Memorial Day

To Veterans, past and present, I give you my heartfelt thanks.

If I had Wings

Today is starting out to be absolutely beautiful. The sky is crystal blue and if I had wings, I would soar.

I Think. . .

. . . you're doggone great!

Little Piggy

So this little piggy went to market, another little piggy stayed home and this little piggy with a diamond in her navel, ran down the street waving a Happy Birthday banner! 

Congratulations

It is that time of year when proud parents with tear-filled eyes and a lump in their throat release a sigh of relief when they see their child march down the isle to receive their diploma. In honor of graduates everywhere, I say congratulations and best wishes for a wonderful future.  

Just a Touch

When I see a blank piece of paper, I have to put something on it even if it is just a squiggle line. When I saw this black and white background paper, I had to get a marker and color the center of the daises yellow,   then I added a piece of ribbon and stamped the sentiment and made an easy but pretty card.  

Back to Business

Rozie, Xena, and I are off and running, baby steps that is. If we only make one baby step a week, that's okay.  I keep telling myself patience, patience, patience. It might be wishful thinking, but it seems Xena is a little more comfortable. But enough of that, let's get back to my other passion and that is making cards. Today's card is a fun card to send to someone who needs a little pick-me-up or just to say hello. I hope you can see the popped-up bees' wings.

No Card Today

Where do you begin to tell a love story? This love story started yesterday morning in the kennel area of Delaware Valley Golden Retriever Rescue when the fearful Xena slinked into a fenced area where potential adopters bring their dogs for an introduction. For me, it was love at first sight, for Xena absolute fright. Xena knows nothing of the bond between human and K-9, how could she when her life up until her rescue was spent living in a crate and delivering one litter after another for a puppy mill owner in New York. The only emotion she is capable of is fear and that emotion is magnified tenfold by common ordinary sounds such as the toot of a horn outside, opening a can and the awful, awful sound of toilet tissue being unfurled.  Xena does not want to be part of our pack. She prefers to hide behind the sofa or under my computer desk and nurture her only emotion. She does not look to Rozie as a helpmate and Rozie, who probably understands more about the dog, is giving her plenty of space. Rozie, and I have our work cut out for us to get this sweet, gentle girl out of her world of terror and into our world of love and laughter and the feeling of contentment.

Short and Sweet

Short and sweet and easy-peezie.

Easy Day

Easy card for an easy day. 

Mrs. Comfy & Pogg

Today's card is "Mrs. Comfy & Pogg" a digital image from Phindy's Place that made me chuckle when I saw it. I think it is a good representation of how we coddle our beloved pets. Why shouldn't we indulge them, they give us so much more in return!

Love Ewe

When I saw this designer paper it made me smile and I knew I had to have it.  Adding a touch of ribbon and a sentiment, the paper quickly became a card that will be sent to Operation Write Home for a member of our armed services serving overseas to send to a loved one. 

Daddy's Girl

I see so many girly-girl images that I immediately relate to my granddaughter, Kayla, finding images of little girls that fit her twin-sister, Graci, has been more difficult.  I was delighted to find the image "Daddy's Girl" created by Maurie "Mo" Manning of Mo's Digital Pencil. The image absolutely aces Graci except maybe the pink. As a side note, today is Graci and Kayla's daddy's birthday, so, happy birthday Rick! 

Tuesdays Child

Mondays child is fair of face, Tuesdays child is full of grace.  I remember my mother reciting that poem and being bummed when I found out that as a Saturdays child I would have to work hard for a living. Just my luck. I used the Mo's Digital Pencil image called "Tuesdays Child" for a homework assignment to color folds in clothing for the Color Me Creative online course given by Suzanne Dean. I couldn't resist finishing her. 

Darn Weather

We seem to be revisiting cold and dreary weather requiring lights and the furnace to be turned on. Hard to take after the nice weekend we had. To make it worse, it is predicted to be like this until Thursday. Oh well, as I tell everyone who will listen, the weather is something we can legitimately complain about and you know how we like to complain. 

Before I share today's card, I did want to add a post script to yesterday's commentary to all my friends we are members of the "Dust Bunnies are our Friends" group and that is to tell them that I have a special attachment for my vacuum that prevents it from swallowing the dear creatures. Besides, I only clean in the middle of the room!

