Somethings festive...

A friend sent me some candle wax tubes to be creative with. I ended up buying some candles for my niece to decorated. With having gold and silver wax, I would have loved a darker colour for her to decorate but white only seemed to be available but also affordable. She really enjoyed decorating the candles but she did get a little upset that they were 'leaking' as we left them to dry. I imagined with the air they would dry fairly quickly but it wasn't the case at all which was a shame. If I'd thought about it earlier I would have encouraged her to decorate one side so that I could lay it on its side and the designs stayed as they were. I wrapped each one up for her to give as a gift to her teachers and neighbours. You can see her little hand in the last photo trying to make a grab for the candle so that she didn't forget it.

I don't exchange gifts with friends anymore as I've just been so unwell to even consider shopping for anyone. I did find it really hard last year and definitely would have this... I can just about make it to work and back. Anyway it was so thoughtful and quite surprising to receive these gifts in the mail which really did make my day. I love the cards and the cute paper.

I took part in a secret Santa at work. I bought my partner some jewellery which I think she liked, it was so hard to photograph due to the lighting issue. In return I got this book, I was a little disappointed at first when I saw it as its a notebook with plain and lined sheets. I love looking at notebooks but never know how to use them. However I actually like the quality etc... of this notebook and if any of you have a suggestion of how I could use it, let me know! I told people at work that I was going to plot about them!

On Friday we were told to come to work this coming Friday in a Christmas jumper. I felt quite annoyed actually as I'd been in the city on Tuesday and saw tonnes of jumpers. I'd actually wished I celebrated Christmas so that I could wear something silly like it but as I don't I just looked. On Saturday I wondered around many stores looking for a jumper but they had all sold out! How annoying as if I'd been told earlier I could have bought one or ordered one online. Eventually I came across this one which sadly is a little small (well I feel like I'm going to explode out of it!) but I got it anyway as its not like I had any other options. Its still cute but I loved the ones with noses, pom poms etc... attached to make it a little 3D.

 

I'm posting my Christmas Postcards on my Bursts of Bubbles blog for anyone whose interested.

Sunrises and Sunsets

This week I have seen some very pretty sunrises (8am)....

and sunsets(4pm)

 

I absolutely love the colour of the sky right now but I can't cope with the cold weather this year. I'm just not looking forward to winter.

A new start....

Well I mentioned in a previous post about paying to have an intolerance test done. I got the results on Friday but decided to start today so that I could have a final binge day yesterday.

 

There were not so many surprises as I think deep down I knew but didn't do anything about it earlier because I didn't know where to start or what food to cut out.

 

Well the verdict roughly is this...

 

wheat, corn, soya, chick pea, dinkle, hemp, rye flour

basil, blackcurrants, lettuce, Jujube Fruit, green beans, green pepper, tomatoes

lamb, mackerel, sardines, cod,

poppy seed, pecan nuts, sesame seeds, millet, fennel seeds, peanuts,

cows milk, egg whites

oh and the list goes on....

I also had such a long list of non-food items too which are mainly trees.

 

The idea was that over the next 2 weeks you slowly remove these things from your diet but I've decided to just go cold turkey with it because apart from wheat and milk, the rest I don't eat daily. So for 2 weeks I won't eat any of the food I can't and then after 2 weeks I'll slowly introduce each one back so if it causes me problems I'm not to have it again and if it doesn't I can eat it until my hearts content.

 

I was so stuck in what to eat when I first saw this list as most I actually eat but there is a small percentage I never tried. I ended up just going to the supermarket to pick up a variety of vegetables to try and coming home to look up recipes and ideas of what I can make with them. Also it was amazing to see how many items contain wheat, soya (chewing gum!) and egg.

 

My first meal today consisted of

Coconut Milk and Rice Krispies

I was surprised that the milk tastes of anything really, I thought it would have an over powering taste of coconut.

Do you know I often sat in the staffroom and admired all the different types of salads everyone was eating. I only twice tried it myself but ended up with the most outrageous stomach cramps with many visits to the toilet. So the first thing I had to try was a salad minus lettuce and green pepper and I was fine so that is a definite intolerance.

 

This salad has rocket, spinach, radish, sweet corn, sweet potato, orange pepper, apricot dried fruit, avocado and feta cheese.

