Things Are Looking Up for Ride!

Hello Again, Friends and Fellow Bloggers,

I’m happy to be able to report that things are looking up for our special greyhound, Ride.

As many of you will recall, Ride had emergency surgery on Saturday evening, October 18 . . . . .. . . . . . .when she had to have her spleen AND a 12.5 lb. splenic tumor removed.

Our poor baby had to stay at the doggie hospital for a couple of days after the surgery, in order for the vet to watch for internal bleeding or any other complications.

But, knock on wood, she did well after the surgery, and we’ve had her home now for about 10 days.

For some reason, it took over a week for us to get the results of the biopsy, but the veterinarian called us night before last to let us know that the initial biopsy was benign. YAY! I think they’re going to do another one, just to be sure, and we should know the final results on Monday, when I take Ride in to have her stitches (actually, staples) removed.

Eating has been an issue for Ride since the surgery, but thanks to Dear Old Mom (me), she’s been getting some pretty special meal concoctions lately, consisting of various combinations of people and dog food.

And FINALLY it appears that her appetite is coming back. (Of course, I'm sure part of this is due to the fact that she is now tumor free and simply feeling better.)

I took Ride in yesterday to the vet clinic to have her stitches checked, and while we were there, I weighed her. She had been down to 52.5 pounds when I brought her home after surgery, but I was SO happy to find out yesterday that she was up to 57 pounds!

Also of SPECIAL NOTE is that she actually sought out one of her favorite squeaky doggie toys from the basket that I keep them in, and went to sleep with it tucked under her chin (Too bad I didn't catch a shot of that!) So I think we’re making progress here.

All these pictures were taken today . . . . I wanted you all to see how good she's looking!

Thanks to all of you for your kind thoughts and/or prayers that you’ve sent our way for our Dear Little Miss Ride.


Until We Meet Again . . . . May you, your family, and all your furry friends continue to enjoy health and comfort in each other’s company.

Halloween Magic

Wow, it's hard to believe that Halloween is only a few days away! With recent travel and doggie events at our house, I've had very little time to make Halloween cards this year. That makes me little sad, because Halloween is one of my favorite "holidays"! I always enjoy coming up with new Halloween card designs. And I love to see all the little munchkins come to our door with the costumes that they (and/or their parents!) have dreamed up!

Halloween is such a magical time of the year, don't you think?

Today, though, I did spend some time working on a custom order for a Halloween Birthday card. And this card is what evolved from today's efforts . . . . it's a variation of one of my previous "Good Little Witch" paper pieced designs.

Since I wasn't able to find my previously developed witch pattern (in my embarrassingly disorganized craft area), I had to develop a new one today, and this one is designed for a 5" X 7" card.

The witch's face is a 2" punched circle, and her hair consists of strips of cardstock. All other pieces are hand drawn and hand cut from textured Bazzill cardstock, then accented with chalk shading and/or pigment pen detailing. I've added a touch of sparkle to the stars on the witch's hat and dress with Stickles glitter.

Although I love this witch card, I doubt I'll be making another one very soon. I have to admit, this design is somewhat time-intensive, even for OCD me! I counted up 24 individually cut and hand glued pieces in this completed design. . . . that's a lot of detail work AND glue dots!

I'll be printing an inside message for the lucky Halloween Birthday girl, along the lines of "Hope Your Birthday is Simply Magical!"

Until we meet again . . . . . .May you, too, enjoy the Magic of Halloween.

I LOVE YOUR BLOG Award!

I'm still trying to do a little BLOG CATCH UP from when Lee and I were on vacation . . . . .

While we were gone, this I LOVE YOUR BLOG Award came from my friend Lisa.

The recipients of this Blog Award are challenged to share a little about her/himself by answering the following questions with ONE WORD.

So Here Goes. . . . . (Lisa, THIS is for you!)


