Easter Crafting and digital designs

Hello peeps!


After spending so many hours crafting for charity, I decided to take a short time out and create some cute Easter items for the grand babies.  A little lamb hat for Ellie and my version of a "pillow pet" for Sawyer :o).............

I also spent some time making Spring cards, and discovered a new "tool" that I had not realized was available.  While perusing Etsy, I discovered something called "digital stamps".  Now, most of you may be aware of these, but this was completely new to me!  Oh my gosh, the options are limitless!!  Not only that, the digi designs don't take up any room, because they are stored in your computer.....so cool!  I'm adding a link for one of the designers I fell in love with.  Her darling little illustrations remind me so much of a cute book I have had since I was a child; "A Friend is Someone Who Likes You".  I loved that book and her designs feel like a great big hug when I see them!


If you enjoy making cards, then definitely check out Etsy digital designs.  In addition to finding tons of material out there to get the creative juices flowing, I am starting to draw again and have several ideas for my own digital designs, woohoo!!

Here is the link for the digi designs I used:


http://www.etsy.com/shop/WhimsyAndStarsStudio?ref=seller_info


I wish you a wonderful weekend and love and kindness wherever you go this coming week!


Love and blessings,


Mary Anne

It's Spring - time for growth and challenge!

Hello dearhearts! I am continually amazed at how quickly time slips by. Of course, the older we get, the faster it goes! Since I last attempted to post on this blog, I have been blessed with two more, beautiful, grandchildren and moved two more times! Now that I am settled from my last move and have found a new focus, my challenge will be to try and post once a week. We'll see how that goes ;o)..... A year ago, I had hoped that I could continue creating floral arrangements and donating them to hospitals and charity. I'm afraid that didn't work out too well for me, as creating the arrangements required me to be on my feet for too long. I had been contemplating crochet or knitting, as I thought I might be able to do that reclining. I spent a few months in Michigan helping out with my newest grandchild and my daughter-in-law suggested I try Youtube for learning how to crochet (again :o). Thank you Larissa, you are awesome! WOW!! You can learn ANYTHING on Youtube! Did you know that? I was amazed, I had no idea! Granted, I am a little behind the times when it comes to technical advances and a bit challeneged that way as well LOL! But Youtube ended up being an awesome thing for me. I can pull up a video to learn a technique....slow it down, or stop it at any point and resume when ready. For now, I am finding so many gorgeous projects I want to try that there aren't enough hours in the day to do them all! I am also staying very busy crocheting for charity. I am posting pictures of squres that I am mailing to Africa. These are then turned into blankets for the many orphaned children with AIDS. This is an awesome charity and I urge you to check it out! The children are so beautiful, in the midst of coping with horrific challenges. Here is the link where you can read about the program and see pictures of children that have been given warm blankets, hats, sweaters and vests by the KAS. http://www.knit-a-square.com/ What will be your challenge and new growth for Spring 2011? I wish you a beautiful week and an awesome Spring! Love and blessings, Mary Anne

SPRING FLORAL

I'm back........

Gosh, I really had such high hopes for myself with this blog! But I moved and then I moved again. Then I had surgery and then another surgery! And finally, I went back to work.

But I have come full circle and although I did return to work for 3 months, the surgery did not resolve the pain.  I am now done with trying to make the corporate environment work for me!  As previously mentioned, I find that being creative helps prevent depression (which goes hand in hand with chronic pain) and keeps my attitude positive..  Focusing outside yourself is one of the best ways I know to keep your mind off YOURSELF!  To that end, I am working on a plan to donate flower arrangements to hospitals and/or other charities.  I would welcome any assistance or ideas on how to approach this  endeavor.

Yours in fellowship,

Mary Anne

Faith

Carpe diem....Seize the day!

Hello there!

My name is Mary Anne and I am learning to embrace life, moment to moment, while living with chronic pain. I have created this blog to reach out to others who have similar challenges and to share the small steps (and big leaps) that can improve our quality of life. I believe intrinsically that I am to advocate in some small way for those of you in similar circumstances.

First, I would like to share a little background with you. I don't intend to spend a huge amount of time on this, because I don't feel it is helpful to dwell on our disabilities. But I believe it is crucial to accept them, to be validated by our friends and families, and to know our limitations. My particular issue began in 1996 after a fall on the ice. I strained my lower back and hip and so began my journey of treatment. Initially, I responded well to conservative treatment of PT, muscle relaxers and exercise. In fact, for the next 5 or 6 years, I was still very active and able to participate in all of the things I loved. This included dance, skiing, rollerblading....you get the picture. However, occasionally my back would "go out" and I would have to return for PT or osteopathic manipulation. Over the long haul, it took it's toll and by 2002 or 2003 I was beginning to have much more invasive pain. By 2004 I was finding it hard to walk any distance or sit any length of time and in 2005 I had a lumbar fusion with titanium rods. At that point I had pretty severe degenerative disc disease and I was desperate for any relief. Because I had worked in worker's compensation insurance business for many years, this was very much a last ditch effort to get some relief. I knew fusion surgery did not have a huge rate of success, but I made up my mind that I would be one of the successes!

Unfortunately, all my optimism was not enough to make that true and although I noticed some changes in my pain, I never felt that it fixed the problem. In the last 2 years I have had increasing pain and an additional diagnosis of Fibromyalgia. The constant sitting at work became a huge problem for me and so I am currently on disability. The whole disability process is a nightmare unto itself and I hope to share with you some things I have learned. Perhaps (I hope) you will have some wisdom to share with me as well!

One of the key ingredients, for me, in coping with pain has been having a creative outlet. You may be a person who finds creativity in cooking, or in gardening (both of which I love!). Everyone has some creativity, even if you don't think you do! My outlet for creativity has been art and crafts; I am obsessed with jewelry making, scrapbooking and flower arranging. I am fortunate that people seem to love what I create and they are hobbies that have supported themselves for the most part. I cannot always do them to the degree I would like, but even if it's just one little thing in the day, I feel like I have accomplished something! Sometimes when coping with pain, you have to take baby steps.....take a little step each day to do something that makes you feel good about yourself!

Have a wonderful and blessed day!

Your's in fellowship,

Mary Anne