Squirrel Antics

I never get tired of the squirrels & their cute antics.

 

I am glad that they stick around for the winter.

 

Though I am pretty sure this one is making some awfully devious plans...

 

 

Ha ha ha.  What are your favorite outdoor critters???



Black Bird on Pink Flower Felt Brooch

Another felt goodie just finished up by Yours Truly...

 

 

Interested?  Just email me at MandySaile@BijousWhimsy.com.

BunnyFest

I am so happy.

 

It is a long standing and constant dream of mine to have my artwork help out animals.

 

 

When the House Rabbit Society in San Diego contacted me

and asked if I could donate some of my prints

to help them raise money for their 2013 BunnyFest,

I was so so pleased and said 'yes, of course...gladly'.

 

So I sent them these...

 

I hope they cause a bidding war and raise lots of money

for the new rabbit shelter they are trying to build. 

 

Stuff like this is so very very good for my soul.



Intriguing Bugs

I've been seeing insects these past couple of summers that I've never seen before.

Do you have any idea what kind they are?

 

 

I can't deny that I find them a tad frightful, I am not super huge on bugs.

But, I respect them (except for flies, flies I will kill) & can't deny their beauty & intrigue.

Blue Bird on Pink Button Felt Brooch

Just hopping in to show you a new felt brooch I just finished up.

This one is with a sweet little blue bird on a sweet pink button.  I just LOVE making these.

 

Once again it's all hand-stitched, one-of-a-kind & ready to funkify your wardrobe.

It's only $50.  Interested? Email me at MandySaile@BijousWhimsy.com

Snip Snip Snip

I needed a change.

A big change.

My head needed to feel different.

 

So I went from this long heavy down to my waist when wet hair-do

 

 

To this...

  

 

Light, bright & funky.

I LOVE it.

Ahhhh...change is good.

 And the salon I go to uses Davines products & dyes...so it was a cruelty-free hair-do as well, YAY.

 

 

Lets Get Candid and Talk Abit About Migraines

Do you mind terribly if we take a small pause from Art, Bunnies & other Goodness

to talk about migraines and headaches?

It's been awhile since I last spoke about life with them.

 

Let me start by making it clear that while migraine headaches

do make up a very large part of my life and how I function in this life...

they are, by far, not all that I am, nor the biggest part of my life.

I still lead an amazing & abundant life despite the pain I live with.

 

Now, I don't have a sore head every single day.

Sometimes I can go a whole two weeks with next to no head pain...

(that's not common but still, it happens.)

But truth is, most of the time, I do have pain in my head to some degree.

They range from mild to puking bad, sometimes just for a few hours, sometimes for days on end.

 

Being a severe chronic & acute migraine sufferer is hard...

there is no reason to lie about it...

it sucks big time & yes, it's really awful at times.

I can get pretty down when I have good bouts with no pain because I realize just how much

I could achieve if I were not plagued with this problem.

But it's just something I have to deal with...

hopefully someday they'll just go away!  (That happens for a lot of women after menopause!)

For now, I try to work out a good balance of being super tough & working despite any pain

and also being easy on my body and taking care of myself the best I can when it gets too bad.

My stubborn side doesn't always do super well with stopping when I should of course, ha ha!

 

I have cycles.  Months where I do a lot better than others...

For me, right now, "better" usually means,  pain only 3 or 5 days a week instead of 7 days a week!

 

The thing I want people to understand about migraine sufferers

is that some people just get head pain, 

We aren't doing anything wrong necessarily.

It is just a health issue some people have to deal with....like asthma or fibromyalgia...

it just happens to you & you just have to deal with it the best way you can.

 

As my neurologist & doctor put it, I am just one of "The Cursed".

 

 

I don't ever want anyone to feel sorry for me.

That's not why I share this with you from time to time on this beloved blog of mine.

I share my story of pain and my struggle as an artist living with severe migraines because

I know I am not the only one out there dealing with it.

Millions of people suffer.  Some much more and some much less.

 

I've received such kind letters from people saying I am an inspiration to them & I love that...

I want to show fellow sufferers & everyone else that life can still be

amazing and beautiful and abundant despite the pain we suffer.

In fact in some round about way, my life is even that much sweeter because of the pain,

because I can see how the pain free days are that much more amazingly awesome and I can soooo appreciate them that much more.

Like everyone else...I can get stuck in the busy-ness of life,

But the pain forces me to slow down or halt to a full stop where I can see all the beauties in life,

The beauties that I may have been missing out on because I was too busy being busy!

 

One of my biggest problems though is that I have to be very flexible in my commitments..

 I am only human and only have so much energy...

the pain depletes that energy very quickly some days....

many times I have to change or cancel appointments and plans.

My circle of friends is very very small because most people

just can't be bothered to understand or have patience for me and my headaches.

 

But, some commitments are too important to break...

so I put on a strong smiling face to cover up the thundering storm raging in my head,

a lot of times people have no idea that I am standing there in front of them

on the verge of puking cause the pain is so sharp & deep.

Some commitments are worth going through that and sometimes there is no choice

Maybe it's a concert with tickets already purchased,  that you just can't miss...

or going to a shelter to adopt a rabbit!

or getting a picture done for a client...that's always top priority for me & I always seem to manage.

Or maybe it's a friends wedding & your the photographer!

Some things are worth the smiling face followed by the complete collapse in a dark room,

when I am back in the shelter of my sweet cozy home & in the gentle hands of my honey. 

But goodness knows, no matter how tough I want to be,

sometimes I just can't get out there as I want to.