1. Where is your cell phone? desk

2. Where is your significant other? upstairs

3. Your hair color? blonde

4. Your mother? plucky

5. Your father? memorable

6. Your favorite thing? piano

7. Your dream last night? forgotten

8. Your dream/goal? artistry

9. The room you're in? office

10. Your hobby? crafts

11. Your fear? illness

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Utah

13. Where were you last night? home

14. What you're not? dumb

15. One of your wish-list items? security

16. Where you grew up? Kansas

17. The last thing you ate? sausage

18. What are you wearing? jeans

19. Your TV? old

20. Your pet? greyhounds

21. Your computer? recycled

22. Your mood? contented

23. Missing someone? aunt

24. Your car? Subaru

25. Something you're not wearing? earrrings

26. Favorite store? Roberts

27. Your summer? busy

28. Love someone? absolutely

29. Your favorite color? blue

30. When is the last time you laughed? today

31. Last time you cried? yesterday



Now, I wasn't TOLD that I needed to pass on this award, but I want to anyway, 'cause there are more blogs that I think are deserving of this I LOVE YOUR BLOG Award, and bloggers that I'd like to get to know a little better.


So, I hereby award this I LOVE YOUR BLOG Award to the following Blogs/Bloggers, and in so doing, tag them to complete the above questions with one word answers. Have Fun!


Pat (Cards, Collage, and Altered Art by Patzee)

Carla (Cat Productions)

Tatyana (Dogs, Art, and Possibly a Cup of Tea)

Lazy Bone (Lazy Bone Creations)

Amy (An Artful Mess)

What Style/s of Handmade Christmas/Holiday Cards Do You Prefer? (My FIRST Blog Poll!)

Good Evening, Friends, Fellow Bloggers and Handmade Card Lovers,

I've just developed my VERY FIRST Blog Poll, and I'd love for you to participate!

The Christmas/Holiday Season is just around the corner, and many of my fellow cardmakers and myself are going to be (or have already begun) focusing our card designs around holiday theme/s.

Please take moment to let us know what style/s of handmade cards you prefer for the Christmas/Holiday season . . . . . . See the poll at the right of my Blog (And note that you can mark more than one style!)

Can't wait to hear from you all!

P.S. If you have ideas or suggestions that don't fit into the "poll" format, please feel free to leave a comment here!

Butterfly Award

While my husband Lee and I were on vacation last week, one of my fellow bloggers, Nicki Leigh, did the honor of giving my blog a "Butterfly Award" How cool is that?? Thanks so much, Nicki!

The Butterfly Award is a way for bloggers to show appreciation to other Bloggers as well as to demonstrate their interest in that particular blog. It is now my duty to pass this award on to ten other Bloggers whom I admire and whose blogs I enjoy reading.

I'm a little late passing on this Butterfly Award to some of my favorite fellow bloggers, but "better late than never", right??

So, here are my picks . . . I love them all! I hope you'll take a little time to check out each one:

1. Card, Collage, and Altered Art by Patzee

2. Mangia Designs

3. Second Sister Suaviloquy

4. What I Made Today

5. Dogs, Art, and Possibly a Cup of Tea

6. Claire Eye Design

7. 13 Moons, Poetry, Art and Herbs

8. The Photography of Lee Robinson

9. The Buck Stamps Here

10. Tessa Ann

A Rough Day for Ride

Those of you who know me, or have been following my Blog for a while, know that my husband Lee and I have two lovely ex-racing greyhounds, Harley and Ride.

The photo on the left is one of my favorite pics of Ride, taken a year or so ago. We adopted Ride in 1999, and over the past 9 years, she's given Lee and me a great deal of love and enriched our lives greatly, as all wonderful pets do. She is now is 12 years old, which is somewhat elderly for a greyhound.

Yesterday was a rough day for Ride. We had brought her and Harley back home from the kennel the afternoon before, after being there for 12 days while Lee and I were on our trip to Oregon. She hadn't been eating well for a week or so before we left, but we'd started to supplement her dry kibble with some tastier canned dog food and she was eating it right up. And when I called to check on her from Oregon, she was still eating well and doing fine.

