv. 

Its getting old fast.
But I did find a super cute bag that was online and just happened to be ready for pickup at Nordstrom
My hubby had to run pick up my new glasses so he stopped and picked up my new candy bag glitter red from Furla...I am so stinkin' happy with it.  I love that it is perfect for Valentines :)
Aaa I am beginning to feel better already.

Today I will slowly move around and take a shower.  I hope to be feeling great with just a few more days of relaxing and taking it easy. 
Thanks again for all of you checking in on me and wishing me the best!!! It really helps make me better faster.

No one said it was Easy

Well I am home
Things didn't go quite as expected why would it?  It is my messed up life.
But I am home and the pain is here and it sucks.
Everything ended up okay but just a little bit more intense than we were told.

I will explain more later but I just wanted to pop in and say hello and I am alive.
Zombie but alive...

Thanks again for all your kinds words left for me and my recovery will be a bit longer than expected but such is life.

Here we go

Thank you everyone for my good lucks and well wishes!!!

I am leaving now but just thought I would say how much I appreciate everyone and your sincere comments.

Again my kitty has been by my side all morning my hubby got a quick pic of us

See ya all soon, happier, healthier and fun again :)

Hospital Style

Well here it is the night before surgery and I am planning my wardrobe :)

They told me loose clothing only and no jeans...
Here are my picks for traveling home.



Comfy oversized cotton sweater

Gold sequin sweat pants... Free People

And
Ugg booties

Full of style yet comfortable, come on a girls gotta look good being wheeled out of the hospital :)

Good night and I hope to be feeling great tomorrow at this time and pop in to let ya all know.

Baby Pig

So this makes week 2 1/2 of sitting on this couch doing absolutely nothing.
I am so bored and there is no desire to stitch or crochet.
My pain comes and goes and the lack of energy would be due to not being able to eat.
Ugh so the internet entertains me all day.
Throw in some Bravo tv and back episodes of Castle and yep call it a day.

While browsing tonight trying to get my mind off of all going on I came across a pin of Helena Bonham Carter and clicked it and it went to her website for me to find this pic of her.
I think it is quite old but it is wonderful and I never had seen it before.

All I know is I got a vintage pram and now I need a baby pig :)

My stir crazy has set in...

Trust

How do you know who is telling the truth.
Do you just put your trust out there and hope for the best in return?

My son came home with a cold on Friday from school.
I am in fear of getting it with my surgery so close.

I called my surgeon to ask how to prevent this from getting put off and the office told me I had no schedule for surgery...someone put me down for just a consultation instead of surgery.
I couldn't believe that someone who works in a medical office could make such a mistake.
And not even care that they put someones life in danger.

I immediately demanded a consult today so I could keep my date for what I thought was my surgery.
They didn't care to rush or make me comfortable.  I had to sit all day waiting and thus had to have my hubby come home from work to get my son from school. Because if I left their office they would charge me $250!!!!  For their mistake charge me and leave my son to be taken to child services for not picking him up on time.  For just a 2 second consultation to prove I was who I was.

It just burns me that if I wouldn't have called to ask about the cold that I would have thought I was showing up for surgery.  Why is communication in a field that deals with life and death so lax?
It makes no sense that I have been dealing with this forever and to find one doctor, a girl btw, that knew from that 2 second consult what I had been going thru for the past 4 years.

She automatically told me what caused this was the major surgeries that I had 4 years ago and that they shock the gallbladder.  Women suffer from this disease more than men for just that reason.
Apparently the gallbladder is a delicate thing that can't take shock.  It is not encased in muscle like our other organs and doesn't recover from things so easily.  Without even asking me what I have been thru in 4 years of doctors misdiagnosing this, this surgeon spewed off my whole history and looked at me and said word for word of what I wrote on my last blog post.
Saying that the doctors in my life were dismissing me as crazy and that I was just looking for attention.  Because they were never finding anything wrong.  I wanted to hug her. 
She completely understood me.

So now my surgery is put off by one day, one day more than I would like but what am I to do?

Thank you all for your comments on my last post and I hope to come home good and full of life to get the old Amy back creating and living like a normal girl in her 30's would. 
So now that my surgery is not til Friday I will be around til I go under.

I'm Not Crazy!

A lot of you have been following me for sometime and even came from my other blog Mittens.
Through the years I have complained about not feeling right or in the hospital on many different occasions since having my son 4 years ago.

My pregnancy was not easy...far from it and landed me in the hospital throughout it.  Afterwards I was told I would need an emergency hysterectomy and so that was done.

Ever since then I had complained of pain and discomfort in my abdominal area. 
I had been told many times, I was tired a new mom, stress does that too you. Calm down relax take a break, on and on and on...
well a year ago I found myself having heart attack like symptoms and landed right back in the ER.
Doctor visit after doctor visit, I was told Mrs Gonzalez there is absolutely nothing wrong with you.

I beg to differ.  I am feeling 60 in a 30 something body.  It shouldn't be this hard to have a kid.  I see other moms playing and enjoying life.  What happened to me?

Cut to the summer and wham back in the ER again!  We did every test imaginable but still NOTHING!!!
I had officially gone crazy.  This led to me panicking over every little thing and thinking I was losing my mind

It is not fun not to be taken seriously and I gave up.  The pain came and I kept quiet.  The issues I was having again over the holidays took  a backseat to my family needs.  I kept quiet.  I asked for help but was denied from a family member and I lost it.  Finally, I fell so ill I took myself back to the doctor and was diagnosed with flu like symptoms and they put me on an antibiotic.  By day 3 my stomach hurt so bad that I couldn't take the pain.  My husband rushed me to the ER once again.  Again they told me go home, there was nothing they could do but give me pain meds and to follow up with a GI specialist.  I went back to my doctor on Monday and finally he realized that this was serious.
They put me in for a Hida Scan and found my Gallbladder was only working at 10%!!!!

The root of all my problems was found!  I am not CRAZY!!!! 
This makes me feel so much better and I just wanted to shout it from my car window on the way home from the doctor. 
My surgery is this week, so I will be missing in action for the rest of the week here.

Footnote*  I know a lot of people say that animals can detect things in life.  But I have to say this is very true in my case.  For the last year my cat has grown inseparable from me.  And would tend to lay on the very spot my pain was coming from.  I would always shoo him away, one because it hurt for him to lay on me and two because I had become allergic to him.  He would follow me everywhere in the house and even lay at my bedside on my pillow as I would fall asleep, which he had never done before.  I found it very strange until the diagnoses came through.  Then it all made sense.  Okay now you can call me crazy but I believe he was trying to tell me I was sick.

Sweet Nothings

Thank you all for the well wishes of me getting better.
The meds are working but I am super tired.

 As I laid in bed in my studio  yesterday I took a few snapshots of things in my room up close.

I did not do anything but relax and take a hot bath yesterday.

I did dream alot.
At one point we all as a family were in the studio, me on the bed and the boys at my feet on the floor playing.
It was such a cozy afternoon and what I wanted this room to become.
A comfortable place to hang out, especially since the downstairs is so freezing cold in the winter time.

I took these photos right before a fell to a nap.

lace bottoms on vintage slips...

a vintage doll altered for Valentines day...

tiers of vintage cake stands with findings and buttons to look like candies and cakes...

and my favorite little vintage rhinestone pouch, I love its glamour!

Today I hope for a bit more energy, but at least my hubby is home and things will be easier to tend to with the boy.