Woo hoo I can open my eye!

No, it doesn't hurt, but it sure looks gross.

And I have a zipper on my head.

Hope you're having a great week!

Friday Free-for-All

Hangin' out at Caribou with Donna G. 

I'm going on vacation soon.

Not a real vacation, mind you.

Not even a sta-cation.

But I will be absent and away from home for a few days, and then I'll be house-bound for a while.

I'm having surgery on Tuesday to remove a very small Meningioma that sits at the base of the optic nerve canal. The tumor is small, but it is causing me to lose some of the vision in my right eye.

I've had this done once before, in 2008. Different surgeon. Same hospital. Could be the same tumor as far as I know. This type of tumor is usually benign and slow-growing. It's actually compressing the optic nerve and is affecting my peripheral vision on the right side. I don't see cars that come along side of mine unless I turn my head, which sometimes I forget to do. The impact to my vision is easily discernible on a visual field test which has shown a slow degradation on the entire right side of my vision in my right eye.

My vision will slowly get worse as time goes by and will go away completely if I don't have this surgery.

Since I've been through it before, I know what to expect. That is both good and bad. Good because I won't be surprised. Bad because I know what's involved and how long it will take to recover.

When I mention my vision being impaired, most people think this is some kind of eye surgery, or that they'll go through my nose or my eye to remove the very small tumor.

Nope.

In order to resect (remove) the tumor, the doctor will actually remove a portion of my skull and move the brain out of the way.

It's amazing what doctors can do these days. And with technology like the internet and Youtube, I've actually watched a few videos of this type of surgery being done on other people. I wasn't freaked out or grossed out at all. I thought it was fascinating.

But maybe that's just me.

I have a cute little diagram that shows what they're going to do. I've also seen images that are a little more life-like. You probably don't want to see any of them.

Anyway, I'll be in the hospital for 3 to 5 days, and will be somewhat limited in mobility for a week or so. Last time, my husband banished me to the living room and bedroom level of our 4-level home. I expect to sleep a lot, but I also need to walk more than I did the first time around. I would like to be stronger sooner. Thankfully I'm not working right now so I don't have to worry about taking a leave of absence, but I also don't want to drag it out any more than it needs to be.

While they don't actually call my tumor a "brain tumor" because it isn't attached to the brain, basically I am having brain surgery.

So keep me in your thoughts and prayers on Tuesday, April 21st at 12:00 CST.

Hopefully I'll be back soon!

New Jewelry

Time for pictures of new jewelry I've created in the past few weeks.  I'll be adding them to my Etsy store, too, so if you see something you like, just let me know and I'll try to get it there sooner.




Black Onyx and Freshwater Pearls
 



Ceramic centerpiece with Seraphinite and Freshwater Pearls



Amazonite and Swarovski Crystals with Swarovski Crystal Connectors

It's All About L O V E !

It's February, the month of L O V E ! !

Thought I'd share a new jewelry set that I made this past week with beads that I'm in LOVE with.  The combination still makes me happy.

I read a post recently by another jewelry maker who said she only makes jewelry when she's in a good mood so that it will bring happy feelings to the person who wears it.

I can so relate!  I was working on something last night and the wire was frustrating me, so I put it away for the day. 

Anyhooo, this is new and I love it!

Hope you do, too!

Happy February 1st!

Happily,

Laurel 
xoxo

Shopping!

I've been spending way too much time on Etsy lately.

Have you been there? 

It's a place where artistic or crafty people can set up shop and sell their handmade wares.  Or where they can sell their extra supplies or vintage items.

I have a shop there and have managed to take pictures and post over 80 items so far.  I need to take more pictures of jewelry, but I'm saving that for next week.

Etsy also has a feature called Treasury Lists.  Anyone with a sign-on to Etsy can create a Treasury List.  You add the web address or URL of 16 items that are for sale on Etsy.  You can choose a theme or have random items in your list.  For example you could create a treasury with all things black and white. 

I created two treasuries this week:  the first was based on my name.  I did a search using the word "Laurel", clicked on all the items that struck my fancy, then copied and pasted the web address into my Treasury List.  How fun is that?  One of those items has already been sold, so that's why there are only 15 items.

So click on the links below, bring up my lists, and enjoy.  Or shop!  Shopping is good!  'Tis the season, right??  So enjoy my lists and a couple of my favorite lists and see if there's something there that you just have to have!   

So here are my lists:

Lovely Laurels

Angels we have heard on high!

And a couple of other fun lists:

Ringing in the new year with Sunshine

For the home black

Enjoy!!