Raining Cats & Dogs

I know some of you have already heard this news but I wanted to share it here on the blog as well.  Our house has been so empty since Atticus passed away in August and although we weren't planning on getting more pets this soon in the last two weeks we have ended up with a cat and a dog!  

Luis was keen to get a cat and since we figured it would be a while before the right dog came along I finally agreed and we brought home Ella.  For a supposedly feral cat Ella is a real affectionate cuddle bug.  She's now settled in quite happily at home and has Luis wrapped around her little paw.  :)

The day we brought Ella home we got a call about a dog and I immediately said no because trying to settle in one new animal is hard enough but two?  I couldn't get him off my mind though.  Tex is an 11 year old mixed breed who's owner had died and none of her family members were willing to take him on so he'd been sent to the SPCA (where they called him Brownie).  I finally decided to go see him and by that point he was at a local animal hospital being treated for an eye infection.  It only took 5 minutes to realize that he needed to come home with us.  He's a skinny old man with the sweetest face who just wants some love.  He's spent his whole life in an outdoor kennel and clearly hasn't had much interaction with people and doesn't really even know how to play.  He's coming around though and as you can see from the picture below he's very quickly gotten used to having a cozy bed!

Atticus

We lost our sweet sweet boy, Atticus, this past Tuesday.  Luis was about to shower him off after a swim when he collapsed and was gone.  It was so fast and so completely unexpected.  We are all still in shock and trying to come to terms with a much quieter and more empty life.  

Above is a photo from the day I brought him home.  The picture below is from March.  

He was 9 1/2 years old.  

My heart is broken.

You Old Bag!

My mom and I have a little tradition where we always give each other 2 cards on our birthdays - a nice card and a rude card.  This is the rude card that I gave mom this year.  :)

It totally cracked her up.  In fact, I think she liked it better than the nice card!  LOL!  I want to add it to Unity's Friends With Flair blog hop.  If you've never hopped along with it you should - there's always a ton of inspiration!

I also wanted to share these pictures of Atticus being thoroughly spoiled by his daddy!

That would be Haagen Dazs Dulce du Leche that he's slurping up and that container was spotless when he was done with it!

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (Primrose Petals, Raspberry Ripple, Crumb Cake) Stampin' Up

Stamps:  (Bag & sentimnet from July '12 KOM - Ol' Bag of Fun) Unity Stamp Co, (Bit of Burlap) Market Street Stamps

Inks:  (VersaMark) Tsukineko, (Early Espresso) Stampin' Up

Die:  (Double Ended Banner, Tag Sale #5) Papertrey Ink

Gems:  Doodlebug

Eyelet:  We R Memory Keepers

Here For You

I've been admiring this Simon Says Stamp die all over Blogland for ages now and am amazed at how such a simple image can be used in so many different ways.  I finally got my hands on one and this is the first time I've played with it.  I die cut the image and then coloured it with Stampin' Up markers in this week's Colour Throwdown colours.  I then inlaid it in an embossed strip of Crumb Cake card and matted it on Old Olive card.  I finished it off with a sentiment from The Craft's Meow's Vintage Clocks set.  I'm also going to enter this card in the Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes challenge.  

Had to share this picture of Luis and Atticus from yesterday.  With those shades on Atti is clearly too cool to be kissed by daddy!

Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill, (Old Olive, Crumb Cake) Stampin' Up

Stamp:  (Sentiment from Vintage Clocks) The Craft's Meow

Ink:  (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko

Die:  (Fresh Daisies) Simon Says Stamp

Impression Plate:  (Woodgrain) Papertrey Ink

Gems:  Michael's

Markers:  (Stampin' Write Pretty in Pink & Regal Rose) Stampin' Up

RIP Jem

Luis and I are utterly devastated and heartbroken at the loss of Jem.  He was our sweet, goofy, lovable boy and there is a huge void in our lives now. 

I will probably continue to post cards as making them is the only thing right now that is helping to keep the grief at bay.  But please forgive me if I don't have much to say for a while.

Here's To A New Week!

Boy am I glad that it's a new week.  Last week was a bit of a nightmare.  Along with having two migraines, Jem completely blew out his knee.  There's no one on the island to fix it and the specialist who comes in from Boston a few times a year to do those sort of surgeries isn't due to come back until August or September so poor Jem will be running around on 3 legs until then.  We're trying to keep him as quiet as possible but he's bored silly and looks so depressed that we won't play ball with him or take him for walks.  Poor guy!


