Back in the Old School Yard

This is a page I made a while back.

It's been out for a spot of retouching because the double sided tape I used to stick the journaling down had started to show through the paper and needed to be replaced, but while it is out I thought I would show you these mugshots of me taken during my school years.

I’m not keen on having my photo taken even now and I guess it goes back a long, long way because I can clearly remember really crying on one occasion when the photographer came to visit my Infants school. It took the teachers ages to get me to stop and in a state that looked photogenic. I might add that the said photo isn’t amongst the ones I’ve scrapped here.

I’ve attempted to make the page look a little like a Black Board and the colours represent the colours of my school uniforms.

You might also notice that I’ve given myself 10 out of 10 and a Gold Star, Lol!

You can read a little more about Sue Hyde's school days over at Family Footprints In The Sands Of Time.

My first scrapbook layout of the year ………and it’s of Me!

As you can see, I’ve completed the LO for my heritage album that I was about to start on Wednesday, it’s just about finished, although I’m considering adding a little charm or something just under where I’ve put my date of birth. Not that I have one yet, so I’m off to see what I can find.

If you hop across to Family Footprints in the Sands of Time you can read all about me.

I have to say though, that as I read it back to myself I thought I sound like a sad lonely sole but I promise you I’m not, honest, Lol.

Happy Crafting!

Sue

x

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MME – So Sophie ‘ Open Your Heart’ Patterned Paper

MME – Lost & Found Madison Avenue ‘ Cherish’ Patterned Paper

MME – Lost & Found Paper Flower, Rhinestone and Pearl Brads.

Tim Holtz - Idea-ology Trimmings Lavish Ribbon

Mayaroad – Alterable Vintage Lase Blooms

Basic Grey - ‘Sugared’ Alphabet Stickers

Bling Bling – Sticky Backed Pearls

Papermania – Build-a-Brad

Stash

Pink Brads

White Feathers

Paper Roses

Pink Diamantes

Small Pink Pearl beads

White Lace Trimming

Ribbon Computer Generated Journaling

Dies

Spellbinders – Tear Drop Circles

My Parents Wedding

OK, panic over……….I’ve managed to get in touch with my brother and now know the name of the church were my mum and dad were married, so I’ve been able to finish my LO

I even managed to find this fab photo of it.

I’ve had a play with it in Photoshop to change to opacity, printed it out onto some white vellum and I’m planning to use it as a backing sheet for another page I’m going to do with more of the wedding photos, so that’s my next task.
But while you wait with batted breath for that one, here’s one I made earlier!

Click on the picture for a clearer look.

The frame was made by cutting the panels from one of the Basic Grey patterned papers and I’ve mitred the corners so that it fits together.
I’ve then cut out extra flowers and decoupage them to the frame and finished it off with some Glossy Accents and some Gold Peel-Off corners.

I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out to be honest!

The flowers were put together with some that were in my stash.
I’ve no idea where the large velvet ones came from but the Cream ones were bargain silk flowers that I brought in Dunelm Mill and pulled to bits………..really cheap and you end up with loads.
For the centres I’ve used some of the little Lemon Roses were in the candy that Brenda sent me recently.

I had fun with the ribbon too.

It’s actually seam binding rather than ribbon, that came from The Ribbon Girl.
To add interest to it I’ve folded it back and forth as I stuck it down and then sewed antique Mother of Pearl buttons along it at intervals.

But even after all that I still felt my page needed a something else so I decided to add the little dove and heart charms but they were Silver and didn’t really go with the page so it was my Krylon pen to the rescue and……….. ta dah……… Gold Charms!

Please pop across to my heritage site Family Footprints In The Sands Of Time, to read the full story of my mum and dad’s wedding day and find out an interesting little bit of trivia regarding someone famous.

Oh, I almost forgot, The Ribbon Girl Blog have a challenge on at the moment to use ribbon on a card or project so I’m going to enter my LO in the off chance of winning some fantastic bling.

