Lucy Lightening

The look on belles face when she saw Lucy Lightening, yest, was immense.

A pet that works at her speed, a pet she can handle - a lil herman tortoise.

Within in an hour of setting up her vivarium and heat pad, Belle and Mark took a walk (YES! No pushchair... I KNOW!!!) to grab some fresh dandelion greens. Belle worked hard to walk the distance to go into greener areas of our housing estate and pay particular attention to the areas which had not been sprayed with council insecticide. She was so bubbly about the whole affair. Lucy was a tad grumpy due to her 230 mile trip up north and hid all night under her hay house.

She is not at the true age for hibernation and no - you don't keep them in the fridge! They need warmth and UV light during the day and heat during the night. Put it this way, Lucy will be pampered beyond all requirements and we want to pass a huge thanks to Marks bud, Daz for handling the tortoise transaction for Belle.

What was even more fabulous yest was the best news we had had in 6 flaming years.

Guess what Ellie got after the 3rd attempt of trying?

Just bloody well guess what?

Well being failed twice in the past 6 years for something we knew she deserved cut us to the bone.

But 3rd time lucky for her and she has finally got her Statement of Education. Can you adam and eve it?

A statement of education recognises a child's disability and special needs - officially and with strict observation. What we think failed her in the past was the ill advise of the primary school she previously attended. We ought to be very cross with them for wasting 6 years of valuable loss of care. But in recent weeks Ive been shrugging off the past and ignorance. It still burns deep in the core of my body and I can feel ripples of rage at times but to be honest, isnt it better strike up a kilowatt of happiness for the future as opposed to living in your own bitterness of the past - all dark and gloomy and miserable?

Talking of which.....

Ive been reading a blummin marvellous book of late. And I feel there are a number of people I could recommend this book to - both those that dwell on the misery of the past and those who have learned to deal with the misery of their past. No w don't get me wrong becuase I don't mean misery as in poor, unloved family backgrounds. I mean people who inflict their miserableness upon all they meet. You know that feeling when you absorb the hate and anger of a situtaion which then manifests itself in you so that you allow it to evolve into something that turns you too into something miserable? I personally feel I have been that spong becuase Im affected that way. I personally don't think I am a miserable person. Look -> :)

This book allowed me to recognise and how to steer away from what was causing me to feel so low and so worthless. It showed me how you can deflect negativity and how you can discover whats eating you. It allows you analyse the power of people and that hierarchy, nobility, hostility and integrity within others means nothing without the power of understanding. It allows you to feel you can stand shoulder to shoulder with every walk of life because at the end of the day we are human. Nothing sets you apart from anyone else when it all boils down to carbon and frequency (bear with me, its get less baffling). You just THINK it does. Its amazing. I demand you read it. It only 33p at amazon right now - here!!! Don't let the title put you off, it isn't all about "how to make friends and influence people". It's about (not so deep)psychology and the study of the good and bad in people. It allows you to become a better person especially if you, like me, suffer with a very low self esteem.

I was talking to two people yesterday. Both from very different backgrounds, both with their own issues but both very lovely. Through both of their life stories they remain so positive. Its nice to be surrounded by that, don't you think? I told them both about this book, because if anything slips in their life - its a book you would like to fall on. Its even better than The Secret. And I thought was the bestest. I really did. And this book was written 70 years ago and its principles are still valid today. That's because time and tide can change no inner core of a human beings psychology. Even if they are affected by something so great, the mind can wind down to the principles of this book. And you have to tell me when you have read it and share your views. You just have to.

**Alights orange box**

So anyway - goodness comes this way by a number of wonderful donations, topping up a substantial pile of yummo.

**Anna Moore sent a £20 Paperarts voucher (paper arts is always top in the newest supplies)

**Sara Berry sent her debut kit from her club over here at Story of my Life - USA

**A local car car company in Wigan rang us up on Weds to declare that they had raised £350 for belle on the back of one of their lads doing the Liverpool half marathon on Sunday. I couldn't breath for the total shock of such a wonderful gesture until he almost killed me yesterday when he said that they had actually topped it up to £1000. We go next week to pick up the cheque so I will report all of that delight next week :)

**And Debbie, over HERE has offered to an online album making class for £6. All of your £6 will go to belle fund raiser which I think is very selfless of Debbie to offer. I spoke with Debbie for like 36 hours on the phone and her genuine and kind nature shone through the parting black clouds of tabloid hell a few weeks back. It was very refreshing to feel the bubble nature of her persona over the phone.

We are so grateful to the raffle prizes coming in, bit by bit..... with heartfelt thanks

PS: Don't forget mothers day on Sunday which comes a bit flipping earlier than normal. Obviously down to Easter and obv a commercial strategy in my estimation. Can the two not be on the same day? Sheeeeeesh.

Cushiony Winner

I had a girl called maria bid on the cushion at £25 but she didn't leave her email addy - who are you Maria? Could you let me know via my email address (its on the sidebar) - cheers me dear.

**Also, I want to sell my Nikon 85mm, F1.8 lens becuase I just don't use it. I shoot primarily with my 50mm F1.4 or my 28-70mm F2.8. The 85mm was one of those business panic buys that I thought I might have to use but as I work in close up - I just can't use it the way I thought I might have to. And its a classy glass lens with super sharp results. Some of my most fave shots with it was these ones - they need very little colour boosting because of the clarity of the glass. Its by far better than the 50mm F1.8 on a digital camera:

They sell for £240 but Im happy to sell for £200 inc postage. It will come in its original box, dust and scratch free - you wouldn't even know I had used it. Email me if you feel you might need one!

Well I had planned to stay up last night and start with the reveal night shenanigans over at Studio Calico but after my bath, I went to my bed to cool off and read a book. By page two I had fallen asleep. At 8.30!!!! Belle was in her room watching a DVD and when that had finnitto, she roused me and I tucked her beside me and went back to bed to doze out the slumber. Next thing I know its 7am. What happened there, I wonder? I must have needed the sleep and today I feel fabulous. Ive done so much through two phone calls. Multi tasking is my favourite sport, lol. So without further ado, here are my layouts that I made in such a short scale of time. I'm pretty chuffed with them as the kit combo was especially scrumptious. The Tinkering Ink birdies (on the layout below called Laughter) looked plain awful as a paper. After a lil scissor action they became a tad more usable and helped furnish my simple layout into one of my faves this year.

