Images on Glass course – Decals

Posted on 25/04/2015 by AnnaGoAnna

I started a new glass making course at Richmond Adult Community College – “Images on Glass”. No surprise but I’m already loving the course and it’s only week 1. Three more Saturdays of exploring and experimentation with different methods of applying images to glass.

First and foremost a quick introduction for ‘newbies’ to types of glass to use (Bullseye or Float), compatibility and how to cut glass.

This week we rummaged through an old box of decals and found our images to practice with. I selected poppies as I loved the vivid red but was unsure whether it would remain so vivid once fired. (I did say there was experimentation, right?).

We painted on other glass with enamels (mixing with acrylic media (water based and gloss)).

Another method was by using leaves and grass. We made prints from them by rolling ink over the leaf/grass and then rolling this over the glass to leave the image on the glass.

One further experiment was to see if we were able to create our own ‘transfers’ using enamels, contact paper and leaves. We printed a leaf onto paper. Then covered this with sticky paper. With the back of a spoon we rubbed the image right into the sticky paper. Next we ran it under water and rubbed the paper away, leaving the image on the (now not) sticky paper. Once dry, the stickiness returns. This was then stuck onto glass, like a homemade transfer/decal.

A selection of images prior to being fired in the kiln.

Below are photos of our glass images after firing. As a group we used different decals, painting techniques, colours and depth. Sadly (and oddly) the experimental own transfer/decals didn’t work – the images had disappeared. I’m going to try it again before the end of the course as this SHOULD work so we’re not sure what happened. Watch this space.

I was also intrigued to see what would happen to some of my images if I stacked them and refired them. I stacked (with 2 layers) some handpainted glass tiles. I stacked (with 3 layers) butterfly decals. And totally as an experiment I didn’t think would work was 7 layers of poppies!

Below top left is the firing tray loaded with stacks and the remaining pictures are post firing. The one that worked best was the poppies. Next job is to grind and polish the edges and then I’ll show you the 3D element to the stack.

Crocheting

Posted on 21/04/2015 by AnnaGoAnna

Whilst in Washington I attempted to do a few rows of Andi’s crochet project. Actually I found it really rather addictive and so rewarding when it looks great. Sadly I clearly needed a little more practice as I dropped a few stitches on Andi’s piece – but hey she’ll know the bit I ‘helped’ with!

So I decided that I’d try to crochet a small blanket for Andi. Either as a throw over for a bed or to snuggle up with on the sofa. First things first was to find some wool and crochet needle. I found a wonderful little shop nearby StitchUp and naively went in to source supplies. I left with a bag of wool and a new crochet hook… a little nervous as I can’t remember how to do it.

YouTube. I found a fabulous channel Bella Coco and managed to get to grips with creating granny squares in about 15 minutes!

Another YouTube Video to find out how to do the outer edge.

And finally another video to learn how to join them together.

And the finished present for my lovely friend Andi.

Can’t explain just how proud I felt when I wrapped up a parcel for Washington with my handmade blanket. Between the folds I snuck in a few extra little gifts for both Andi and Sam. Homemade card, decoupaged heart, British chocolate and sweets, crazy mini tic-tac boxes that I thought Sam would love and finally a bracelet each for Andi & Sam from the wonderful company Rebel Rocks.

Loved the message I received from Andi and Sam when the package arrived in Washington. “Received a wonderful package from @annagoanna1 !!!! Kept digging hoping to find Anna in there! What a great day!”

There’s something so very special about making gifts for people. Made with love and care.

Health Update

Posted on 21/04/2015 by AnnaGoAnna

Yesterday I had a follow-up appointment with the dermatology hospital specialist to see how the nuclear levels of drugs were working on my auto-immune disease, Lichen Planus.

I was a little sheepish when I went into the consulting room because I didn’t complete the whole drug regimen prescribed. I know. Do as I say, not as I do. I began by explaining why I stopped. At first he looked at me as if to ask if I didn’t believe he was the expert in the room, but then he smiled and told me he’d have done the same if experiencing the same side affects!