Thanks for stopping by.
Sue
X

I've used :-

Patterned & Plain Papers
Cappella – Basic Grey


Other Stuff
Journaling Sticker and Wedding Tag – Basic Grey (Cappella)
Distress Ink – Ranger (Scattered Straw)
Yellow Roses - Recollections (Boutique Fleur)
Cream Seam Binding - The Ribbon Girl

From Stash
Velvet & Silk Flowers
Vintage Mother of Pearl Buttons
Heart & Dove Charms
Gold Brads
Gold Thread

Introducing ..........My Granddad

I’ve finally finished the page for my Heritage Album that I was working on yesterday, so let me introduce you to my Granddad, Frederick James Gowers, my Mum’s Father.

I had fun with this Lay Out because I thought I would give that lacing technique try.

I’d seen it done on someone else’s blog in my travels, sorry, I can’t remember where, but I made a mental note at the time to give it a go at some point.

I think it works well on my page but I didn’t stop there, I decided to do cross stitching all around the edges too and ended up with nice sore fingers after all that hand stitching, but I think it was worth it.

Embellishment wise I was a bit stuck but then remembered that some time ago I had brought a pack of big Brass looking round stickers. I also came across the metal photo corners but the colour on all of them wasn’t right for what I wanted, so I’ve given then a dab of Alcohol Ink. Even after that the round stickers weren’t really right, so I had a rummage in my stash again and found the vintage brads which I proceeded to cut the prongs off and stick them to the middle with Diamond Glaze.

I also had the ‘Grandfather’ plaque to hand but I didn’t want to stick it directly onto the page so I decided to use one of the fab Brass tags that Lythan brought for me at Ally Pally as a thank you for driving there. I stuck the plaque to the tag added one of the brad top as well, just to tie everything together.

You can read all about my Granddad over at Family Footprints In The Sands Of Time, well as much as I know about him at the moment that is, but hopefully I’ll be able to add to it as the weeks go by.


Thanks for stopping by

Sue

x

I've used :-

Patterned Papers & Card Stock
Timepiece – Bo Bunny
Bazzill Basics

Other Stuff
Alphabet Stickers – Papermania & Basic Grey (Life of the Party micro stickers)
Brass tags – Vintaj Natural Brass Co.
Photo Corner – EK Success Architexture
Hemp Cord – Create Cousin
Distress Ink – Ranger (Vintage Photo)

From Stash
Grandfather Plaque (Costco Kit)
Brads
Eyelits
Dymo Tape

And then there was Mum

Morning all.

Well, this scrapbooking malarkey is getting to be a bit addictive!

I've gone from not scraping at all to can't get enough of it, so much so that my card orders have been taking a back seat of late.

I never thought I would hear myself say that, but there it is!

So yesterday I had a wonderful day, I got up early, got the necessary housework out of the way and then headed for my craft room.

The first thing I did was this LO of my mum for my heritage album.

As you can see this is 'the other' Blue page I mentioned the other day and it’s Blue in an attempt to match the page I've already made of dad.
They look quite good in the album side by side.

Now, although I've just said that I'm getting addicted to scraping I'm still not brave enough to try and design a LO by myself yet so I found this old template on the Page Maps  site to work from.

The site is a great resource for page templates of all kinds, as well as cards.

Mum's Lo was always going to be done in these colours because they were one of her favorites, so when I visited the Stamp and Scrapbook show at Alexandra Palace back in April I was on the look out for things to use.  When I came across the beautiful pearl flourish and the paper flowers they were just crying out to me to be used and I'm so pleased that I brought them, they're gorgeous!



Now all I have to do is sit down and write her story which may take some time and then update my Heritage Blog.
Hopefully it will be done in the next few days, so don’t forget to call back and read all about her life.

Patterned Papers29th Street Market - My Mind’s Eye
Capella – Basic Grey
Ella Blue - G.C.D. Studios

Peel-Off Stickers –Craft Creations
Pearl & Iridescent Flower Stems – Craft Creations
Say it in Pearls Flourish & Butterfly – Prima
Small Mulberry Roses – The Hobby House
Medium & Large Mulberry Flowers - Prima
Journal – Computer Generated
Cotton Lace – Hobby Craft
Die cut lettering
Distress Ink – Ranger

EquipmentCuttlebug
Tag-a-Long
Nestabilities – Scalloped Ovals (sm) & Peony

Next I thought I had better tackle the every growing list of birthday cards waiting to be done.