I think most of the add ons have sold althought I dont know because the website crashed last night due to the amount of scrappers fighting for a kit!

Anyway, here are my layouts (again, sure Ive just said that).

Ciao Bella's. Will be back with more rafflacious news laterz

Studio Calico last minute cafe sneaks

Blimey, these are later than your average (as its reveal night tonight).

Im totally blaming our PO as they hoard my parcels and deliver them when they feel like it. Grrrrr.

But anyway, the kit goes live tonight and again April and Scarlet are bracing themselves for another sell out. They continually buy more kits each month and they still fly out. A few scrappers get a little peeved about not being able to get their mitts on them but by being a subscriber ensures you grab the booty. The add on's are summink else. Really tempting this month and I bought one for myself of course to help jazz up the kit to the max. I say this every month but this month is the BEST ever. I wish I could convey with conviction just how accurate that statement is! Its got the colours that just pop

Hope you can join us at 5am (UK time) or midnight (EST time - USA).

Off to go and finish off a ton of stuff. Im a busy busy girly with a lil lady who is craving some hugs. Hugs first, work second. As always :)

Raffle-a-roo

Ok, I have some rather groovacious raffle prizes coming in right now so you want to make note of this (and this is not everything yet!). I have a big, massive and humongous thanks to the UK stash shops who are taking part in the raffle. Please show your support by paying them a lil visit. Each one has something just for you (and me!).

**Gorge page kit from Scrummy Stash Cafe
**Box of Bazzll form Scrap Magic
**Goodies to the value of £20 from Scrapshed
** Fancy Pants Clear stamps from Make The Moment Last
**Jenny Cocks has donated a lovely box of papers from her own amazing line.
**Laura Fiore has donated an awful lot of beautiful stash from her own collection. All totally current and gorgeous.
**Dont forget to go and bid at some reet lil beauties over here at Bubbly Funk

Plus we have stash donated from Heather (as mentioned last week) and from ScrappyDo's.

There are prizes being donated all the time so that by the end of March there will be one humongous prize available to one winner - wherever in the world they shall live. For the past two years it was a competition based prize giving I have run on my blog but this time - EVERYONE has a chance.

The tickets will work on Paypal Transaction codes that both mark and I will monitor, print out and allow belle to pick a winner. The tickets will be £2 each and will be on sale from 1st March.

I had a lovely email from Mark winter and Deanne who collectively raised almost £100 at their local slimming world event - just for belle. Its so kind that people who you dont know (but want to know) just feel so energised into raising money like that.

Speedy Hire UK are a massive rental company hiring out building things (I don't know the word, Im a girl!!). Their offices local to us at Haydock have organised a company sponsorship for belle walk on the 22nd March. Im so very fortunate that the press (as much as I hated the tabloid side of it) and my blog has reached out to so much positivity.

So for all of the above - so far.... thank you a gazillion mcwillion trick trillion.

Talking of the sponsored walk, it turns out we have to raise a risk assessment plan as its on public ground. Now I know how serious this tuff is but the worst you can suffer is a little scratch off a bramble or maybe the 6 legged, horn billed ducky puss might make its rare appearance and eat all the ramblers in its wake. If any of you want to come (you are a. very welcome and b. bear in mind its easter saturday) but we would love numbers so that our risk assessment covers the insurance. Polava!

And here are some little picaroo's of my weekend at my bro and sissy's.

My sister might kill me for putting up a picture of her - but you can only see a bit of her head and I do happen to love this picture. I can't for the life of me remember when we actually had a proper picture taken together. So this is a treasure of all treasures.

This is my bro. I made him stand here and will give him this picture for his first album cover. that is, if he ever makes an album. He is not even a musician or a singer. But I want this to be his album cover cos it looks "album covery".

Is my sister in law trying to tell us something? Ok, she was looking through this book at my sisters house. We played a game of choosing our next childs name by suggesting a page number and then a number from down the list. Mine was Garth. I mean - as if. Garth? But we cant have more children so we will let this one go.

My sisters kids. Im respecting my sissy's wishes by not showing their faces. My nephew, H, is so funny. Really, he is.

And this is my niece, C. Isnt she just cosy? I love lil nibblets like this, bending down and exploring, rummaging and poking.

Ma belle a roo. In charge of the GPS and clearly hating the erm, bright light (it was overcast!)

We geocached around their sweet village and mark got a lil pee'd off at not being able to find one key point. It turns out I was standing on it - the bridge. How we laughed. NOT!

How many traditional butchers use dividing little shrubberies like this? I lubs tradish butchers and this one only serves meat farmed from a radius of 10 miles. Bring back to tradish butchers!

And finally we had to give Ellie a bit of a tough decision of lates. She is not capable of looking after her guineas (they are too fast and fidgety for her and Mark and I have got to the point where we are looking after those two adorable pigsters ... even though Im allergic). We told her that she could keep them but must look after them properly or give them away to someone who can give them the devotion and hands on huggables. She knew we had got fed up of cleaning them and feeding them for her so she said she owuld give them away. It broke her heart in a way because she loves them from outside the cage but won't venture in there to pick them up. So we have two well fed and looked after guinea pigsters complete with home and all food and vitamins etc looking for a home for FREE. If you live in the Wigan area do let me know if you want them. We thought we had a home for them a few weeks back but that fell through.

Marks buddy rang us up last week to offer Belle a pet that she could manage and one that would live with her for a long time. It was thoughtful in a way because he knows how much Belle is fascinated with animals. Its a Herman Tortoise (complete with licence for all those who are hot on this kind of stuff) and he will live for 100 years or so. A friend for life and more manageable, pick-up-able and moreover - SLOW! We have thought of Speedy, Shelly and Zoom for names. Wonder if you could suggest any for us?

**As I finished off this blog post we had an earth tremor (12.58am) and I swear to god, Im sleeping with one eye open tonight. I am shaken, if you pardon the pun. In the wake of discussing our epic 5 seconds of wobbliness over at UKS, I made this overlay. And, if it wasn't for our amazing wobbleful madness (remember, the UK rarely have tremors) - you wouldn't have an overlay!