So what side affects was I experiencing (and that I haven’t told you about!), some of the worst were visual migraines which would come on quickly and mean that I couldn’t see properly, certainly couldn’t see any written word or computer and even when it came on when I was playing tennis, I’d mistake flashes of white migraine for the ball (most amusing to watch not to experience)! I also had horrible pulsing pain in temples. A lot of stomach cramps. Nails crumbled if I touched anything. Vomiting in the night. Weird dream/nightmares that were totally vivid and technicolour. Odd ‘away with the fairies’ feeling where I’m in the room but everyone around me is underwater. And those are just a few of them as well as not a great head space and a lot of tears.

He was, given the above, pretty impressed that I’d managed to keep going with them for as long as I had. We then moved on to examining the lesions.

Really pleased with the nuclear drug regimen. For the most part I’m now left with ‘burn-out’ scarring on my wrists, torso, belly, thighs, armpits and feet. Some of these areas have faded already but he told me that the scars sometimes don’t go for many many years and in some cases, never. I’m not sure any of you will be seeing me in a swimsuit for a long time! (**collective sigh of relief**)

The disease is still active in me though. I have a new lesion on the palm of my hand and more on my feet again. He’s recommended that I continue with the steroid creams on my hand and feet and monitor the situation.

The other area of concern was in my throat. He examined my mouth and said he couldn’t see any lesions so the drugs had worked there too. However the ‘piece of bread’ that I can feel stuck in my throat may not indeed be a lesion at all. He believes it’s too far down my throat to be LP as it usually doesn’t go farther than the back of the mouth. He thought that this may be damage from the drugs or a tear in my throat that perhaps has been exacerbated by the vomiting whilst taking the drugs. He said he wasn’t too concerned but that I should keep an eye on it. It may well heal itself in time and now that I’m not taking the drugs nor having the side affects it may heal faster. My call. If I’m worried about it and it continues to remain then he said I should go back to the GP and ask to be referred to an Ear, Nose & Throat specialist. I’m happy to wait and am sure he’s right. It’ll heal in time.

So where now?

He was super pleased with the progress. He was very impressed with my NHS GPs who’d prescribed early the nuclear level of drugs and said that he’d never seen an improvement of this level given the severity and extent that the Lichen Planus has spread. He said usually he’d expect to be seeing me for many more months/years before seeing this sort of improvement.

I know from the Lichen Planus Support Group that I’ve joined on Facebook, and which has been a huge support in understanding this disease, that my recovery is incredible. There are people in the group who literally have been fighting this for 10+ years with no remission. Others for whom recurrences are regular. So maybe my own immune system isn’t as knackered as it would appear. Maybe I’ve been able to clear some of it up without the drugs. I’ve been juicing lots of good immunity fruit and veg and even found an company (Botanic Labs) where I purchased 3 days of immunity shots. I don’t know if this all made a difference but I certainly felt better for them all. I just wish I’d be able to afford to continue with 3 days of shots every couple of weeks.

I know I’m not out of the woods yet. I am however much better than I was. I have a bathroom full of nuclear drugs. I have access to a supportive specialist and a wonderful GP practice.

We did however decide that I should be discharged from the hospital. If I have another attack, I must start the drug regimen again. I have the drugs already. He’s also given me an open appointment at the hospital so that if I have another attack or I feel I need to see him, I can.

So for now, I’ll be applying steroid cream to my hand and feet.. the best way I know to make it work at super strength is to wrap in clingfilm and allow to fully soak in. So this is me today.

Glass update…

Posted on 16/04/2015 by AnnaGoAnna

Before Easter I nervously left a big plaster mold with pieces of glass and drips of enamel on a shelf waiting to be fired in the kiln.

Today I retrieved the fired plaster block and carefully put it, upside down, into a bucket of cold water to soak. Gradually and very gingerly I picked at the plaster removing it bit by bit.

Yes I did manage to cut my hand the process!

But this was what was revealed.

Next steps will be sawing off the ‘reservoir’ base and then a great deal of handwork to remove the little sharp edges around the sides and polishing up the finished product.

I’m super pleased with it so far but also extremely nervous to handle it so as not to knock any of the ‘coral’ shards from the piece. It’s fair to say though that it’ll be something to be admired rather than touched… particularly by people with small hands!

I love it and think it represents what I wanted it to do, ie coral moving in the ocean.

