Turtle-y Awesome

  Since recovering from bronchitis and then getting Norovirus (which I am still recovering from), I haven't had much energy nor inspiration to craft anything. Since drawing and doodling is within reach and requires only pen and paper, I'm running out of blank pages in my art journal. 

Today I not only doodled a sea turtle, but decided to put some color on the page with pencils. My son had a box turtle when he was younger. He named it Michaelangelo (he was a big-time Ninja Turtles fan). We also had fish, mostly guppies and a swordtail fish or two. 

It wasn't until he was grown and my daughter out of high school that we decided to rescue a dog. I had some parameters because I was allergic to most dogs. I was told that some terriers and bischon frise were as hypoallergenic as dogs get. I also stated that we had never trained a puppy before, and our house wasn't big enough for a large dog. We got lucky that a Silkie Terrier was available to adopt, and it didn't take us long to fall in love with him.

Even when we found out he had Lyme Disease and needed to be treated and eat only prescription food, he had already become a part of our family. Wilson was with us only five years, lasting not much longer than my hubby. To help in the grieving process, my daughter and I would make up stories of what Wilson and my husband were doing up in heaven. They were funny and played up their interests and antics.

I decided to write a story about their time "beyond the rainbow bridge" and published it here on my blog. Click HERE for Part 1. Part 2 was published the next day. Click on the links if you want to discover what shenanigans they are up to. It really helped us on days when we missed them so much we were drowning in misery.

Now we have another terrier mix. Her name is Honey, short for Honeycomb, and life is good. She is our emotional support dog. Both Wendy and I suffer from anxiety and she comforts us. We are positive that Wilson sent her to us!

Challenges I am Entering:

Use Your Stuff - Animals (coupled with Double D challenges)

Inspiration Station - Photo (inspired not only by color but imagining a turtle family living in the water)

Kraftin' Kimmie's Stamps - Spring, Circles or Yellow/Green

Beyond the Blue - It's Not Easy Being Green

Scribbles Goes Green This Month

Welcome to a brand new challenge at Scribbles Designs challenge blog. The theme is Go for Green, which I thought was a perfect time for me to create a new layout of Wilson. No, he's not an Irish Settler, he's a Silky Terrier. But We like  to give him a photo opp for each holiday.
I've been creating a lot of digital layouts lately. I would like to send them all out to be printed and bound into a book (or two or ten). While I LOVE paper layout pages, especially chunky ones with lots of memorabilia, they takes up LOTS of room in my house. I'd like to have them all out to pick up and look through now and then, but there's only so much room. I think the books would be a good investment.
If you scrapbook, have you ever made your pages into a bound book? Which company did you use and would you recommend them? Still considering where to get my pages...
Anyway, my layout uses three digital images from Scribbles Designs: F81 Shamrock (FREE), F109 Shamrock Balloons,  and F110 Leprechaun Hat. All my papers are from Decosse's Dynamite Doodles: Chasing Rainbows Patterned Paper Kit, Glitterati Glitter paper in Gold and A Grungy Christmas Textured Paper Kit in dark blue.
I used a couple embellishments from Pixel Scrappers Pauline Thompson: Glitter Scatter 2 and Sheila Reid: Painted Heart Set 1, Brush 6. And my layout is complete...
Now it's time to go green and create something to link up to Scribbles Designs challenge blog for your chance to win  free digis from the Scribbles Store. I can't wait to see what YOU create!

Have a Furry, Fluffy, Feathery & Finny Christmas at 12 Months of Christmas Blog

What would Christmas be like without our furry, fluffy, feathery or finned companions in our lives?! Since Wilson, our rescue Silkie Terrier, came into our lives, I can't imagine Christmas morning without his sniffing around the packages, giving me those sad brown eyes over breakfast, and jumping in excitement from one person to another as presents are unwrapped. Wilson adds an extra helping of joy to our Christmases. That is why the 12 Months of Christmas wants to see Christmas cards that features an animal that one might have as a household pet. Dog lover, cat lover or somewhere in between, what will your focus be?

My digital Christmas card features a digi image from Imagine That! Digis from Kris called Happy Howl-i-days. The sentiment is also from Imagine That Digis. And I couldn't resist popping Wilson in there! I also used the following digital goodies:

 Decosse's Dynamite Doodles' It's Ornamental Paper Kit Green Balls PP and A Grungy Christmas Green & Burgundy Textured papers; Snow Much Fun Glitter Snowflakes Kit Red Snowflake

Sometimes I like to send Christmas cards via email to my international friends who live in Australia, Canada, Greece, Germany and elsewhere. Sometimes I like to print them up and send them to my neighbors, just to remind them that we are all part of a community.

So, In order to have a chance this month to win the prize from our wonderful guest sponsor, Imagine That! Digis by Kris, make sure that your Christmas card has an image of a household pet as the focal point (cat, dog, bird, mouse, rabbit, hedgehog, ferret, fish, turtle, etc.) If you do follow the optional theme, be sure to add FT after your name so that you are included in the draw for this month's sponsored prize prize of a $10 gift certificate to the Imagine That! Digistamp store.

As always, you don't need to follow the theme to earn a free paper each month from Decosse's Dynamite Doodles, and have your name thrown into the year-end draw for some extra digital goodies.

Whatever you choose, however you craft, just have fun knowing that when the Christmas season rolls around, your stash of cards will be ready to mail and give out!! No stress, no worry, no running to the store. Done and done!

Happy Crafting!