I can't tell my best friend that I'll come visit for a week or two to help out with the new baby...

 because it's too hard to be out of the comfort of my own home when a bad bout strikes...

and I never know when they'll strike!

I find that part of being a sufferer very difficult to accept & almost worse to deal with than any pain.

 

 I want people to know that there is currently no cure for migraines,

only pain management and

sometimes even the best of meds don't help at all,

sometimes we just have to wait for the throbbing's to pass.

 

There are support groups...

Such as ACHE http://www.achenet.org/

The National Migraine Association http://www.migraines.org/

or The National Headache Foundation  http://www.headaches.org/

I tend not to take part in them but they are good for some people & it's nice to know they are there.

 

So next time your around someone who has a migraine or a headache (which can get just as bad)

Try not to say "Well have you tired this or have you tried that"

Chances are very good that we already have tried it and much more!

Try to not make the person feel as though they are broken or like it's our fault,

We most likely already feel broken & desperate to get rid of the pain even just alittle!

Just be gentle and understanding
and know your lucky if you don't suffer too.

Thanks for listening.
If your a fellow sufferer do get in touch & let's chat.

XO
 

 

McHale

Everyone I'd like you to meet my newest little character...

 

"McHale"

 

This little brown rabbit has a really interested career.

Can you guess what it may be???

 

 

He is a singing minstrel.

 

(and no they aren't a thing from the past, not where he hails from anyhow!)

But not just any singing minstrel...He is a singing minstrel to horses.

That's right...his job is to travel from farm to farm

(right now he's mostly working around the Edinburgh area in the UK)

and he sings tales & happy songs to the hard-working horses on these farms.

It's his job to bolster the creatures up & remind them why they work so hard for humankind.

His voice has a magical quality to it you see and just one or two tales/songs

and the aches and pains, muscle & joint stiffness all but melt away...

and this enchanted healing lasts for a good long whiles too because all the hoofed clients

have to do is hum the song or remember the tale &
bing bam boo their worn bodies all healed up and soothed over again.

Can you believe too that, each and every tale or song this little guy sings is one of a kind.

And guess what...he does so for free.

He asks for not a single dime, just a soft warm bed of hay

and a good tasty stew of beans & carrots

before he travels onto the next farm in need.

He is quite sought after by many farmers all over the world.

 

Isn't that just one of the coolest jobs a rabbit could ever have?!

 

He is a sweet little fella made with coloured pencil on paper on an acrylic painted wood canvas.

He measure a precious little 5" x 7".

The original is ready for a new home & is ready to be shipped & hung.

Interested?

Just email me at MandySaile@BijousWhimsy.com and we'll talk prices.

 

He's one of a kind so I think someone should snatch him up, Don't you?

 

 



Bedtime Bunnies

Well I had a really good 2 weeks with next to no migraines...it was awesome.

But 3 days ago head pain set in once again and my best laid plans have been waylaid!

But I will get back on the horse tomorrow the best I can

& if not tomorrow then as soon as I can!

Tis the life of an acute & chronic migraine/headache sufferer...

Always having to accept that plans change...

Always having to accept our physical limitations...

BUT that is a conversation for another day.

 

I really wanted to show you my bedtime bunny.

Ha ha...is she not just one of thee most adorable creatures ever

(and that's not just me being biased cause I am her mama, ha ha)

 

Every single night we walk into the bedroom to find Teela sitting on the bed,

patiently waiting & knowing that her dinner is on it's way.

(She eats on the bed whiles Yuuji eats on the floor...or else she gobbles up both dinner plates!!!)

She knows that after her dinner it's usually bedtime tea time with mom & dad,

so she stretches out on the bed & knows to wait until the tea is cool enough for her to have a sip.

Then she stretches out again and wants snuggles & pets for about 20 minutes,

then she jumps down to the floor to snuggle up with Yuuji under the bed for the night.

(Then by 8am she's chewing the walls to wake us up for breakfast! She's an endless pit!)

 

Its' the most precious routine,

minus the wall munching of course!

 

Rabbits are alot of work, they chew alot of stuff, they destroy alot of furniture,

when you have more than one & they aren't bonded they pee everywhere their not suppose to

BUT at the end of the day, they are just pure sweetness...just bunnies being bunnies.

 

I just had to share some of the sweetness before heading off to my bedtime bunny.

Sleep sweetly & Dream deeply

& hopefully, if my head allows, we'll see you back here tomorrow with a new painting.



Excited

My web designer/supreme coding genius who also happens to be my bearded honey & I

have been slaving away on a brand new website.

Most of our evenings are taken up by it lately...but that's okay,

it's been about 4 years since the last huge website change.

I was so happy because his response to my shyly saying

"Babe, I LOVE my website still but I feel like it's time for a complete overhaul"

was an excited smile and an immediate "Yes, I agree".

I am so lucky, I tell him what I want & what I need

and he figures out a way to do so & more often than not takes it an even better step further.

 

The new site is going to be so beautiful.

Very sleek, easy to navigate & purchase from and just very very visual.

Oh and accessible on ipads and smartphones and all those new do-das.

 

I am so excited.

 

 

We've been working away for some time now, especially my honey...

It's easy for me to walk in and make my demands

or say 'yes' I like that or 'no' that has to be changed!

It's easy for me to lose my patience because I think something should be easy when it never ever is!

Dear heart has the patience of a saint!

Wait until the time comes when he has to teach me all of the uploading/maintenance/etc part of it...

then his patience really really shines, ha ha.

 

In the meantime,

since I don't know how long this beautiful new site will take exactly.

I am working away on updating my current site.

I'll of course let you know when the update is done...I've fallen behind so there's lots to do.

As always I'll seek your opinions and comments.