I’m entering this card into the monthly challenge over at Craft Creations the place I get all my card stock from. The challenge is to use flowers so I think my little posy counts, don’t you?

Hope you all have a good day and I'll be back tomorrow with WOYWW (What's on your Workdesk Wednesday) when you'll be able to see the aftermath of a crafting session later today.

Bye for now
Sue
x

Here he is again!

The second page of dad in four days and yes, it’s another Blue page.



I just seem to be drawn to the colour for some reason but my excuse is that that it lends itself beautifully to the old Black and White photos that I’m using. And just to forewarn you, the papers I have for mum’s page are Blue too, so be warned.

Well as you can see this is a photo of my dad in his army uniform, aged about nineteen…….….wasn’t he handsome, it’s no wonder mum fell head over hills in love with him!
You can read his full story over at Family Footprints in the Sands of Time, my heritage blog.

For my starting point I’ve used an old page template from So Sketchy and used a combination papers from My Mind’s Eye, Basic Grey and G.C.D Studios.

The border was cut from one of the papers, embellished with eyelets (I always seem to forget to use those) and then layered with 3D foam and to give the LO some extra dimension I’ve also added some real and faux stitching.



Patterned Papers
29th Street Market - My Mind’s Eye
Capella – Basic Grey
Ella Blue - G.C.D. Studios

Alphabet Stickers – Basic Grey
Micro Mono Stickers (numbers)- Basic Grey
Card Candi – Craftworks Cards
Best Dad Plaque – Making Memories
Hemp Cord – Create Cousin
Journaling – Computer Generated
Brads from stash

First page of Dad & WOYWW #100

Morning peeps and a happy Workdesk Wednesday to you all.

This week I’ve taken my photo from a slightly different angle. It’s not much different because my room is so small you can’t swing a cat but it's given you a glimpse of the picture on my wall.

BoJangles is off to hide on the window ledge now just in case I give it a go but don't worry Bo I don’t plan to try it.

As you probably know, cross stitching is another passion of mine and this was something I stitched some time ago from a Butternut Road chart called Catch the Wind.

I’ve changed the colours of mine because I wanted it to go with the Lemon walls of my craft room, so instead of the dark Red, Green and Blue I’ve used Lemon, Pale Green and Pink and framed it in Blue and Lemon which I think worked well.

Original Colours


Changed Colours




Anyway, onto the main matter of the day and that’s what’s ‘on’ my workdesk.



Last week I mentioned that I was going to do a scrapbook page of my dad but couldn’t find the photo that I wanted to use. Well I did eventually do a page even if it wasn’t the one I wanted to do first and it’s sitting in the left hand side of my table.


Don’t you just love this photo!

Dad was just six months old when this was taken and who would have guessed then that he would live to the ripe old age of 87.

The papers I’ve used are all Lost and Found from My Mind’s Eye as is the large brad with the bird on.
I’ve kept the page quite simple, just adding the Tim Holtz Metal flowers and leaves that have been coloured with Alcohol inks and the building blocks.


I made the blocks by printing out a children’s colouring page and inking them with Distress ink before stamping them with some tapestry stamps and adding the die cut letters.

After completing the baby page I resumed my search and the good news is that I eventually found the original picture I was looking for and a lovely one of mum too, so spread all over my desk now are the papers and other bits and pieces that I’m planning to use on the next two Lo’s.
Looks like I have a busy day ahead of me. Lol!




Well thanks for dropping in, I hope you like what you’ve seen.

I’ll be making a few calls on some new blogs this week (my way of random visiting seems to be working for me) and see what craftiness everyone is up to and if you’re wondering what on earth I’m going on about, stop in on Julia, over at the Stamping Ground where everything will become clear…..hopefully!

Happy Crafting!
Sue
X
By the way it’s only a few more weeks until the birthday PIF and my little gift is all ready to go. Here’s a little sneak peek to wet your appetite.


