If you are a regular reader of this blog then you will remember me telling you about my lovely friend Beth and sharing her story with you:

This is a little project I have been working on for a while now. I have often mentioned how much I enjoy designing for the digital scrapbook community because it allows me immediate and personal contact with my customers, well this is probably the most poignant example of that interaction and the friendships that grow from it.

A little while ago a special customer contacted me and asked if I would consider making some cancer themed doodles for the cards and journal she was working on while she underwent various treatments for cancer. We ended up exchanging a number of emails and having quite a brainstorming session about what she needed and this little freebie pack was the final result:

Download Beth’s Belief

Beth is the special customer and her story moved me greatly. Sadly, I am sure that almost everyone reading this will have had their lives touched by cancer in some way.

Beth created these cards to give to other cancer patients she knows, both young and old. Visit her blog to hear more of her story and to download the cards, I love the “Chemosabe” pun!

I’d just like to say thank you Beth for trusting me to create these and for involving me in the way you did. It was a very moving experience for me and more than a few tears have been shed along the way. I hope your cards can bring some love, support and smiles to all those who receive them and may you always find a way to give voice to your heart xxx

April 2010

Tragically, less than 6 months after we completed these doodles, Beth lost her fight with cancer. We had kept in touch, exchanging emails and layouts, private messages and memories and we had a lovely online friendship that I hold very dear. I had never met her, never even spoken to her on the phone but her shining spirit and generosity touched my heart very deeply and I miss her very much.

A few months after Beth passed away, we heard the news that our next-door neighbour had also lost her battle with cancer. Tracey was a fun and bubbly character, the same age as me and her youngest son is in the same class at school as my daughter. Every day (weather permitting!) my kids played with hers, playing dodgeball over the fence.

Since then, this dreadful disease has touched more amazing women in my life, both in my own family and in the Lilypad family (you can read about Pollywog Melissa’s story and marvel at her utterly beautiful photography on her blog Life as a Lewis).

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