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A very warm welcome to my teeny, tiny part of the huge world of blogging. This is where I share my passion for making hand made greeting cards. So - why "Always with a Heart"? Well this is for two reasons. Firstly, it is because every card I produce carries a heart on it somewhere. This can be big and bold or small and almost hidden - the fun sometimes is just trying to find it! Secondly it is because I put my heart into everything I produce. I hope that any visitors enjoy seeing what I post. If you drop by then please leave me a comment so that I know you called. It would be nice to know that you have found my heart in what I do.

Sunday 29 October 2023

FANCY FINDING ANOTHER HEART?

Hi Everyone

Serious stranger alert here!  

So sorry it has been such a long time since I posted anything here .. .. .. or visited any of your wonderful blogs!  

As I am sure you may have guessed from my absence things haven't been too good here in the House of Hearts  -  a real curveball landed with us in July 2022 when I was diagnosed with HER2 Positive Breast Cancer - and it has taken me quite a while to come out of the other side.  

It all started with me finding a lump in my armpit and things went on "fast forward" from that point onwards.

Treatment is still ongoing, and will continue into next year, but I am starting to feel more like my "old self" and I am super excited about dusting down my craft pod and starting to create and blog again.

.. .. .. and that explains what has been happening in my world in just a few short paragraphs.

The above subject is now closed other than to say a huge "thank you" to my wonderful family and my super special friends who have helped me through this challenging time .. .. .. as well as the fabulous NHS for whom nothing has ever been too much trouble.  I couldn't wish for better care and support.  

I don't intend to discuss this subject any further, or go into any more detail, either here on my blog or in emails.  There will be no dwelling/living in the past .. .. I am grabbing the future with both hands and will be simply making the most of life again. 

Lots more news to share, but I won't put everything into one blog post .. .. .. it would be far too huge .. .. .. so I will spread everything out gradually over the coming weeks.   

But I would like to say that I am super happy to report that my Mum is doing well (in fact she has been looking in far better nick than I have .. .. .. and she is now a whole 93!). 

So there we go .. .. .. .. .. .. that is where I have been all this time .. .. .. .. .. .. and my very first port of call is to run as fast as my little legs will carry me to the Snippets Playground Challenge where we are encouraged to use up all of those little bits of card, paper, ribbon, fabric etc that we compulsively save (well I do anyway almost to the point of ridiculousness). 

This is what I have created .. .. ..


These are the snippets I grabbed to play with.. .. 


Supplies used were:

Paper and card snippets
Spellbinder Circle and Scalloped Circle Dies
Julie Hickey Layers, Frames & Banners Rectangle Die Set
X-Cut Embossing Folder - Polka Hearts
Lili of the Valley Digital Block Sentiment Set
Ribbon
My "new" Trusty Sewing Machine (more on that another day)

My card is based on a You Tube video I saw posted by the lovely Natasha Foote but I have altered it to suit what I wanted. 

I hope everyone has been getting along OK in my absence and that the world has been being kind to you all. 

Have a good rest of the day .. .. it feels really great and exciting to be back!

Time now to see if I am still capable of linking up my entry!  LOL!!!

I have needed to change my computer and am on a big learning curve because I am now on Windows 11 and it is taking a bit of mastering .. .. hence me not yet getting to grips with adding a watermark to my photographs!