 

I have never tried sweet potato, avocado or feta before. They were interesting but I think me and the avocado will part ways as it was the only thing that spoiled this salad for me. I'll give it a chance though since I have 3 more left... hopefully they will soften a bit more in that time.

Chicken kebabs, sweet potato mash and parsnips.

 

My husband kept asking me what I'll eat tonight but I just couldn't focus my mind on what I had decided to eat that I couldn't tell him. My mind was still swimming with all the recipes and ingredients. He then took it upon himself to buy some chicken mince but when he came back I realised I had nothing to bind the mince together as usually I use chickpea flour but couldn't. The other alternative was egg but I didn't want to waste a couple of eggs just for the yolk. In the end he told me to just make it like this without binding and see what happens. It actually worked getting the mince to stay on the skewers but the problem I had was that I couldn't tell if its cooked as they are so pale.

 

I've decided with this new found eating I should try and eat as healthy as possible (with occasional fried food). So I made oven parsnip chips which I'll need to put in much later as they dried out quickly. Two baked sweet potatoes which I mashed in the food processor... However I didn't like the whole combination of this meal, the parsnip had a flowery taste, the potato was too sweet (I felt quite sick by the end) and then the kebabs spicy that it didn't come together at all.

 

However I'm glad I tried it as its all such a learning experience. As I mentioned I never tried sweet potato before but I had also never tried parsnip before either.

 

My food photos aren't the greatest, they are something I've never been able to take properly but I hopefully they don't put you off trying them.

Another new toy....

I know I already have a label maker but I realised quickly its not one that emboses. It didn't matter though as I still really like it and can use it. However I decided I could have 2 label makers and bought this Motex one which is brilliant and so much fun to use. I have found so many different ways to use it like on this postcard....

I decided to use a dutch quote to go with this series of Dutch Kawaii items. These labels add a fun twist to an already fun postcard.

 

Have you got a Motex Label Maker?

Yippee an award!

The lovely apeachykeenday awarded me the Libster Award last week and I'm now finally getting around to answering her interesting questions. I of course love anything like this. Thank you so much.

Here we go! The Rules?

To be awarded the Liebster your blog has to have less than 200 followers. The award helps spread the knowledge of great bloggers.

Answer the 11 questions asked by the blogger awarding you the award.
Choose 11 more blogs for the award, you cannot give the award to the person awarding you. The people you award must have under 200 followers and you must give the person awarding you the award a shout out in your post.
Ask a set of 11 new questions.
Contact the 11 bloggers to let them know they have been nominated.

Now on to her questions...

1) Last song you listened too?

My nieces nursery rhyme CD which is hideous as they all sing in high choir voices that I can't sing along to.

2) The last thing that made you laugh?
My mum, its a case of if I didn't laugh I'd cry! I'll have to remember I'll be that parent one day!

3) If you had to change your name, what would you pick?

I actually really like my name as its completely different. The thing I do hope to one day do though is to use the surname on my birth certificate rather then my dads name as that's something the school required when we joined according to my mum.

4) You're favorite thing about yourself?

Right now I can't think of anything as I'm just so unhappy about most areas in my life, including my health that I honestly can't think of one good thing.

5) If you were a cookie, what flavor would you be and why?

Chocolate and Hazel nut.

6) The most exciting part of your day today?

Receiving my first Postcrossing postcard

7) What did you want to be when you were little?

I always wanted to work with young children which I'm doing now and its not what I want to be as a grown up anymore.

8) Last book you read?

Paper Town by John Green

9) Two words that best describe you?

Creative and Unhealthy

10) Favorite thing about the place you live?

It's multi-cultural so you've got the whole world in one place.

11) Last thing that made you cry?

My stomach as it hurts like hell again and I had another unbelievable visit at the doctors. My H.Pylori test came back negative which this doctor wouldn't admit I still had it.

I won't offer this award to anyone as I'm not sure who would like it or not. If you would like it let me know and I'll write 11 questions for you.