Between dealing with Jem and taking care of my head I haven't been in the Craft Cave or on the computer since Wednesday.  Today I finally feel better and am playing a bit of catch up. I gave the Craft Cave a good tidy and made a card for two challenges.  I was inspired by the layout and the flower on this card by Joy over at CASE Study and I used the colours from Dynamic Duos.  I also managed to use the Dessert Option from DD and used a ribbon threader punch and wove some ribbon through the white card.  Whoop whoop for using ribbon! Must dash but hopefully I'll be around a lot more this week.  :)


Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill, (Melon Mambo, Basic Black) Stampin' Up
Stamps:  (Flower & leaves from In Bloom) PTI, (Sentiment from CL340) Hero Arts
Inks: (VersaFine Tuxedo Black) Tsukineko, (Melon Mambo) Stampin' Up

Die:  (In Bloom collection) PTIPunches:  (Corner punch) Marvy Uchida, (Ribbon Threader) Martha Stewart
Gems:  (Beetle Black assortments) Doodlebug
Ribbon:  Hot Off the Press

Amy Butler Butterfly and a Jemmy Burrito!

Good evening, all!  Hope you had a lovely weekend.  Friday was Luis' and my mom's birthdays so on Saturday night we went to a fantastic restaurant and had one of the best meals I've had in a long time.  Super yummy stuff!  Luis spent most of the weekend playing with his birthday present (tools for Mr. Carpenterman) and I did a bunch of sorting and tidying in the Craft Cave.  I have a huge bag of stuff that I'm giving to my friend who's a teacher - I think she'll be able to make good use of it.  :)


As you can see I used up some more patterned paper for today's card.  It's stuff I've had for ages too - Amy Butler for K & Co.  Yeah,  I had to blow the dust off of it first!  The card is for the CASE Study challenge. After Jen Rzasa's stint ended I promised myself I'd still play along even if the next muse wasn't quite as CAS.  Don't get me wrong - I find these shabby/vintage cards beautiful but I'm just not so good at pulling them off myself.  So I focused on the colours, the butterflies and the banner and came up with something a little more me.  I'm also going to enter this over at  Lily Pad's patterned paper challenge.


I thought I'd share a couple of photos of Jem who apparently was a little chilly the other morning!  I don't know why I bother to make the bed because Jem rolls himself up like a burrito and completely undoes it all!

Cardstock:  (Night of Navy) Stampin' Up
Patterned Paper:  (Amy Butler Belle collection) K & Co

Stamps:  (Doodle from Happy Trails) PTI, (Sentiment from Wish You Were Here) Hero ArtsInks:  (Night of Navy) Stampin' Up

Dies:  (Butterfly, Double-Ended Banner) PTI

Punch:  (Corner Punch) Marvy Uchida

Gems:  (Nightfall Ice Rox) Queen & Co.

    

Be Whoever You Wanna Be

The last time I entered a Market Street Stamps challenge I said I really had to get some more stamps from them besides background stamps as Hippie Chic was the only non-background set I had.  Despite much temptation I haven't gotten around to ordering any others yet so it's more Hippie Chic for me for January's Paint the Town Challenge.  I was pretty liberal with the pink on this card but there's a touch of sherbet on the lower patch on the dress and an aqua patch as well as the aqua sentiment.  


We took the dogs for a swim this morning but Jem was not diggin' it.  Atti would swim if there were icebergs out there - as long as there's something to fetch he'll go overboard. Jem, however, is not appreciative of the chilly water and figures if we aren't going in then he sure as heck isn't either!  Since he didn't get much of a swim he's bouncing off the walls now so it's off for a walk.  Have a lovely evening!     
Cardstock:  (White, Dark Pink, Sherbet) Bazzill, (Pool Party, Regal Rose) Stampin' Up
Stamps:  (Hippie Chic) Market Street Stamps
Inks:  (Melon Mambo, Pool Party) Stampin' Up
Punch:  (Corner Punch) Marvy Uchida
Copic:  RV02  

Sticker Birds Part 2

Forgot I need separate posts for each entry for the CAS-ual Fridays challenge.

The second card also uses Crate Paper stickers (border, letters) and rub-ons (bird, flower) but this time from the Bliss collection.   

Just got back from a walk with the hounds and I don't think they'll be moving any time soon!  They're both laid out under the fan puffing away.  Poor puppies.  It's been really hot and humid for them today.  Tomorrow morning we'll give them a good long swim before we hop on the plane and hopefully they won't drive my mom too insane while we're gone!

Birthday Wishes

After all that fabulous rain the last two days the water trucker turned up today to deliver the water we ordered 2 weeks ago!  Ah well, the tank is now almost full and if we're careful it should last us the rest of the summer.  It's still cloudy outside and I hear some thunder rumbling (Jem is sitting at the door barking at it).  Maybe more rain to come!

Supplies:  CS: SU & PTI; Stamps: Unity & PTI; Ink: VersaMark & SU; Embossing Powder: Ranger: Threat: DMC; Buttons: Craft stash

A simple colour blocked card for the Inkspirations colour challenge this week.  I used another uninked Unity stamp (from KOM Aug 2009) and a sentiment from PTI.  Off to try and get one more card done before Luis gets home!    