I wonder what it is and who this will be going to?

Great Grandma Jessy

So everything is stuck in its place now and I can reveal the lay out that was strewed across my table first thing this morning when I showed you what was on my workdesk.

The WOYWW post is below this one)



As I mentioned before, I wanted this page of me Great Grandmother to match & complement the one that I had previously made for my Great Grandfather, so I’ve used the same K & Co papers from the Blue Awning pad…….I just love these papers, so much so that I even made the paper flowers from them.

I’ve also used some of the same embellishments on both Lo’s to tie them together, but I didn’t want the layouts to be exactly the same, so I’ve used this week’s sketch (231) from Pencil Lines.



I’ve used their card sketches many times before but never a 12 x 12 sketch, so this is a first for me and that’s because I’m a card maker rather than a scrapbooker and never feel confident when doing layouts so the sketch was a great help. With lots more of my ancestors pages still waiting to be made I can see myself coming back for more, time and time again.

Spring is sprung, the grass is ris (WOYWW #94)

Well once again the sun is shining this morning and for some reason it brought to mind this little ditty that Spike Milligan used to recite quite often…..showing my age now Lol!

Spring is sprung, the grass is ris.
I wonders where the birdies is.
They say the bird is on the wing.
Ain't that absurd?
I always thought the wing was on the bird.

It certainly make me feel better when the sun is shining and the opportunity to finally get out in the garden and have a tide up is a welcome one.
I even had the help of a little Robin sitting by my feet yesterday as I was working out there. He was obviously looking for some tasty morsel to eat to be honest and not really craving my companionship but his presence never the less was a welcome one.

It’s hard to stay inside and work when the sun is shining the way it is but needs must and my desk today shows why.

On a follow up to last week’s desk, when I was franticly trying to get the Order of Service booklets finished after my blunder, I’ve now been asked to make some Thank You cards for the flowers.


Sandy's asked for something similar to the ones I made for my dad, so the old faithful Penny Black Single Iris stamp has come out again.
I just love this stamp and never get fed up with using it.

As you can see from the photo I’m just in the process of cutting the card to postcard size and then I’ll get onto the stamping.


Pushed to the side of my table is what I was working on earlier in the week…….yes, it’s another page for my family tree album.


This one is of my Grandmother (mum’s mum) and I think of all the pages I’ve done so far this has to be my favourite.
The colours are beautiful and the papers, Basic Grey ‘Curio’ are perfect for heritage pages.
I especially loved the flowered paper, which I’ve cut round and decoupaged and then added a little more interest with seed beads threaded onto wire to make the stamens.

You can read all about her on my Family Tree Blog Family Footprints in the Sands of Time.

Just sitting under the layout you can glimpse of yet another moment of weakness.


When I popped to Hobbycraft for extra card last week I just happened across these beautiful My Mind’s Eye, ‘Lost & Found’ papers that are also earmarked for the album.
They are almost too gorgeous to use and deserve to be stroked for a while before I find out if I actually have the courage to cut into them…..we shall see!

Right then, the sooner I get these Thank You cards done the sooner I can get back the garden with my little Robin friend.

Don’t forget to call in and see Julia, over at the Stamping Ground where you’ll find all the links to those join in with What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday.
It’s really great visiting all the different blogs but there are so many taking part now that it’s near impossible to visit and comment on every one, so I’ve come up with a random way to visit as many as I can.
Hopefully that way I’ll get round to everyone.......... eventually.
I hope that’s ok with everyone.

Special thanks to everyone who takes the time to call in on me and leave comments, especially those who stop by regularly. Your comments are always most welcome and often encouraging.


Have a happy crafting week until we meet again.
Sue
x

WOYWW #92

Just a very quick one from me this morning as I’ve lots of jobs to get done today.



Here’s my desk and if you look closely you’ll see that my threat to do a scrapbook page last week actually did happened, although I’ve not yet put it up on my other blog, Family Footprints in the Sands of Time

The page is of my Great Grandfather James Gowers, who was born, in 1863.



