Updates from my Sketchbook

Did I ever show you the cover of my sketchbook? Well here it is (again?). I'm using a 2009 diary that is too heavy to carry around so I just pull out a signature or two at a time and carry them around in my bag. They were getting a bit tattered so I smarted up to pieces of cardboard as covers. When I fill up the pages I take them out (and put them in a pile to be dealt with) and replace with fresh pages to be filled.

I've decided I would much rather doodle or draw inanimate objects than try to sketch people's faces. It's not too bad if I know the person or if they are asleep but seriously, I don't get much satisfaction from faces.

Gimme Gimme Gimme

That's what Moses looks like when he sees my phone/camera.

Every time I whip out my phone near Moses, usually to take a photo, Moses is very , very interested in my phone. It has a bright pink bumper which seems to be the main attraction.
Fortunately for Annelise, she has a normal, unattractive (to Moses) boring black phone. It has no attraction at all. Even an old Blackberry in the toy box holds no attraction. Moses only wants what he can't have.

More Basic Grey Elements Sticker mix and match fun!!! And this is number 5 for the Blue Bazaar Crop Bootcamp - I'm just plodding along.

Photos

It is lovely to escape from the demands of the telephone and Internet and that is exactly we did for a few days last week. Here are just a few photos from our time away.

Note: Click on the photo and you will see a bigger version.

:D

Friend

Sometimes the best friend to have is yourself.

Hudson is the happiest when he is playing on his own.

I created this layout with a mix and match of Basic Grey Elements Stickers - 'twas easy and fun.

:D

Virtual Kaleidoscope

Check out this fun creative activity.

Yesterday Today Forever

Here's one I finished today. This one was completely from my head but, as you can see, I am influenced! :D

Creative Relief

The opportunity for some creative relief came in the form of a whole Saturday (as in a whole Saturday - from Friday night to Sunday morning) to do as I pleased.
I was pleased to easily fit some scrapbooking into my usual Saturday chores.

My first layout was helped along quite nicely by taking a few bits of inspiration from Louise. While I was having fun working in pink and Glimmer Mists and masks and tissue paper I did a second background ready to roll when the next scrapbooking opportunity comes my way.

For the second layout I used Nic Howard as my inspiration. As I was putting down my layers I thought about how appropriate it was to do a layout with a photo of a butterfly, cos if I remember rightly Nic is into butterflies in a pretty big way.

Beauty in the Backyard: One morning we woke to find both a male and a female papilio aegeus butterfly in our back yard. Here is Caitlin holding the female. We've tried hard to find the caterpillars but we can't see any evidence of them even though we have quite a supply of citrus trees in our back yard. They must be loving on someone else's Rutaceae.

And guess what?! Blue Bazaar is having another Crop Bootcamp so these are the first two layouts for that. 2 down, 28 to go!!!

SO there you go.
:D

Launched!

Low iron - In February I wasn't allowed to give blood because my haemoglobin was low. This is what God used to get me to the doctor and what has launched me into a completely new phase of life dealing with my thyroid.

What I have been researching and thinking about.

Severe Hypothyroidism

Autoimmune Thyroiditis

Rheumatoid Arthritis and it's link to Hypothyroidism

Naturopathy

Homoeopathy

http://www.logosresourcepages.org/NewAge/na-med.htm

Celiac disease

Living without wheat/gluten (like, REALLY living without it) and what is there to eat?

Making rice bread (NOT cake!)

GOPAN bread making machine

I'd already been looking at...

Mercury poisoning
Other poisonings
Amalgam removal
Multiple Chemical Sensitivity - this is THE most helpful site for understanding MCS and people who suffer with it. It's worth a read - every page.
House plants to reduce toxins

The best plants for offices

From failsafe Newsletter http://www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info/newsletters/FAILsaf66.htm

Q: Do you have come any suggestions to get rid of the smell of new furniture (a wooden wardrobe for my very food and chemically sensitive 3 yo daughter??

A: there are a number of options.

· Ventilation, the more the better, may help – e.g. windows open with a fan is a good idea, or you could put the wardrobe outside on a sunny, dry day.

· An air purifier - good ones are not cheap, e.g InovaAir E20, see review http://www.productreview.com.au/showitem.php?item_id=57950

· You are probably aware that flat pack furniture from China can have appallingly high formaldehyde emissions (Cheap Chinese furniture 'may poison you' http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/toxic-risk-in-imports/story-e6freoof-1111117892668). If that’s what you have, my advice (based on experience) would be to get rid of it and buy a new one. Home renovator forums say that the best way to avoid VOC emissions in board products (furniture, kitchens, bathrooms etc) is to buy at IKEA because they abide by the strictest European standards for VOC emissions (Australia has more relaxed ‘voluntary’ standards). For more information on VOCs in homes, see http://www.sustainablehomebrisbane.com.au/bcc1.pdf.

· If you already have an IKEA wardrobe, formaldehyde is not an issue there is another possibility - it could be the natural smell of the wood that bothers you. Being a plant product, some trees (and their timber products) contain more salicylates than others, e.g. camphor and sandalwood are the most obvious. These will gas off over time, or you can hasten the process by using an ozone generator in the same room as the open wardrobe. Powerful ozone generators – we use a RainbowAir on our roadshows - can do the job in a short time such as half an hour, but should not be used when people are in the room as they can aggravate breathing problems for asthmatics. They work very well for cleaning and deodorising the air in a room.

Congratulations (or commiserations) if you got all the way to here.
:D

PS Watch out for some creative relief - I know I need it :)