Ramzan Mubarak

It's the Islamic month of Ramadan at the moment and this year I'm not taking part. I've decided to focus on my health as I've had such a horrendous time of it this year but as I mentioned for 9 years I've been trying to find out why I've been getting stomach/abdominal pain and only a small light has been shone on that and I'm still making my way through the medication. I do hope this is it but I'll have to see as the pain comes and goes. I have decided however that when I've completed this course of medication I will try to make up the fasts  that I have missed. I hope I'm able to do it as it will be hard not having anyone else fasting the same time as me but also that health wise I can cope with it. If not there is next year, I guess.

 

Anyway if you are taking part in Ramadan this year I hope that you are not finding it too difficult as these long day are hard enough but with the heatwave most countries are facing at the moment making it even tougher. I hope that you stay well!

 

Ramadan Mubarak!

Graze Box

I've always liked the idea of a Graze Box but it wasn't until recently that I really thought about getting one. I was actually going to pay for it but my problem was I wasn't sure how big the box was so kept being put off by it.

Then over the weekend I got the Amazon gift voucher and included with it was a code to receive a free box. Of course I jumped at the chance and received my box today. I absolutely love it but the problem for me is that our postbox is too small even though its made to fit through a standard letter box. I had planned on continuing to get them but now I don't think I will for the reason that the postmen already get really ratty with my mum as they don't use the door bell so wonder why she won't answer etc... Also they come at a time when my mum goes to collect my niece so I'll have to collect it from the sorting office. It's all such a pain to think about it, I feel quite sad about the whole thing but who knows maybe this year I'll get a house and then can continue with it.

If you would like a free graze box you can use the code above. Enjoy!

My weekend...

This weekend I received a gift voucher from a friend with the cutest spring birds.

It shocked me a little at first as I couldn't understand what I had bought but thankfully it wasn't anything I accidently bought. I also received a gift code for a free graze box and since I've been thinking of buying one for ages I finally got around to getting it and it should be here Wednesday. I hope I enjoy them all.

My niece has chicken pox at the moment so what better card to make her then one with spots. I ended up doodling on some of the spots and I was wondering if I should stick some buttons on too as my niece loves them but I'll have to do that quickly as she will be well before then.

I bought a couple of washi tapes because I really wanted a musical one but as they were on offer for 2 I got the spotty one too. I'll probably soon use them as I've been making little samples to share too.

I'm giving away some washi tape pegs at the moment on make my day, why not pop on over to try and get them!

Chocolate anyone!

My sister-in-law is getting married next week and we weren't sure what to get her between my sister, myself and another sister-in-law as we didn't want to get the traditional of Mithai

shirishsen

Just imagine if all 3 of us got her a tray each plus her other guests its a lot and will go to waste. I said to my sister we should get her instead a flower arrangement, chocolates and a fruit basket. My sister agreed but ended up getting two flower arrangements in the colours of her Mehndi dress and she was getting annoyed with me because I couldn't understand why we had to get 2! Isn't it weird to get 2 flowers arrangements in exactly the same colours but also the plan I had for the chocolates also meant that we'd end up with something also floral looking. In the end I didn't want anything to do with the flowers as my sister was being rude about the fact she didn't understand what my problem was.

 

Anyway a couple of years ago I went to a Mehndi where someone turned up with a Ferreo Rocher arrangement and it looked fantastic that my sister and I were both starring at it, we can't remember thought what exactly it was. My sister couldn't remember it so did a search online and came up with trees but with having left it all so late the deadlines are for 3 weeks from now. We even asked at the flower arranging shop and that lady said she did them but because they didn't pre buy the Ferreo Rochers in advance and they weren't on offer at the moment it would work out really expensive. My younger brother came across someone on Facebook who did it at a decent price and lives in Bradford. We sent her a message but she hasn't got in touch and I really hope she does and makes us a really nice one.

 

Ours won't quite be like this but doesn't it look amazing.

Take a look at this website, it has a lot of other delicious trees

sweettreecreations

 

They tend to have a different pot, especially clear ones with sweets in. When going to the flower arrangement shop she also told us that she could put them inside the flower arrangement too. Looking online I came across these that look so much more fun.

sweetandtemptingcreations

 

rochercreations

 

adpost

 

I'm going in search of chocolate now. I'm guessing you will be too as these just look so yummy. I've also come to realise that maybe I could have a try making something similar myself. I'll have to have a look to see how they get the Ferrero Rochers to stay in.

Its a bear thing....

