The flowers were again made with the CTMH Art Philosophy Cartridge! You only have a few more days to sign up and get that cartridge with your new consultant kit and for the same price as the cart itself.




Paper: Lucy Paper Pack
Cricut: Art Philosophy 
Stamp: He is Risen
Ribbon: Mini-Medley Accents Smoothie Collection
Copics: W5, W3, W1, W00 -- B0000, B00 -- Y17, Y28

On Thursday, we found out that the center my husband works for is closing and he will be without a job. We are devastated and don't know what to do. Our son is sick and needs daily medical help and I cannot go to work. I decided I really need to start creating and selling my cards to help, so stay tuned for some more high end cards coming :) 

Every time I make a card I find myself asking my entire family MANY times "Do you like it?" and "What should I add or change?" and  no matter how many times they say "yes, it's great, don't change it" I feel that I need to add more or I question myself over and over again. Am I the only one that does this?

Usually there is nothing mentioned but for this card, my husband said that I should add some more crystals to the other corner on the top; he said it was too white up there. I may still add that later :)



The ribbon is the COLOR-READY SEAM BINDING RIBBON and I dyed it with Tulip-
The Stamps were retired Cherish (forever) and  4 MY FRIENd

4 MY FRIEND
COLOR-READY SEAM BINDING RIBBON
12" X 12" STELLA PAPER PACKET
CRICUT® ART PHILOSOPHY COLLECTION
BLACK TAPESTRY VELVET RUB-ONS 

I made this card in response to the challenge on SCS- The directions say to make a card in 45 minutes or less, (my cards can take days to make some times!) and to included rolled up flowers. Lucky for me, the CTMH Art philosophy cart has a lot of those-

I already had some flowers  pre-cut from a previous project I was making along with some scraps, so it was a quick and easy card. Besides that, The CTMH Quick Cards-Butterfly stamp is beautiful and requires no coloring. I did add some sickles in some parts of it to add some more dimension to the stamp.

I cut the large leaves out and used my embossing "pen" to put some lines into the them-
The lace is the only thing not CTMH, it was just a scrap I had laying around.



The card measures 6X6 and is an easel card. 
If you are interested in purchasing it for $10, please email me at angela@stryderslist.com
I am in the process of getting my store loaded and done but if you would like it before hand, I can send a paypal invoice for $10 plus shipping. All my cards come in a clear plastic box for showing.

Make sure to check out my web site at www.stryderslist.com 
I put information about Stryders disorders there and also other information.

Paper:
Stamps: QUICK CARDS-BUTTERFLY
Ink: Smoothie, Grey Wool
Paper: LUCY PAPER PACKET
Extra: LUCY COMPLEMENTS GLITTERY RUB-ONS

Stryder is the strongest, happiest 4 year old I have ever met. He never complains and never throws a fit, about anything. He is an amazing little boy.

I have noticed lately that he is popping and cracking a lot. His little bones just don't stay where they are supposed to. I asked him the the other day if it hurts and he says no, but sometimes it just does.
Then today, I asked him to get his medicine and he came walking to me with a look of fret and then he gets mad and says "it just hurts." When I asked him, he said nothing and so I kept asking and he said nothing and then "It hurts, it hurts all over..."- Why does a 4-year old have to hurt so much? I'm not sure what to do. We have so many appointments and follow ups that we are supposed to do. One is a sleep study, which I used to not think was that important, but he is not sleeping at all lately and he is getting very forgetful. He had a previous study and that was where they determined he had several things wrong including epilepsy, upper resistance syndrome, and some slowing in his brain. I know there are things going wrong but I thought really, what more can they do and besides, all we ever do is find out more things that are wrong?!?!?

Speaking of tests, I just got the results from some previous ones and they show he has hypothyroidism! I just don't know anymore... It's overwhelming!

What do you think of the new design? I love the bright colors and of course the purple and green I am using for awareness. It shows Kasiah, Stryder and our dog Hershey. I debated drawing a picture of my husband and I but my husband said that people like kids, they don't like us LOL--
Let me know your thoughts.
And I just LOVE my signature! I found this little zebra on the internet - Zebras are the "mascot" for Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome because they are so rare and when you hear hoof beats you think horses, but sometimes they are zebras as in the case with the medical problems that people with EDS have sometimes: it's not usually what they seem.

I spoke too soon in my earlier post...Stryder has been having a reaction to "something." He has been breaking out on his face with spots and then also has some new cold sores. Then today he had two accidents and I know his little tummy is upset but he doesn't say anything, just shame. Poor Little thing. I'm emailing one of the Dr.'s I have been emailing to see if she has any suggestions.

I have been going back and reading on Stryder's history and this little boy has gone through so much.
We started our journey when he was pretty little and they thought maybe he had cystic fibrosis. After that we learned that he should have been speaking and he wasn't. We have been told he had cancer and Maple Syrup Disease, both they say are still possibilities. I believe that it is the EDS that is making all these tests come up different than most.

Stryder's collagen is defective. That's the basic definition of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. Some people with EDS show very little signs, while others have major complications. Stryder is on the extreme end and while the Dr's believe he has many problems, I feel that it is all because his collagen is weak. His little body is always repairing itself, rendering the blood test results low or high in areas where "normal" children shouldn't have. Collage is the most abundant protein in the body and provides strength in tissue, including the heart and blood vessels and eyes. This means that Stryder can have an aneurysm anywhere and we have been told by several Dr's this is very likely because of how "bad" his collagen is.

Stryder has been tested for Vascular EDS, which came back negative. There are five other types and some do not have genetic testing available just yet. We have been in contact with a Dr. over the internet and while she cannot diagnose over the net, she believes Stryder has the classical type. We will have to make trips to Baltimore every six months for treatment and to get a plan of action.

Because Stryder has had so many problems in his short life, it is believed that he does not have a long life span, but really, who is to say that. We have been through a lot. I know that hearing that your son does not have cancer is supposed to be a good thing, but what happens when your child has all the symptoms of cancer and yet there is no treatment and no cure. It's not a good thing anymore.

EDS is not always fatal and in truth, hypermobile EDS is almost never fatal.  There is chronic pain and a few other problems, but really it's not life threatening in most. Unfortunately, some EDS patients seem to have a lot of problems and a lot of  life threatening problems with the heart and bowels and scoliosis, which Stryder is starting to show because his muscles cannot hold his back straight.
We are still testing and there are still a lot of unanswered results. The geneticist at the Mayo wants to test for the other types of EDS, although they are only 50% accurate. When we were there, she said that we shouldn't do them, but now she says that he has so many positive signs that he should. I do not want to take the chance of the test coming back negative but there is still a 50% chance he did have it. We know what his problems are and we are aware that he has a lot of inside problems as well, we deal with them as they come-that's the best we can do.

This card was made with Pemberley Paper Pack and Stickease as well as the Close to my Heart Art Philosophy Cart available through CTMH consultants only.
The stamp used is Card Word Puzzle- I love this set because it is so versatile! 
Remember for the same price this month (March) you can get the AP cart and whole lot more- see this post here for details.