Creating Awareness Through Facebook

Hi peeps,

Firstly, I’m sorry I have been a little quiet on here for a while. It was a mixture of me not feeling well and also when I was feeling up to it, I was trying to find ways of raising awareness of Crohn’s and Colitis in other ways. One of the best ways I’m finding is through Facebook. It seems easier to reach people that way somehow.

I did have a little page on Facebook called ‘Ruth Clare Creations’ but I made the decision to change it to ‘Creative Crohnie’ and start trying to raise much needed awareness of Crohn’s and Colitis. These conditions are not talked about enough in the media, but more and more people are getting diagnosed each year, especially children and young people. We so badly need to raise more funds for research into more effective treatments and of course if possible, a cure.

So, I have been trying to do my bit and so have been auctioning off some of my handmade jewellery, whereby 25% of the proceeds will go to Crohn’s and Colitis UK. Please pop over to my page on fb and ‘like’ and ‘share’ if you can and please look out for more auctions coming up. I’ve still got lots of lovely handmade creations up for grabs. You may be able to bag yourself a bargain for yourself or someone you know, or even start your Christmas shopping early 😉

So here’s the link https://www.facebook.com/creativecrohnie?ref=hl  I really value your support.

Thank you so much for reading, Ruth ❤

How to ‘post’ a hug and show you care…

I was thinking today how hard it is, when someone you love and care about is poorly, and all you want to do is give them a great big HUG to make them feel better (and you in a way!). Sadly, sometimes distance makes this physically impossible, or maybe the person is just not up to a visit and all they want to do is ‘batten down the hatches and barricade the doors’ (or in other words, get into their pj’s, climb into bed and cuddle a hot water bottle). The fact that you cannot do anything however, makes you feel helpless and sad. So instead I thought I would post about the little things that you can do, to help brighten someone’s day even when you are a long way away.

* The odd text to let you know you’re being thought of and that you’re not forgotten (and maybe the odd phone call too).

*Prayers – Knowing that people are praying for you is very comforting. I know this thought helped me loads when I wound up in HDU and was fighting for my life. The power of prayer is incredible.

*A card or letter to say ‘I’m thinking of you‘ or something along those lines. Or even just saying ‘hi’ is great.  Also, photos, a postcard or a ‘newsy’ letter is great. I never tire of getting post like that. I just don’t think you can beat good old fashioned mail arriving through the door, especially when you’re unwell.

*Balloons! I love love love helium balloons! These days you can order them online or by phone and have them sent direct to the door! Also if you are in hospital, then often flowers aren’t allowed anymore, but many a time I’ve gotten away with having the odd balloon tied to my hospital bed (or someone else’s bed if I’m visiting someone else).

*Flowers! They always brighten up the place, often smell nice and well, just cheer you up.

*Cuddly toys/cute ornaments – teddy bears, bunnies, tigers, kittens, penguins – you get the gist. I’m not fussy! lol. Okay, I know I’m a grown adult now, but I do still like my cuddlies! heehe!

*Any other little gifts – either handmade or bought, such as little smellies. I like things with essential oils in particularly, especially roll-on essential oil perfumes etc.

I’ve been really lucky recently as I’ve had some beautiful flowers, a cute teddy bear ornament, a cute hello kitty toy and several other bits of what I call ‘nice’ post, so I’m doing really well. You know who you are – super lovely people, so thank you millions from the bottom of my heart and rest assured that however small you think the gesture is, it has made a difference to my day/s. It’s just lovely to know that people are cheering you on from the sidelines. It helps you to keep strong, positive and to keep up the good fight!

I hope this is at least a little helpful to anyone who is having to care about someone who is poorly from a distance, and if you’re the one who is poorly, keep smiling and fighting and lots of love, healing and blessings to you.

As for me, I’m going to take my hot water bottle and my hello kitty cuddly and crawl into bed for a bit and have a little nap. Zzzzzzzzz

Ruthie xxx

Making a rice heat pack/bag

Hi. I’m glad to say that I’m in a cheerier mood today and so I decided to make something – a rice heat pack/bag.

Apart from the fact that I am such a sewing novice, and therefore need the practise (and to be fair, I am really enjoying learning to sew), I was told by my physiotherapist today to use a wheat or rice pack for my back every day. But seeing as I’ve had a rather bad experience with a wheat bag (see below), I decided to go for the safer option (hopefully) of making a rice bag instead!

 My weevil nightmare. To cut a long story short, basically thousands of weevil eggs decided to hatch and then broke loose from the wheat bag that was in my wardrobe and were crawling EVERYWHERE around my bedroom. It was a total nightmare. It took ages to get rid of them too. It’s enough to give anyone the creepy crawlies!

Anyway, so onto the rice bag!

