A Farewell to one of our Dearest Friends

 Our dear German Shepherd was euthanized at 1:45pm this afternoon, after succumbing to a pygmy rattle snake bite on Tuesday. Anti-venom is in limited supply and is needed for service dogs and military dogs, and of course, humans. With all the storms that caused flooding, there has been an additional need in our state. Anti-venom is not a definite cure-all for animals.

Kilo, age 5 in early Spring wondering, 
"what's taking you so long, Mom?"

Pymgy rattlers are extremely aggressive. However, not "all bites" are the same. It depends where the bite was inflicted, and how long it has been since the snake last bit something. The longer the venom remains in the snake, the more concentrated the venom. 

          Kilo, age 4, and Jack showing off            
their Barn Hunt Trial Ribbons

We have not seen any pygmy rattlers on our property for 25 years or longer, but of course, that does not mean they are not here. Because of the extremely cold weather, most snakes "hibernate" beneath the soil at this time of year. Our vet said it is the first time in 30 years of working that she has seen a rattlesnake bite in January. Unfortunately, many people move into rural areas, not comprehending the importance of snakes. Many of our "black/indigo" snakes are endangered because people indiscriminately kill snakes. Black snakes and especially Indigo Snakes keep the rattlesnake population under control. It is important to learn the difference before just killing snakes.

Kilo, age 9 sporting his gray muzzle while guarding the tractor disc attachment LOL
He is thinking, "WHAT!? It's HARD work!"

    Kilo, age 4, slobbering on me after a romp
    at night in our wildlife watering hole.

Kilo would have been 13 next month, an "ancient age" for German Shepherds, especially his size. He and my husband were joined at the hip. Kilo was still healthy, but had slowed down and suffered from mild canine dementia. In his youth, he enjoyed obedience training, agility training, "competitive barn hunting" and "working" side-by-side with Jack every day, even though in later years, he did more "overseeing" than working. 

It is a huge loss for our family, and Kilo will be missed. 

       

Kilo, age 7, helping clean and fill one of our "wildlife waterholes".
It is especially dry in Florida during the winter months.

Kilo, age 6, watching Missy Kitty jump from tree to tree, taunting him with:
"See what I can do? You can't do this!"

Thanks for letting me share - it always helps to talk things over with friends.

It is a huge loss for our family, and Kilo will be missed forever. This is a sequence of
photos where he is saying, "Hey, Mom! Watcha lookin' at?"

love,

A Heart Full of Valentine Wishes - Jan's Digi Stamps

Hello, and thanks for stopping by today! Hoping this finds all our Pacific West Coast friends doing well despite the very turbulent weather in the past several weeks. It goes without saying that I'm always thinking fondly of my blogging friends.

Today's card is for January's mid-month reminder at the Anything Goes Challenge at Jan's Digi Stamps!  If you use a JDS image in your card, please mention it. There is a 2nd draw specifically for those who use one of Jan's fun images.

Jan's newest sets are 25% off, and the Sweetheart Sale includes three sets shown below plus her "romantic/friendship/anniversary/wedding/Valentine" cards!

To create my scene, three sets were used (just click on them to enlarge):

Friendship Flowers on sale for $3 (butterfly)

Valentine Wishes 3380 on sale for $3.75 (heart & sentiment)

Botanical Orchids 874 on sale for $3 (Love You sentiment)

To make this card, I cropped out 4 flowers from the heart wreath to create a "swag". This will become the stop for my easel card. The Heart Wreath was flipped horizontally, and slightly tilted for symmetry, using free Pages software that came with my iMac. The symmetry allows the heart die cut to be placed in a straight manner if you are not using a die cut for shaping:

The butterfly was added the the heart wreath via my word processor. Using the "out of the box" die cutting technique, the heart wreath was then "shaped".

This was a fun wreath to color because of the many pink and lavender hues. The easel "stop" is also covered with matching flowers. 

The three Copic colors in the background were used for depth around the images. Squeezed Lemonade DI was used around some of the edges.

I realize that Monarch Butterflies are not the same color as the butterfly in my project, but I couldn't color around the white dots very well, so I changed them to orange.

 (always a way to cover up our mistakes, right?)

In the middle of the wreath, one layer of heart is adhered. The little heart itself (in the glitter) is actually 4 layers. I glued one heart layer before the glittered layers so I'd know exactly where the tiny heart should go. Otherwise, even though the glitter is adhered well, some of the glitter might come loose in the adhering process:

After die cutting the background, I dry embossed it. The die then became a stencil. Using Squeezed Lemon & Kitsch Flamingo DI, and Twisted Citron DO and a dauber, the tiny diamond shapes were inked to bring out a Spring theme.