Picture Perfect Hearts

Red and pink always makes me think of hearts and Valentine's Day so it was inevitable that when I saw this week's Picture Perfect Creations colour combo that hearts would be involved.  I chose one of my new Purple Onion Designs hearts for the occasion.  I stamped it 3 times, cut out the middles and layered polka dot stamped coloured paper behind them.  

Supplies:  CS: Gina K & SU; Stamps: Purple Onion Designs & PTI; Inks: VersaMark, VersaFine, Brilliance Moonlight White

The BBQ went well last night and we have enough food left to last us for a week!  Sweet!  No cooking!!  :)  The dogs were so good last night and charmed the pants off everyone.  I was so proud of my boys.  :)  And the best part is they are knackered.  When we got up this morning they barely said hello before they raced into our room and hopped into our bed where they are still snoozing peacefully!  They really lead tough lives...

Bright Birthday Wishes

Happy Saturday, everyone!  Just popping in quickly with some bright colours from this week's Colour Throwdown challenge.  I don't have any Taken With Teal paper and the paper I used looks a lot closer to the right colour in real life than in this picture.  Ah well... C'est la vie!  One day I'll get around to figuring out how to fix colours in Photoshop.  :)

Supplies:  CS: SU & mystery paper; Stamps: Hero Arts; Ink: VersaFine; Glitter: Stickles Cotton Candy

I pulled out some Cotton Candy Stickles to add a little touch of sparkle to the centre of the flower and the brackets around the sentiment.  I never seem to have enough birthday cards so I'm always happy to add one to the stash.  

Must dash as we're having friends over for a BBQ tonight and I need to play some ball with the dogs.  We took them for a long swim in hopes of tiring them out before everyone arrives but they know something's up and are getting themselves hyped!  Maybe some ball time will help...  Have a lovely evening!  

Awesome Circles

I love the colours of this week's Play Date Cafe challenge and the cool picture that goes along with it.  This PTI impression plate was the first thing that came to mind when I saw the picture and the card came together pretty quickly after that.  Some Cuttlebug action, some fussy cutting, a few gems and voila!  Awesome.  :)

Despite the heat we took the dogs for a short walk this morning.  There are a ton of feral chickens in Bermuda and we usually pass a few groups (flocks?) of them when we go for our walks.  Normally they take off at the sight of us.  This morning, however, we came across a momma and her chicks.  As usual, Atticus was straining at his leash, wanting to check them out.  This momma didn't run though.  She did not appreciate the looks Atti was giving her babies and before I knew it she was in his face squawking and pecking and slapping him with her wings.  The look on Atti's face was priceless!  He had no idea what to make of this pissed off female and finally jumped behind me for cover!  Satisfied that she'd made her point, momma hustled her babies across the street, tossing a few choice clucks over her shoulder.  I'm guessing Atti got the message though as when we passed a few more chickens later on, he slowed down and graciously let me lead the way!  That's my boy - 90lbs of wimp!    

My Favourite Boys

Since Colin Farrell has yet to take me up on my invitation to come visit I only have pics of 3 of my 4 favourite guys to share.  :)  

Oh, okay, I can't leave My Colin out altogether!  :)

Bright and Bold Birthday

We had a public holiday today for National Heroes Day.  Unfortunately it was a yucky day. The sky has been dark and threatening all day but instead of rain it's just been disgustingly humid.  We took the hounds for a long walk this morning and all four of us came back looking decidedly wilted.  After that we broke down and turned on the air con and watched a movie ("Easy A" - pretty good I thought).  Later on we ventured back out.  Luis puttered around and did a few odds and ends while I escaped to the Craft Cave to put together a card for this week's Play Date Cafe challenge.

Supplies:  CS: Bazzill Basics; Stamps: Hero Arts & PTI; Inks: SU, VersaFine, VersaMark; Punches: McGill Creativity & Marvy Uchida

Love the bold and bright colours this week!  I pulled out a Hero Arts flower stamp that I hadn't used yet.  It's calling out to be coloured in but for this challenge I just wanted to use the outline of it in the challenge colours.  Some PTI polka dots in VersaMark to jazz up the colour panels, a bit of bling and voila!  A cheery birthday card.  :)
Hope you all have a lovely evening.  Tomorrow I have to work in the morning and then have the joy of going to the dentist.  Blerg!  How did I get so lucky!  :S  

The Plague Lives

Seems like I'm not the only one who has suffered from the summer plague lately!  Aside from that floating around there have been a few odd illnesses and accidents occurring so I was playing around with some Get Well cards today.  They're not for any challenges - just for the sickies in my life!  :)

First up is that adorable Paper Smooches Chubby Chick!  Poor guy has come down with chicken pox (tee hee) and he's got a little thermometer in his mouth to check his temperature.  I had originally envisaged him in a little bedroom scene tucked up against a fluffy white pillow.  Sadly, my artistic flair just was not flairing and my attempts were quite sad.  So instead he's sitting on a scalloped strip of Cosmo Cricket paper.  (If anyone else can conjure up the original picture in my head then go for it - I'd love to see it!) 