Get her HERE

Refreshed

Cushion Auction stands at £20 - see my post last Thursday for more info

We just gotted back last night after a weekend away "from it all" at my Bro's house then my Sis's house up near Middlesborough. I have so many lovely photos to share but for now I just wanted to point you in the directions of Caroline's fab site over at Bubbly Funk. They are holding an online auction to raise funds for belle.

I have donated a few lil oddments and a chance to win this (I think it will be put on the auction section of her website tomorrow). This box conceals a coupon to the highest bidder where I will scrap a layout for them using a ton of beautiful embellishments and other yummy additions. To sort out my oddments for the auction, I had to endure sorting my scrap room again. I know you know the pain I was feeling (and not just from potential varicose vein induced from kneeling for hours on end)I always strive for a better storage system and have currently placed all my chipboard and acrylic alphas in drawers labelled "a-b" and "c-d" etc. What I thought would take about half an hour took 6 hours because once you make room for something you have to look through the whole of your supplies and work around the best route for access now you have juts rearranged the samn lot. I really need to cull my supplies as I have tonnes of stuff from when I ran a home business, leftovers from various kit clubs and DT work plus my own purchases. I think Ill have a major clear up and donate a large chunk in the raffle (coming 1st March).

Im going to grab some sleep, finish off my Studio Calico kit and then work on a lil plan Ive been procrastinating over for about 2 years.

Aquarius=Procrastinate

Not good.

Toni & Guy & James

**Bidding on the cushion below stands at £20**

Had the luxuriant opportunity to have my hair done with my birthday money today - at Toni & Guy's. Ive NEVER had my hair coiffured in such an elite hairdressers before but my hair was in such a state from over bleaching last year that only the best hairdessers in town could sort it out. Much to my expense though - was hoping to buy new scrap supplies over the course of the year with my spends.

I once went to Toni & Guy's before in Salisbury some 6 years ago. I was trying to grow out some black I had coloured in my hair. I approached the shop with in trepidation because it always seemed to me that you had to be beautiful to even get a whiff of a consultation. Its generally an "it" kind of dressery and I knew with certainty that I was out of my depth. I thought to myself "sod it" and entered the perfectly clean cut image of a dressery knowing full well that I'd be scuppered to the back of the joint in fear of bringing the place into disrepute. I asked the girl at the fancy lectern if I could have a colour consultation with a dresser because I needed to bleed the black out and introduce some new highlights. Well, I might as well have spoken in Swahili and worn a big scab on my head for the sheer look of horror on her face. She eyed me both up and down and screwed her face up in a repugnant display of disdain and answered "WE DON'T DO BLACK. WE DON'T TOUCH BLACK. WE CAN'T LIFT BLACK".

What a cow.

Clearly my 5 foot 2 inch stance was nothing in comparison to the lithe, 6 foot modelesque type clientele sitting there being pampered to their every whim. I couldn't believe she thought I was so chavvy and ugly. So putting my past fear of Toni & Guy aside today, I went to have the old bleach lopped out, new warmer tones put in and a swish new cut.

James, my dresser for the day was as camp as delightful can be. I LOVE CAMP MEN! He was so over-the-top-fabulous with the "limp wrist and little finger curling" action at every slight move and over exaggerated dressing my hair when blow drying it in 6,000 different directions. He lifted and wafted and parted my hair with such feminine flamboyancy - I almost wet myself laughing because it was just brilliantly gorgeous. I also love how camp guys always hang on to their pronunciation of the letter "S" in every word they use. its like a god given gay right to really ham that letter "S" out. LOVE IT. And James did a fab job (she says, as she swishes her head in james-like over exaggerated fashion).

bid on this hand made 8x8 cushion

Lovingly crafted by Reeeeeens' (greyparrot to you forum lubbers and blogger if this site here)

Im going to start this as an auction because initially Corrina wanted to submit it for the raffle. but its far too scrumpsh to be a raffle prize when its been lovingly hand crafted. Imagine this on your scrapping chair or in a snug little corner of your house.

The bidding will start now and finish next Thursday. Winner will have to pay by paypal (sorry if that's not convenient to some) and the money raised will go to belle's fund. Bidding comments will be left anonymously (ie - I wont print your bidding details and as my comments are for approval only, it wont show - EVER!)

And whilst you all bid away for that scrummy little cushion, I have an overlay that I made during the most boringest phone call of my life today. I don't doodle much these days if there is other work I can be getting on with. So I made this and you can have it for free (if you are a digi scrapper of course, else you can just "collect" to fill your hard drive with!!!)

You can get her here

**Note to downloaders that are not used to 4 shared. Click on the link and it opens to a new page. Wait 15 seconds and a little option box will appear half way down the page giving you the cue to download**

Straight A's

Who would have thought it?
Who would have bloomin well thought it whatsoever?

This lil nibble here got rave reviews from every single one of her teachers tonight. Although she is working towards a lower level than your average 12 year old, she got straight A's in all her assesments and efforts. Both Mark and I were flabbergasted. And pleased. And if you could have bottled the pride in her face, it would power a whole county for 5 years. Unfortch this lil nibble also has a cold and despite being offered some time off school, she was adammant that its to school she went. Talk about keen!

Been able to take a break from the mayhem of late to sift through my photo's at CHA. This was the stall of My Little Shoe Box - it was so elegant and girly. I went to chat with the owner and was seated on little stools with perfectly delightful cushions and bon bons for treats. Im hoping to do some work for them - they will set the cosy corners of scrapping alight, Im sure.

I also fell in love with a new exhibitor called Raspberry from the land of Oz.

Now everyone is raving about Pink Paislee being the boldest of new exhibits and it is a fab range. However, they got the ravest of reviews because they are from the US and had pre-destined designers toshowcase their products. But I like the underdog/unsung heroes in a contest and the little quiet corners of a show always have hidden gems. It tends to be "who shouts loudest" rules the day and I think these abbies got overlooked, quite shamelessly. But this corner of scrapdom has a gorgous range of papers. You must seek them out.

Whilst out in CHA I got to share a room with Emilie who works for Scrapbookmate. Ive never met anyone so organised for her years, so concise and dedicated too. I took some pictures of her whilst waiting in the carpark one afternoon. The light was perfect to showcase those amazing blue eyes. Typically a french beauty who couldnt avoid my camera. I mean, you just can't bypass beauty when you see it. I was so happy to take these for her :)

Mark and I have spent a lot of time together this past week and spent hours chatting on this sofa and catching up with Shameless - right through to season 4. Am gutted that Kev and Veronica are not in it anymore. Hate that Fiona and Stever left in season 2 as well. And from what I see of the current series (season 5) - its all about the maguires and they suck. Still love the gallaghers storylines but I hate the violence they portray. But i did get a whisper that Kev and "V" are making an appearnce this season. Hopefully it will pick up. Do you watch it?

