Sending Blessings Your Way

Today is my Mother's birthday. Here she is with her great grandkids Kennedy and Remi. She retired the end of June after working nearly her entire life. It is still taking some adjustment but I think she's enjoying it!







I made her this card using Operation Write Home's sketch#188 which was part of the Labor Day Weekend Virtual Card Making Party.

This is what I love about OWH sketches....the measurements!

My card. I used a stamp designed by Phyllis Harris and sold through Unity Stamp Co. The papers are from a 6x6 Basic Grey paper pad "Lemonade Collection". I will make another card to add to the cards I will send to OWH.








I also made this card for the Labor Day Weekend VCMP.

 This was OWH VCMP Challenge #5: Masking Tape Block Stamping from Donna Inks Blog. She used masking tape.  I didn't have any masking tape but had some Duck Tape. I wasn't sure if I was going to like this card when I first started. I had missing ink in places but I kept re-inking the tape and stamping over it. I was more pleased after that. I then stamped directly to the card using a stamp set from Unity Stamp Co's "Itty Bitty" Collection. Its not my favorite but it's not too bad. I did think a little bit of ribbon helped complete the card.


Have a good one.

Going Home

Our three weeks with Remi is already over! Where did the time go?! The girls both sat with me during church today and I found myself getting teary-eyed when I realized this would be Remi's last Sunday until her visit in October.

I am going with Keannon and the girls to the airport. Vanessa has cheer practice so she asked me if I could go.

Doyle with Lil' Man. He will be six months old on the 6th!

I made this card for a friend whose birthday was August 31st.

There is rain in the forecast. We really need it. I saw some hope of development in these clouds just before sunset.

Have a good one!

Labor Day Weekend VCMP

Don't know what VCMP is? It stands for Virtual Card Making Party. It's time for Operation Write Home Labor Day Weekend Virtual Card Making Party. I just love these but I don't always get to participate. I had a little time on Saturday and today to follow along. You start with Operation Write Home's Blog (Stars and Stamps). In that blog there will be links to go to other blogs that will have a challenge to make a card using a sketch or technique...something to get you going.

My first stop was to Scrap Happens Blog where the challenge was to  make a winter or Christmas themed card for OWH following  a sketch. Here is the sketch.

I was going to try using something else in place of the 1" squares but it wasn't working for me so instead of using any more time I just followed the sketch. Here's my card.

These papers were scraps from a Teresa Collins Christmas collection 2 or 3 years ago.

The next two challenges I chose to skip...at least for now. One was going to make me think too hard, the other I didn't have the right dies to complete (imagine that!). I may go back and do those later.

My next stop however was to ByAnnette' Blog. Her challenge was to make a "Love Card" using an OWH sketch #29.

I just LOVE OWH sketches because there are measurements! No guessing! Now this challenge I did twice because I didn't exactly follow the sketch. Not sure what I was thinking. I still thought it turned out cute so I will share it anyway. But first the card that follows the sketch.

Once again I used papers leftover from a previous project. I'm not sure but I think this was a Fancy Pants Collection from last summer. The stamp is "Love You Tons" from the Itty Bitty stamp collection by Unity Stamp Company. I colored the elephant with my Copic Markers and hearts with a Memento pen.

Here is my other card.

These papers were also leftovers of a Bo Bunny Collection. The stamp is a Phyllis Harris design by Unity Stamp Co. called "First Love".

I may try to do some others. The cool thing is if you want to participate in any or all the challenges you have until Sunday September the 8th!

Have a good one!

Joy

I decided to make another card for the Cards in Envy: For the Birds Challenge using Cards in Envy sketch#10.

I know, I know, very few of us want to even think about Christmas but when you're a crafter you need too! I don't have many bird stamps and the ones I do are Christmas themed. I figured it never hurts to make a Christmas card early. The papers I used are from American Crafts. The stamp is an ittybitty by Unity called Silhouette Song Bird. I embosssed the image using Versamark and white embossing powder. I wasn't happy with my first attempt at embossing so I did it again.  I decided to not let the imperfect one go to waste and cut out the bird and the word "JOY" and popped with foam tape.

I am so looking forward to a 3 day weekend! It's supposed to be oppressively hot so it sounds like it will be good crafting weather for me!

Have a good one!

One Week Post Adoption

It's been a week ago today that we adopted Gracie. I took her to the vet on Monday for a "wellness examine". She weighed in at a whopping 83lbs. She should weigh around 125 or 130. The vet did confirm for me that she is a young dog even though she has gray hairs on her muzzle and face. She said that stress can cause premature aging and we know she was neglected. Here she's chillin in my craft room. She wants to be where I am.

I introduced her to some horses at the clinic.