Here’s what I did. It’s very simple indeed.

First cut out two pieces of fabric the same size. (I cut out 2 pieces 25cm by 15 cm approx). I used two different patterns.

I also cut out two pieces of ribbon, to make a loop at each end of the bag. (I did this because I wanted some loops to attach some string or other long piece of material to, as and when I needed it . This is because I will need the wheat bag to sit on my back, near my shoulder, so I thought I would make a kind of sling).

Next, I took the two pieces of fabric and placed them wrong side to wrong side, whilst also encasing the two pieces of ribbon at opposite ends. I secured these with pins.

Then, using the sewing machine, I stitched three quarters of the way around, leaving a big enough gap for the rice to go in.

Then I filled 1 3/4 of a large cup with rice (normal long grain). I then added some drops of rosewood aromatherapy oil and stirred it in.

Then, using some paper in the shape of a funnel, I poured the rice into the bag.

And then, using the sewing machine I stitched the hole closed.

As an afterthought to finish, I added some ribbon that says ‘handmade with love’ on it along the top of one of the sides.

Et voila! Here’s the overall result! Here’s one side…

And the other side!…

To heat the rice bag/pack, put in the microwave for around 2 minutes. Some say, to prevent the rice from burning,  take it out after one minute, and shake it about a bit in the bag ,and then return to the microwave.

Alternatively you could freeze the rice pack/bag and use it as a cold pack!

Hope you enjoyed reading 🙂  I’m going to try using my new rice pack tonight on my back! I think this will be particularly great for a poorly tum as it will mould to your body!

Ruth xxx

The ‘No Food’ Diet continued…

Well, it’s been nearly 2 weeks since I had to stop eating food and instead go on an elemental liquid diet for my Crohn’s.

I have discovered a few ‘benefits’…

1. I am losing weight 

2. I am getting a fair bit of exercise – running up and down the stairs to the loo (as have the runs – not to mention having to pee a lot more – sorry, TMI).

3. I/we are saving money – on all the food that we are NOT buying. 

Of course I ‘jest’. It’s not at all  fun having to be pretty much housebound because of needing to be near a loo at all times. Or to be curled up in abdominal pain.  To feel sick and dizzy/faint a lot of the time. To have pretty much zero energy. To have very little sleep night after night due to pain and diarrhoea and then when you finally get some sleep, you have nightmares (often about medical stuff). To catch my reflection and think I’ve seen a ghost and realise it’s actually me I’m staring at.  Nor is it any fun to have to cancel social engagements,  and to feel like you’re ‘letting people down’. Neither is realising that the friends who you thought were your friends actually don’t seem to care very much at all, and so perhaps aren’t really your ‘friends’. Ah well, the bonus is I’ve got quite a long list now of ‘acquaintances’. Terrific!

I’m sorry if I’ve offended anyone.  It’s not normally my style to moan. Just every so often, it’s good to get it out in the open. And also one of my aims is to raise awareness of illnesses that are ‘hidden’ like Crohn’s disease, as people just don’t realise often what sufferers go through, as many of us try to hide our pain and try to appear as ‘normal’ as possible on the outside.

I do realise that despite what I’ve just written, I still have so much to be thankful for so I will go and count those blessings now and cheer myself up!  Sorry for the moan, and thanks for listening, Ruth xxx

Sun Hat Days/Umbrella Days Illustrations

I don’t know about where you are, but the weather where I live right now in England,  is pretty changeable. One day it’s raining and stormy, the next it’s all sunshine and smiles again. So I thought I’d share with you a couple of my little illustrations, which I thought fit the changeable weather quite nicely.

Well here’s one for when the weather is wet…

 

And here is one for when the weather is sunny!

 

Ruth xx

 

Vintage-Style Postage Stamp Pendants!

Hi! Well, I thought it was about time I actually posted something I’ve made in the jewellery line!

Some of these pendants were made out of old British postage stamps! And others were made out of ink stamps, whilst a couple were made out of photographs that my hubby and I had taken!

I love pretty much anything that  either looks vintage or is vintage. And I think these look really pretty. What do you think? Ruth xx

The Garden

The Garden

Wandering the walkways of my mind…

Secret paths I hope to find…

Maybe a hedge or two, to obscure my view…

And of course the odd honey bee too!

Alas! There’s a scent of a rose, and it’s beautiful flower head!…

Some creatures are so small, I must be careful where I tread!

But just look at this beautiful old tree! It’s perfect shelter for resting my head…

But maybe I’ll have a little ponder a while first

And then maybe go quench my thirst,

Before heading for home…

But look what I’ve spotted, and they’re RED!

