Irene

If you'll take a moment to say a prayer for my great aunt Irene. After being back home for two nights, she's back in the hospital. She has fluid on her left lung. Hopefully she'll get to go home again soon, but every prayer helps! :)

Black & White

A couple days ago on Nichole Heady's blog, she showcased a project using black and white. You can see her awesome idea HERE. You will have to scroll past the olive/kraft idea. Her blog always inspires me and that's why I chose to make these cards in black and white. I think it's a stunning, simple look when they are used together. Hope you like what I'm sharing today. :)
I used Papertrey Ink's nice white cardstock. It is super sturdy and makes a nice card base. I also had this black/white/gray paper from a glitter mat stack. I added the stamped sentiment, some punches, ribbon and a little ribbon slide. Ooh...and those yummy bling stones in the corners.

To go along with the black/white/gray of the paper, I chose to ink my sentiment stamp with two different markers....Basic Black and Going Gray. That way the words "dream" and "grow" stood out more.

The second card uses the same Papertrey Ink white cardstock. I then added ribbon, some scalloped punches, a stamped/embellished photo slide frame and the stamped flower in the center. You can see the focal piece closer in the next photo.

The stamps are "thanks" from Papertrey Ink and the flower from SU! I like the clear stamps from Papertrey Ink since I can see right where I am stamping, especially something small like this photo slide frame. I can see now that my thanks and bling stones on the sides aren't even. Oh well, isn't "imperfection" what makes handmade projects better? LOL!

Jack also wanted to demo his version of black and white. His is the CUTE combo of black nose and white snow. hee hee LOL!!!!

Snowed In Saturday

It's been snowing all morning. We got a quick accumulation yesterday that made everyone shuffle to get groceries, finish errands, etc. in preparation for the next accumulation of several inches today. Abby called to cancel Kevin's haircut and we renewed library books over the phone instead of in person. We're skipping the Saturday paper since neither of us wants to drive in this. And....we're both still in jammies. The boys LOVE the snow. It is now up to Jack's knees (yes, dogs have knees! LOL) so I have to shovel an area in the yard for Riley to comfortably go potty. Funny thing though...he runs the entire yard with Jack and gets covered and globbed up with snow clods on his belly anyway. They are so silly. Looks like I'll get laundry done today, clean the bathroom....oh and yeah....take a nap with sleepy pups. LET IT SNOW!!! It doesn't look as deep in the back of the yard, but I'd say we already have 6 or so inches and the snow is falling fast! The snow drifts from shoveling are as tall as Jack, but Riley just jumps through them. LOL! I remember snow to my waist in Minnesota and I'll take this instead.
I took this picture from the kitchen window. As the snow falls quickly, the boys just run, play and eat snow. I'm curious to see how much we'll get today. I might have to take a yard stick out if it gets interesting so I can measure!

Riley cracks me up. He goes up his puppy stairs, then either sits on the window ledge or walks along the ledge from end to end. He can't turn around, but he'll go forward then backward. Silly Riley! I had to take this one quick because he changes his mind or position too often. At least I got this pic so I can remember his silliness.

Excuse the fact that this is a picture of the gunk in our trash can. I just had to show proof that the boys are ornery. I have this plaid flannel robe with a red rope belt. Well, I no longer have the belt. Some ornery boys shredded the dickens out of it while Kevin slept in the spare bed. He was up with them in the middle of the night and at the crack of dawn. He laid in the spare bed and didn't realize until he got up that they had attacked my robe. I rarely wear the robe and never liked the belt, so I couldn't care any less that they did this. Just makes me laugh!

My goal today is to start planning some scrapbook pages about the boys. I may even make a card. If I get anything crafty done between referree sessions with these ornery boys, I'll post it. Stay warm!

He likes it! He likes it!

Does this not melt your heart? This may be my fav pic of Jack thus far. I look at this and melt. He is such a blessing. He is ornery and tries to push my buttons, but dog gone it (pun intended), he is so cute I can't help but rub my nose in his fur and kiss him. I love Eskie fur!! Gotta love my hand in this one. I had to "hold" him and redirect him to look at me. Yes, Riley was circling us ready to pounce and bite his big brother so Jack was looking all over the place. LOL!