Now the reason it’s still out on my desk this week is because last night I decided that I would do a coordinating page for my Great Grandma to go next to it in my album.


As you can see the pad of papers is out and I think I’ve settled on the Blue and Green stripy paper for the background and then it will tie in with the other LO because I’ve used some of it on there too.

Oh well, on with my long list of jobs……….…I can only put them off for so long!

Don’t forget to go over and visit Julia’s blog if you haven’t already and join in with ‘What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday’ and I’ll be over as soon as I can to see what you’re all up to this week.

Thanks for stopping by and leaving such nice comments and ………

Happy Crafting!
Sue
x

Back from the Rockies……..and a scrap lift.

Hi all, well I’m back from my much needed holiday and my desk this week is covered with bits and pieces that still need to be put away.

I’ve just had ten wonderful days in the snow having spent my break in Breckenridge, Colorado on a skiing trip with some friends and boy did we get snow….......more than 12 inches in just one night and that was just the start of it.
As it happens we arrived in Denver at just the right time because the day after we got there we heard that they had to cancel more then sixty flights in due to the weather conditions, but I’m not complaining because the most important point to a skiing holiday is snow, right!

Here are a couple of pictures

Our apartment was right on the mountain so the skiers in our party could literally roll out of bed and get straight on the slopes.


There was lots to do for us non skiers too because Breckenridge has a lovely main street with lots of interesting little shops to investigate. Sadly there was only one very small Bead/ Scrapbook shop and a Wal-Mart to satisfy my crafty cravings but I did manage to bag a couple of bargains to bring home with me so I was happy.



We also had a couple of days out and about exploring the other ski resorts in the area, namely Beaver Creek and Vale so all in all we had a busy time of it.


Just look how deep that snow is!


I got back home last Wednesday and straight away had to prepair myself for the cataract operation that I was due to have on Friday.

I’m pleased to say that's behind me now too and it all went well, so I can breath a sigh of relief knowing that all the months of worrying that my sight had been permanently affected by the detached retina are laid to rest and I can look forward to the future.

I now have perfect distance vision in my Right eye again and although I will still need reading glasses for close work it’s a small price to pay after all I’ve been through.
Things are still a bit difficult at the moment though. While I’m waiting for everything to heal I’m having to manage with an old pair of glasses, which aren’t perfect but when I go back to the hospital in three weeks time they’ll sort out my new contact lenses/ glasses and hopefully everything can get back to how it was……..crafting included!

Anyway, back to what’s on my table this week…..



As I said it’s a dumping ground for my holiday bits and bobs this week, including the crafty goodies that I brought home with me.

The first thing that stands out is the gorgeous Lilac hand luggage bag that I brought just before I went away. As if I didn’t have enough bags…........but this one was just calling out to me so I treated myself, as you do!
The Lilac theme didn’t stop there because I also treated myself to the document wallet and passport cover that you can see just behind the bag.

There was a mostly uninteresting pile of mail waiting for me when I got home too, which is now waiting for the shredder, but in amongst it was a lovely surprise, a £25cheque from a Premium Bond win, how nice was that!

And last but not least on my table is the pile of crafty goodies that found their way home with me.

Even thought the exchange rate isn’t that good any more I was still pleasantly surprised at just how much cheaper things are in the USA so I came home with two $5 Colorbok (A4) paper pads, that’s just £3.30 each, two sets of rubber stamps, rub-ons, two cards of hemp cord, blooms, chip board flowers and some beads, so that little lot should keep me quiet for a while.

So there's what's on my my desk this week.
If you want to join in with What’s On Your Work Desk Wednesday than hop on over to the Stamping Ground where Julia tries to keep us all on our toes each week and have a good old snoop around the craft desks of the world.
It’s really fun!

I do have something crafty to show you too this week.
You may remember a few weeks ago I mentioned that while looking at peoples desks I came across a layout made by the very talented Lisa


At the time I was looking for inspiration because I wanted to make something for a special friend who had just sadly lost her beloved dog Tosca and my idea was to make something around the beautiful Rainbow Bridge verse. As soon as I saw Lisa’s layout about ‘What’s at the end of a Rainbow’ and saw all those flowers I know I had to have a go.

