WOYWW 332

What’s on my workdesk this Wednesday? A card factory!

Scroll down to see previous posts, and the cards I’ve been making recently. I do not really want to get typecast as a card maker as I would prefer to be doing other things, but needs must, and I thought if I can get a nice lot made, it will save time in the long run, if I have a good stash to draw on when necessary. Most of the cards are blank inside, and generic – and ready to be personalised and given the appropriate sentiment when I use them – something that will not take long to do.

I thought you might like a slightly different view of my desk this week, taken from the other side of the room.

Working from left to right, in the orange carrier bag are some boxes with my Florabunda drawings in them, and the prints my friend Lucy made for me, so that I could do some colouring. My pens and coloured pencils are in there too, and I’ve been carrying this up and down stairs over the past few days. Next to that is a cardboard box with kitchen paper in it, that I am using to soak up various different colours of inks and paints etc. When they are nicely coloured all over, they get used in projects. The plastic filing tray on top of this has scrap paper in it. In front of the iMac is my old laptop, on top of which is the brown cardboard box with completed cards in it, and top of that, the open box contains work in progress for the card factory.

Moving on round to the main work area there’s a pile of scrap card and paper, with my gorgeous little green pincushion that Lunch Lady Jan made for me a few years ago, and the little rack with double sided tape, masking tape, etc. on it. Next to that is a piece of kitchen paper maturing nicely with greens and browns and yellows. Then my tin with brushes in it, and my hot glue gun. In front of these is my envelope punch board – in the process of being used to make envelopes for the card factory – some larger ones to fit the square blue cards you can just see, and on the punch board itself, an envelope for the 3 x 3 in cards you can see to the left of the punch board. On the right, in front of the square blue cards, is one of the remaining cards from a card factory I had going a couple of years ago – I found this the other day, together with the 3 x 3 in cards.

Then my heat gun, Cuttlebug, talc (useful for making mixed media pages less sticky so they don’t stick together, and various other uses too), and kitchen roll. The white thing sticking out is the corner of the box I keep my ribbons in. You can also see another piece of inky kitchen paper coming on nicely! The usual stuff on the shelves above. You can see all my rubber stamps in plastic bags hanging from the rail, and my distress stains on the shelves.

I think that about covers it.

Health Update

I am now only a couple of days away from my final chemo on Friday. I have to go in tomorrow to the chemo unit to have bloods taken, followed by my usual appointment with the oncologist the day before my treatment. I will be able to report to her that the reduced dose last time has certainly alleviated the peripheral neuropathy, which although still present, has been very much less severe – this was the object of reducing the dose, because if left unchecked, this unpleasant side effect can become permanent and we certainly don’t want that. However, despite feeling better in week 1, in week 2 I crashed a bit and felt very exhausted and not too well (last week). This week, though, I am feeling a lot better, and have managed to achieve quite a bit in the studio with my card factory, and am able to enjoy what has turned into a very busy week this week, with visits from friends and family, and a family birthday supper last night.

After Friday I shall have to get through the usual recovery period, but at least as I climb that final ladder, it will be with the knowledge that it will not be followed by the usual long and very slippery snake! It will be soooo good to be able to concentrate on getting well again (as well as is normal for me with my M.E., that is) and to know that with the passage of time, the effects of the chemo will diminish as the toxins are flushed from my system.

I have been looking at diet, and making plans about when I am well enough to take over the kitchen again after my hubby has been looking after me for so long. He has done very, very well and I appreciate everything he has done, but the time has come to abandon the ready meals and to start concentrating on a healthier diet for both of us, and the introduction of lots of colourful fruit and veg full of antioxidants to help flush the chemo out of my system! The veges that might cause me problems because they have potential to block the stoma (leafy veges like kale and spinach) I will still be able to eat, once I start making green smoothies with my high speed blender.

I am not planning on rushing into anything, and there are bound to be days when I do not feel well enough to cook, and for a while I expect we will share kitchen duties, but gradually I shall take over the bulk of it, and start doing the grocery shopping again (which should save us quite a bit of money too lol!!).

What I am really looking forward to is having more energy so that I can spend more quality time being creative. I have so many plans. I have decided that if I can put in even one hour (preferably two!) per day, I will be amazed at how much I can achieve – I have already proved that during the past six months of my chemo – looking back over my blog I’m amazed that I’ve managed to achieve anything at all, and actually I’ve done quite a bit!

Happy WOYWW everybody, and may you all have a fulfilling and creative week.