I have been busy, but also daylight saving has finished yeeeha, and its autumn, the weather is just divine. Have been having xrays, bonescans and blood tests over the last couple of weeks, and for someone who only went to the doctors to get a prescription written for asthma medication I am finding it frustrating to say the least. After a regular check up and a pap smear (ewww I hate those) everyone was on at me to get that one done, its been about 5 years and needed to find a female doctor, no way was I showing a male doctor my private parts( I am a bit old fashioned like that). Pagets disease was picked up in a blood test, so it was off to have an xray, then a specialist, more blood tests and a bone scan. Now the bone scan was interesting Nuclear medicine no less I was impressed, they injected dye into my veins, then with the scan they could pick up if there was any dormant pagets disease and I guess any other lurgies that should not be there. Go back to the specialist in June, guess he will contact me if there is anything wrong. Sounds scarey, but there are degrees of it like lots of things, at the moment we know that I have it in my upper thigh bone, the up side is that my hip joints are good, so there you go there is always a good side
Now enough of my health problems, I have been really enjoying doing a Teesha Moore journal, instructions from Mixed Media Collage book by Holly Harrison but I also found excellent directions on Teesha's website
http://www.teeshamoore.com/ she also has good directions on making the journal. The overall size is 10 x 8 inches and I have started with 8 double pages. In the instructions Fabriano Artistico hot press 140 lb was recommended, I could not find an Australian source for this so I used my favourite paper Rives smooth 300g a french paper that is very flexible lovely to work with.
Only one completed or I think it is, never know what else you can add in at a later date. Magazine images, Michael de Meng stamps, Caran d'ache crayons alphabet stamps and pitt pen.
In this layout I have used Lynne Parrella papers, they are so versatile, and great colour combinations, In all my layouts I have used Golden Fluid colours, Caran d'ache crayons, and a variety of different ink roller pens ie Faber-Castell Pitt artist pens. I also used sharpies, (they where good, artline pens not so good, kept blocking the ink nib.
In this one bold writing with the end of my brush while paint was still wet. colour cobalt
blue, images Lynne Parrella.
Images taken from magazines, only problem with these are that they are thinner paper and wrinkle so need to brayer after gluing. I used PVA glue instead of double sided tape as recommended in the instructions,. I did several pages in more nuetral colours.
LP paper images, CD crayons etc as the rest.
This one is my favourite of the bright colours, love the mix of green gold paint, and purple crayons and pens.
This one is waiting for the crayon and pen colours process, colour pyrrole orange mixed with T. white, bit bright but once all the other bits are done I will be able to tone it down, can also add more paint should I want. Other than the first layout the others are all waiting for journal entries and I will probably bind them with the 8 x 10 canvas board covers. Now I have to do the other side of the pages, they will be back to the 10 x 8 format and will have different colours facing them. This is how Teesha Moore recommended doing them, so that you can carry the journal around with you and fill in the journalling when you make time this is so much fun, I need to do another 8 double pages when I finish this, will keep you up to date as I do them.
Colours cobalt blue with a wash of cobalt turquois, spots done with CD crayons.
read below if you are curious about the disease
Paget’s disease of the bone is the most common form of bone inflammation, or osteitis. The bones become weakened, soft and abnormally enlarged. Any part of the skeleton can be affected, but the most common sites include the skull, spine, pelvis, thigh bone, shin and the bone of the upper arm. Paget’s disease tends to affect people over the age of 40 years, with around three per cent of this age group affected. The rate increases to about 10 per cent in people over 80 years of age. Men are more commonly affected than women.The cause of Paget’s disease is not yet fully understood. Some theories suggest people with a genetic predisposition to the disorder may become infected with an unidentified virus, which then triggers the bone abnormalities.Paget’s disease of the bone is often confused with an unrelated skin disease that also bears Paget’s name and is usually associated with an underlying cancer. Bone growth mysteriously accelerates Healthy bone tissue is maintained by cells called osteoblasts and osteoclasts. The osteoblasts build new bone, while the osteoclasts help to dispose of old bone. In a person with Paget’s disease, the balance between these two groups of cells is disturbed. The osteoblasts become overactive and too much bone tissue is produced, leading to enlargement. The abnormal growth means that the new bone tissue is weak and unstable. The reason for this accelerated bone growth is unknown. Genetic and environmental factors are suspected. It appears that an unidentified virus may trigger the disease in those people with a family history.Risk factorsThe cause of Paget’s disease is unknown, but the risk factors seem to include:
Race - people of Anglo-Celtic background are more likely to develop the disorder, particularly those living in Britain, Australia and Germany.