Here's her masterpiece



And this is what I came up with



Thanks Lisa for the inspiration.


Last but not least I want to tell you about some great blog candy that's up for grabs.
All you WOYWDW fans might want to stop off at Jude’s Blog, especially if you’re a Tim Holtz fan because she’s giving away some great Half Term blog candy.




Well that really is it from me this week. Thanks for dropping in.

Sue
x

Didn't we have a lovely time...............

the day we went to Folkstone!

Afternoon folks!

Well, I have a few things to share with you today.

The first is the finished W.I.P that was on my desk for ‘What’s on your Work Desk Wednesday’ earlier in the week.
It’s a page for my Heritage Album and blog Family Footprints in the Sands of Time and it’s certainly been a long time coming because the last page I did for it was back in October last year. I'm probably averaging one LO a year, which really isn’t good but at least I eventually made myself sit down and have another go.


I came across this fantastic photo of my Nan and Granddad (Dad’s parents) and my Great Aunt Emily (Left as you look at the photo) which was taken by my dad when he meet them off the coach as it arrived back in London after a day trip to Folkstone, in Kent.



The Daisy D’s papers that I had were just crying out to be used on this LO and the whirligigs that are all over it evoke memories of my own childhood trips to the seaside.





12 x 12 Patterned Papers – K & Co Classic Designer Papers Pad
8 x 8 Patterned Paper – Daisy D’s Chasing Butterflies Pad
Inks –Ranger Distress Ink (Barn Door)
Dies – Sizzlits Alphabet (Nouveau)
Brads – Basic Grey
Glossy Accents – Ranger (Clear)


Other Stash Bits
Plain Red Card
Red Cord
i-top brad covered with Daisy D’s paper
Fine Black pen for hand journaling
Computer and Printer for word tiles

The next thing I have to show you was also mentioned on Wednesday.

You may have read that I won some Blog Candy from the amazingly talented Nicky; well it arrived this morning along the gorgeous card that she had shown on her blog.

Just look at all this gorgeousness!


.

I'v said to Nicki that if I can turn out anything that looks half as good as her card I’m going to be over the moon, so watch this space in the near future to see if I manage it. Mind you, it may be a little while because I need to get some more Kling-On or something for the back.

Thanks again Nicky, I still can’t believe that I won.

Lastly I have a little acquisition to show you that I acquired this morning.

I don’t know about you but whenever I’m out I keep an eye open for things that might make good storage in my craft room. Well, this morning while I was out I popped into the new Robert Dyas shop that has opened in our High Road. I love shops like that, lots of kitchen nick knacks and garden bits....a real treasure trove and as I was walking round I came across a stand full of these Antony Worrall Spice Racks.


They were marked down from £29.99 to £14.99 as the managers special offer......too good to miss if you ask me!

I can just see it sitting on the shelf in my room with all the little jars filled with flowers, buttons and lots of little colourful things but first I either have to do loads of cooking to use up the spices or find something to decant them into.......wish me luck!

What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday? (Very long post and a gory photo so if you’re squeamish, be warned)

Well it’s been almost a month since I’ve updated my blog, the reason for which I will explain after I’ve shown you What’s on my Work Desk this Wednesday.

As it happens, what’s on there now has been sitting there for almost a month too so you can deduce from that there’s been no crafting going recently.

On my table is a finished page for my Family Tree Scrapbook, the beautiful book of K&Co papers that my lovely friend Lythan brought me for my birthday a couple of years ago and are kept solely to used for this album. Lastly on my table is the album itself.

The page I’ve made represents my oldest confirmed relative from my mother’s line, my Great, Great, Great, Great Grandfather Thomas Bush (born 1749) and his family.


You can read about the family on Family Footprints in the Sands of Time

When I stared this page I really didn’t have a clue how to go about it, especially as there were no photos and very little information about them but in the end I decided as this would be the very first page of my ancestors it made sense to do a large Oak Tree.
I found the picture on Google and changed the size and colour and then printed it out onto some Bazzill card stock.

