New Cards

Good Morning. As I type this, the wind is howling like crazy. It is going up to 68 degrees today, on the last day of February. Incredible. Tornado warnings to the west and south, but not here. It will be a challenge later to walk the dogs....

I designed the three cards above for the next card class at Allyscraps. I used Kaiser Craft paper and love that image of the old fashioned bicycle and flowers. For that reason, I wanted to just let the paper be the main feature, so the card is simply. I've been having a lot of fun making flowers with the Tim Holtz tattered flower die. Not sure you would want to mail that sucker, but it definitely catches your eye.

Enjoy this weather. I don't care it is suppose to rain, the temperatures are up!
Linda

Watching The Yard

Gracie, watching the neighborhood from her bed

Favorite morning spot, on mom's bed looking out the window

Oh, mom! Must you?

I'm bored! There's nothing to do!

Yesterday morning I came out of the shower to see the above. Both on my bed, facing the double windows. Just watching the world go by. This is the normal routine in the mornings, while they are waiting for me to get dressed and start the day.

Both dogs have been very frisky, very playful this past week. I attribute this behavior to the slight smell of spring in the air. The signs are all around us, and we don't care if it is still February. Birds are chirping in the mornings and on our walks through the woods. Squirrels are extremely active, chasing one another up and down the trees. Huge flocks of cranes and geese have passed overhead, going to the north. We saw one today, and I swear there were 150 birds in that particular flock, flying due north.

The first day of spring is still 3 weeks away, but the animals are telling us it will be early. I hope so.

Enjoy your day.
Linda

My Gracie

Have you hugged your dog today? You should. Cathy and I have been making albums, as donations, for a woman who sells candy in jars that she places in local stores. She asks for a donation of 40 cents per candy bar, or 3 for a $1.00. All of the proceeds go into her non-profit organization called Heart. The money is used to help dogs in shelters that have been abused, shot, run over by a car, beaten, starved, chained, etc, etc, etc. The albums we've been making have photographs of dogs now ready for adoption, or those already adopted, that she has helped. A great many of the dogs were tested positive for heart worm. But there are those with legs in casts, recovering from bullet wounds, and it breaks my heart to see these, to read what horrid abuse was done to these animals.

So I hug my dogs, and tell them how very, very lucky they are to have me as their mom. There is no abuse in this house. I do raise my voice, I do training every day. And lots of petting, soothing words, "good dog" praise. I just can't imagine beating an animal, any animal. What could possibly go on in the brains of these morons that do? I don't know, and will never understand them. Never.

I look at my beautiful Aussie, and my wiry little guy, Jake, and think what great joy they have brought me. And it does my heart good to know they love me in return.

Hug your dog.
Linda

It is coming...

Although it is 27 degrees as I type this, spring really is just around the corner. You can feel it. The wind still has a bite to it, as it should in February. But this has been an exceptionally mild winter for central Indiana. In the first two photographs above, there are ducks in what appears to be the beginnings of a pond or lake. That is the view out my living room windows, which face south. My property line is about 12 feet from the house. My neighbor, a nice person, does nothing with his yard except mow it. Because this winter was very wet as well as mild, the "lake" is now 3 times larger than it was last spring when I took these photographs.

So. I could try and speak to this gentleman, but he is not particularly social or accessible. My plan, this spring, is to get a load of dirt and build up my own property up to the property line. I hope to create a berm of sorts, then cover it in mulch and plant something. I want a dividing line between my land and this low area. On my side of the berm I will put down more mulch and have a stone path leading to my garden shed. The grass doesn't grow well on that side of the house, so it is not worth the continuous effort to maintain it. Without saying anything to my neighbor (I hate confrontations), my hope is to guilt him into doing something, anything, with this problem.

Sneaky, yeah I know. But if this depression in the land gets any deeper, my house is going to be swimming. His is far from this area and sits higher.

The second set of photographs are my flowering crab apple tree out front. I love the blossoms in spring. They don't last long, but this is right outside my kitchen windows in the front, and the sight of the blooms always raises my spirits. It is the flag that says the seasons have changed.

Enjoy your day.
Linda

Dogs

My dogs are bored. Due to a strange condition I have developed, health wise, we have not been walking. Not sure I can make it around our normal 2 mile plus loop. So we have all been home, a lot. This is not normal, and their behavior is starting to reflect that. However. And this is a BIG however. I have to remind myself that my dogs are not normal to begin with.

The above photographs were taken last June in the back yard. Please note that Gracie is playing at being an ostrich. Yes, that is a hole in the ground that she has her head in. Yes, she dug that hole. And, oh, yes, both dogs eat grass and dirt. Now if you speak to some "dog experts", they will say that a dog that grazes in this manner is missing something from their diet. I spend $57 for 30 pounds of a premium dog food, high in protein and fat, which is what dogs need to function. The main ingredient of this particular dog food is salmon.