And finally - those worried about the producers questions in my last blog entry. We are fine with the questions and so was Ellie. Its part of the documentry to get a better picture of what makes Ellie "Ellie". She is very very thin and yet eats so well. She is currently 36 lbs (2 stones and 8lbs) and should weigh 6 stones (Ave 12 year old weight). The whole point of the documentry is to follow her story to the US medical side of life, to reflect the pain of a child who cannot be "fixed" and to explain to those teens toying with the size zero phenomena that although Ellie is a size zero (infact she is much less - she is age 7 clothing), its a size she has no control of. Those teens messing with their bodies have a CHOICE to try being a size zero. Belle does not have that choice but is regularly judged because of it.

So that is where we are at. But don't worry - all is well in the Wiseman household :) And Belle says its ok to post her thin pictures because she thinks it will help others like her.

because cartoons say it better.....

Blood and gore never killed anyone, did it?
Actually this cartoon is a misinterprtation of my day.
It was a good one.
Im just kidding that I was having a bad one.
Today was also interesting.
TV crew.
Tea.
Serious issues.
Discussion.
Fluffing answers.
Laughing.
Even did a cheeky burp.
Good job it wasnt "live".

Then it was Ellie's turn to be interviewed.
Producer: So Ellie, exlpain what its like being thin.
Ellie: Well, I just have no meat on my bones.
Depending on your mood you can take that two ways. But coming from Ellie that was priceless. You cant help but love how frank our daughter is.
We love her to bits.
Meat or no meat.

Casting an eery glow

Winter sunsets are generally a flash in the pan but the last two nights have been wierd. At approx 5.15pm the light goes a grey-orange colour and it feels awful strange. I thought last night was a one off but it did it again tonight so I took some pics. Im not sure it conveys the right mood but it was wierd (is it me but does spelling "wierd" look wierd? I always thought it was "i before e"). So Im sharing my wierdness with you! Or is that weirdness?

Wanted to mention that out of almost 900 emails to reply to, I am getting there. I personally want to acknowledge every single one and it will be done. So do bear with me as I fit it inbetween the admin at this end and such like business. Whilst Im on the admin front, I wanted to list some of the prizes for the raffle - them being

*A box of goodies from Persephone (Heather) at UKS - lots of stash from when she used to run a fabbo scrap shop
*A beautiful 12x12 picture frame and some Elsie papers/fabric paper from Jo at ScrappyDo's
*Caroline over at Bubblyfunk is having an auction overe here and bidding closes early march.
*Kerry over here rasied a whopping £343 over here by raffling off some of her goodies
*Corinne Delis did a wonderful job of auctioning some of her beautiful things over at her groovacious blog.

And if all pledges come into effect, you have helped raised over £7,000. This money will reach various charities in addition to the trip to the USA. We want to mention (again) that all of this money is being banked in a trust fund account in Ellie's name and will be spent according to her medical needs in the US and further spread to charities in the UK :) Should anyone who donated to the fund wish to view transactions relating to the fund raising, we will be happy to oblige once the trip to Nevada has taken place (April 08).
We have a TV documentry company coming to visit Ellie tomorrow. They are keen to follow her story from birth to following us to Nevada. Im hoping that they will convey the story to a wider audience so that they cover four most important details:
a. To never give up on your loved ones even when you have been told there is nothing else that can be done.
b. To reach out to those who are in a similar position and offer support (of which has been lacking until recently).
c. To show how hard it is (even after banging you head against a brick wall and almost going over the edge of depression) that as a mother - you know you are right.
d. To prove to the ignorance of every single person we meet/have met that Ellie eats 6 times a day (and not 6 meals a day as miquoted in the press) and is not anorexic, is not a spastic, is not stupid, is not special - she is just different - with luscious, ruby rosebud lips. And sprinkles on top. With a cherry. And an extra squirt of cream. And perhaps a flake. Oh, and strawberry sauce.
Smiles :)

She makes us three

She is home.

Lil lady loo laa Belle is back and into my arms after 10 days apart (it would have been 13 days hadn't I have curtailed working at Stitches this week). Ok, she would rather stay at Grannies for another 2 weeks (cos after all, you can get away with murder at your grannies... loving her face in the picture. Its as if Im prising her away from her beloved grandparents!). But home she is and within 2 minutes of familiarising herself with her pet guineas, the comfort of her goody cupboard and the nearest electrical socket for her DS, she was out of her jeans and straight into her jammies for the night (at 4pm).

We had big chitty chatties and I loved how she heard every word whilst peering over the top of her glasses at me - she is just so funny when she does that. I explained a few things happening next week and in the coming weeks and she just rolled her eyes.

It's ok Ellie, you don't know the half of it babe!

She also has some practice walking to get in. I think some people are concerned that a one mile walk will kill her. Well, you might think that. But with pit stops en route and holding hands we know she can do it and so does she. She managed to get around the weendy windy route of IKEA once with pit stops in between and no complaints and you know how weendy windy that can be!. Ellie is "invincible girl" - we shall feed her beans and banana's and she will reign triumphant at her choice of fuel for the journey ;)

Anyway...................

Raffle prizes have started to pour in and Mark and I decided that it would be best to split the prize donations as lots of my friends are NOT scrappers. So we thought we would do a stash raffle and an everything else raffle. I will be selling "tickets" (ie your paypal transaction numbers) at the beginning of March and draw the prizes at the end of March - just after Belles walk scheduled for 22nd march. If you live locally, you are more than welcome to come. In fact, we would be double delighted if you could make it.

Chin chin to the bellemeisters safe return home. Hoorah.

Tidying up

.......my hovel of a scraproom and I had noticed Id forgotten to post this layout to my blog. I was feeling creative before bedtime one night (a few weeks back) and fancied making a quick layout using some stuff hanging about my desk. I collected all the little bits that matched my colour palette in my head and wizzed up this.