The Oak leaves were cut using two different sized punches and then coloured with Distress Inks.
Next I printed the information I had using my computer and made a little plaque for each member of the family. These were attached to the tree and the small Oak Leaves were scattered across the tree to add some detail.

I then made a set of tags which hold the baptism details, attached the larger Oak Leafs to the ends and tucked them behind the plaques so that only the leaves show.

I finished the page with a Green border that had Oak leaves punched from it so that the backing paper showed through and in the two bottom corners I’ve added some decoupage Oak leaved and Acorns.


I was also lucky enough to have been given this ‘I Like Your Style’ award last



week by the lovely Angie who’s Glimpsing the Past blog is responsible for getting me working on my album again. I’ll have to pop back later to add it to my Family Footprints blog, fill in my 'addictions' and pass it on to a few people but I just wanted to thank Angie so much for passing it on to me.


Right then, now onto the reason why I’ve not been crafting for almost a month.

Who would have believed that doing a good deed for my big brother by taking him to the opticians for his new glasses would turn my world up side down, but it did.

While I was waiting for him I decided to ask if I could try bifocal contact lenses because since my last check up in June I need reading glassed for absolutely everything and I spend most of my time walking round with them perched on the end of my nose and peering over the top for distance………it’s such a pain.

The receptionist asked the optician if they were possible with my prescription and she said it was but I would need to make an appointment to check that they fit well. I had a bit of luck because they had a free one in about half an hour, so I waited.

When I eventually went in it wasn’t my usual optician and she didn’t know the history of my eye problems.

I had a vitreous (jelly inside the eye) detachment about three yeas ago which is monitored, so I filled her in and then she had a look.

Now things started to go pear shaped.

The vitreous detachment in itself isn’t sight threatening, just aggravating because you get a dark shadow in your eye, a bit like looking through sun glassed all the time and lots of floaters. In my case I had a large piece of the jelly break away about eighteen months ago which caused a few problems but you get used to it and learn to ignore it most of the time.
When she looked in my eyes she said there was something not right and that we should forget about the new contact lenses as this needed to be sorted out first. A second opinion for another of the opticians confirmed that there was a problem with my Retina.

I was sent to the local Eye A&E where it was confirmed that I hade a detached Retina and then to Moorfields Eye Hospital in London early the next morning for emergency surgery to save my sight……all very scary.






Warning..........gory photo coming up.






Now apparently it’s rare for a vitreous detachment to go on and cause the Retina to detach, about 1 in 100.000, but muggins here had to be the one.

I underwent a two hour op where they removed the jelly from my eye, repaired the detachment with Cryotherapy (freezing) and then filled my eye with a bubble of gas.

I then had to spend the next three week lying in my side, only getting up for ten minutes every hour, so that the gas bubble rested on the site of the repair to help it heal.

I had stitches in the White of my eye and couldn’t see a thing out of it for the first week but as the bubble was getting smaller I began to see shapes and shadows.



They told me that the op has an 80% success rate but unfortunately I had to be one of the 20% that it failed.

A week after my op I was back at Moorfields A&E suffering all the same symptoms and was told that it had detached again. At first they were going to operate again but then decided it could be probably be repaired using Laser. I waited to see the consultant and he finally decided to leave it for a couple of weeks to see how it goes because it was only a week after the first op.

So there you have it, if I hadn’t have taken my brother to get his glasses sorted I would never have know this was happening and I could have lost my sight permently.


At the moment it’s a waiting game. I have to go back to Moorfields next Monday with the prospect of having to go through the whole thing again but for the moment at least I can see enough now, all be it with double vision in that eye, to be able to update my blogs and send a few email, but not much more.

I’d like to thank everyone who has sent me Get Well messages via the Daring Cardmakers blog and for all the lovely Flowers, cards and craft goodies that I’ve received.

I’m so lucky to have such wonderful and caring friends, so Thank You.

I’ll try and keep you posted of my progress when I can but for now crafting must remain on hold.

See you soon……I hope!

Sue
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