This week I was going through my things to sort them out and came across three packs of decoupage me to you/tatty teddy bears and forever friends bears that I bought last year to give away on make my day. Well I left it too late to do that so instead I decided I'll make some cards myself as despite them being for Easter some of them have a spring feel instead to them... its only really the eggs and hot cross bun ones that are Easter ones but I'm still going to make them and send them out as they are too cute not to and after all these are the Easter holidays so I could probably get away with being a little late.

 

I'm now not sure which one to make for my niece as she's turning 4 on Easter Sunday! I can't believe it and the time has flown by so quickly, I'm trying to savour my mornings with her, the little conversations we have and the demands she makes to do things but those days are slipping away too quickly... especially my mornings taking her to school as she starts full time in September and I doubt I'll be able to take her. Once I get a house I'll see her even less and I doubt she'll ask to see me.

She knows and likes Tatty Teddy  so it will be one of those.

 

The background paper is a pack of paper I bought today, I saw it the other day and really liked it but didn't get it. Today I went to get some more foam for these decoupages incase mine runs out as I only had a little left and when I saw this pack of paper again I decided it would fit in so well with these bears and so much more. I have managed to use a lot of my paper up but there is still a fair bit I want to use so I won't be rushing to buy a lot more just yet. Its just a little tempting sometimes.

 

Would you like one of these cards when I'm done, Maybe there is a bear you really like?

All Aboard...

I haven't been to look at the craft supplies at the local store for a long time but I really needed some pens to draw with as I used up all the ink in the decent one I had for my doodle a day project which I'm blogging about on my bubbles blog.

I managed to buy some pens and browsed the aisle and came across this range...

I want everything but the only thing I came away with is the washi tape. I wasn't even going to get that as the last one I bought in a different collection is now reduced by half price along with half the other items that I didn't buy and I feel really stupid for buying what I did The reason I did this one though is that I think it might be quite popular so whilst I can get one I might as well. I've left everything else and will go back in a couple of months as I'm sure those will then be half price,

 

I only really want the rubber stamps set in the map and the washi tape style one, the ribbon paper clips, twine, the alphabet sticker and I absolutely love the journal even though I have no where to travel to. Of course this is just a wish list as I imagine when the time comes I may decide I don't want any of them but right now I just can't help drooling. I love it when collections come out that are just my thing.

 

Have you seen anything lately that is exactly what you want?

It's another snow day!

Today I got the day off as it started snowing early this morning and is still snowing now... its really fine, really wet but coming down quickly, its also very windy. From the photos it doesn't look like much snow but with it blowing around certain areas have more then others.

Despite me having the day off, my sister never does. Last time I had a snow day off she decided just not to go as she couldn't even get out of her road so she knew things were bad, she had her pay taken off her for that day but those that did go in had a horrible time to get there only to be sent back home so she was relieved she didn't go. With my sister going to work, my niece was dropped off as usual so that's a 6am start for me! Her school also never closes so I decided to take her as its not like I had to drive and I can easily collect her if they decide to close. I took some photos along the way....

I have so many more of course but I'll stop here. The last photo my niece saw and pointed out to me saying that they were cat footprints and if I followed them I would find out cat, I thought that so sweet even though its been 2 weeks now and we know he's not coming back.

 

I hope that you are having better weather then here.

You'll be missed...

Twelve years ago you turned up on our doorstep in need of a home. You pushed your way in and became part of the family never straying far away and at times following us to a destination close to home. You loved being outside all night getting up to mischief with the other cats.

 

You were always a sick little individual but you survived the odds and continued to battle your many colds but it got to the point where your health was getting so bad that my mum was worried about taking you to the vets because they would put you down. Then on Monday you decided it was time to head back out in to the big wide world, never to return! We believe you have finally gone to the land of happiness and good health... RIP Dear Kitty!

Happy Mother's Day!

In the UK today its Mother's Day! I still don't understand why we don't all celebrate it on the same day, along with Father's Day, World Book Day, International Womens Day.... as some of the titles suggest. I hope that all mum's are having a great day regardless of it being a special day or not.

I know this is a bit random considering but if you are in the UK and have a Tesco close by, they have buy 1 get 1 free on all packing items. I went last night and almost went insane buying boxes everything else I either had or didn't use. So get on down there!