Sunday evening I took the dogs to the Cemetery. You can read about part of the adventure here. What I didn't write about was an incident that happened with Gracie that shook me up. She had been sniffing and exploring with the other dogs. She would get ahead of me then turn around and come back towards me to make sure I was close by. She evidently got more comfortable with this new found freedom as she got about 15 or 20 foot ahead of me. It was dusk. The sun had set but it was still light enough to see. I saw her stop and look toward my left at something. I turned to look just in time to see a skunk. Before I could turn my head back toward Gracie to call her off she bolted at a dead run, pounced on the skunk and killed it all in less than 30 seconds. I was screaming at her to stop to no avail. I literally saw the skunk expel his scent into the air as Gracie shook it like a rag doll. She drops the skunk and comes toward me. I see blood in her mouth and think she's been bit but further examination revealed that not to be true. I was appalled at what I just witnessed. I then put the leash back on her the rest of the walk. Thankfully she only got a glancing blow of skunk scent but enough I still had to bath her. In all the years I've had dogs and taken them on adventures I have never had one get skunked...until now! Here is a link should you ever need it."How to Get Rid of Skunk Smell in Pets.".

Doyle really likes her but I think he's a bit bummed that she wants to be with me. I told him she'd come around once she figures out I'm not home as much as he is!

We have discovered she likes to sleep on her back!

Wednesday, I had my second traumatic experience with Gracie. I was in the backyard with the dogs. Letting them take care of business and play. I was throwing the frisbee for Kaidence while Gracie and Kajen were playing.

Gracie came to me for attention as Kaidence was bringing me her Frisbee. It appeared that Gracie was trying to get Kaidence to play with her when Kaidence growled and nipped at Gracie who in turn retaliated. I grabbed Gracie's collar to pull her off Kaidence while at the same time kicking Kaidence with my foot to disengage them. I am yelling at them both. I realized I was in a very dangerous position but believed that if I didn't intervene Gracie would have severely injured Kaidence if not killed her. It was all I could do not to freak out! It scared me so bad I was trembling. Once apart I put Gracie in the house to check Kaidence for wounds.

At first I thought this was the only wound then I discovered there was another on the opposite side of her head just in front of her right ear.

Gracie literally had Kaidence's head in her mouth! Although these may not look bad visually, I am keeping and eye on them as well as washing and putting antibiotic ointment on the wounds. Punctures can be more severe under the skin.

Doyle was at work and I had church so I separated the dogs for my own peace of mind.

The more I think about what happened, I think I was the common denominator. Kaidence is very jealous and protective of me. She is an Alpha dog...but I think Gracie maybe too!  One thing for sure We will be much more cautious around her until we get a much better feel for her behavior. I still believe she will fit in...as long as Kaidence can make the adjustment.

After all that excitement I let the girls spend the night. Remi goes home Monday. They kept asking if they could. I wasn't sure if I would have another chance before Remi went home so I let them.
The girls are picking out books for me to read to them before bed. Gracie wants to be in on the action.

She really does exhibit a sweet nature. I am believing things will work out in time.

Have a good one!

Summer Afternoon Fun

Nothing brings me greater pleasure than sharing my interests with Remi and Kennedy. I think I may be creating little crafters and horse enthusiasts! Remi has already asked her mom about a horse! Guess I really have made an impression! Remi is also the one who asked specifically to go riding. It has been so hot I was trying to find a day when we could do it early in the morning when on Tuesday we got a break from the heat...at least enough I didn't mind taking them riding. We had cloud cover all morning and into early afternoon keeping temperatures in the low 90's with a good breeze. Vanessa is coaching the cheerleaders at our local private school (where she attend K-8th grade). She had cheer practice that afternoon so we made arrangements to bring the girls to me during that time.

I rode like this all the time as a kid because I couldn't put a saddle on a horse. I'd take a bucket with a handful of feed. Catch the horse, then turn the bucket upside down to help me get on then would ride the horse back to the barn or wherever I was riding. I have no idea why Kennedy has on a hooded sweatshirt! It wasn't long before she was ready to take it off!

Kennedy didn't like walking through the weeds so she decided she wanted to ride behind Remi.

I'm not sure if you can see it in the picture (you can click on the photo to see a larger view and you probably can) but Remi is holding flowers we picked that she saw while riding.

The camera didn't see what the girls were seeing because I was on the ground but you could see the Eastern side of the city from this little knoll. Remi said "I can see the world from here." I just love the perspective of a child!

It was only fair to switch so Kennedy could ride up front. She was mostly interested in riding to the little playground behind St. Mark's Lutheran Church.

See our transportation in the background tied to a tree?

Kennedy taking her turn at the slide.

Remi figured out it was fun to twist this and spin around!

Neither one of the girls knew what this was or had ridden on one!

Remi's hair kept getting in her face. I told her she looked like the "Thing". She didn't have a clue what I was talking about!

The pasture was getting mowed while we were riding. The weeds were really tall in places!

Mommy pulls up just as we are finishing.

Have a good one!

For the Birds Challenge

I am entering this card in Cards in Envy: For the Birds Challenge. The image is a Cling Jumbo from Stampendous that I purchased at Cat's Creations. I colored the image with my Copic Markers then covered it in glossy accents to enhance the color. I used Stickles to color the berries then cut out the image. I chose not to use a sentiment. I really like how the birds turned out. The green with white polka dot paper was from my stash of Christmas paper scraps. I have no idea what line its from. To finish off the card I added some twine from My Minds Eye.

Have a good one!