This picture of Belle was taken almost 3 years ago. Its dark but I can see her sugary lips and pretty little profile. I used an Anita's stamp, tim holtz dabber paints, papermania brads, odd buttons, lil davies glitter title, a heidi swapp ghost heart and some pink dotty ribbon. Not a shred of patterned paper in sight. It took me all of 15 minutes (set aside the time for paint drying of course). I had the layout in my head and it came out just as I wanted.

If only I could create like this all the time. Sigh.
NB: Phone rang twice today - what a relief. Got so much done. Lots to go........
Laterz Tomaterz

Because we needed the air

Stifled by an administrative headache, jetlag and the phone CONSTANTLY ringing - Mark suggested one hour's geocaching. I personally haven't been for ages and yes, I needed the air. I was festering in my own stench of being "hacked off". At 3pm we enjoyed the evening sun down by the canal to find a box that Mark had struggled to find yesterday. It felt good to get out so we could chat without any distractions. So many decisions to make in such a short space of time and the walk was perfect for the whole affair. Belle is still at my Momma's and it felt weird to geocache without her. I took my camera to enjoy the surroundings and it was peaceful and it was the break we both needed.

This canal near a place called bamfurlong is a great stretch of woodland and wildlife. Mark is the wildlife in this picture!
I love taking picture of people in thought. Mark and I had talked so much today, I wonder how he was digesting that in this picture.

I loved this fence made from traintrack sleepers. I walked through brambles just to get this shot. Shots like this make me happy.

I love this shot framed by the bridge. We walked further than you can see in this picture. It blew the cobwebs into oblivion. It was turning a lil chilly at this time and made our cheeks very pink.

Mark found the box straight away today and made his "sign in" very quick as it was getting chillier by the second. We didnt take a token or a lil gizzit. Mark just wanted to get the cache to register his 214th find.
Whilst he fiddled putting the box back, I stepped to the edge of this 40 foot drop. Mark takes me to the most romantic places at times ;)
I loved the angular curve in this photo, Im always trying to find shapes that amuse me. I have no idea why and I don't really do anything with the pictures. Im just fascinated with form.

Later this evening, mark took me out for a meal. I think its the first time we have been out for a meal (on our own) for almost 2 years. We went to Sorrento's in Ashton. The food was absolutely delicious. We talked all day and thought we had stopped. But talk we did most when we were out. "i's" have to be dotted and "t's" have to be crossed. Its a very surreal situation we are dealing with right now and we are trying to protect Ellie from the frenzy of interest in her right now. Had I have known things would have escalated to this, we could have been more prepared. At this stage we have to appoint an agent and a solicitor. Good in some ways, not in others. But at least it might stop the invasion of privacy, shall we say. Juggling the good and the bad is something Im trying so hard to do. The good being a £1000 donation from Ashley Wilson Solicitors today and the bad having to make a decision to drop some commitments. Rock and a hard place springs to mind but family and security is key right now and other than splitting yourself into 5,000 pieces - something really has to give. You think?

And the winner is

Joanna - you win the apron my darling freind. Joanna bid the higest for the Apron and raised lots of money for Ellies fund. Joanna is just gorge and Im so happy she parted her cash for a super duper apron by Lucy Lucy Lucy

I still have photos to share form my trip to CHA but as I had an extensive 14 hours sleep and a constant batch of phone calls - time has not been my freind. I have had to make some very serious decisions today and ultimately there are things happening right now that are good for us and not so good for others. Its a very strange house to be in but I have valentines choccies to help me get over it and a very loving little girl who is non plussed over the events of last week (which takes the sting out of the tail a little). We received donations today addressed to just Ellie Wiseman, ashton in makerfield, wigan today and it actually got delivered. No Street name and no postcode and it got here. So amazing. Also we have had the following:
*Wigan indoor carting want to run an event where they give back all the money from the night to Ellie.
*A finance company in Haydock want to walk with Ellie and raise money at the same time for her
*Helen Clifford has donated a Tiara to auction off

*Anna Head has donated two concert tickets to see Robert Plant and Alison Krauss (manchester 7th may). Will start bidding soon :)
*A photographer, Mandy Charlton, has offered an entire wedding shoot up for auction (2009 dates only) worth a staggering £1000.

*A sweet blogging freind of mine, carol (a survivor of the 7/7 bombings) has offered to come and walk with Ellie along with her dog, Patch. Am thinking my lubbly buddy Suzy B is coming with her tow little nibbles too.... this makes me super happy :)

Thats all I can think of in my head right now, there is more but thats just the tip of the iceberg. This goes to show that goodness on this planet exists :)