He likes it! He likes it! After some serious rambunctious time, I had to separate the boys into their separate kennels tonight for "quiet time". They are pups and just get wound up so fast. They were both so tired from no evening nap and just didn't know when to quit. So, Momma helped 'em out by giving them time alone....LOL! I am beginning to wonder if this is how moms feel with REAL children. Whew....I'm just plain worn out with these two FURbabies. :) I am so glad he likes his new bed after all. Yeah! This is his "puppy jail" look.

It's as if he's saying, "Oh mom. I am so tired. Riley wore me out."....."and mom....please stop that flashy thing in my eye!" LOL! Then, Momma says..."But, Jack...it'll make such a cute page to show the blog visitors." My goal is to get things organized for my crop time on the 17th at Connie's house. Yeah! Then, I'll have crafty stuff to share again! :)

I like to say in this pic he's "smiling", but really it was just an action shot "mid-snarl" while playing with his little bro Riley. Whew....gotta love the teeth...so clean and white! OH, and that stinkin' cute pink dot on his nose. Yep, that's my Eskie. I'd know him in a group shot of Eskies because of his pink spots. LOL!

Another action shot. Jack likes to crawl under beds despite his very long legs. This is him under the chair by the computer in the spare room. He had just been under the bed to the right and was snarling and playing with "flapped back Dumbo ears" Riley. What a hoot! See why I haven't stamped anything lately? You forgive me, right?

THE END

Happy 93rd Irene!

My great aunt Irene is 93 today! Wow! We visited her in the nursing home where she has been staying for rehab. She has been in and out of the hospital and is so excited she gets to go home Saturday. Here she is with her birthday cheesecake from Connie.

Mmm...this was my piece! It was delicious! Connie even sent extra home with us! Yum!

Can't have a party without balloons. Connie got her these and it was personalized with 93rd.

Connie and Larry sent flowers, too. They are so loving and giving to her. What a great person to celebrate today! Irene sure loves life and always has a great or funny story to tell. We just love her! So glad she made it another happy year!

One of the special guests at Irene's party was Roxy! She had her party dress on! She is the furbaby of Connie's boss Robin. She did ballerina moves for treats! LOL! She also visited some of the other residents and even let them pet her. What a cutie!

Comfy New Beds

On my merry excursion to Wal-Mart tonight, I finally got the boys some new comfy new beds for their kennels. Once they are old enough (and trustworthy) to roam the house while we're at work, they can enjoy them outside their kennels.

After biting the corner for a while and getting it "just right", he finally snuggled in and closed his eyes.

Jack sniffed his for a while. He pawed at it and scratched some. He never laid in it and who knows if he ever will. At the time Riley was laying in his bed outside the kennel....well, Jack preferred the spare bed....all stretched out. His bed is good for snuggling, but at times he prefers to be sprawled out like this. What a sleepy face!!

So, I put Jack's new bed up on the spare bed thinking he might "try it out". Uh...no. Riley laid in it with my sweatshirt while Jack laid on the bed still. This position lasted only minutes because you know two pups can't miss an opportunity to FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT. Ugh!

Yep, it only took me a mere THIRTY MINUTES to type this small post. Silly boys! At least they'll be comfy! LOL! Now it's time for us all to get comfy together in the big bed upstairs. Night night!

1st Puppy Check Up

*click for a closer look at details* The page started with the pics and this neat scalloped paper Connie gave me. :) It took me forever. My mojo was insanely absent, but I managed to get it done. The journaling says: "Riley saw Dr. Lisa Lynn at 8:15am on November 22, 2008 for his first check up at Spring Meadow. She said he was super healthy. Everyone in the office thought he was adorable!"

I mixed chipboard (which I colored with my little charcoal cat's eye pad) and some stickers for the title.

The "vital statistics" frame is a rub-on. The little dog paw is stamped using my charcoal cat's eye pad. I also added some brads to the page, little captions by each picture, tiny dog bone clips and inked edges.

Ok, now off to figure out what's for supper....