A Weird Couple of Weeks

Hello Everyone, I know it has been sometime that I have blogged and I am sorry about that.. i have been horribly ill. My husband's surgery went well and he is on his way to recovery and doing much better now but in the midst of it all.. I relasped and got sicker and developed this weird purple vein like rash on my upper left thigh. In the past the Lyme Disease affected my heart so I called the heart doctor and went to see him as I thought maybe the rash was related to my heart. He referred me to another specialist..a rheumotologist who knew what the rash was.. it is called levido and he in turn sent me for blood work and I had a long talk with him on what has gone on with my health since I was in my 30's. I went back to this doctor last week and took my bloodwork from a long time ago.. when I was in my 30's as I have all of my medical records. I have Lupus! In all this time, my Lyme doctor was focusing on my Lyme Disease and the Lupus was not detected and that is why I was not getting better. I am so thankful this rash showed up as it was a heaven sent rash. My medication has been changed and I hopefully will get better now.. my joints were so swollen ... he immediately put me on a low dose of steroid that has brought the inflammation down in my joints and put me on a anti-malarial drug to treat the Lupus. He said the Lupus caused my pericarditis in my heart as well. He thinks that when i got bit by that little tick that it stirred up the Lupus but I was only being treated for the Lyme and therefore I was not getting better. I hope this new treatment will help me to get back to myself a bit and back to blogging and back to the real world! I wanted to let my blogger friends what has been going on with me! Wish me luck! Hugs, Linda

I found the lovely Easter Eggs I received!

Hello Everyone, What fun that Easter Egg hunt was.. I only found one of the eggs i made so far.. and that one you can see at http://theartchics.blogspot.com/

I found both of the eggs I received and I love them both.. a lovely egg covered with fabric and daisies..so pretty and so unique..came wrapped up in tulle with a sweet little duck attached from Elizabeth High of http://bluebirdsandbubbles.blogspot.com/ and a papier mache egg... with a darling little scene inside..all glittered and sweet from Christine Edwards of http://ipokedabadgerwithaspoon.blogspot.com/

I sure love them both and they will be cherished with my Easter collection for many years to come. Thank you so much Vivian for having such a cute swap! Hugs, Linda

Easter Egg Hunt is here!

Hello Everyone! Today is a fun day....it is Easter Egg Hunt day! Yeah.. I can't wait to see everyone's eggs..this was indeed a fun swap and it kept me busy while my husband was recooperating... I thank Vivian for having it and all her hard work she put into it! Well what are we waiting for.. posted is a picture of the eggs that I made and the eggs that I got.. which I love very much! I can't wait to see who ended up with my eggs and I hope they liked them! Happy Easter Egg Hunting Everyone!! What fun... Yeah!! If you want to hop along..visit www.vivs-whimsy.blogspot.com and hop along with us! Hugs, Linda

Easter is on the way!

Hello Everyone, I am so sorry I haven't been in blogland for a while.. my husband has recently had his second surgery which was very major! I never expected it to be so rough..he couldn't sleep for the first week due to the trauma of the surgery. I am happy to say he is coming along now and I am able to finally catch up online a bit. I miss everyone and will be catching up on my favorite blogs this week. Also wanted to tell you.. I did get a chance to participate in an Easter Egg Swap which turned out to be a big swap led by Vivian Neroni! Everyone had to make two eggs made out of any material and sent to Vivian..and in turn you will recieve two eggs back.. which will be posted on everyone's blog on April 5th! It will be very exciting to see all the different eggs that everyone made! Hope you can come and visit and join in on the Easter Egg Hunt. Anyway, it's good to be back and hopefully I will be back to crafting and creating soon!

Hugs, Folksie Linda

Scrappy Jessi's 2nd Annual Cookie Swap

Hello Cookie Lovers! Here is my receipt for the swap:

Butter Pecan Shortbread

3/4 cup butter

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon butter flavoring

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted

1/4 cup chopped pecans, untoasted

Garnish: confectioners' sugar

1. In a large mixing bowl and using an electric mixer at medium speed, cream butter, sugar, vanilla extract, butter flavoring, and salt.

2. Using a mixer at medium speed, gradually sift in flour to form a stiff dough. Add all pecans, and blend.

3. Turn dough out onto a sheet of waxed paper, roll into an even rectangular-shaped log. Freeze until needed.

4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

5. Slice dough into 1/4-inch squares. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Garnish with confectioners' sugar by dipping half the cookie in the sugar when cooled, if desired.

Note: The dough can be frozen up to a month. If you cannot find the butter flavoring.. you can omit it.

I hope everyone enjoys this receipt..for many other receipts..see Scrappy Jessi's blog. Thank you Jessi for this super great cookie swap! Hugs, Linda

Lollishops and Gingerbread Challenge!

A very SWEET idea from Sadie ( our Lollishop Chief ) to announce a challenge among all Lollishop vendors..we are to make a Gingerbread House out of any kind of material.. then give some sneak peeks and December 1st..everyone who participated will list their Handmade Gingerbread house on Lollishops..now these can be made out of any kind of un-edible material...did I mention that.. yes un-edible so they will be for sale on our shops and also winners will be picked from the Gingerbread Houses that have been made! How much fun is this!!

Here are some sneak peeks from My Handmade Gingerbread House. Hugs, Linda

Lollishops Beta Tester Contest

Hello Everyone, This is very exciting.. It is a contest for all vendors of Lollishops to be the first five beta testers before the shop opens on the 15th of November. Lollishops will open to all on the 28th of November! I am very excited to be a vendor here and need your help. If you click on the link to the blog.. it will count for me and I need as many votes as possible to win!

This is where to click: http://lollishops.blogspot.com/

Also two spots are open for the one that gets the most vendor accounts so if you are interested in joining Lollishops..the frou frou Marketplace ... you need to click here: http://lollishops.wufoo.com/forms/preapply-for-lollishops/

It is a juried site and your work needs to be cutesy,cottage style, glittery style work..and kitschy cute works too! Please mention I sent you ! I hope you will help me win! Thank you all my friends in Blogland!

Hugs, Folksie Linda