Now, I ask you

Why is it when you get something new you do everything except play with your new toy? I woke several times during the night thinking about my new IMac and how lost and confused I felt. I guess, my brain was shuffling and sorting Mac vs. PC. For sure, it was not thinking of George Clooney or some other handsome man who might grace my home (what a dreamer).  When I finally did wake up for the day, I resolved that I was going to get to know my new computer. Somehow, I found several things that had to be completed today. Now really, its not like I sat and watched television or talked on the phone, I actually accomplished a lot including, planting the remaining vegetables and annuals that had not found a home because of the recent cold snap. And, now don't faint, I used the vacuum cleaner. I can honestly say that it is clean all around my new computer and my backyard is starting to take shape but my body is screaming "you are too old for hard work", which, by the way, has been my excuse since I could talk! Even so, I did want to share a card with you before my fingers decide they are too tired to type.

Long Day

I am in the processing of changing from a PC to an IMAC and my head is spinning. Hopefully, tomorrow I will remember what I learned today.

Happy Day

What a way to start the day! I must have my coffee first thing in the morning or else the little gray cells do not function. I have an automatic coffeemaker that I set religiously each evening and true to form, this morning my coffee was waiting for me. I poured my first cup and noticed lots of bubbles on top and immediately I thought of my mother and the old wives' tale that bubbles mean money is coming your way and I thought oh goody I’m in for lots of money today. I poured my second cup and again, lots of bubbles. Then it hit me, there was soap in my coffee! Yuck, it is going to take a week to rid my mouth of the foul taste left behind. For you, I wish you a happy day!

Paper Piecing

I love all facets of card marking. I cannot say specifically which I like best. However, I can tell you that I especially like the results of paper piecing. I used five different scraps of paper to create today’s card. Hope you like it.

Whimsie Doodles Blog Hop

Generally I do not post twice in one day unless Gert the groundhog visits or a lost dog finds his way to my house. But today Whimsie Doodles is having their first anniversary blog hop. I have never participated in a blog hop and decided to step out of my box and try. So in celebration of Whimsie Doodles' first anniversary, I am sharing with you the cat and mouse from “Paws I Care”. I said it before, and I’ll say it again, I love these images.

Less is More

The expression “less is more” is a good definition for today’s card, very simple and right to the point. To me, white combined with one other color is always appealing,
"elegantish” as my mother would say.

Now for the good news, my lost-boy has been reunited with his family. I turned him over to the police on Saturday and he was their guest in their luxury suites until Monday when the officer from the SPCA transported him to their facilities. On Tuesday, the SPCA officer returned to the police department to pick up another stray dog and he informed my friend, Kathy, who works for the police department, that the dog had been returned to his family on Monday evening. I love happy endings.

Tip for the Day

Yesterday brought some uninvited stress into my life when I learned that my email address book had been compromised by a jerk selling viagra. For the most part, my address book contains email addresses of friends who know me well enough to know that I do not sell drugs but, there are several addresses of business associates that might consider the intrusive emails as legitimately being sent by me. As soon as I became aware of the situation, I contacted my internet carrier and a fix was implemented. Interestingly, when I looked in my “sent” box there were fifty plus emails that had been sent not by me but by someone who probably does not live in this country. So, my tip for the day is to keep an eye on your “sent” box. Don’t wait for an angry email telling you to stop sending emails. Ugh! How embarrassing. If by chance you are the recipient of one or more of these emails, I apologize.

Today’s card excludes stress just good wishes.

Lynn's Day

Today is another day of celebration.  It is my dear friend, Lynn’s, birthday.  Lynn loves dogs as much as I do, however, she is not a dog snob like me --- my heart belongs to Goldens. Over the years, Lynn and her husband, Bob, have provided a loving home to many dogs, each adopted from our local SPCA.  So today is Lynn’s day, and in her honor I am sharing a Happy Birthday Dog called “Wish” by Designed2Delight.  Happy Birthday Lynn.

Happy Mother's Day

My mother died shortly after her 90th birthday but I made this card with her in mind. Mom was a florist for over 40 years and she taught me many gardening rules in an attempt to remove the curse of the black thumb from my hand.  She firmly believed it was necessary to talk to plants to encourage them to grow.  Mom taught me to always say “now grow damn it” to newly planted flowers.

Mom loved pansies and she addressed each one as “sweet little monkey face”.  Today, in her memory, I share with you a cute little girl (not me, probably my cousin) surrounded by sweet little monkey faces.

To mothers everywhere, have a wonderful Mother's Day.

What a Day!