Age - the disorder becomes more common with increasing age.
Genetics - there is a family history in up to 30 per cent of cases. There may be no symptomsIn 95 per cent of cases, a person with Paget’s disease presents no symptoms. In other cases, the symptoms may develop gradually over a long period of time or may quickly become severe and debilitating. Pain is often caused by the enlarged bone putting pressure on surrounding nerves. Symptoms may include:
Stiffness in the joints
Constant fatigue
Painful aching in the bones
Aches and pains becoming more acute during the night
The bone appears bent or thickened
The affected site is significantly warmer than the rest of the body
Bowing of the leg bones (if the legs are affected)
Headache and increased head size if the skull is involved
Bone fractures.Possible complications Paget’s disease can lead to further complications, including:
Osteoarthritis - a form of arthritis that can occur in joints nearby to bones affected by Paget’s disease.
Broken bones – bones that tend to break of their own accord.
Deafness - caused by pressure on the auditory nerves.
Disorders of the inner ear - such as tinnitus (ringing in the ears) or vertigo.
Numbness or paralysis - caused by deteriorating vertebrae pinching the nerves in the spinal cord.
Increased workload on the heart - due to an increased number of blood vessels in the affected bones, leading to increased blood flow through the bones. This usually does not result in heart failure except in some people who already have heart disease.
Cancer of the affected bone tissue - occurs in about one per cent of cases.Diagnosis is often accidental Paget’s disease is often discovered by accident during x-rays taken for some other reason. The diagnosis can be confirmed by further x-rays, bone scans or by a particular blood test that checks for an enzyme crucial to bone growth, called alkaline phosphatase. Treatment There is no cure for Paget’s disease. There are treatments available to ease some of the symptoms.
On Saturday here in Australia and New Zealand it was Anzac (Australia New Zealand Army Corps)Day, a day to remember and never forget these brave men and women who fought to make the world a better and safer place for us all to live in. My particular hero is my Dad 
Our dad gave up 3 years of his life to make the world a better place, he was only 22 years of age and married one month when he left for war. He had a wonderful sense of humour and this helped him keep his sanity against the terror of war. When I think of my son at 22 going off to war I appreciate my father and thousands like him, all hero's, for their commitment and for the thousands upon thousands of wives, mothers, sisters who where left at home, not knowing if they would return or if they did, affected by war. These women where also hero's. 
Only one completed or I think it is, never know what else you can add in at a later date. Magazine images, Michael de Meng stamps, Caran d'ache crayons alphabet stamps and pitt pen.
This one is my favourite of the bright colours, love the mix of green gold paint, and purple crayons and pens.
This one is waiting for the crayon and pen colours process, colour pyrrole orange mixed with T. white, bit bright but once all the other bits are done I will be able to tone it down, can also add more paint should I want. Other than the first layout the others are all waiting for journal entries and I will probably bind them with the 8 x 10 canvas board covers. Now I have to do the other side of the pages, they will be back to the 10 x 8 format and will have different colours facing them. This is how Teesha Moore recommended doing them, so that you can carry the journal around with you and fill in the journalling when you make time this is so much fun, I need to do another 8 double pages when I finish this, will keep you up to date as I do them.
Colours cobalt blue with a wash of cobalt turquois, spots done with CD crayons.