My dogs eat better than I do. Give me a break. Lacking something? I think not. I think these two furry, spoiled brats are just basically weird.  And I love them for that. Have a great day.
Linda

More Cards

I have been trying to concentrate on making flowers for the cards, instead of using what is already made. Having some fun with this, mixing and matching patterns and colors. These were made with a very old sheet of cardstock from several years ago.

I have discovered that Jake, the wiry little guy in the banner photograph, loves stuffed toys. We hardly ever have any around, due to Gracie destroying them on sight. She immediately will chew a hole in the side and pull out the squeaker and stuffing. About 10 days ago, I gave Jake a new stuffed toy, and he guarded it constantly. If Gracie even made a move to try to take it, he would growl very low and snatch it away from her. Cool. So yesterday I bought 2 more toys, giving one to each dog.

I have stuffing all over the house. Been picking it up all morning. Sigh. Evidently Jake is only keeping the original toy intact. Anything else is fair game. Last night I had to pull polyfill out of Gracie's mouth.

Like I have nothing else to do......
Linda

School Album

Good Morning. It is very cold in central Indiana. Good day to stay inside and work on projects, which is exactly what I am going to do after cleaning the house. Dog hair is everywhere.

I had this chipboard left over from another project, so decided to use the last of the ABC Primer papers from Graphic 45, combined with some old Basic Grey solids, and make a mini album. The stamped images are also Graphic 45. I love using their stamps. The images are crisp and clear, and always vintage. The products are available (except the Basic Grey which is really, really old) at Allyscraps.

Cathy and I are going in 58 directions at once. The creative juices are once again flowing, but this time with material. I want to learn how to silk screen, which is basically screen printing on fabric. I have seen some samples on Pinterest, and was just blown away. I also want to try transferring images with a natural solvent. Found that on a blog. Cathy wants to make primitive dolls, which I would then paint and scruff up. I can do that. I can't sew. It's a mental block, I swear. I can't sew a straight line. But finishing the dolls would not be a problem. Knowing our own strengths is a good thing.


Back to creative juices, one of the factors contributing to this latest surge is the addition of daylight. The local news stated on February 1st that we gain 67 minutes of daylight in the month of February. I don't know about you, but more light makes me feel better. Spring really is within reach.

Enjoy yourselves today. In whatever you do.
Linda

A Lazy Saturday

A new home decor item

close up of the "seed packets"

eggs on the dining room table

and then we have pears on the table...

a new wreath

The last few days I've been on the puny side, health-wise. I certainly hope this ends soon. I'm not into pain. But before the puny stage, I was extremely busy.

We found these wooden boxes at Dollar Tree, and decided they made a handy little frame for whatever strikes us. I painted one this pretty garden green, I think the name of the paint is Clover by Americana, and let that inspire me for the garden theme. I like it. So if no one else likes it, I get to keep it. I do have ulterior motives at times... The seed packets within the frame are simply stamped images from a gardening set I picked up somewhere. I found the mini shovel at the Covered Bridge Festival in a booth that was selling a lot of items along this line. The fence has been die cut from heavy paper.

Then a drunk, giant chicken wandered into the house and laid eggs. Looks like it, doesn't it? Those are paper mache, and I first painted 2 coats of craft paint, then antiqued them for the primitive look. They turned out good. Next up: the same thing done to paper mache pears. I really like these, and so does Cathy. So I may have to do more if these three suddenly disappear from the shop and end up on her country cabinet in her family room.

Last is a wreath. In the old days (!!!) we (my husband and I) would sell about 20 wreaths at each craft show we did. He would cut out the wood parts, I painted them and put the wreaths together. I made wreaths for every season, but the most popular were gardening and Christmas. Could not make them fast enough, so I decided to try just this one and see what the reaction will be.

Have a great weekend. Stay warm. Stay healthy.
Linda

I Won!!!

I never win anything, ever. But this past month, I have been leaving comments on other people's blogs in the hope that the random selector would pick me. It worked! To my total amazement, I have won a package of Melissa Francis products. They won't ship until late March, but I don't care. I won something. You can see it here.

This has made my day. Have yourself a wonderful day, too.
Linda

Thinking warm weather

One of the Hostas that border the sidewalk

View from the front door

I am trying to think positive. We have had an exceptionally mild winter with a ton of rain. It could very well have been snow and ice, as it was last winter. I always consider the month of February to be the final countdown. March can go either way: be mild or a wintery mix. But by the time we make it to March, you know that good weather is just around the corner.