Next we have a little dinosaur from Unity's Bella Blvd. Mr. Boy set.  I think he looks kind of sad and decided it was maybe because he isn't feeling well.  Poor little guy!


And poor me!  Luis and I made a yummy dinner tonight - Fiesta Chicken - and there was just enough left over to take to work for lunch tomorrow.  Someone had other ideas though. I left it on the counter to cool before putting it in the fridge but I  just went into the kitchen and found a bowl with a few stray bits of rice, Atticus licking his chops and Jem looking mighty pissed off!  Poor Jem can't reach the counter like Atti can and I'm sure Atti made no attempt to share his delicious find.  *Sigh*  PB&J for lunch it is then!

You Brighten My Day

As soon as I saw the picture for this week's ColourQ challenge I thought of the owl from Paper Smooches' Chubby Chums set.  I've barely touched my PS stamps even though I've had them for a few weeks now so I thought I'd better hop to it.  The card is going to go to my friend Louise in NY.  We were roomies in college for two years and she has remained one of my dearest friends who I can always count on for a good laugh.  We haven't talked in ages so I thought I'd send her a little note to let her know I'm thinking of her.  She's a 5th grade teacher so will be winding down the school year and getting ready for a well deserved break - although she somehow always seems busier than ever during the summer!  :)  

Now that it's really getting warmer the dogs are turning totally nocturnal on me.  During the day they're in a heat induced daze and don't want to do anything.  Between midnight and 9am, when it's coolest, they're bouncing off the walls.  Trying to get them well exercised without inducing heat stroke is proving to be a challenge!  I'm now resorting to trying to keep them awake all day so they'll be tired at night although they're not thrilled with being constantly prodded out of their snoozes.  :)

A Smile

After a 2 minute rain shower this morning the sky cleared and it's been beautiful ever since.  Good for the Bermuda Day Parade and the dinghy races - not so good for the water tanks.  


Luis decided to do work in the yard so I hightailed it to the Craft Cave and made a few cards.  This one is for this week's Colour Dare challenge.  A clean and simple design with a cheery sentiment!

Supplies:  CS: Bazzill & SU;  Stamps: PTI & Fiskars; Inks: SU; Die: Nesties Labels 4; IPs: PTI

After carding and yarding we took the hounds for a swim.  Luis joined them but I only went as far as my ankles.  I'm not quite ready to take the plunge yet...  Another month and water that's about 10 degrees warmer and I'll consider it!  

Beautiful Weekend

Thankfully the prediction of wind and rain for the weekend turned out to be completely wrong.  We had 3 gorgeous days.  Saturday was spent cleaning the house, mowing the yard and cleaning patio furniture in preparation for a BBQ that night.  Sunday Luis and his friend Ruben finished patching and painting the roof (as seen in the photo below).  It's now a blazing white - need sunglasses to look at it!  LOL!  Emily asked if there was a particular reason we use white paint.  Traditionally a lime wash was used on the roofs which helped to cleanse the water.  Nowadays a non-toxic paint is used.  I guess now you could paint the roof any colour but the white is traditional and also helps to keep the houses cool.

The dogs got long walks and swims every day which they were thrilled with.  I was thrilled too as we had some returning visitors down at the dock.  There's a gorgeous parrot fish that comes around now and then and I hadn't seen him for a while.  You can't quite tell from this picture but he's at least 2 feet long.

Our octopus has also come back!  He was living under our dock for a while but I didn't see him at all last year.  Yesterday he came out of his hole for a wander around and nearly got run over by Atticus when he charged along the shallows to get his toy.  The poor octopus inked everywhere and took off back to his hole!  You can see a bit of him sticking out of the hole in the picture below - the reddish-brown splotchy bits.  I'll try and get some pictures next time he's out and about.  

I actually managed to get some cards done yesterday too.  My friend's birthday is coming up so I made her a little set of cards with one of my favourite Hero Arts sets.  They'll be winging their way to the Cayman Islands hopefully in time for her birthday in May.

One last shot.  Lynn was talking about her sleepy boys in this post and I had 2 sleepy boys last night too!  I found Jem in our bed when I went to change the sheets.  I dragged all the bedding off the bed and onto the trunk at the foot of the bed and he never budged!  When kids crash they really crash!