But as it turns out, a few days before we got back from our trip, she went off her food again. And as of yesterday morning, I couldn't get her to eat even a nibble of dry dog food, or even canned. The only thing she ate yesterday was a cooked hamburger, and a fried egg. That, plus the fact that she was looking WAY skinny to me, made us decide to get her in to see the vet as soon as we could.

So, off I went with Ride to the veterinarian's office and we both spent most of the afternoon there while she had an exam, ultrasound, and several x-rays. Turns out that she had a large tumor in her abdomen, but neither vet could say for sure if it was on her spleen or her liver, so she underwent exploratory surgery last evening.

What was found was a very large tumor on her spleen, so both her spleen and the tumor were removed. (The vet told us that the tumor actually weighed 12.5 lbs, which is truly astonishing to me.) There IS a chance that the tumor is benign, and that is our hope. A biopsy of the tumor and of a spot on her liver were both taken, and we'll know the results by next Wednesday.

Ride did well with the surgery but is still not out of the woods in terms of the possibility of bleeding. Lee and I are going to go see her in a little while, and the vet said they were going to try to get her to eat some food today. If all goes well post-surgically, we may be able to bring her back home on Monday or Tuesday.

Please send your positive thoughts and prayers our way today for our sweet Ride.

Until we meet again . . . . .May you and your loved ones (including your furry family members) find enjoyment and comfort in each other's company each and every day.

Home Again and Tagged! (Are YOU?)

Well, here we are. All of us are home again . . . .Lee and me, Harley and Ride......whom we just picked up from the Doggie Hotel. (Shhhhh! . . . . . Don't tell them it was really the KENNEL!)

And now that I have a regular computer and a GOOD Internet connection (rather than an on again/off again one), I'm going to try to catch up on some Blogging!


Seems that I've been "TAGGED" by a few bloggers while Lee and I've been gone, and now that I'm home I'm going to pass the fun along to some more folks!


So, I'll be starting from the most recent "tagging" I received, and be working my way back over the next few days. Last Wednesday, one of my cardmaking friends, Pat (Cards, Collage and Altered Art by Patzee) did me the honor of "tagging" me. And now, it's my turn to "tag" SEVEN more fellow Bloggers!


Here are the Rules of this particular Blog Tag:

1. On your Blog, Share 7 facts about yourself, some random, some weird

2. Include a link to your tagger's blog in your blog post.

3. Tag 7 more people at the end of your post by leaving their names AND the links to their blogs.

4. Let those 7 people know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

5. List these Blog Rules in your Post.

What a fun way to get to know fellow bloggers and make new friends, don't you think?

So, Here goes!

Seven Facts About ME:

1. I'm a romantic at heart and pretty much believe that if you truly love someone, you can weather just about any storm.

2. My husband, Lee, is the love of my life (and our two greyhounds are next in line).

3. If I had to choose between living near the ocean or the mountains, I'd pick the mountains every time.

4. I love all kinds of nature and animals (with the possible exception of mosquitoes and spiders!) . . . . Example: If I find a ladybug, a beetle, or a green leaf hopper in the house, I'll take it outside so it can find a proper home in the great outdoors.

5. My favorite color is blue, with red being a close second.

6. I'm a really good speller (and even won a few spelling bees in my childhood!). . . . . if I don't know how to spell a word, I'll look it up so I know next time.

7. I couldn't survive without music in my life.

Thanks, Pat, for "tagging" me!

Now for the seven folks that I'm tagging this round . . . . I'll look forward to hearing from you and reading your "Seven Facts about Me" on YOUR blog!

Lazy Bone Creations

Cat Productions

When Weeds Whisper

Destiny's Creations

Stella Danza's Confections

Little Brown Pen

B Doodlez

A River Runs Through It

Well, Lee and I are on our way back to Utah now, and although I'll be happy to get home and pick up our dogs, I did SO much enjoy our time in Oregon!

Over the week or so that we were in Central Oregon, we saw some absolutely beautiful country, with landscape features that would please just about every taste. There are mountains covered with pine and spruce trees, green mountain meadows and rippling streams, lakes, high desert covered with junipers and cedars, and meandering rivers.