And finally, you must watch this and buy the record. Its groovacious

zzzzzzzzzzzz

Just got back and am too tired to upload pictures. Had a poo poo journey home due to flight being delayed and missing connecting flight to Manchester to Heathrow. I would normally sit and ride out the nightmare hadnt I needed the lavvy and subsequently not being able to use one for 30 minutes (thank god for pelvic floor exercises). Every obstacle we could have met, we met! Am laughing about it now but at the time I was within an inch of stabbing my eyes out with the wheels of my suitcase. Had it not been for watching an awesome inflight movie (Things we lost in the fire with Halle Berry.... god damn brilliantly edgy film) I think I would have died of bad breathness from the guy sitting next door to me who CONSTANTLY complained about EVERYTHING at 50 decibels.
So......anyway.
CHA was awesome.
Knackering, if Im honest. Trudging 8 square miles of paper lushness was a dream come true and bumping into those who inspire you is a brucey bonus (that includes Miss AE - my defining moment. Call it what you will but that woman is a hunk of lovely). I will add pictures tomorrow of my fave things at the show including a little fab company who have been about for 2 years called My Little Shoe Box (Asian Marigold is gorgous but not all the new lines are on there). I didnt care much for last years line but this year - STREWTH! So cottagey and neat.
Obv love BG new releases (Check our Archaic and the lil dinosaurs ... I dont have boys but I just love it) but not as much as Scenic Route - love Scenic Route so much right now (and Vicky Boutins work is my superrific favvo).
My freinds over at Maya Road and Fontwerks outshone the chipboard and stamp market (aside from our very own delish Banana Frog who debuted in the new manufacturers hall - was showing support to the British girls down there and waved the lil union jack for them).
Am most disappointed with 7 Gypsies as they didnt have anything majorly new but then again their stuff is timeless (so shut up, kirsty).
Sassafraslass is a company I have baulked over in the past but kind of lubbed their new line with a lickability factor of 9 out of 10.
W R Memory Keepers is a fond fave of mine and came up trumps as did Fancy Pants.
Have to say that Chatterbox's new line is tipping the balance in the most GORGE favour whilst Heidi Swapps new line didn't exactly thrill me. But top marks to their stand and Heidi's entourage sporting matching outfits with pink gum ball freebies and glitter pink lippo.
Teresa Collins also debuted with a great line of papers (which I have to say I did NOT like the look of on line. But IRL they are scrummy loo laa).
Rusty Picks is a line im not particularly fond of neither BUT!!! They have Coluring-in ranges this season which will give prima paintables a run for their money.
Talking of Prima I still have a strong dislike for their papers (and paintables) but I ADORE everything else. Prima's felts and lace paper runners, flowers and bling is what they do best. And Kenny is such the darling of the whole stand.
American Crafts started off (years ago) as a rather graphic, blocky style range of papers. But this year they are going great guns especially with Thickers - I think Thickers saved AC.
Love Elsie lines are more muted than I imagined and not as grand as her entree's of last years launch but I have to give her top trumps for the embossed papers and accessories. Plus her super sweet nature lends itself to the whole personaility of her lines. Elsie let me stow some stuff away in her fabbo kitchen stand in exchange for english chocolate. She is my first love and she gets a big thumbs up for her energy and charm.
Doodlebug is a fruity and fun as ever - as a lover of all things fun and bright they certainly know how to throw a party.
K&Co is not loved by all but I happen to love thier absolute attention to embellishment details and colour co-ord. God save K&Co and all that sail with her.
Did not like one Karen Foster release at all :(
Making Memories are launching a new die cutting machine which is bloody marvellous. Its electric, portable and cuts on the paper rather than running paper through it. Its called The Slice... look out for it in June.
Tim Holtz brings grunge joy to the artisans. Long may he reign. LOVE the Tim-meister.
Creative Imaginations surpass themselves with their bare elements range complete with jewellery you can scrap on. LOVE IT. Karen Russell's curtain call this year is a stunning range of delightful papers that will end up in my craft supplies (for sure!).
Pink Paislee debuted this deason with a huge attraction and I can see why. Going to see lots of this, me thinks.
Raspberry and Paper Trunk also debuted with yummy lines to cater for all palettes.
And finally Hambly. If it wasnt for Hambly Id hang up my herma and start knitting. Loving Hambly, loving Alisons vision and they are my super true love of the acetate and sticker world.
Crafting aside..........
So I finally get home to a hot bath and candles by my supersweet hubs. We have a lot to talk about and whilst Belle is at Momma's, talk is what we must do. Making the decision to publicise a sponsored event has gone banana's and we are in receipt of so many things we need to sort out to make show there isnt a circus made of such a simple call for help. There are two or three mistruths in the tabloids which we need to clarify and we also felt it necessary to express our disdain toward the local press selling out to The Manchester Evening news who then further sold the story to EVERY UK tabloid with our knowledge. We want to tell you that we have not received ONE penny for this story although we will contact the MEN to request that they might make a donation to Ellies fund. We have taken up the offer of telling Belles story to a leading womens magazine with 100% proceeds going to Ellies fund and we are in talks with 8 independant tv documentry companies who want to document Belle's journey to Nevada (that is something we are most interested as we DO NOT received a penny but they raise the profile of children with undiagnosed conditions, the lack of support they and their families receive, reaching out to other families in order to half any burdens etc). GMTV and CBS (USA) have been in contact to raise this issue on daytime tv. I don't think we are so keen to do that to be honest. Its a lot of work for a 5 minute slot. Belle's life is worth more than 5 minutes of "fame". Her life story up to the age of 12 could fill a book let alone 5 minutes with the rather delightful Phil and Fern (love these guys). But, who knows what these people can do for us although if they want to help then we are here to listen. You just can't imagine what its like to have people WANT to listen to you.

Going now, eyes weigh a ton and I have super clean sheets to dive in to. Oh yeah.

Ali radar

**Apron bid has gone up to £50 - see previous post read more**
Ali Edwards is at CHA.
I fear for her safety.
Because if I see her... well who knows. Squished, perhaps?

**Apron Auction stands at £35 - see previous post to find out more**
Soooooooooooo.......

I made sure that I enjoyed every ounce of my b'day yest - its the one day, I think, that you can revel in your own 24 hours of celebration. The rest of the year life goes on without so much one day being so involved in yourself! I was thoroughly spoiled with a Baskin and Robbins Ice cream cake (only in America - this was such a treat). Heidi was so thoughtful to make sure my day went celebrated. Thank you Heidi and thank you to Meeesh, Sammuel, Emilie, Suat and Ben for the BBQ tea. BBQ in Feb - LOVE IT!

It was really hot today. I managed to stretch out in the villa aprtments garden to catch a few freckles. Ive never been sunbathing on my birthday as its usually snowing this time of year in the UK. We also took a little shopping in and we went to a discount store where - lo and behold - there were scrap supplies on offer. Oh yeah - come to Momma! I managed to bag AMM mini albums for $2 and Ki alphabet soups for $2 a tin and a gorge AMM tote for $15. All in all Mark, you spent $50 on my birthday goodies (£25) and that will do for me. Thank you. How unusual I spent my birthday booty on scrap supplies.

Meeeesh bought these sunnies for Sammuel. Poor thing, its so sunny and bright here. But he looks such the dude. He has been providing a lot of cute entertainment and is such a good boy. Probably a little confused with the jet lag but he is coping fine and dandy.

Meeesh drives so efficiently over here. I couldnt cope with automatics. That coupled with driving on the right and traffic light filters and adhereing to local highway laws would freak me right out of my pants. We are in quite a built up area of Anaheim (literally across the street lays Disneyland) but the little housing estate we are residing is particularly quiet. Must take snaps of the house to show you how lovely it is here.Whilst sifting through todays photos on my camera, I found this of Belle and I taken on Weds by one of my students at the craft classes I run (she is only 11 - check out her photo skills). Missing you my lil lady - enjoy yourself at Grandma's and Ill see you real soon.Im honestly inundated with so many lovely emails. Its goig to take me a very long time to acknowledge them so please do bear with me.
The funds have increased dramatically and all told, with cheques pledges etc we have around £6,000. I cant believe how everyone has helped raise that above our target in just over a week. Im not sure how to handle this last week as its snowballed beyond anything we could have imagined. The world at large is not the bad place that it is made out to be. Thank you so very very much.