Then it was adhered to happy yellow card stock!

Don't forget to play in the Anything Goes Challenge at Jan's Digi Stamps!

Products Used: Stamps  Jan's Digi Images:  Valentine Wishes 3380, Friendship Flowers 702 (butterfly image), Botanical Orchids 874 (Lovely You in middle of heart) LifeStyle-Quickutz Nesting Heart Dies, Spellbinders "Lovin' Diamonds" Die Set, Spellbinders Mega Nestabilities Long Classic Scalloped Rectangles die set, Martha Stewart Garden Trellis Punch, Copic Markers, Copic Multiliner, Express-it white cardstock, Squeezed Lemon & Kitsch Flamingo DI, Twisted Citron DO, Yellow Glitter

I'd like to play in the following fine challenges please:

1. World Wide Open Design Team Challenge #1 AG DT 2/12
2. Crafts Galore Encore #107 AG 2/1
3. C.R.A.F.T. Challenge #663 Something New (2nd entry) The Valentine Wishes stamp set is new to me, the yellow card stock had been in my stash but had never been used before) 1/18
4. Crafters Cafe Challenge #293 AG with Colors of the Rainbow and more 2/11
5. A Perfect Time to Craft Open Challenge #1 AG 2/1
6. The Outlawz Challenges Twisted Thursday (Jan 12) The Valentine Wishes stamp set is new to me, the yellow card stock had been in my stash but had never been used before) Feb 1.
7. Classic Design Challenge #1 AG 2/1
8. Ally's Angels #66 AG 2/10
9. Sweet Stampin (Jan 7) theme "New" 1/20 (listed week after sep post) (The Valentine Wishes stamp set is new to me, the yellow card stock had been in my stash but had never been used before)
10. CD Sunday PLUS #101 AG Downloaded 1/22 (in this case, I cropped four flowers individually from the heart wreath, and then arranged them into a swag for the easel "stop". The butterfly was added from another set. The two sentiments are from different sets (three sets used to create this card)
11. Tic Tac Toe Challenge #192 see below middle row 1/19 Yellow glitter around small heart and flowers

Sending Early Valentine Hugs to you!

There's a Brand New Challenge in Town! Beautiful Blossoms

Hello, my friends!

How exciting! A Brand New Challenge to begin the New Year!

HERE'S THE LOW-DOWN:

Beautiful Blossoms is a fun "mood-board-inspired" monthly challenge which features Flowers as the main focus. The Mood Board is a starting point. 

You do not have to follow the theme of the Mood Board, but you do need to use it as inspiration.

You may enter up to 8 projects in our challenge. Projects are truly anything goes as long as florals are the main emphasis, including paper crafting, home decor, apparel, etc.

Details are on the blog. Hope to see you there! 

I was inspired by the warmth of earthy brown tones, and the icy-clear blueness of promises to come.

On today's card are several NBUS items - the Simon Says Stamp Beautiful Flowers stamp, the Anna Griffin Die Set, and the "You're Delightful!" sentiment from My Sentiments Exactly.

Stamped with Acorn VersaFine Clair and heat set with clear detail embossing powder, these "beautiful blossoms" were colored with Copic Markers. There are very few pieces to this pretty card, including a dry embossed, slightly distressed die cut:

Because I wanted to use a paper clip embellishment on the sentiment, a little something was needed to help with dimension to keep the tag all one "level":

The image is quite pretty in person because of the heat embossing:

The finished card uses Craftwell's Modern Stripe embossing folder.

Looking forward to seeing your Beautiful Blossoms projects each month in the challenge! 

Products: Simon Says Stamp "Beautiful Flowers 2", "You're Delightful!" sentiment from My Sentiments Exactly, VersaFine Clair Acorn & Pinecone inks,  Walnut Distress Ink, Clear Detail Embossing Powder, Copic Markers, Anna Griffin Ornate Slimline Concentric Die Set AG-1248H-AS, Taylored Exp Banner Stacklets 1, Craftwell Modern Stripe embossing folder

Supporting these fine challenges:

1. World Wide Open Design Team Challenge #1 AG DT 2/15
2. As You Like It (Jan 12) Favorite Reason to Send a Card (I enjoy sending "thinking of you" type cards because they can be used for sympathy, cheering up, get well, thank you, a reminder someone is thought of, and just because) 2-25
3. A Perfect Time to Craft Open Challenge #1 AG 2/1
4. C.R.A.F.T. Challenge #663 Something New (1st entry) (the Simon Says Stamp Beautiful Flowers stamp, the Anna Griffin Die Set, and the "You're Delightful!" sentiment from My Sentiments Exactly - all new to me) 1/18 (check weekly and monthly)
5. The Outlawz Challenges Twisted Thursday (Jan 12) theme: It's New To Me (the Simon Says Stamp Beautiful Flowers stamp, the Anna Griffin Die Set, and the "You're Delightful!" sentiment from My Sentiments Exactly - all new to me) Feb 1.
6. Classic Design Challenge #1 AG 2/1
7. Sweet Stampin (Jan 7) theme "New" 1/20 (listed week after sep post) (the Simon Says Stamp Beautiful Flowers stamp, the Anna Griffin Die Set, and the "You're Delightful!" sentiment from My Sentiments Exactly - all new to me or NBUS)
8. Allsorts Challenge #711 AG with Winter Blues 1-20 THANK YOU, BRENDA!

Stamping Hugs,

Lovin' Lily of the Valley - Jan's Digi Stamps

 Happy New Year, my friends! I hope you all survived that terrible "Bomb Cyclone" during Christmas week. Here in Florida, we were grateful to have the fireplace burning for 4 days solid to keep the air drier and toasty warm. 

 It's a New Year, a New Month, and that means new stamps, a new sale, AND a new Anything Goes Challenge at Jan's Digi Stamps!  If you use a JDS image in your card, please mention it. There is a 2nd draw specifically for those who use one of Jan's fun images.

Do you ever...

Do you ever plan out what your card is going to look like, only to have it resemble NOTHING like your plan? That's the case for me today. Well, to be honest, that is the case every single time! (giggle) I flipped Jan's lovely bouquet horizontally, and fussy cut it first BEFORE coloring. It's the first time I've done that and I think I like it better.

Lovin' Lily of the Valley is on special for $3.75 WITH both colored and black and white versions.

After coloring Lovin' Lily of the Valley with Copic Markers, I "antiqued" the edges and parts of the leaves and flowers with Tea Dye Distress Ink to tone down the purple hues, and give it a bit more of a vintage appearance. 

My Great Aunt Agnes' lace graced this card, along with NBUS Honeycomb embossing folder on decades old Glossy Oyster Pearl cardstock, which is also NBUS. 

Another NBUS is the Blackberry Bliss cardstock. 

We grew lavender roses in our front flower bed, so that is why the purple theme is selected. 

Jan's fine quality PNG images are easy to color and piece together. This one brought back precious memories as I colored:

Don't forget to play in the Challenge!

Products Used: Stamps  Jan's Digi Images: Lovin' Lily of the Valley, Just For Fun Script, Dies: SB Labels 4, SB Labels 4 Grands, SB Elegant Labels 4 5x7, Other: Great Aunt Agnes' lavender lace, Express-it cardstock, Oyster Pearl Glossy cardstock, Blackberry Bliss, Lavender card stock, Craftwell Honeycomb Embossing Folder, Tea Dye & Milled Lavender Distress & Seedless Preserve Oxide ink, Copic Markers.

On a Personal Note:

In December I had my second round of lower lumbar shots, which afforded more relief, and is keeping me out of a walker and wheelchair! Also in December, the shots that made the greatest difference were the first round of shots in the cervical area. We'll see how long the benefits last. Right now, I don't have tremors in my hands. I do still drop things and have weakness, but it's nice to be able to color again, and do some fussy cutting!

I'd like to play in the following Challenges please:

1. World Wide Open Design Team Challenge #12 AG DT 1/12
2. Creatalicious Challenges #250 AG with "something new" (new stamp, NBU cardstock & EF).
3. We Love Stamping (January) Favorite colors (Lavender & green are one of my favorite combinations) 2/7
4. Crafts Galore Encore #107 AG 2/1
5. Sweet Stampers #75 (final challenge sob!) AG 1/8
6. Crafters Cafe Challenge #292 AG 1/11
7. A Perfect Time to Craft Open Challenge #1 AG 2/1
8. NBUS Challenge #46 AG never used 2/1 (new stamp, never before used lace, embossing folder, oyster pearl CS, Blackberry Bliss CS) (commented on 3 other entries)
9. Classic Design Challenge #1 AG 2/1
10. Morgan's Artworld #1 AG 2/1
11. Birthstone Challenges #1 AG with Garnet &/or Amethyst Colors (I used Amethyst) 2/15

Stamping Hugs,