By far, the greatest highlight for me, was seeing the beautiful Deschutes River. The Deschutes is an important landmark in Central Oregon, and is the namesake for Deschutes County and the Deschutes National Forest.

The Deschutes River originates on the east side of the Cascade Mountain range, near Mount Bachelor, courses south for a few miles from its origin, and then twists its way back into a northerly direction and eventually ends up at the mighty Columbia River between Oregon and Washington.

It’s nearly impossible to travel from one point to another in Central Oregon without crossing or coming up alongside the Deschutes. Our resort condo community, Eagle Crest, was located west of Redmond, on a bluff just above the Deschutes River. Thus, Lee and I were able to explore the network of hiking trails around our condo complex as they worked their way down to the river’s edge.

On our various day trips throughout the Central Oregon area, Lee and I drove between Redmond, Bend and Sisters, visited a number of the state parks, and even ventured into some of the picturesque back roads along the way. And I would guess that in our travels, we must have crossed at least 10 different bridges across the Deschutes . . . .some rural and some urban, some elaborately designed in concrete and stone, and others simply constructed of wood planks and metal railings. Even those times that we weren’t crossing the Deschutes, we often found ourselves traveling on a road that ran right beside it!

Even as a visitor to this area, I recognize the Deschutes as a river of many faces. . . . sometimes shallow and clear, seemingly little more than a mountain stream . . . other times lively and rippling . . . .and even other times, slowly meandering yet deceptively deep and powerful.

And with its many faces, the Deschutes represents different things to different people. I understand from the local literature that the Deschutes is a fisherman’s dream, with at least ten different types of trout in its waters. Fishing from boats is not allowed in the Deschutes, but Lee and I have seen wading anglers along certain points of the river. I also understand that there are parts of the river where the rapids lend themselves to river rafting.

At its wider points, such as at the south end of Bend, the Deschutes was once home to a local logging mill. . . . This old historic mill is now gone, but the area has been transformed by a local entrepreneur into a lovely riparian habitat, alongside a quaint and picturesque shopping center.

Lee and I have seen ducks leisurely swimming in the quiet areas of the Deschutes. We have seen beautiful marshy areas of the river with little islands of tall willows and cattails. And we’ve even seen a local resident standing alongside the gently flowing river in a rural area outside of Redmond, playing a game of "throw the stick in the river" with her labrador retriever, who was thoroughly enjoying swimming out into the river to get the stick.

This will be my last post about our Oregon trip, and I’m dedicating it to the Deschutes River.

These first few pictures were taken southeast of Bend, as the Deschutes is still in its southerly route coming out of the mountains. We took the photos just off the side of the road as we were traveling along the scenic Cascade Lakes Highway.

These next few photos were taken just off the hiking trail that Lee and I took from our condo down into the river canyon below.

Here's the intrepid photographer . . . . sometimes my only recourse on these day trips (in my role as photography "widow") is to take photos of Lee taking photos! Be sure to watch Lee's Blog and Lee's Etsy Shop for new fine art photos from this trip!

And me on the walking trail down by the River.

Here's a shot taken off a little rural bridge over the Deschutes.

The following photo was taken by Lee, of a turbulent area on the Deschutes River, called Cline Falls.

And below is another photo of yet another bridge we happened upon, crossing the Deschutes, in one area of Bend, as I recall. (The river runs through Bend.)

The photos below show the area of the Deschutes River in the Old Mill District of Bend . . . . this is where the old logging mill used to be, but has now been redeveloped into a Riparian habitat area, with a walking path all around the River, and a lovely shopping center with restaurants, galleries, and various shops nearby.

This is a view through the window of Greg's Grill, on the Riverfront, where Lee and I had lunch on two different occasions . . . . it was SO beautiful and relaxing there.

Here's my dear hubby, as we were waiting for lunch at Greg's.

And yours truly.

I hope you've enjoyed these snapshots, at least almost as much as I enjoyed taking them!

Until we meet again . . . . may you find daily delight in all the miracles of nature.

