Simply Less is More # 200

Hi,

Yippee, Simply Less is More is celebrating publishing the 200th challenge. Although I have missed a few weeks here and there, I have been entering the challenge since week 1. I`m sure I have Chrissie, Mandi and the girls to thank for the huge improvement ( most of the time) in my card making. I`ve thoroughly enjoyed every single challenge, even the ones that were more challenging than others lol. Here`s to the next 200.

Luckily for me this challenge comes in the week of my Sister in laws birthday so I`m sharing the card I made for her.
Hot pink base card from Papermill Direct.
The image is Lili of the Valley coloured with Promarkers and Spectrum Noir pens.
The sentiment is PC generated and I`ve added some tiny clear gems for sparkle.

Ruby is home from hospital now. She was tranfered from HRI to LGI mid week so they could keep a check on the infection and monitor her progress more closely. It was also thought that her emotional state could be hindering progress and this was borne out by the speed in which she picked up. Anyway she`s a lot better and enjoying being with all the family. Thank you all for the lovely comments and the good wishes.

Thank for popping in...Lynne xxx

Simply Less is More # 199

                                                         MISSING
                                     Craft Mojo

                                                 not seen for about 3/4 weeks
                                                 If found please return to this blog


Hi there,
            Well I`m here but my mojo certainly isn`t. I seem to have lost the ability to make a half decent card.
I have tried, I made cards for last week and the week before at Simply Less is More
but they were so pants I didn`t post them. I do wish it would come back. I miss my card making.
I have managed a card for this weeks challenge at Simply Less is More which is titled
                                                       JINGLE ALL THE WAY.
not 100% pleased with this one but this is what I`ve made,

I`ve used a Pink Petticoat 
Tiny Treasures for Christmas image, coloured with Promarkers and cut out with a Tag die from Die-namics.
The papers are from Do Crafts cut and fish tailed with a square nestie.
I`ve added a jingle bell from my stash and some tiny coloured gems here and there.
I`m going to have another go at this one and try to get my placement a bit better. Seems like a good design for batch making if I can get it right.

Ruby was sent home from LGI last week now the chemo is into her system and she has been weaned off the steroids.It`s unbelievable the difference the steroids have made. She gained almost 4 kgs in 5 weeks and it was such a shock to see her. She didn`t look like my Ruby anymore. They have told us that the weight will go almost as quick as it came but the chemo is effecting her leg muscles again which makes it difficult to walk and on friday she developed a high temperature so at the moment she`s in isolation at Hull Royal. Hopefully the blood cultures will come back tomorrow and Ruby can go home and have antibiotics there. She`s having a pretty rough time at the moment but is coping well and, as ever, is cheerful and giving the staff plenty to laugh about.

Thanks for popping in...Lynne xxx
                             

Simply Less Is More # 196

Hello All.
I`ve been a bad blogger again I`m afraid, in fact I`ve been a bad crafter too. Not done any paper crafting for a few days for some reason and last week I didn`t manage a card for the Simply Less is More Challenge at all. I`m back for now though with this weeks colour challenge and it`s a good one,

                                              Non Traditional Christmas Colours....no red or green

I stamped the snowflakes, from Inkadinkdo, in Versacolor heliotrope, orchid and cyan. I added sprinkling of Glamour Dust to add some sparkle.
The sentiment is computer generated but I`m not so keen on the banner now.
If I get the time I might redo it.

Just a quick (ha ha) update on Ruby. At this moment Ruby is in isolation as she has a nasty cough. We are waiting the results of an x ray and hopefully it can be easily treated. Apart from that she is doing remarkably well. There a lot of good positive things to report this week. Two weeks ago a real live Princess visited the childrens oncology ward and Ruby was chosen to meet and greet her. Princess Ghida of Jordan is the chair of a cancer trust and does lots of visits to hospitals.

Ruby wanted to know where her crown was.
Sorry about the pic, I had to pinch it off facebook.

Quite a lot of the kids dressed up for Halloween and spent most of the day terrifying the nursing staff.

Ruby dressed as a pumpkin. Later in the day she had her face painted and wrapped in a sheet pretending to be a ghost.


One thing that her mum was dreading was having to tell Ruby that her hair would fall out again. At the beginning of last week Ruby stated that she was better now her cough had gone so she could go home. Mum decided that this would be the right time to explain that the medicine she had to take would make her feel poorly and that was why Ruby had to stay in the hospital which Ruby accepted and then mum said to her,
" Do you remember last time you were poorly and all your hair feel out?"
Ruby said she did, so mum told her it was going to come out again and Ruby replied,
" Oh great, no tangles and no bobbles. Cool! "
She doesn`t let anything get her down and manages to find a positive in almost anything. The doctors had warned her mum that, because Ruby had already had a full course of chemo quite recently, her hair would come out alot quicker than last time and by friday it was falling out in clumps. It was even falling in her food so by tea time Ruby asked one of the nurses to shave it off. I think she looks beautiful with very short hair.

The chemo Ruby had the last time she was poorly is very toxic and can cause long term heart damage. She had regular heart scans both during and after her treatment. So, because she`s already had so much chemo the consultant requested a slightly different chemo that wasn`t so toxic but is extremely (and I mean ridiculously) expensive, and they were given the go ahead so that`s really good news.

Thanks for staying this long, I know it was a long post :)

Lynne xxx

Simply Less is More # 194

Hello There,
Once again thank you all for your lovely, supportive comments regarding Ruby. I`m sorry if I didn`t get around to you last week but I`m sure you`ll understand what a trying week it`s been. More later.