Oh my goodness, what a day I’ve had so far! It all started with a telephone call at 6:45 a.m. from my good friend, Betsy, saying she had a problem but it was a good one and she needed to come over. I jumped out of bed and threw on my bathrobe and a pair of warm-ups and met her at the door (keep in mind that I had had no caffeine at this point) and Betsy said “I need a leash”. My mind immediately raced thinking that my daughter, Alecia, and Betsy were in cahoots to get me another dog. That was not the case. There before me was a very handsome young male-with-a-mission to find some sweet unsuspecting female if you get my drift that Betsy found wandering. To make a long story short, at 9:00 a.m. he was turned over to our local police in the hopes that someone would report him missing. In the short time he was here he managed to “water” every plant and scrub in my yard and then he jumped over the fence to continue his quest. I saw him go and called him back and he looked at me and then he looked at Rozie and decided okay, I’ll go back. And then it started to rain. So, there I am standing in my backyard in my bathrobe with two wet dogs. In the back of my mind I was forming a plan and decided I would let him in the house and besides, I was getting all wet. Being the young male that he is he immediately “watered” a houseplant in the dining room. Ugh!!! Rain or no rain, we went back outside. Because of his young age I cannot decide if he is a lab or a golden but he did know the “sit” command and he certainly understood “no”. Now I’m feeling very guilty. I’m thinking I should head to my son’s house and get a crate and if his owners do not claim him, take him right to the vet to have a certain alteration done. Tell me what you think, lab or golden?

Short and Sweet

Gray and Yellow is a color combination that I love. I hope you like it too.

Third Challenge

Eyelets, Ribbon, Paper-Oh My! just wrapped up its third challenge. For this challenge we were to make two cards using the same layout. These are the cards I entered. To see all of the entries, click on Emkay Designs on the right-side of my blog.

Ready to Go

There are images that make me laugh out loud, and images that make me feel gushy. Then there are images that are an instant reminder of another time or something recent. When I saw this image from Mo's Digital Pencil, I could not help but think of my four-year old granddaughters, Graci and Kayla, ready to jump in my son and his wife’s swimming pool. The only thing missing from this image are enormous pearl clip-on earrings encrusted with rhinestones that Kayla has taken to wearing. She’s such a girly-girl!

Dust Bunnies

It is that time of year when women feel compelled to start “spring cleaning” and rid their homes of dust bunnies. But I am on a campaign to tell the world that dust bunnies are our friends and it is perfect timing that  *wink *wink ink has offered an image to help me get the word out.
Please, before you begin cleaning remember that as pets, dust bunnies are very low maintenance, require no exercise but do appreciate it when you give them a pass with the hairdryer as a means of transportation. You do not need to feed them or take them to the vet for inoculations and although they are very prolific, they are very good parents. So please, think carefully before you disturb these little friends who have been steadfast in our homes since the beginning of time.

La, La, Ti, So

La, La, Ti, So (sung in the key of D-minor). That tune is coming from a digital stamp by The Digi Shack and it is about as close as I can get to water and a way to remind you that it is “National Drink Water Week”. Americans drink more than one billion glasses of tap water a day so we need a better understanding of what we drink and ways to conserve it since of all the earth’s water, only one percent is drinkable. I sure hope the soap he is using is phosphate-free!

Sweet Sophie

Meet Sophie, a digital stamp by Mo's Digital Pencil that I used for a homework assignment for the Color Me Creative class I am taking online from Suzanne Dean. The assignment was to color her hair black which is tricky because you do not use black, instead you use various shades of gray for shading and dimension. I am pleased with the results and I got a “wonderful” comment from Suzanne.

Banner Days

I’ve been so busy, I feel like I have been neglecting my blogger friends the past few days. On Friday I went with my friend, Barb, the Master Gardener, to a nursery and greenhouse in Shippensburg. We had a great time and we only got lost twice. Our nice lunch that we were planning turned into take-out at Mickey-D’s. No matter, we had a wonderful time and Barb certainly was in her element with all the plants, trees and scrubs they had to offer. I managed to limit my purchase to nine plants. Yesterday I spent with another dear friend, Betsy, finding good buys at yard-sales and then I rounded out the day with three of my children and their families. It was a banner day. Today, I must crack-down and get something done around the homestead unless, of course, someone calls and says “let’s go”!

The card I am sharing with you is my paper version of a flower trellis, I thought I better tell you in case you don’t see what I see.

May Day

Happy May Day everyone!