Should HANDMADE Cards be Acid-Free and Archival Quality? Cast Your Vote!

Do you buy, create or simply love handmade cards? If so, do you think it's important (or not?) that the handmade cards you buy or craft are archival quality and scrapbook safe?

Some of my fellow cardmakers and myself are conducting a poll on this subject at The Card Chronicles Blog. If you haven't already done so, please visit The Card Chronicles and share your ideas on this subject.

Your vote counts, AND there are only 6 days left before this poll closes!

Thanks so much! Looking forward to hearing from you . . . . . .

Musings from Oregon

Happy Monday, My Friends and Fellow Bloggers,

I hope that your week is off to a pleasant start. . . .

Lee and I are enjoying our stay here in Redmond, Oregon, although I have to admit, I'm getting a little antsy to get back to my cardmaking and our greyhounds once we're home again. I'm missing them all!

Last evening, Lee had been passing time here at our little resort condo in Redmond, looking through one of the touristy magazines on local attractions, and saw an ad for a scrapbook store in Bend, Oregon (about 15 miles south of Redmond) called "Scrapbooking Outside the Box." So, dutiful husband that he is, Lee told me about the ad and since we had already planned to drive past Bend today for lunch and take a scenic route back, we decided to work in a stop at the scrapbook store, and I'm SO glad we did!

At Scrapbooking Outside the Box, Lee and I spent about a half hour looking around at a wide selection of unusual and beautiful patterned paper and embellishments . . . I could have spent HOURS there, of course, but I didn't want to put Lee through that! Anyway, I found some great papers which I hadn't seen anywhere else, even back home in Salt Lake City (which I'm thinking must be the scrapbook capitol of the world)!

And NOW, of course, I'm all fired up to work my newly purchased papers into some new and unique card designs! But I'll have to wait until after we get back home when I have all my "tools" around me.

Scrapbooking Outside the Box also has a website, if you'd like to check it out: http://www.scrapbookingoutsidethebox.com


In the meantime, both Lee and I are enjoying day trips out and about as we explore this lovely area of central Oregon with the ever-changing Deschutes River meandering through it, trying out the local restaurants, discovering photo opps (for Lee), and discovering fun little shops (for me).

During the evenings, we're able to relax in our little condo with the deck overlooking miles of natural cedar trees, and the Deschutes within walking distance in the canyon below us. In the mornings, we've enjoyed feeding the stellar jays and magpies, and (one) flicker on our deck. (I'm still hoping to get a picture of them!) One couldn't ask for a lovelier vacation.

I'm already planning my next Blog Post, which I'm going to call, "A River Runs Through It" . . . . .and it will be on the topic of Deschutes River, which I find absolutely beautiful AND fascinating. So, I hope you'll stay tuned . . .

Until we meet again . . . . . may you find both delight and peace in nature's beauty.

More from the Oregon Coast......

Wow, it seems like a LONG time since I've posted a Blog entry, but I'm happy to say that I once again have Internet access, and a few minutes to sit down and do some blogging!

Lee and I are still on vacation, so I'm posting "from the road". Although we're no longer traveling along the Oregon Coast, I wanted to share some photos that we took while we were there.

Over the past week since we have been experiencing the ambience of this wonderful State of Oregon, I am continually amazed by its beauty. . . .

Last Tuesday, we ventured from our resort on Cannon Beach south to the Cape Meares area. . . . noted for its distinctive rock formations that provide nesting areas for large numbers of seabirds, and for the historic Cape Meares Lighthouse.


I took the above photo from the car, on our way down to Cape Meares. . . . . . The Oregon coastline is characterized by heavily forested mountains, almost right down to the beach, and if you could see beyond the trees in this photo, you would see the ocean.

Here's the sign just before the entry into the Cape Meares area.

And here is Lee, ready with all his photography gear, for the walk down the trail to the famous Cape Meares Lighthouse.

I took this photo, from the trail on the way down to the lighthouse (while Lee was off doing his own photography). The Oregon coastline is truly awe-inspiring.