This weeks challenge at Simply Less is More is to make a card using LITTLE CREATURES
Well....I had a good root about and found this set of stamps I bought years ago from Creative Expressions ( I think) and only inked up once. Although the stamps are quite a good size, mice are quite small creatures aren`t they?

I started by stamping the two mice then, after masking them I stamped the lamp post. I also made a mask for the lamp so I could sponge the background with decorative chalks.
I coloured the image with Promarkers and added a sentiment from the same set. Unfortunately I caught the edge of the stamp and left a tiny mark so I`ve covered it with a clear gem.

Right, back to Ruby. Last week she had a lumber puncture and a CT scan on her head. There was some concern that she may have a tumour in her nasal passages aswell as she was still having some trouble breathing especially when laying flat. Anyway both sets of results have come back clear so that is a bonus. The steroids seem to be working and her breathing has improved over the last few days but she has ballooned. Her face looks like the moon bless her, she does look healthy but we are aware that it`s the steroids and she will lose weight once the treatment starts.
Because she has already had a full course of Chemo and quite recently, the effects appear alot sooner so she will start to lose her hair almost immediately. Not sure how she`ll deal with that this time but I`m sure we`ll get round it somehow. So this is the start of another 2 year treatment plan which will probably last at least 6 months longer because there`ll be times when treatment is delayed because of infections. By the time it`s finished poor kid will have spent more than half her life having treatment.
 Apart from that Ruby is fine. Loving the attention, making friends with the nursing staff and eating like a horse.

Thanks for popping in...Lynne xxx

Simply Less is More # 193

Hello There !

I`d first like to say a very big thank you for all your lovely comments and the support and prayers you`ve sent for Ruby. It means such a lot to us all. More later.

This week it`s the dreaded One Layer Card at Simply Less is More and we are asked to include,
                                                        2 of Something

A pretty basic card really. I`ve used 2 leaves.
A simple panel chalked with yellow, orange and a touch of red to keep with the autumnal theme.
I stamped 2 leaves from Hero Arts, in clear ink and embossed them in detail gold EP.
The sentiment is There She Goes stamped in Black Versafine ink.

Ruby gave us quite a scare last monday when she went to theatre.The doctors were hoping to do a biopsy, a lumber puncture and fit a port in one operation but she stopped breathing under the anaesthetic. My daughter rang in a mad panic because they`d been told Ruby might have to go into intensive care. They`d managed to do the biopsy but had to bring her round quickly because the tumour was blocking her airways.After a couple of very worrying  hours Mum rang back to say that Ruby was back on the ward and chatting away after eating her way through a plate full of fish fingers and chips. Phew!
Doctors decided to give a few days rest and after scanning on friday she was taken back to theatre for the rest of her procedure. She has a T-Cell Lymphoma which I think is a form of Leukemia but we are still waiting for the results from her spinal fluid to see which type it is. Apart from that she is fine. Mum and dad are being as honest as they can with her, answering her questions and she seems to be taking it all on board for now. I think the worse thing for Ruby will be when her hair falls out again but we`ll deal with that when it happens.

Thanks for popping in...Lynne xxx

Simply Less is More # 192

Hello there, it`s a thoroughly miserable day today over most of the UK so not a day for getting out and about. What better excuse to stay put and craft.
The challenge over on Simply Less is More this week is a colour one and perfect for this month as it`s title is,
                                                                AUTUMN BOUNTY

I used decorative chalks in red, orange, yellow and green on Papermill White Linen card before cutting it out with a Spellbinders Hexagon die.
I cut a larger hexagon in white and mounted them, one on top the other using foam pads.
The leaf is cut from a X Cut die in dark yellow card and I`ve chalked the edges with orange.
Finished off with a sentiment from There She Goes.

We had some really devastating news over the weekend...Ruby has cancer again. After being cancer free for over a year the evil disease has come back to have another go.I can`t begin to tell you how we`re all feeling but especially her mum & dad who are, understandably, devastated.
Ruby had a really bad, chesty cough for about 3 weeks which didn`t respond to antibiotics or an inhaler so on friday her GP referred her to Hull Royal for an X ray. HRI liased with Leeds General where all her treatment will take place and they admitted her immediately.
It was thought to be a secondary wilms tumour that had settled in her lungs but apparently it`s a new cancer altogether, thought to be caused by the radiation she had for her last treatment, and is in her upper airway and pushing against her lungs but is easily treatable. It just means she has go through all the chemo and the side effects that go with it all over again.
That`s about all I know for now exept they have put her on steroids to control her breathing so they can do a biopsy and a lumber puncture and also to fit a port, which is left in to admit any medication she needs.
Because Ruby was only 3 last time her treatment started she just got on with it and accepted everything that needed doing but now she`s 6 and can remember things she`s a very frightened little girl. I`m sure the staff at LGI will deal with that as they are wonderful there.
So... not a very happy post today, sorry about that.

Thanks for popping in...Lynne xxx

Simply Less is More # 191

Hello There,
Well it`s a good week for me this week over at the Simply Less is More Challenge. It`s recipe week and we are asked to make a card using MOSTLY WORDS.
I had decided to make my batches of  Christmas cards for friends and neighbours over the weekend, keeping them simple and using text as the main focal point. Basically all I`ve had to do is put this card together. Simples!

Cuttlebug Snowflake EF on panel.
Words PC generated and cut out with a SB nestie oval die.
Snowflakes, lge Crafters Companion die, two smaller ones punched from pale blue glitter card.
Finished off with a small gem in centre of larger snowflake.

Time permitting I`ll be back during the week but don`t hold your breath. Enjoy whats left of the week end,
Thanks for popping in...Lynne xxx