I took the above shots last April 12th. This is in the front of my house. The lavender plant in the bed at the end of the sidewalk didn't make it through last summer. I saw some signs of life in October, so I'm hoping it will come back. I love the look and aroma of lavender growing. Perhaps with a bit more shade on that particular flower bed, it will survive. Our summers have been brutal on the plants.

We have snow in the forecast for tonight, and bitter cold for this weekend. But the end is in sight. I can live with that. For now, I will have to be content looking at the pictures of last year's plants.

Have a great day. Enjoy yourselves, no matter what it is you do.
Linda

Scrapbook Layout for Allyscraps

A layout using Echo Park papers

This was one of the layouts I did for the store when Cathy was off a few weeks back. I like the muted colors of this paper. A lot of the Echo Park line is very bright. I tend to like not blaring bright type products.

The city of Indianapolis is returning to normal. I have the local news on, and all of the tents for the NFL experience will come down tomorrow. It was one long party.

I am planning on a quiet day of working in the studio, walking the dogs once it warms up. Unbelievable weather this winter, for which I am very thankful. A year ago we were still waiting for 6 inches of ice to melt from a blizzard that hit on February 1st. This year we have walked at least 5 days a week, stopping only for rain. A good thing for all three of us.

Enjoy your day.
Linda

Welcome to Declan

This is a young Pit Bull mixed breed that Vicky rescued from the Hendricks County Animal Control about a month ago. Her intent was to first get him checked by the vet (he passed all the tests), then a dog trainer (again, passed), and place him with a Pit Bull rescue group for adoption. His name is Declan.

Well. Declan attached to Vicky like glue. He is a timid, shy dog that we think was either abused or ignored. If you look closely at his face, you can see some scars. The vet seems to feel he got those going under a fence. Or, and I certainly hope this isn't true, he was used as bait for dog fights. He also has several scars on his hind legs and body. Again, could be from escaping under a fence. Now why would a dog do that? Looking for food and water, my friends. So it is possible he was in a fenced backyard for long periods of time. Such as when someone is at work.

I will never stop saying this: do NOT adopt or purchase an animal unless you are willing and able to take adequate care of that animal. It is a commitment.

A few days ago, Vicky's husband decided that Declan could join the household and stay. This handsome boy has found his forever home. He joins a home with Silly Lily, the foxhound mix, Talia, an old and very cantankerous mix, and 2 cats that are afraid to leave the upstairs portion of the house.

Smart cats. Welcome, Declan. Gracie and Jake send hugs.
Linda

Rainy Saturday

A tongue in cheek birthday card

It's raining, for the first time in well over a week. I do feel bad for the people who want to take in the NFL experience downtown. For those of you who don't know what is going on, tomorrow the Superbowl will be played at Lucas Oil Stadium in downtown Indianapolis. The entire downtown area has been transformed to celebrate and make lots and lots of money for folks.

I am not a football person, so have not gone downtown. There are several reasons. I'm not rich, being the first reason. Parking garages that are normally $6 are now $20, but tomorrow? I have heard $300 and up. Businesses are renting out their parking lots for the game. Why not? Hotel rooms that next weekend will be $120 are, this weekend, $1500 a night with a four night minimum. You get the idea.

I'm happy for Indianapolis. Really. It is a very easy city to navigate, very clean, people very friendly. The amazing part is that the weather really did cooperate this past week. A year ago we had a blizzard on February 1st with below normal temperatures for weeks. This winter has been mild and enjoyable.

What am I doing tomorrow? Going to the movies, or shopping. I figure we will have everything to ourselves. Have a good one.
Linda

Take a moment...

"Before humans die, they write their last Will & Testament, give their home and all they have to those they leave behind. If, with my paws, I could do the same, this is what I'd ask....

To a poor and lonely stray I'd give:
-My happy home
-My bowl and cozy bed, soft pillows and all of my toys
-The lap, which I loved so much
-The hand that stroked my fur and the sweet voice which spoke my name

I'd will to the sad, scared shelter dog, the place I had in my human's loving heart, of which there seemed no bounds.

So, when I die, please do not say, "I will never have a pet again, for the loss and pain is more than I can stand." Instead, go find an unloved dog, one whose life has held no joy or hope and give MY place to HIM.

This is the only thing I can give...The love I left behind.

--Author Unknown"

I received this in an email from my daughter-in-law. There is an emblem in the lower right hand corner that says Petco Foundation, so I want to give that credit. I tried to copy and paste all of the email content, and it didn't work. The above came with a photo of a dog, so now I give you a few of my own. Have a good, thoughtful day.