And this is another shot of that same coastline. Lee and I saw several groups of pelicans fly toward some other large rocks outside the range of this photo, where we assume they have some nesting areas.

The Cape Meares area is also home to cormorants and orange billed oyster catchers! (And yes, I actually DID get to see some of those birds nesting on the rocks, thanks to a fellow walker who happened to be a bird watcher with a high powered telescope . . . . . . . which she let me look through.)

This artsy photo of the top of the Cape Meares lighthouse is compliments of Lee. (Keep watching for more of his Oregon photos from this trip on his blog: http://www.lr-photo.blogspot.com/)

Another sight of interest in the Cape Meares area was the "Octopus Tree", which Lee and I hiked up to see. (I think if you double click on this photo, it will enlarge enough that you can read about the natural events that helped form this unique tree.)

And here is my little snaphot of this amazing tree, which, I'm afraid, does little to capture its essence. It truly is a wonder of nature, as is this entire area.

Yesterday, Lee and I drove from Cannon Beach to Redmond, Oregon, and for the next few days we will be spending some time in a little resort near the banks of the beautiful Deschutes River. We're looking forward to exploring the area around Redmond, Bend, and Sisters (there really IS a town by that name . . . . . . a beautiful little town nestled in the pines . . . AND there is also an Oregon town by the name of Brothers, but I don't know if Lee and I will get to see it this trip!).

My current Internet access is intermittent, but I hope to be able to post again with some more photos before we return home.

Until we meet again . . . . . . .may your own travels be enjoyable and your memories sweet.

Greetings from Oregon

Hello once again, my friends and fellow bloggers! I hope your week is off to a fantastic start!

As for Lee and I, we've enjoyed being "on the road" the past couple of days, and are now looking forward to a few days here on the Oregon Coast.

Although the weather here is rainy and chilly this evening, we're hopeful that we might have one or two sunny days before we leave! Luckily, our room has a gas fireplace, so we're staying cozy and warm right now, as we listen to the whistling of the wind and the sound of the ocean waves.

Just for fun, in case some of you might enjoy seeing them, I'm posting a few snapshots that I took today during our drive, and after we arrived here at Cannon Beach.

I actually posted these photos in order of the day, and then realized after they were loaded onto my Blog that they're backwards, so please forgive! As you look at them, they actually go from later in our trip to earlier in our trip.



Here's a very tame seagull that was standing on the overhang just off our balcony, braced against the wind earlier this evening, and (I'm sure) hoping for a handout. I call him Sammy.



Lee took this shot of the beach and ocean from our balcony late this afternoon. I think that's a little lighthouse on that tiny island in the distance.

Here we were on the highway from Portland to Cannon Beach, which is about 90 or so miles away, with some beautiful mountain forest in between.

This was a street in Portland as we were passing through. I think the architecture of these older houses near downtown is very interesting.

And here, we're entering Portland.

This is a picture of a portion of the Columbia River as we were making the drive from Pendleton to Portland, Oregon. I actually took the shot from the car, and cropped out the guard rail before I posted this picture. The Columbia River is one of the biggest rivers I've seen, and Interstate 84 runs alongside it for many miles.

And here's a historical sign about Oregon, that is posted at one of the pullout View Areas along the Columbia River.

Tomorrow, we plan to check out some of the art galleries and gift shops here in Cannon Beach, which is quite an artsy community and a tourist attraction.

Now that I was pleasantly surprised that we actually have wi-fi in our room, I'll be able to update my Blog at least a couple more times while we're on vacation!

Until we meet again. . . . . . . may we all continue to find creative energy not only in our travels but in our everyday experiences.

World Cardmaking Day!

Well, I had thought that the next time I'd be posting would be from the Oregon Coast while Lee and I were on vacation, BUT....I've been spurred into blogging action once again!

One of my cardmaker friends and colleagues, Pat (Cards by Patzee) reminded me that Saturday, October 4th, is "World Cardmaking Day"........and in honor of this rather auspicious event, Pat challenged some of her other cardmaker friends and me to post or do something special related to our mutual interest of cardmaking!