Wish me luck with the delicate clean up!

Golfing… again

Posted on 12/04/2015 by AnnaGoAnna

After dusting down the golf sticks, cleaning up the golf shoes and finding my glove, I’m back.

Well when I say ‘back’, I mean I’m attempting again to learn golf. A friend’s girlfriend has decided to learn at the course across the road from me and I’ve joined her for beginner lessons.

So we’ve finished the series of 4 beginner lessons and are now on our way to an ‘improver’ course which starts in a few weeks. I was actually surprised how much I remembered and am still able to hit the ball – and for it to be roughly where I was aiming for it to go! I’m loving it.

Another local friend has also joined the golfing revolution and is taking the beginners course now with the hope of finishing that course and joining us on the improver course. Hehehe soon there will the three novice golfers out on the course! Watch out world.

Visiting Andi and Washington DC

Posted on 08/04/2015 by AnnaGoAnna

It’s difficult to describe my trip to Washington DC without gushing too much so I’ll try to make it brief (ish).

It wasn’t about visiting Washington DC. Exploring the City during my trip was a bonus but it was more about who I was exploring with.

My trip was booked over 9 months ago. The reason was to see a very dear friend of mine. A friend who I had (until this trip) only met in person once at the C4YW Conference in Orlando. But someone who I consider to be one of my best friends.

New Years Eve 2013/2014 I had been driving up to visit friends Nr Cambridge. My phone beeped to say I’d got a Messenger message from Andi. I glanced at the message and knew I had to pull over to read it in full. Andi told me that she had just seen the oncologist who had told her that her recent breathlessness was because she now had a metastases of Phyllodes in her lung. We exchanged several messages and agreed that as soon as I got home tomorrow we’d Skype or Facetime. In the meantime I knew I had to do some research into spindle cell sarcoma mets to lungs (preferably from a phyllodes tumour, if the research existed). One thing I was sure about though was what the oncologist wasn’t taking into consideration was the strength with which Andi has dealt with cancer for many years. Andi was first diagnosed many years ago and has had continued recurrences and many many surgeries. There was a point in 2013 when she was ‘growing’ new tumours at a rate of approximately 1 every 6 weeks! Every time they’d appear, she’d face it head on, deal with it, the surgery and the ‘fear’ and pick herself up, put on a fabulous pair of shoes, lipstick and a smile and be back out before anyone knew she’d been in hospital… some occasions having surgery between dropping her daughter at school and collecting her at the end of the day!

As soon as I got home, I got the laptop fired up and spent an age looking through research papers and medical journals. Pah! Found it.

My message “Re the 1 yr! Soooo not happy about them saying that.. all the info I’ve looked at for spindle cell sarcoma mets in lungs is 80% 5 year survival after resection. And that means you’re in the 80% of the 80% with a 126 year survival!!! I mean who am I going to have to misbehave with when I’m really old and cantankerous? YOU!!!!”

Shortly after New Year, Andi spent a great deal of time in and out of hospital receiving treatment. Through it all, Andi faced it head on and to most people ‘watching’ you would assume everything was a breeze. But there were truly rough days and only Andi (and her family) probably know the full extent. However what fabulous and amazing people like Andi have in spades, is friends. She had lots of visitors who stayed with her, looked after her and her family, shopped, cooked, cleaned and kept her company. Our friend Trish, turned up and surprised her on her first day of chemo in the hospital – there’s a great video of Andi’s utter surprise and delight at such an amazing gesture for Trish to do this. I hated being in the UK. Too far to turn up briefly and I wasn’t sure that this Brit who’d only met personally once was the right person to be there to take care of things for an extended time. All I could do was send cards, chat online and make sure she knew I cared.

In August last year Andi was over the worst of the chemo but still had some way to go… and British Airways kindly sent me an email with suggested flight destinations, including to Washington DC. Well what’s a girl to do?

I found flights that worked and messaged Andi to check she’d be at home over the Easter break. If I’m honest I didn’t give her much chance to say ‘No’ as the flights were booked very quickly! For the intervening 8 months friends on Facebook will have been a little confused about several posts that simply have countdown numbers in them – 135days, 4hrs, 13mins and 44seconds etc. But these countdowns were the exact timing until I touched down in Washington DC and knew that shortly after we’d meet again.