My day is done, and I’ve a happy head 🙂

The Cheese Addict

Yes, I hold my hands up, that’s me. I’m addicted to cheese. There, I’ve confessed. It’s what I crave most every day anyway, but now I’m on a liquid-only diet it kinda takes over my thoughts for a good chunk of the day. My hubby is getting used to me scuttling into the kitchen with my ‘sad face’ and saying “me want cheeeeese”, and then with my head bowed, scuttling out again, defeated.

I’m worried that I might get so desperate that one day,  I may be caught red-handed one day, thieving a piece out of the fridge, a bit like this little rat in the film Ratatouille.  (If you haven’t seen it, then it’s well worth a watch).

My obsession with cheese started from a very young age (at around 2 or 3 years of age), and when I was old enough to walk, I would apparently wander to our friendly next door neighbours, knock on their back door and ask them  ‘any cheese please?’. When my mum and I went food shopping (before the supermarket took over), the lovely lady at the delicatessen counter, was so used to me eyeing up the cheese that as soon as she saw me, she would cut off a piece for me to eat, there and then!

So there you have it. Me and Cheese have a long lasting relationship. I can’t see that ever ending (well, as long as I’m allowed to eat again one day!). But alas for now, I’ve got to try and ‘be good’ and resist the temptation as I know it’s for the good of my health. Doesn’t really make it any easier though! Love the self-confessed and Oh so sad Cheese Addict xxx

The Hello Kitty Birthday Party

Yes, that’s right. My friend LOVES Hello Kitty – you get her pretty much anything with Hello Kitty and she’s a happy lady. (who said Hello Kitty was just for kids! lol). So, for her birthday, my hubby and I decided to throw her a little Hello Kitty party! (Note: this was before I was put on my no food diet – thank goodness!).

Anyway, here’s a piccie of the gazebo decked out in Hello Kitty 🙂 And also the Hello Kitty EGG and NUT FREE cake  that our friend made too! Isn’t she clever! It was the first ever chocolate sponge cake that I’d ever tasted! And yes, I definitely approve! Yum!

The Hello Kitty Make-up/Toiletry bag, handmade by moi

Seeing as I’m still a novice sewer, I decided to set myself the challenge of making my friend a Hello Kitty Make-Up/Toiletry bag, complete with padding and waterproof lining. So that’s what I did. Pretty happy with it and am looking forward to making more with different fabrics 🙂

Here’s a few pics of it…

So all in all, I think it all turned out very well! Happy Hello Kitty!

The ‘NO FOOD’ Diet, Day 3

Well, that’s the diet I’m on now. Doctor’s orders – It’s liquids only for me for a while.  And no, that doesn’t mean alcohol! Lol. What I’m actually on is something called ‘Elemental diet’, which is a powder which I make up with water and then drink through the day. A bit like baby milk I guess.  It’s specially  formulated though for Crohn’s patients – it’s got exactly the right amount of vitamins, minerals etc that I’m supposed to need.  Unfortunately though, it still doesn’t stop the food  cravings – yet, anyway.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been here before – lots of times. There’s a definite ‘deja vu’ about it.  However, I must say I’m feeling rather disappointed that I’m back here, as for the past  (almost) 7 years I have been managing ‘normal-ish’ food, admittedly alongside an Elemental diet supplement, but at least I was eating real food. And I think I was doing really well.  My food ‘knowledge’ used to be pretty lacking – not really surprising though when you don’t eat for 8 years. When you can’t eat, you tend to not take much interest in food!

Socialising and Food

It’s not until you can’t eat, that you realise that socialising tends to revolve around eating and food. Admittedly in Britain, it also revolves around drinking copius amounts of tea, but you know what I mean. Food still features pretty heavily. You don’t go round to someone’s house and ask them if they’d like a big plate of nothing, do you? Food is everywhere you go. You can’t escape it. And when you can’t have it, it stinks! Suddenly you are made to feel somehow like you’re not part of normal society.

Others taking offence! Occasionally people even take offence that you can’t eat! It’s not like I’m doing it on purpose, just to annoy them. “Yes, I think your lasagne looks and smells delicious, but because it’s you, I’ve decided not to eat it today, instead, I’m just going to sit here and watch everyone else tuck in, just to upset you!”. NO! It doesn’t work like that. Believe me, if I had the choice, I would be tucking into a big bowl of cheese right now, and chips too! But I CAN’T. If I do, my digestive system may explode. But sorry to still hurt your feelings and all that! So, when you tuck into your favourite meal, perhaps you could spare a little thought for those who just CANNOT eat, for whatever reason that may be. Ok, I know it’s not quite as bad for me as some, as at least I won’t starve, but it’s still not easy always. I know I will get used to the idea soon though, kinda gotta have to! Happy eating! (or not in my case!). Ruth xxx