Time zoned

**Note - Apron Auction is at £35, see the post below for more details)

I have been to Cali49A before and didnt suffer with any lag. But Im sat here at 5 minutes 8 in the morning and Im spacing out. Already had a birthday celebratory muffin for breakfast (must book a double seat on the way back to cater for my corn syrup infused food fest whilst here).

I woke up to what felt like a barrage of emails from the BBC, CBS, ITV and various independent tv documentry companies wanting to look further into the fundraising. But honestly? You couldnt orchestrate these last few days chain of events even if you tried. Its snowballed and gotten bigger and whilst Im out here and fast asleep, Mark gets call after call after call at home. He doesnt want to fight off Company X to satisfy Company Y. And again, we wish to stress that its a GOOD thing that awareness is being raised. Ive received so many lovely emails from parents across the globe with regards to their children being let down by their health care systems and left to "get on with it". Hearing the words "get over it" is something I have experienced only last November (not from a medical professional, I may add). Hearing those words is like being shot in the head and being fed to the lions of life. It hurts. It has given myself the support which has been lacking over the years because there is no support for a child who has no diagnosis.

So on to tday. We have arrived pre-CHA so I think today we are just getting used to the surroundings. Its a beautiful sunny day and the rest of the team have nipped to Target whilst I finish replying to important emails and baby sit for Michelles lil boy - Sammuel. He is fast asleep and wont be escaping my camera, I can tell you. Im looking forward to falling asleep as we go out for a walk this afternoon. I know its going to happen. My body is really confused and perhaps I can put that down to being 37 (read as 27) years old. IM OLD. Gah!
Here I am - OLD, 37 (yikes), no make up - sleepless (I think). Miss you Ellie xx

Miss you mark, Miss you Belle.......... am hunting down your favourite goodies for you whilst here.
Toodle ooooooo xx

Arrived safely

and settled in nice. (by the way, Apron is at £35, see previous post about that)
Weather is gorgous here but thoughts back home are making me pine a little.
Didn't expect ellies story being placed in the Daily Mail and www.foxnews.com which has generated a lot of interest. The best part is the input and suggestions form various professionals asking to look in to coeliac and calcium issues right through to thyroid.
Thank you to everyone who mailed me a link to the Daily Mail release, I have to admit that belle looks flipping too skinny in the picture which is making me panic a bit. Also thanks to everyone who is reading the story and passing the news around. As a result I have had emails from worried mothers like myself in similar situations. So we are blessed for the press in some ways, at least.
Going to take my mind off it a little and concentrate on the work I have to do out here and try and share some snapshots of my fave CHA releases.
Until then, do contniue to share Belles news so that we can reach out to other parents and children who have similar issues.
PS: Its my B'day today :)

leavin on a jet plane

Bids up to £35 on the Apron - you guys love LUCY (see post below to keep bidding on the apron).
Anyhoo......
Been a little spine chillin here today as we got our copy of the local press regarding Belle's crusade. It made front page news and the pictures of her make her look awful thin. It kind of put the whole thing into perspective and that we are right to get our little girl sorted. As a result there has been various agencies from magazines wanting to run a slot on the whole shebang which will not only raise the profile of belle's plight but also bring the fact that there are hundreds of children who go undiagnosed and ignored every single year. Syndromes without a name (SWAN) is probably something we will have to register with should the Nevada doctors come to the same conclusion as the NHS. Im not pinning my hopes (ok, I am but Im trying to be brave about it) but Im certain we wouldnt have been invited out there for no reason. I have faith and thats more than a lot of people who bang their heads against brick walls and begging for help; getting none. Oh how my heart is breaking at that thought.
We only agreed to a magazine interview so that the results of the event will ultimately benefit Ellie and her fundraising efforts (not us, I feel I must stress). We hope to reach out to other parents in a similar position and call to them and let them know they are not alone. Its so hard to convey just how hard it is to have professionals not offer forthcoming suggestions or pinpoint the problem. Grrrr, Im no good at this. Not at 1.10am in the morning.
So anyway, Ive been bopping around to this little number tonight and hope you all agree its a bloody good tune.

Checking in from Kali 4 9 A over the next few days with sneako's of newby lushness.

Auction at bottom of post - stands at £35 so far

I get my Momma on the phone asking me how everything is going round here, she knows how mad it is all getting.

So I tell her and then I thought I'd tell you too.
Its amazing that complete strangers want to help, its even better when a family pulls together - even from the darkest corners. It makes me smile and for belle - she wonders if the money will fit in the house and blow the roof off (thats what banks are for, baby). She overheard me saying to somebody on the phone that money is literally pouring into the fund but she just didnt hear right and she thinks it literally pouring. I mean she isnt daft or anything - just kiddies imagination!
What has touched us is the length that people have gone to and this is even funnier.

Kerry who joins us over at HSMS (which, I have to add has been hijacked this week) - well anyway, Kerry knits monkies and other knittery things for fun and for a wee hobby (her blog is called Monkee Maker). She has sorted out a load of her posessions and knitteries for sale and is currently raising £500 for Belle. I just can't believe she would do this for belle, really I can't. You can buy a raffle ticket over at her blog here if you like!! But Belle heard me talking to Mark yest about it and she got the story wrong and thought she was a lady that removed nits from monkies. I sprayed my apple juice the length of the kitchen when she mentioned this to me mid pancake flip tonight.
We received private donations in cheque pledges ranging from a lovely £5 to a mind blowing £250 which we will add up next week to add to the fund.
A lovely lady's husband is giving in a collection from work... I dont know them which is hard to fathom, but is so tearfully exciting and joyful at such generosity.
I spoke to a lady called Debbie today (well, for two hours so it was more of a life story between the two of us) who offered to make an album class to sell on her website with the proceeds going to Ellie.
Mark's ex Warrant Officers comittee proposed £100 at a mess meeting last night and it was unanimously voted in. Mark also received information about accessing further forces funding, which we forgot to address. The forces run both the British Legion and SSAFA which we could access as we both collectively have served 31 years in the armed forces. Again, we hit barriers on access like this becuase belle is a singale cause fundraising.
A fab Collab kit has been made by a bunch of amazing scrappers this week. Im just figuring a way to sell it via the trust fund. more about that soon :)
A lovely girl over at UKS is donating jewellery from her party plan.
A UKS girl from Wales is putting together a box of scrap supplies for the raffle which we will hold at the end of March. Once we receive all donations I can send links to their wonderful shops so you can eye up their spiffing candy!
And finally Lucy Lucy Lucy! She has made this for AUCTION - which goes live from NOW. Its starting at £1.00 (for Europeans paying in Euros, £1= approx 1.40 Euros and in Dollars £1= approx $1.80). This apron is completely hand made and embroidered with a natty little handmade scissor jacket, pockets and these gorgous birds and flowers. She says the pockets are full of love and hope. Sniff, that made me cry. So if you want to bid on it, cast a bid here on the comments section (I will keep all bids private and not publish them) and the highest bidder gets to bag the apron. Auction is over on 14th Feb when I get back. No email bids - sorry. Just bids by comments please :)
**Note I wont be here to administrate as quickly as Id like but Ill try and pop on and I'll keep a total of the apron auction as a sticky at the top of this entry.