{Now, honestly, if I were pressed to say where or how "World Cardmaking Day" had been created, I wouldn't be able to produce a coherent answer....But, both Pat and I have seen it referenced on the Internet, so it MUST be true!}

Thus, in honor of this special day, I'm posting a card creation of my own, which I recently designed for a custom client.

As many of you know by now, I get the inspiration for my card designs from a variety of sources, not the least of which are wonderful quotes. And that is the case with this Wedding Card . . . . . .

Just in case you can't make out the text from my card photo (I'm having a little trouble with my Blogger skills right now, and can't seem to get my photo to enlarge).....it reads:

"May you live happy and may you love long. . . .And may each year find you smiling in the comfort of each other's arms."

As I recall, I found the Native American-inspired text for this card in one of the many catalogues that I peruse every week. It could have been on a wall plaque, a coffee mug, a card . . . .I'm not sure at this point. But, in any case, the message struck my fancy, and I wrote it down! And since then, I've designed several wedding and anniversary cards around it.

The base of this 5" X 7" card is a pre-folded acid free plain white cardstock that I use in most of my card designs. Additional materials include two shades of aqua blue Bazzill "Bling" cardstock, and a lovely printed paper by Basic Grey with a subtle watercolor-look pattern in shades of golden cream and aqua. I've added accents to the card with round and heart shaped gold tone brads. The card is fully lined with an additional layer of plain white acid free paper on the inside.

I'll be planning to do some posting from Oregon next week, and hopefully I'll be able to share some photos of the beautiful Cannon Beach area. So, my friends and fellow bloggers, please check back now and then.

Until we meet again . . . . . . May you live happy and may you love long.

CARDMAKING: From CONCEPT to REALITY Article 4

Happy Friday, My Friends!

Today, I am offering one more article along my current Blog theme: CARDMAKING: From CONCEPT to REALITY.

Bear with me as I provide a little background for today’s post…..

Those of you who’ve been following my Blog have probably recognized that my husband Lee and I are the proud owners of two ex-racing greyhounds. Our current greyhounds are Harley, 4, and Ride, 12, and they are, indeed, part of our family.

Lee and I have been dog owners/lovers all of our lives, but it was only 12 years ago that we “adopted” our first two ex-racing greyhounds…….a strikingly handsome black boy greyhound whom we named Cody, and a timid little brindle girl greyhound we named Cassie.

A little over a year from the time we brought these first two greyhounds into our home, our shy, sweet Cassie developed a bizarre unknown illness and passed away soon after. Our gentle giant, Cody, spent another nine cherished years with us before he developed osteosarcoma. We lost Cody in June 2006.

I think that I can honestly say that for both Lee and me, our experience with greyhounds……first learning about the breed, then meeting up with and eventually bringing some of these wonderful dogs into our home, has been truly one of the greatest rewards of our lives.

Over the past six years, since I started making scrapbook layouts and handmade greeting cards, my greyhounds have provided some of my best inspiration…. So I’m dedicating today’s article to them……

This is our (dearly departed) Cody:




Greyhounds were one of the very first "models" in my early attempts at developing paper piecing patterns . . . . . . .and I did quite a few greyhound paper piecing sets and scrapbook layouts before I ventured into greyhound cards. I think I've probably improved my original greyhound paper piecing patterns as time has passed.

Here is one of my more recent handmade cards featuring a paper pieced greyhound.....looks a bit like Cody, don't you think?





And, below is Harley, one of our current greyhound family members......isn't he handsome? At four years old, he is a full of energy and affection, and a constant source of surprise to both Lee and me.

This paper pieced greyhound card was inspired by Harley.

Then, here we have Little Miss Ride.....who has been the reigning queen of our house since March 1999. I've not yet been able to capture this brindle beauty's "essence", whimsical or otherwise, in one of my paper piecings, but I continue to try. . . . . . .

This will be my last Blog post for at least a few days, since Lee and I are soon to be off for a trip to the wonderful Oregon Coast, where we had our honeymoon 24 years ago!

