Less is More Week 251 - 'Numbers!'

The current challenge over at Less is More is 'Numbers'. Bit of pondering here as we don't have any special Birthdays or Wedding Anniversaries on the radar where I'd usually use numbers.

Then I had a little thought, you know how someone can catch you out with a last minute and unexpected Christmas card when it's just too late to reciprocate in time? So I made a New Year card:

I used:

- 5.5" x 4.25" white card blank, tent style

- the stitching on the front of the card was die cut using the biggest die in the Lil' Inkers 'Stitched Rectangles' set and then carefully trimmed to size

- stamped the festive cocktail onto a snippet of white card using Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink. The stamp is from SU's 'Making Spirits Bright' set (recently bought as a pre-loved set) and I used little pieces of a post-it note to mask off the Christmas sentiment before inking it up. Removed the post-it pieces and then stamped the cocktail glass with its contents

- coloured the image using Whispers markers and a gold gel pen for the ribbon bow

- added 'Happy New Year' using another stamp from the same SU set

- die cut the image using a Lil' Inkers 'Stitched Rectangle' die and added the year 2016 to the top left hand corner using gold peel off stickers

- die cut a snippet of matt gold card using the next rectangle up in size and glued the image panel to it (using Collall All Purpose glue)

- glued the gold framed panel to the front of the card and called it a day

Had really wanted this SU stamp set for quite some time and was delighted to find it as pre-loved item over on a Facebook 'de-stashing' site. And even more delighted when I found out that it was being sold by one of our playmates, small world eh? You know who you are :)

After several protracted phone calls to the docs surgery yesterday (with the tenacity of a terrier!) finally found out that this 'ere big toe/trotter is showing up on the x-rays as not broken but with 'changes consistent with osteoarthritis' (which I already have elsewhere so no real surprise about that). Wahoo - a relief there's no pockets of infection or a fracture showing up though! So, for now, it's a case of  continuing with the painkillers and anti-inflammatories whilst things hopefully settle down again after what still seems to have been gRout. Appointments are still lined up for repeat blood tests, progress trips to the doc and also rheumatology at hospital (apparently it could be months for that appointment to come round!).

In fairness, the past couple of days have seen a very gradual improvement such as being able to get round the house without a walking stick most of the time and generally less pain than before - so I have to live in hope! Unless there's a massive change backover I won't keep doing 'trotter updates', much prefer to think of the glass as half full! :)

Di
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