I loved our countdown. I also loved the excitement that this brought with it. The evening before I flew out was the first time I thought, eek what happens if we don’t get on? (Turns out Andi had the same thought).

I walked through the gates at the airport to be greeted by Andi and her fabulous daughter, Sam and two mahoosive hugs. And then the laughter started! For my entire trip we laughed. Laughed until we cried (or as one of us put it, “peed, just a little”!).

Here’s a few photo highlights from my trip:

We took a trip into Washington DC to do some site seeing… Love this picture of Andi and Samantha. So cute.

Incredible iconic buildings in Washington DC. Stunning city with some truly inspiring monuments. The respect and acknowledgement to ancestors who have fought for the US is heartfelt and real.

Such a special bond between Mum and Daughter.

We came across a park with some art and sculpture… errr anyone explain the one on the right? No?

I was also taken to the place ‘where my people first landed’, Jamestown.

Samantha was somewhat bemused that I knew little of our British history in the US but I don’t recall being taught much about it at school. Were we?

And Williamsburg where the whole town has been ‘preserved’. History scenes were acted out in the streets and you could visit the stores who were still making hats (milliners) bakery (breads), silversmith etc using the original tools and working as they would have in the past.

BUT as I said earlier, we didn’t stop laughing all week… on our tourist days we were also giggling at so very much.

Cheeeeter! (Andi and Sam will get that!)

We found a maze and some stunning gardens. What a shame I didn’t capture our, ahem, hide and seek on video!

We also discovered that Andi has a little difficulty working hand-dryers. Sadly we didn’t get her ‘air stewardess’ impression on video. We did wonder what it’d do to your face in a highspeed hand dryer.

During my stay we had a LOT of games of Clue (the US version of Cluedo. Samantha insists that anyone playing this game has to play in a British accent and was delighted that a real Brit was going to play.

Andi in her best English accent. The call of the Peacock also came in very handy when I got separated from them in a Smithsonian Museum. I heard the call from a long way away and ignoring all the people looking oddly at me & Andi, knew it was for me!

Andi’s husband Lane was on tour with the Washington Capital Ice Hockey team and only got home on the evening of PJEaster (Easter Day in PJs). Poor chap returned to find us 3 in our PJs, playing Clue, hair unwashed, no makeup and giggling like a bunch of crazies at daft and silly stuff. Only 10 minutes before he walked through the door, Andi had been tapping her forehead with the end of the pencil thinking is it Peacock or Plum in the Library? Only she missed and tapped the pencil into her eye. Sam and I couldn’t stop laughing and told her in no uncertain terms that it was self-inflicted!

A bandage (err headband) was found. Andi put this over her eye, glasses and pencil propped into the bandage and continued playing. Well actually I think we were still laughing at her when Lane walked in!

On the Monday, Lane wasn’t working so the four of us headed in to Georgetown for a wander and lunch. We found a fabulous spot by the river.

How fabulous is this family?

Oh and me and Andi.

After lunch we headed to Iwo Jima Marine War Memorial.And then on to see where Lane spends his time with the Washington Capitals, coaching them utterly brilliantly.

In the training room!

Samantha, the uber fabulous gymnast

and Lane

My final day, we went along to watch Washington Capitals training session. What an amazing experience as a newbie to understanding the sport. Incredibly fast and so skilled. I loved that anyone can attend training sessions and see their sporting heroes working so hard. If only we did this for our sports in the UK, youngsters wouldn’t assume you can rock up on a Saturday and earn a fortune without knowing about the many many training hours our sportsmen and women put in.

I was so very very sad to be heading off to catch a plane home. I wanted to put Andi, Lane and Samantha in my pocket and bring them home with me. It was so very weird being on a plane and not laughing and giggling or doing silly stuff.

Ooh and here’s your bonus video of Samantha singing. That child has such a beautiful voice.

What an amazing trip. Amazing in so very many ways. To be part of such a close and incredibly supportive family for just a short moment in time. We all know that laughter is the best medicine.. we filled our bathroom medicine cabinets this week. Loved my time in Washington DC but most of all loved my time with the family.