How lucky is our little girl to have such caring people as you?

Out and about

Crumbs, it feels like Ive been festering in this house for weeks.
So come yest morning I trots out to the vales of Yorkshire to a little nook called Barmby Moor to find a swish rented split level cottage full of scrappers (busily scrapping). Rachel Millington (Taniwha on UKS) had invited me over last October to give these models a lil shoot for them and their loved one and their scrapbooks. Often when Im on shoots like this I shoot as a scrapper, bearing in mind that one outfit and one location needs to fill many pages and frames! This cottage had so many gorgous backdrops to play with and I had so much fun. These girls are from a team on UKS - a team that if I were a member of, would be chuffed to death with a grand old mix of personalities. Plus I got invited to stay for tea and scrap a lil something too. Come 11pm I didnt want to go home but sweet Belle was calling me.

**Money is still coming into the fund and cheques have been pledged too. In particular one scrapping teacher (Jo-Anne te Raa) waived her teaching fee's over the weekend and the store (Scrappendoejezo) owner at the event matched the teachers fee to give a double bonus, completely welcoming and selfless act of giving. Kiddies are raiding their piggies, a family in the states are letting thier own kids walk a mile to collect money for the fund and raffle prize donations have been sent - Im just in bits about it all.

Completely overwhelmed are we.

Still a little dazed

We are still feeling a little fuzzy about the response to Ellie's trust fund. So much so that we felt that me might break the £5000 target and had to think about what to do if that happened. Im awful conscience of the good public interest in this cause but also the abhorrent display of bad interest.
I felt it necessary to call the Charities Commison today because I was starting to feel uncomfortable that there are no officiating bodies in control of the public funding of this scale. Registering for a charity number felt much safer and more official if not legal. That was until they told me we were not eligible because Ellie is a single cause. I played hell fire with them by explaining that anyone could set up a trust fund with that kind of approach and have nobody know - thus people using schemes like this for "ill gotten gains" is like giving licence to print money. The charities commission couldn't comment on it but did put me on touch with the Institute for Fundraising.
Again, not a governing body but a place to explain how to run a trust fund legally and safely. As much as that put my mind at rest it occured to me that this loop hole should be looked at. I feel that strongly that I will approach my local MP about it. It worries me sick. In light of this revelation, it is our intention to make it public just how we will divide the donations up and what will happen to the excess should we go over our target. As this Trust fund is now public domain and has been recognised by the local press (who came today to photograph us as a Family) I hardly think we are going to do a runner with the money! Joking aside, we wanted to let you know the basics of the expenditure.
*Belles flight, accom, meals and day trips (between appointments) will be paid for. Mark and I will fund ourselves.
*Medical bills need to be settled. Some of the Doctors in Nevada are waiving their fees, some will charge and others will see belle through a free clinic - which we will donate money to as a form of thanks. The excess of Belles expenses from the first £5,000 will be paid accordiingly until it reaches zero.
*Should the fund exceed £5,000 but not more than £7,000 we will be delighted to fund UK organisations including three very special causes linked to us - Imagine Trust at Alderyhey Hospital, Muscular Dystrophy and the Stroke Association.
*Anything over £7,000 will be debated on this blog but one suggestion will be to set money aside for Ellie's future.
Now that you, as a donator are aware of this expenditure youwill be assured just exactly how your money is being spent.

Cor - what day. We had the local press over to photograph Belle and it was freezing. She had to walk infront of the camera and the icy winds were making her cheeks blue. She is not a fan of the camera - I know that for sure. I think they might have got a couple of shots for the article highlighting our campaign. Its thanks to Sharon Speakman who contacted the press. We had no idea this would happen but it feels good to reach out to those in our local community who often see Belle in a puschair and probably don't know why she uses one.
Between answering over 300 emails, I have pottered around my lil room trying to get organised for a shoot tomorrow. I dont always take many pictures in the winter months as its so dark and cold. But this is a special arrangement for a group of scrappers currently nestled in the vales of yorkshire in country house - scrapping! Im going to have to check the forecast though as its thick with snow in some parts. I dont fancy having to sleep on the motorway like some are tonight.
Im going to go and hit the sack and try and stop my little heart beating away so fast. Everything is so overhwelming to the point of me almost blacking out. I worte to Belles three favourite people yesterday to see if they would like to sponsor belle. I dont like to ask for donations as I think that money ought to be earned - so sponsoring seems so much freindlier! We wrote to Gordon Ramsay at Claridges (Belles fave chef - mainly because she likes his fun side as opposed to his naughty language). Ive never seen a kid watch a cook with so much interest. We got a relpy saying that they had passed the mail to him. Well, belle almost joined in with my palpitaions. We also wrote to Liverpool Fc and in particular Belles hero - Stevie Gerrard. She gave Beckham the boot when he went to Barcelona years ago. I think she was wise in her ace substitution. And finally we wrote to Terri Irwin, the wife of the late Steve Irwin. Belle is probaly Steve's biggest fan. I remember when the day he died, she got so upset that she felt like dying too. She talks about him constantly as if they were freinds.
But even if we dont reecive a penny from those guys, it felt good for her to feel as if she could write to them. And an uplifted soul is better than the doldrums of boring hospital waits and visits.