I do hope to be able to check in, and even to post a few photos while we're on our trip. I'm not sure what access to the Internet we will have while we're enroute, but you can bet that I'll do my best to connect if I can!

Until we meet again . . . . . . . May your days be filled with greyt moments and greyt memories.

Wow! I'm in an Etsy Greetings Blog TUESDAY TREASURY!

Wow! Thanks to one of my cardmaking friends, Lisa, of Scrapbook Heaven (see sidebar to visit Lisa's Etsy Shop), I just discovered that my "Bird of Hope" card was featured earlier this week in the Etsy Greetings Blog TUESDAY TREASURY!

I'm thrilled to have one of my handmade cards included among those of such creative fellow members of the Etsy Greetings Team.

The theme of the TUESDAY TREASURY was "For the Birds" and it was created by fellow Etsy Greetings Team member, Linda (http://www.handmadebylinda.etsy.com). Thank you, Linda!

Hope you'll take a minute to check out the Etsy Greetings Blog TUESDAY TREASURY post at: http://www.etsygreetings.blogspot.com.

And while you're there, have a look around at all the great features and articles that this Etsy Greetings Blog has to offer!

Until we meet again. . . . . .May your day be filled with sunshine and the sounds of birds singing.

CARDMAKING: From CONCEPT to REALITY Article 3

Good morning once again, my friends,

I hope that you’re all having a fine week!

So far in my CARDMAKING: From CONCEPT to REALITY series, I’ve shared a couple of examples of my personal cardmaking experience….one card design that evolved from a poem and one that evolved from a floral design on a duvet cover. In today’s article, I’m going to share another of my cardmaking experiences, and this one, believe it or not, was inspired by a child’s hair barette!

Now, I do have to confess that I never would have come up with this card idea, had I not been participating in a card challenge with some of my cardmaking friends…The topic of that challenge was “Make a card using a ‘found object.’” (And NO, the challenge topic wasn't my idea!)

Not having a clue as to what I’d come up with for that particular challenge, I started searching the house for a ‘found’ item, anything that I thought I could possibly work into a card design, and wahlah......I found a colorful little barette with tiny rhinestone sparkles, in one of my many “junk collection” dishes I have scattered about. I had no idea where the barette came from, but I suspect it may have been a Christmas “stocking stuffer” purchase for one of my nieces years ago, that never made it to the stocking!

At any rate, I thought the color combination of fushia and aqua were striking, and so I set about looking through my mega stacks of cardstock and patterned paper to see what might coordinate well with this little barrette. And to my delight, I found a lovely pieced of embossed cardstock (by K and Company, as I recall) that had the PERFECT color combination in a beautiful floral design.

Then I searched through my textured Bazzill (I always have lots and lots of Bazzill on hand for just the right cardmaking occasion), and selected a coordinating shade of turquoise blue for the card design background. I’d just purchased some sheets of that color in the Bazzill “Bling” line, which has a lovely shimmer.

I also was able to find just the right shade of deep pink mulberry paper to coordinate with the color scheme. I fringed the edges of the mulberry paper for a little interest and used it to create an additional border under the embossed floral paper and under the text block.

Luckily, I was also able to find two different remnants of ribbon in my ribbon stash/tin, one in deep aqua, and one in deep rose.........those worked nicely to attach through the little barrette and add another touch to the card.

Text was computer generated and printed on plain white cardstock, then I chalk shaded the edges of the text block in (you guessed it!) aqua chalk.

With a few tiny acrylic rhinestones in a coordinating shade of blue to add a bit of sparkle, I thought this turned out to be a pretty nice little birthday card. And I guess someone else thought so too, since I SOLD IT ON EBAY!

So, here's today's story of how a card made it from CONCEPT to REALITY.....and in this case, I can honestly say this little card wouldn't have come to be, if I hadn't been challenged by my cardmaking friends and if I hadn't had just the right combination of materials in my cardmaking stash! (Guess that justifies my frequent shopping trips to the local crafts and scrapbooking stores.....or DOES it??)

Until we meet again.......May you be inspired today, even by the most unlikely source.